[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] 02/19 Links Pt1: Is Israel the Problem, or Are Jews the Problem?; Matt Lee embarrasses Jen Psaki again ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Ben Shapiro: Is Israel the Problem, or Are Jews the Problem?

But undoubtedly, European anti-Semites will now claim that Netanyahu's comments simply demonstrate why Europe must force out its Jews: because Israel is just so awful. That, at least, is what a German court in the city of Wuppertal concluded after convicting two German Palestinians of setting fire to a synagogue. The Wuppertal court stated that the men were simply attempting to bring "attention to the Gaza conflict." In other words, Jews are fair game because of Israel.
But it's precisely the reverse that is true: Israel is fair game because it is Jewish. This is the dirty little secret of anti-Israel policy: It is almost entirely anti-Semitic policy. That is why Muslims attack Jewish synagogues in Paris during the Gaza war: because Israel is a stand-in for the Jews, not the other way around. Were Israel a Muslim country, the rest of the world would see it as a beacon of light and hope for the future of an entire religion. Because it is Jewish, Muslims target it for destruction, and the rest of the world tut-tuts Israel's nasty habit of attempting to survive. The extra-American world hates Israel because it is Jewish. It does not hate Jews because of Israel. Israel is merely a convenient excuse.
Ironically, radical Muslims, in targeting Jews throughout the world, reinforce the necessity of a state of Israel. Their argument seems to be that Israel is an unnecessary Jewish nationalist cancer; to prove that argument, they suggest killing Jews all over the planet, leaving no place safe for Jews except for Israel.
And so Jews go to Israel by the droves. European governments can rip Netanyahu all they want for his supposedly brusque dismissal of European tolerance, but that supposed tolerance means less and less when Swedish Jews abandon entire cities as the authorities make way for radical Muslims. European governments can condemn the Gaza war, but Jews see that war for what it was: an exercise in Jewish self-preservation, with the Europeans once again attempting to prevent such self-preservation.
Unlike the Europeans, Americans continue to side with Israel because America is founded on Judeo-Christian principles. America embraces Judaism, and so it embraces Israel, not the other way around. The formula is simple: Love Jews; love Israel. Hate Jews; hate Israel. Opposing Israeli action may not be anti-Semitism, but it sure does have a funny habit of backing the agenda of anti-Semites.

The Real Threat to Europe

Commentators in Europe voicing opinions on the terrorist attacks at Charlie Hebdo and the kosher supermarket in Paris, reverentially discussed the motivation of the terrorists, but showed distressingly little understanding of the meaning of jihad.
Europe, hedonist and dishonest, is apparently willing to cut a deal with any violent dictator, including the most potentially violent: a nuclear-threshold Iran.
To understand the fate awaiting Europe, it is necessary to listen seriously to what the upper echelons of Islam say to each other about their intentions -- in Arabic. These messages are quite different from those on Western television. What they say to each other is that the mission of Islam is to lead the whole world and eradicate all other religions, as they have been made irrelevant by the Qur'an.
Charlie Hebdo's cover after the attacks illustrates the very weakness exploited by the Islamists. The cover shown Muhammad, with a tear, aligning himself with humanism. To every Muslim on the planet, it shouted France's weakness, its increasing surrender to the Islamist threat, and the growing strength of Islam.
The real threat to Europe does not come from local Muslims who went to fight in the ranks of ISIS. The real threat comes from Muslims already in the enclaves in Europe. Their doctrine appears openly and without reservation, in books and on websites. It is spread in local languages in mosques by the imams in their communities. These communities command immigration; then the forming of enclaves in the host country, then the eventual violent takeover of the host.

AP's Matt Lee Stings Jen Psaki For Clumsy Attempt To Explain Why Kerry Isn't Speaking AT AIPAC

If there is a Matt Lee Fan Club, I want to join! Today Jen Psaki made a clumsy attempt to answer why Secretary of State Kerry wont be going to AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and AP reporter Matt Lee let her "have it" in his own unique way.
It started when a reporter asked if Kerry’s absence from AIPAC had anything to do with the controversy over the Netanyahu speech to congress and that Bibi will also be speaking at AIPAC. Psaki replied that Kerry doesn’t ‘speak to the group every year and someone will fill in for him this year.
Psaki: …we have a trip we’re working on for early March, late February…”
Lee: It’s funny because the Vice President also had some unspecified travel plans that would prevent him from being at Congress to prevent him from hearing the Prime Minister’s speech. Is everyone fleeing?
Psaki: Well given we’ve all spent days if not weeks on a plane, I don’t think it should surprise anyone that the chief diplomat might be overseas, but…”
Lee: Well yeah, but it just seems to be a little unusual that both the Secretary of State and the Vice President have determined right now that they’re going to be out of town... or out of the country.
Doing her best Jon Lovitz Psaki answered: I wouldn’t look at it in those terms. I believe the Vice President is attending an inauguration for… uh… that new government of Panama, I believe, I can’t remember the specifics…. I expect we’ll have a presentation there.”
The First Reporter Asked: So we shouldn’t see this as a snub because the Prime Minister will be addressing said conference?
Lee: I just remember being with the Secretary at the inauguration of the Panamian Prime Minister a few months ago,” Lee said with emphasis.
Psaki (beginning to look annoyed): Perhaps that’s not the right information. I’m sure you can check the Secretary’s schedule on his website.”
Lee: (going in for the kill) Might you invent a country that he could go to if there aren’t any available?

IDF chief lawyer: ICC probe not a concern

The Israeli military’s chief legal adviser said on Thursday that he is not concerned about a possible investigation by the International Criminal Court into Israel’s conduct during last year’s Gaza war.
Israel’s own internal probes are sufficient, said advocate general Maj. Gen. Danny Efroni.
The Palestinians recently joined the Netherlands-based court and have threatened to press war crimes charges against Israel there. But, according to the court’s founding statute, any robust internal investigation could prevent an outside one by the court.
“I am not concerned because I think I am doing my job,” Efroni told journalists on the sidelines of a conference about the laws of armed conflict. He said the quality and professionalism of the investigations being carried out were “sufficient enough” to stave off a probe by the international court.
Efroni has opened 15 criminal investigations into separate incidents from the 50-day war that killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, many of them civilians, and 72 Israelis, mostly soldiers. Two probes have been closed because Palestinians who had lodged complaints did not want to testify. The military declined to say which cases were closed.

Heavy Security at Funeral of Jewish Denmark Terror Victim Dan Uzan; Leader Says ‘He Did Not Die in Vain’

Over 100 Danish policemen as well as marksmen and sniffer dogs were enlisted to secure the funeral, which was attended by many members of the Jewish community. Political and community leaders in attendance included Denmark’s Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and Justice Minister Mette Frederiksen.
“I’m on the way to a very tough experience,” Dan Rosenberg Asmussen, leader of the local Jewish community, told local tabloid Ekstra Bladet as he headed to the memorial service.
“Dan’s family should know that he did not die in vain. He prevented a major disaster, and this must give them some strength,” he added, referring to the bat-mitzva that was taking place inside the synagogue at the time of the attack.
“The whole Jewish community is in shock that this could happen in Denmark but we are also very touched by all the support we have received,” Rosenberg Asmussen said.

Danish PM weeps at funeral of slain Jewish guard in Copenhagen

Dan Uzan, the Jewish volunteer guard killed in a shooting outside Copenhagen’s central synagogue, was remembered at his funeral as one “who was always ready to do his part.”
“Everybody in our community knew Dan,” said Dan Rosenberg, head of the Danish Jewish community, on Wednesday at the Mosaiske Vestre Jewish cemetery in Copenhagen. “He was always ready to do his part; he was a very fine example for the whole community.”
Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt was among the hundreds of mourners who attended the funeral, which was held under tight security, the French news agency AFP reported.
“The Jewish world embraces you at this difficult time,” Natan Sharansky, the Jewish Agency’s chairman, told Uzan’s family at the funeral.
Uzan, who had an Israeli father and a Danish mother, died early Sunday morning from injuries sustained in the attack on the Danish capital’s central synagogue in Krystalgade. He was 37.
Uzan was standing guard outside the synagogue at an event held at an adjacent building for approximately 80 people who had gathered for a bat mitzvah. The attack occurred hours after a fatal shooting Saturday afternoon at a free speech event at a cultural center featuring the Danish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who is under police protection because of his cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad.

Sharansky in Copenhagen: The Jewish People Embrace You

Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky took part on Wednesday in the funeral of Dan Uzan, the volunteer security guard who was murdered outside the synagogue in Copenhagen last Saturday night.
"The Jewish people embrace you at this time," Sharansky told Uzan’s family, adding, "The Jewish Agency will do its utmost to help the Jewish community in Denmark to ensure its security and will continue to strengthen the ties of Danish and European Jews with the Jewish people and with Israel."
Sharansky later met with Israel’s ambassador to Denmark and also with young Jewish students from Denmark and Sweden.

Oslo to permanently close streets around main synagogue to traffic

The city of Oslo decided to permanently close to traffic the street leading to its main synagogue.
Ervin Kohn, president of the Jewish Community in Oslo and the deputy director of the Norwegian Center Against Racism, told JTA Thursday that the decision was made following the slaying on February 15 of a guard at the main synagogue of Copenhagen in Denmark.
The Jewish community of Norway, which has seen a number of threats in recent years, has long lobbied for the closure, which city official had resisted and termed excessive.
“With this change, the security needs of the community are more or less satisfied,” Kohn said.

Mr. Muhammad The Prophet, These Passport Photos Are Unusable By Shelly Davis, Passport Documentation Processing Clerk, US Postal Service (satire)

OK, Mr. The Prophet, thank you for submitting your application. Let me see the form…good, nice to see you wrote clearly. Alright, all the information is there. Did you remember two passport photos? Great, let’s have a look…oh, no. I’m sorry, Mr. The Prophet, but these won’t do at all.
Look, look: the face is completely unidentifiable. We need photos that show exactly what you look like. That’s exactly the point of a passport. It has to serve as a form of identification, and that can’t be done without a decent photograph. All you have to do is go across the street to that convenience store over there – they have a booth you can use, and you can have them printed out in a jiffy.
Sir, I’m not sure what the problem is. The rules are clear – unlike the photographs you submitted. And it’s easy to get photos that are usable, just by going across the street. It doesn’t even cost very much – certainly a lot less than the application fee. Just go outside, cross the street, get your passport pictures taken and printed, and come back. It’s not even crowded here today – you can be back in less than ten minutes.
You’re making a big deal out of this, and I don’t understand why. You need valid documentation to travel anywhere outside the country, and the documentation process has strict guidelines. The passport control officers at every destination, whether here or abroad, are going to need to compare the photograph on your passport with your face to determine that you are who you claim to be. This isn’t rocket science. How much clearer do I have to be?

Month after prosecutor’s death, Argentines stage massive march

More than 400,000 people demanding justice marched in symbolic silence Wednesday in soaking Buenos Aires to mark a month since the suspicious death of a prosecutor who was ready to accuse the Argentine president of a massive cover-up.
“I am here because I want to see justice done for someone who gave his life for the truth,” said teacher Marta Canepa, 65, among those walking the 1.7 kilometers (just over a mile) under the banner “Homage for Prosecutor Alberto Nisman.”
Drenched in driving rain and led by prosecutors and opposition figures, the rally is the first major public show of defiance in a murky case that has ignited a political firestorm in Argentina and piled the pressure on President Cristina Kirchner, 61, in her last year in office.
Among those who braved the deluge were Nisman’s two young daughters and his ex-wife, Judge Sandra Arroyo Delgado.
“The march itself is a reflection of society’s underlying demand for an end to impunity. Tension between the justice system and executive were there before, but the Nisman case has exacerbated them,” said sociologist Rosendo Fraga with pollsters Nueva Mayoria.

CBS: Massive Protests in Argentina One Month After Nisman Murder, 'Possible Terrorism Coverup'

US admits withholding some Iran talks info from Israel

The Obama administration said Wednesday it is withholding from Israel some sensitive details of its nuclear negotiations with Iran because it is worried that Israeli government officials have leaked information to try to scuttle the talks — and will continue to do so.
In extraordinary admissions that reflect increasingly strained ties between the US and Israel, the White House and State Department said they were not sharing everything from the negotiations with the Israelis and complained that Israeli officials had misrepresented what they had been told in the past.
Meanwhile, senior US officials privately blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself for “changing the dynamic” of previously robust information-sharing by politicizing it.
The comments came as a late March deadline to forge the outline of an Iran nuclear deal looms. Netanyahu has angered the White House by his open opposition to a deal he believes threatens Israel’s existence, and by accepting a Republican invitation to address Congress about Iran in early March without consulting the White House, a breach of diplomatic protocol.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters that sharing all details of the negotiations with governments that are not at the table would complicate efforts to get a deal that would prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon in exchange for sanctions relief. The talks are being held among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — Germany and Iran.

Jeb Bush 'Eager' to Hear Netanyahu's Congress Speech

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, a possible Republican in the 2016 presidential election, said on Wednesday that he is “eager” to hear Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress next month, Reuters reported.
Bush also said he was surprised by the White House's reaction to the planned speech, which is organized by congressional Republicans.
“I don’t blame him for wanting to share his views and in fact, I think it will be important for the American people to get the perspective of our closest ally in the region,” he was quoted by MSNBC as having said.
The speech has become a point of contention between Republicans and Democrats. Obama's allies fear the trip could be used by Israel and by Republicans to undercut ongoing nuclear talks with Iran.

Obama: US not at war with Islam, but with those who have perverted it

Muslims in the U.S. and around the world have a responsibility to fight a misconception that terrorist groups like the Islamic State speak for them, President Barack Obama said Wednesday in his most direct remarks yet about any link between Islam and terrorism.
For weeks, the White House has sidestepped the question of whether deadly terror attacks in Paris and other Western cities amount to “Islamic extremism,” wary of offending a major world religion or lending credibility to the “war on terror” that Obama’s predecessor waged. But as he hosted a White House summit on countering violent extremism, the president said some in Muslim communities have bought into the notion that Islam is incompatible with tolerance and modern life.
“Leading up to this summit, there has been a fair amount of debate in the press and among pundits about the words we use to describe and frame this challenge. So I want to be very clear,” he said. “Al Qaeda and ISIL and groups like it are desperate for legitimacy. They try to portray themselves as religious leaders, holy warriors in defense of Islam. That’s why ISIL presumes to declare itself the Islamic state. And they propagate the notion that America and the west generally is at war with Islam. That’s how they recruit. That’s how they try to radicalize young people.
“We must never accept the premise that they put forward because it is a lie. Nor should we grant these terrorists the religious legitimacy that they seek. They are not religious leaders. They are terrorists,” Obama said. “And we are not at war with Islam. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam.”

Obama At Extremism Summit: 'There's No Way To Predict Who Will Become' Terrorists

At the second day of a White House summit on violence extremism, President Obama asserted that there is no way to predict who will become a terrorist, and also addressed criticism that he’s been vague about radical Islam’s role in terrorism.
“We all know there is no one profile of a violent extremist or terrorist. There’s no way to predict who will become radicalized,” Obama said Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s not unique to one group, or to one geography or one period of time.”
Obama’s comments are ironic given that the extremist summit is aimed at addressing elements rising up in the Muslim community. The administration has struggled to square the focus of the summit — as well as the recent spate of Islamic terrorist acts — with its claims that all groups are equally susceptible to spawning terrorism and extremism.

Is the Administration legitimizing ISIS’ acts of terror?

In my recent post about ISIS’ latest act of barbarism, I conceded that poverty, hunger, and top-down neglect and disenfranchisement all contribute to an environment conducive to terror activity. Groups like Boko Haram and al-Shabaab have both capitalized on the human rights crises in Africa to present what looks like an acceptable alternative to the status quo, and that’s a problem that the West will eventually have to address if we’re serious about eradicating terrorism.
All that is irrelevant, however, when the President of the United States and his minions take to the soapbox and insist that we won’t win the war on terror by getting rid of the terrorists.
It’s irrelevant because it’s not what the American people—and the rest of the world—need to hear from the leader of the free world. As I said previously, the underlying socioeconomic issues in terrorist hotbeds are, in the eyes of the public, secondary to the immediate issue of hostages being burned alive and beheaded.
This is what the Obama Administration doesn’t understand—and it could end up tanking what’s left of their strategy in the fight against ISIS. They don’t understand the idea of asserting their power, because they’re too busy worrying about all the ways that their power may or may not be offending the rest of the world. They would rather throw a balm on an open wound than admit that they’re neck-deep in the world’s next big disaster, where every move means life and death and there’s no room for the type of “diplomacy” that has defined this rudderless Administration since day one.

Al Jazeera Host with Ties to Muslim Brotherhood Attends White House Extremism Summit

The White House hosted Wajahat Ali at its Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Summit on Wednesday. Ali is an Al Jazeera host who appears to have strong sympathies for the Muslim Brotherhood.
Wajahat Ali was not on a list of attendees provided to Breitbart News by a White House official. However, Ali claimed multiple times on social media that he was in attendance and posted pictures of the CVE summit on his Twitter feed.
He is currently the co-host of Al Jazeera America’s Television show The Stream. Al Jazeera, known for its endless praise of the Muslim Brotherhood and fierce criticism of the State of Israel, is owned by the Qatari ruling family and is based in Doha. In 2001, a New York Times reporter found that the Doha studio was filled with silhouettes glorifying the deceased Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden. In 2013, 22 members of Al Jazeera’s Egyptian Bureau resigned abruptly after complaining that management would force them to report with a heavy pro-Muslim Brotherhood bias. Reuters has previously described one of Al Jazeera’s owners as a “bankroller of Arab Spring revolts in alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood.”
The Muslim Brotherhood, which seeks as its goal world domination under a Sunni Islamic caliphate, sees itself as an ideological ally of Ali’s. IkhwanWeb, the Brotherhood’s official website, frequently reposts Ali’s writings. At Ali’s blog, “Goatmilk: An intellectual playground,” he writes reports castigating Israel and promoting his far-left worldview.

Obama Administration Refuses to Back Egypt's Attacks on ISIS

The rift between the Obama administration and Egypt is growing and, with the growing threat of an increasingly aggressive and expanding ISIS, the timing couldn’t be worse.
Several times Wednesday, the Obama administration had opportunities to express its support of Egypt’s campaign against ISIS. Yet, again and again, the administration refused to back one of its most important allies in the tumultuous region. As the Daily Beast’s Nancy A. Yousseff argues, the administration’s lack of endorsement of Egypt’s airstrikes is a “jarring” indication of the “growing strain between the United States and Egypt, once one of its closest friends in the Middle East.”

Qatar recalls ambassador from Egypt over Libya strikes on IS

Qatar recalled its ambassador to Egypt Thursday “for consultation” following a row at an Arab League meeting over Cairo’s air strikes on jihadist targets in Libya, Qatari state media said.
A foreign ministry official said Doha was recalling its envoy over a statement by Egypt’s delegate to the Arab League, according to the QNA state news agency. QNA gave no details about the statement but the Doha-based Al-Jazeera news channel said the Egyptians accused Qatar of backing terrorism.
Egypt launched a series of air strikes against IS targets last week after the terror group released a gruesome video showing the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Copts kidnapped in Libya. The killings have enraged Cairo.

Labour Baroness Repaid £125k Expenses With 'Muslim Brotherhood Loan'

A former Labour peer who repaid £125,000 in wrongly claimed expenses, was given an interest free loan of £124,000 partly funded by a businessman accused of being a part of the Muslim Brotherhood. Baroness Uddin made the £125,000 payment despite previous claims from her husband that she was “too poor” to raise the money.
In 2009 she was exposed as having claimed the money by falsely stating she lived with her brother in Kent. In reality she lived at a property in Wapping, but her deception enabled her to claim £174 a night for hotel stays she never needed.
The House of Lords suspended her for 18 months and demanded she repay the £125k but she said she was unable to do so. In the end a spokesman confirmed she had paid the entire bill “in a lump sum”, something that had not been expected given her husbands claims about their financial situation.
But Uddin’s register of members’ interests declaration may shed some light as it shows she received a £124,000 interest-free loan from three sources. Two businessmen from the Islam Channel, Mohammed Ali Harrath and Sufyan Ismail contributed £10,000.
Mr Harrath was accused of being a “leading member” of the Muslim Brotherhood by the group Stand For Peace. He was also the subject of an Interpol Red Notice for what the Guardian said was related to a conviction in Tunisia for terror related offences.

UN ‘alarmed’ by Hamas rearming

During a Security Council briefing on the Middle East, Jeffery Feltman, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, also expressed “alarm” at reports of Hamas efforts to re-arm. He called the terror group’s test-firing of rockets, and its attempts to smuggle in materials for potential weapons use, “dangerous developments.”
Feltman said that the failure of world donors to deliver the billions of dollars in aid pledged to Gaza’s reconstruction, together with Israel’s withholding of PA tax revenues, was creating a dire humanitarian situation that threatened to reignite the conflict.
The under-secretary-general told the council that the countries who pledged some $5.4 billion to rebuild Gaza four months ago in Cairo had “yet to fulfill the vast majority of their pledges.”
“This is frankly unacceptable, and cannot continue if we hope to avoid another escalation in Gaza,” he told the 15-member council. Feltman warned that the fiscal challenge was putting “an almost unbearable strain on an already highly fractious environment.”

UN Pushes Donors to Make Good on Gaza Pledges

The failure by world donors to deliver billions of dollars of aid to rebuild Gaza is jeopardizing efforts to avoid a new flareup in the Palestinian territory, a senior United Nations official warned Wednesday.
UN political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman told the Security Council that donors who had promised $5.4 billion to the Palestinians at the Cairo conference four months ago "have yet to fulfill the vast majority of their pledges," according to AFP.
"This is, quite frankly, unacceptable, and cannot continue if we hope to avoid another escalation in Gaza," Feltman told the 15-member council during a meeting on the Middle East.
"Failure to deliver the necessary support is putting an almost unbearable strain on an already highly fractious environment," he said.
Much of Gaza's infrastructure was destroyed in Operation Protective Edge, which was spurred by a barrage of Hamas rockets into Israel. Over 100,000 Gazans allegedly lost their homes.
Feltman said more than 75,000 people have been cleared to receive construction material to rebuild, and over 47,000 had been able to purchase building supplies.

Italy to vote on recognition of Palestinian state

The Italian parliament is set to vote on a non-binding bill calling for the recognition of a Palestinian state, following similar initiatives last year by France, Britain, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. The Swedish government formally recognized a Palestinian state in October.
Italian lawmakers may vote on the motion put forth by MPs from the Left Ecology Freedom and the Socialist Party as soon as Thursday. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s Democratic Party is ready to back the initiative, according to the International Business Times.
The bill urges the government “to recognize the state of Palestine so that negotiations to reach a two-state solution are restarted.”

On the frontline with Gaza, fence menders face nightly peril

The commander of a patrol, heading toward a section of Gaza border fence near Shejaiya, looked about half a decade away from his first shave. A Nahal Brigade sergeant, he discussed the order of travel in the convoy, the number of vehicles and the different radio frequencies in the region.
He enforced the use of helmets and ceramic bullet proof vests. He had each person print his or her name and ID number on a sheet of paper, presumably to be checked against a body should the need arise, and finally led our small party northwest from Nahal Oz toward the fence.
His squad consisted of combat soldiers, but they were only playing a supporting role. “If things go bad, we’ll take care of it,” said Sgt. First Class Reuven Tautang, a career soldier who, in the line of service, has been targeted by rocks, mines and anti-tank missiles, and been struck in the arm and chest by sniper fire.

After bloody 2014, US issues travel warning for Jerusalem

Violence in the Jerusalem area has reached levels “not seen in those areas in a decade,” the US State Department said Wednesday, warning citizens about the dangers of travel to the capital and other areas in the region.
In the newest reissue of a standing travel warning regarding Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, the State Department admonished citizens to “be aware of the continuing risks of travel to these areas.”
The warning, issued Wednesday, replaced a travel warning issued in early September, and placed much more emphasis on dangers to US citizens from terror attacks in well-traveled areas.
Describing diminished security in Israel’s cities, the warning notes that “a rise in political tensions and violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank has resulted in injuries to and deaths of US citizens.”

Haaretz: Labor Candidate Encourages Violence'

Attorney Eldad Yaniv, number 30 on Labor-Hatnua's Knesset list, is quoted by leftist Haaretz as encouraging the use of violence “in the struggle for democracy,” at an election event with voters.
Haaretz's Roi Arad was present at a Labor-Hatnua event in which candidates met voters in a “speed date” style session in a Tel Aviv bar. The voters moved from table to table to speak with the different candidates simultaneously.
A voter named Arik came up to Yaniv's table, reported Arad, and asked him: “Where are our hilltop youth? Where is the 'saison'? Someone needs to leave in a stretcher, we need to see blood.”
The saison is the name of the "hunting season" in which leftists turned over right-wing activists to the British authorities during the British Mandate.
Arad reports that he expected Yaniv to express reservations, but the candidate surprised him: “It is permissible to strike people in the struggle for democracy,” he said.

Tel Aviv Bus Terrorist Committed
Attack for 'Al-Aqsa'

An indictment against terrorist Hamza Matrouk was filed Thursday with the Tel Aviv District Court
Matrouk, 23, a resident of Tulkarm, is accused of stabbing dozens of people during an attack on Tel Aviv's #40 bus line.
At the indictment hearing, he proclaimed he had committed the attack "because of Al-Aqsa."
According to the indictment, filed by attorney Ruti Shavit-Oshri, "After Operation Protective Edge last August, the defendant decided to carry out an attack in Israel in order to kill a large number of Israelis, hoping that he would die by the end of the event and become a 'martyr.'"
Matrouk also appealed to his close friends and invited them to participate in the attack, "but they rejected his offer and warned him against making such a move."
The indictment revealed that Matrouk "participated in Hamas parades and visited mosques in PA-controlled territories in the hopes gaining help and funds for the attack from Hamas" which he considered committing in Jerusalem or at a checkpoint into Israel.

PMW: Fatah glorifies Japanese and Palestinian terrorists

It is not only Palestinian terrorist killers who are praised as heroes by Fatah, the party headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Fatah recently posted on its official Facebook page a tribute to the Japanese terrorists who participated in a terror attack in Israel in 1972 in which 24 people were killed.
“They were neither Arab nor Muslim, yet they sacrificed their lives for Palestine,” Fatah stated, posting a photo of a monument for the terrorists in Beirut, Lebanon. [Facebook, “Fatah - The Main Page,” Feb. 3, 2015]
On May 30, 1972, three members of the Japanese Red Army, Takeshi Okudaira, Yasuyuki Yasuda and Kozo Okamoto, who had been recruited by the Palestinian terror organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), attacked passengers at Israel’s Lod (Tel Aviv) airport, killing 8 Israelis and 16 foreign tourists and wounding over 70. Okudaira and Yasuda were killed during the attack, while Okamoto was arrested.

Palestinian Christians urge stronger fight against IS

Some 200 Palestinian Christians staged a candlelit march in Jerusalem Wednesday to mourn Egyptian Copts killed by the Islamic State group in Libya, calling for stronger international action against the jihadists.
The demonstrators carried four cardboard coffins decorated with gold crosses, and held up banners showing pictures of the 21 Coptic Christians who were beheaded by IS militants in a graphic video released Sunday.
“We call on the international community to respond to the killing of innocents,” one banner read, as an Orthodox priest read out a eulogy for the dead.
The somber march made its way to Jerusalem’s Coptic monastery, where banners were displayed featuring stills from the IS video and passages from the Bible.

UN to report little progress in Iran nuke probe

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency is set to report little progress in its attempts to probe allegations that Iran worked on nuclear arms, diplomats said Thursday.
Two diplomats said the agency’s restricted report will likely be released to the UN Security Council and the IAEA’s 35 board member nations Thursday. They demanded anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the report’s contents.
Iran agreed a year ago to work with the IAEA. But — like previous probes — the investigation quickly stalled over Tehran insistence that it never wanted or worked on such weapons.

Where Saddam Hussein’s statue once stood in Baghdad, there’s now a portrait of Iran’s supreme leader

Perhaps nothing illuminates more starkly the transformation underway in Iraq than the billboard depicting the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini erected recently on the edge of Baghdad’s Firdaus Square. The portrait obscures the view of the plinth where a giant statue of Saddam Hussein once stood, until U.S. Marines pulled it down in 2003.
The 2003 event was a profoundly symbolic moment that seemed to capture the swift triumph of American troops over Hussein’s crumbling army. It also signaled the start of Iraq’s steady drift into the orbit of Iranian influence, a trend that has accelerated dramatically since the surge into northern Iraq by the Islamic State last summer.
The billboard is one of many put up around the streets of Baghdad advertising the multiple Shiite militias that have emerged to battle the Islamic State, many of them with support from Iran. This one advertises the Resurrection of Hussein Brigade, a newly formed group that Iraqis say was directly created by Iran. It also features the portrait of Iran’s current supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khomeini’s successor.
In the background is the Palestine Hotel, where many of the journalists who covered the U.S. invasion stayed, and where U.S. Marines set up one of their first offices.

Europe could switch stance on Syria due to ISIS threat

Some European Union countries which withdrew their ambassadors from Syria are saying privately it is time for more communication with Damascus even though Britain and France oppose it, diplomats said.
Those states have become more vocal in internal meetings about the need to talk to the Syrian government and have a presence in the capital. London and Paris reject this, saying President Bashar Assad has lost all legitimacy.
This makes a change in EU policy unlikely, but the debate underlines a predicament for Western states which ostracized the government at the start of the crisis, imposed sanctions, and four years on still find Assad in power.
Diplomats say the calls have come from or would be supported by countries including Sweden, Denmark, Romania, Bulgaria, Austria and Spain, as well as the Czech Republic, which did not withdraw its ambassador. Norway and Switzerland, which are outside the EU, are also supportive.

ISIS approaches Europe, reportedly planning attacks in Turkey and Bulgaria

Islamic State militants have entered Turkey and are plotting to attack diplomatic missions in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkish media on Thursday quoted the national intelligence agency (MIT) as saying.
Around 3,000 militants from the ultra-radical group in Syria and Iraq are looking to enter Turkey through its southern border after failing to take the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, the Hurriyet newspaper reported the internal MIT note as saying.
Some militants, including senior commanders who are planning the attacks, are thought to have already entered Turkey and are in safe houses, the note said, without saying how many entered.
"Militants expert in suicide and bomb attacks are preparing ... attacks on the Istanbul and Ankara missions of coalition forces which intervened in Syria," it said.
Some militants with Syrian and Palestinian nationality were also planning to cross into Bulgaria to carry out attacks in European Union countries, it added. Turkish police declined to comment on the issue and MIT was not available for comment.

ISIS Plans to 'Invade' Italy With Small Boats, Says Watchdog

Italian officials have expressed serious concerns that they could face an invasion by Islamic State forces, which have been on a rampage in Libya. In recent days, Libyan ISIS terrorists executed 21 Coptic Christians on a Mediterranean beach – with the location chosen deliberately to imply that the group would be seeking to bring its brand of Islamic fundamentalism to Europe.
In a video of those executions, a masked ISIS terrorist threatens the group's next move, saying that ISIS “will conquer Rome, by Allah’s permission, the promise of our prophet, peace be upon him.”
In an interview with the Associated Press, Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti said that Italy was prepared to contribute as many as 5,000 troops on a mission to liberate Libya from ISIS, if Western states were to decide to undertake such a mission. However, he said, Rome was willing to wait until the UN Security Council decided on collective action. The issue of the ISIS incursion into Libya is now under discussion by the Council.

ISIS Bloopers