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Elder of Ziyon
Patronage and paralysis: UN marks 70 years of ineffectiveness
The worsening war in Syria, allegations of child sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers and the mishandling of the Ebola epidemic cast a spotlight on the inadequacies of the United Nations in a globalized world, operating with a power structure that hasn't changed since 1945.How's That Iran Détente Working?
With age, the organization has grown bloated, say many who know it well. It is also underfunded and overwhelmed by the tasks it faces.
The world body is trying to deal with almost 60 million global refugees, displaced people and asylum seekers — the greatest number since World War II. It is seeking to provide emergency supplies to keep 100 million people alive but has received less than 30 percent of the $20 billion it needs this year.
Beyond Syria, where more than 250,000 people have been killed since 2011, conflicts escalate from Yemen and Iraq to South Sudan and Mali, forcing tens of thousands to flee hoping for a better life in Europe.
Since the UN was born after World War II, it has grown from 51 members to 193.
As it celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, the UN is hobbled by bureaucracy, politics and an inability among its five most powerful members to agree on much, including how to end Syria's conflict.
Abandoning all of the West's previous positions and bribing Iran enabled Obama to get the Islamist regime to sign a nuclear accord. But Iran détente with hasn't defeated ISIS or stopped the Iranians from doubling down on its efforts to threaten Israel from both the north and the south.You Won't Believe The Latest Revelations About The Flaws In The Nuclear Agreement With Iran
Hamas is already benefiting from Iran's largesse as it uses desperately needed cash to prop up its bankrupt government in Gaza and to build new terror tunnels and other fortifications that will enable it renew hostilities against Israel. Yet the real danger to Israel is the possibility that Hamas and Hezbollah can act in concert to place intolerable pressure via rocket attacks that will place the entire Jewish state under fire. Iran's adventure in Syria makes such a scenario even more possible.
Hezbollah's goal in Syria is not just to do Iran's bidding to help Assad. They seek to establish the ability to fire rockets from Syrian soil into Israel. Their reasoning is that shooting at the Jewish state from Lebanon will invite massive Israeli retaliation and undermine support there for Hezbollah's activities. But if such fire is coming from Syrian territory it will make it harder for Israel to retaliate in such a way as to hurt Hezbollah politically.
The result of this activity is to show that from moderating Iran, the nuclear negotiations have only encouraged it to increase their already considerable backing for terror groups. Even if we assume that Iran will observe the terms of the deal that enable it to build a bomb once it expires, recent events show that in the meantime it will use its growing financial muscle to strengthen its grip on regional power. That is a recipe for more bloodshed in the region as well as a deadly threat to Israel. Détente with Iran never made much sense even if the discussion was limited to nuclear concerns. But the administration's adamant refusal to bring the question of terrorism and threats to Israel into the negotiations has paid off for the ayatollahs. The regime is flexing its muscles in a way that has already vindicated Arab fears of Iran using the nuclear deal to pursue regional hegemony.
Even if the administration should want to give in to Iran on this issue, there are serious obstacles that make such a concession unlikely.
The first obstacle is that in order to lift sanctions now, UNSC Resolution 2231 would have to be canceled, which is very unlikely. The second obstacle the administration would face is that Congress must OK sanction relief, something that is even more unlikely than the cancellation of UNSCR 2231.
No doubt the Iranians will come with new demands at the UNGA meeting, and immediate sanction relief is probably one of them. The Iranians always conduct negotiations in this way, and they will do so this time too because they know Obama sees this deal as the foreign policy achievement of his presidency, and because they want to buy time.
In a worst case scenario for President Obama, Khamenei will make good on his threat that there will be no agreement if the administration and the other negotiation partners do not cave in. In this respect, it is important to remember that the JCPOA has not yet been signed by Iran and a number of experts have already said that Iran won't sign the deal at all. Among those experts are Michael Ledeen of Pajamas Media and Jennifer Dyer who writes for Liberty Unyielding.
Dyer told Western Journalism that Iran won't announce that they will not sign the deal, but instead will come up with new demands. She said the reason for this behavior has to do with Israel.
"By keeping the negotiation process open-ended, Iran keeps Israel perpetually just short of being justified in taking decisive action. The sense is kept alive that the world is still waiting for a finite resolution on the Iran nuclear problem. The Western nations are allowed to perceive that they're 'making progress.' But in fact, Iran is just buying time – which requires keeping alive that perception of the political problem still being unresolved," Dyer said
"The day Iran signs something real, that game is over. Hence, all the incessant signals that the basis for a "sign-able" agreement doesn't exist yet," she added.
UN Watch: Iran submits UNHRC resolution declaring that sanctions violate human rights
Acting in its capacity as chair of the largest group of nations at the UN Human Rights Council, the Islamic Republic of Iran has just submitted a resolution that reaffirms the peculiar notion that adoption of sanctions against another country is a violation of human rights and of international law, known in UN-speak as "unilateral coercive measures."Iran's self-sampling at Parchin was 'faultless,' claims IAEA chief
Earlier this year, the UNHRC's infamous Consultative Group, with Saudi Arabia's Faisal Trad then serving merely as Vice-President, successfully picked Algerian hardliner Idriss Jazairy — famous for his efforts as a former diplomat to enact a UNHRC "code of conduct" to intimidate independent human rights experts — as the new "Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures."
Jazairy has already accused the U.S. and Europe of being leading human rights violators due to their use of sanctions against countries like Iran and Zimbabwe.
Indeed, many of the resolutions adopted at each session of the UNHRC are sponsored by Cuba, Iran, Pakistan, Algeria, and other non-democracies, and are designed to demonize the West, free market economies, individual rights, or Israel, as part of a strategy to deflect attention from council members who are guilty of subjugating women, trampling religious freedom, persecuting gays, oppressing ethnic minorities and promoting relgious extremism.
The head of the U.N. nuclear agency pushed back on Thursday against critics questioning the wisdom of letting Iranian experts take samples meant to help determine whether their own country clandestinely worked in the past on atomic arms, saying he is convinced the process was faultless.Fox News Poll: Voters feel Iran agreement will make U.S. less safe
Yukiya Amano spoke to The Associated Press less than a week after confirming that Iranians did the environmental sampling at a site where such alleged experiments took place. Personnel from his International Atomic Energy Agency normally do the work of swiping equipment and sampling the soil and air at sites they suspect was used for hidden nuclear activities.
Noting that the Iranians were under stringent IAEA monitoring, Amano then said he was confident "so far" that the samples were genuine. He appeared to go further on Thursday, however. While declining to say how far his agency's laboratory analysis has gone, he said he is "very sure that … the samples are authentic."
The alleged test of explosive triggers for a nuclear bomb at the Parchin military site is one of about a dozen suspected experiments linked to such a weapon that the IAEA has been trying to probe for more than a decade. Iran denies ever working on such arms and says its present nuclear program is meant only to generate power and for science and medicine.
It's clear why American voters oppose the Iran nuclear deal: they think it's dangerous.Iranians Mount Monday Anti-Rouhani Rally at UNHQ
The latest Fox News poll finds 56 percent think the agreement on Iran's nuclear program will make the United States less safe. Just 26 percent feel it will make the country safer.
The partisan divide on the deal is gaping. Democrats feel the country will be safer under it by a 14 percentage-point margin, while Republicans say the opposite -- by a whopping 70-point margin.
By a 37-point margin, independents feel the agreement makes the U.S. less safe.
Strikingly, however, there's no gender gap on this issue. About the same number of men (58 percent) and women (54 percent) say the deal will increase risk.
This coming Monday at 11 a.m. local time, Iranian-Americans from all over the United States will congregate at the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in front of the United Nations HQ in New York City to denounce the rapidly deteriorating state of human rights in Iran at the hands of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.New York Times Editor Unloads on Jewish Critic
The protest's organizers claim that in the two years since Rouhani was installed as president, over 2,000 Iranian political and human rights prisoners have been executed by his regime.
The rally – entitled "Voices of Iran" – will echo recent reports by the United Nations Rapporteur on the Iranian human rights situation, warning of grave and rampant violations of human rights.
While the struggle against Iran's nuclear ambitions has placed public focus on Iran's continuous threats to annihilate the over six million Jews of Israel, the rally is a reminder that 60 million Iranians now live under a reign of Islamic terror inside Iran. The demonstration is meant to send a message of support to these Iranians, who live in fear inside their own country.
Many second-generation Iranian-Americans will speak at the rally of the need to protect human rights and freedoms in Iran.
A senior editor at the New York Times became embroiled in a testy back-and-forth exchange with a Jewish pro-Israel reader of the publication, who had criticized it for launching a website aimed at tracking how Jewish lawmakers are voting on the Iranian nuclear deal, according to emails obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.Europeans Rush to Invest in Iran
The Times' "Jew tracker" was described as anti-Semitic and offensive by pro-Israel officials who slammed the paper for feeding into stereotypes about Jewish power and money.
The controversial chart listed all lawmakers who voted against the nuclear deal and highlighted in yellow whether or not that person was Jewish. The chart also included the number of Jewish persons living in each lawmaker's district.
Following a report by the Free Beacon on the tracker, the New York Times altered the site by removing the column identifying members as Jewish. The paper also edited the report to remove overt references to the relationship between each lawmaker's religion and his position on the Iran deal.
Despite altering the website to address the material critics viewed as offensive, a senior New York Times editor praised the tracker and fought back against one Jewish critic who had written to express outrage over the post.
"Are you so ignorant that you don't understand the historical significance of what you're doing? Are you so tone deaf? Why don't you include addresses so that people's homes can be attacked?" wrote the reader, who requested anonymity, to Greg Brock, a senior Times editor.
Iranian and European business leaders gathered in Geneva Thursday to explore the massive opportunities expected to open up when years of biting sanctions against Tehran end, although experts warned huge challenges remained.Australian Jewish lawmaker chides premier over rapprochement with Iran
"We're seeing a lot of activities and a lot of interest from foreigners," enthused Ramin Rabii, the head of Turquoise Partners, Iran's largest managers of foreign portfolio investment on the Tehran stock market.
He told AFP he expected Iran's economy to grow at a rate of between six and eight percent for the next decade after the sanctions are fully lifted.
The economic boon for the leading state sponsor of terrorism has raised many concerns that the influx of funds will be funneled to terrorist organizations, Iran's nuclear-capable ballistic missile program, and its nuclear program.
Rabii was representing one of nearly 600 companies and organisations taking part in the Europe-Iran Forum, among them French industrial giant Alstom, Germany's number two power supplier RWE, National Iranian Oil (NIOC), the Tehran Stock Exchange and Iran's central bank.
An Australian Jewish lawmaker called on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to dump the nation's current policy of rapprochement with Iran.WaPo Editorial: Jason Rezaian's case proves Iran still can't be trusted
In a statement issued Monday, Michael Danby, a federal Labor member of parliament representing Melbourne Ports, said that Turnbull "can be a friend of Israel or a friend of the dangerous Iranian regime. He cannot be both."
Danby has placed adverts in local media demanding Turnbull order Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to "halt and reverse this slide towards appeasement of the hardline, bellicose regime in Tehran."
Bishop in recent months has visited Iran, signed an intelligence-secret sharing agreement with Iran, and apparently offered to allow Iranian consulates in Sydney and Melbourne.
On Sept. 23, Bishop met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. According to unconfirmed reports, she invited Zarif to visit Australia.
"Since the proposed nuclear deal with Iran, Australia and Julie Bishop have failed to respond, as they have in the past, to war-like announcements by Iran where Israel has been directly threatened," Danby said.
The outrage of Mr. Rezaian's detention extends beyond the niceties of Iranian law. U.N. officials have said that his treatment conflicts with international norms. "The arrest, detention and secret trial of Mr. Rezaian violate his rights and intimidate all those working in the media in Iran," David Kaye, U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, said last month. In an Aug. 31 report, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed concerns about the level of censorship and number of detained journalists in Iran and drew particular attention to Mr. Rezaian's case. "It appears that his arrest and prosecution are linked to his profession as a journalist and his legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression," the report states.'Death to the Saudi dynasty,' Iranians chant as anger rises over hajj stampede
Any foreign companies contemplating investment in Iran will have to wonder: To what extent can they count on Iranian courts to protect their assets or their employees? Mr. Rezaian, a talented journalist with U.S. and Iranian citizenship, had dedicated his life to improving understanding between the two nations. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called him "a good reporter" and said, more than seven months ago, "I hope he will be cleared in a court of law. . . . I hope once the court process is completed, we will have a clear-cut case or we will have his acquittal." Instead, we have continuing lawless limbo, with Mr. Rouhani suggesting vaguely that "the American side must take its own steps."
Eager to complete an agreement on Iranian nuclear capability and win approval for it in Congress, the administration has been reluctant to say much about Iran's egregious human rights violations at home or support of terrorism abroad. We favor the nuclear deal, but that can't be the only element in the U.S.-Iranian relationship. President Obama and Congress both should make clear that further improvement in relations, including the foreign investment that Mr. Rouhani craves, is difficult to imagine as long as innocent Americans languish in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison.
Saudi Arabia, under growing pressure to account for a crush that killed more than 700 people at the haj pilgrimage, on Friday suggested pilgrims failing to follow crowd control rules bore some blame for the worst disaster at the event for 25 years.Israel's Occupation Ended 20 Years Ago This Week
The kingdom's regional rival Iran expressed outrage at the deaths of 131 of its nationals at the world's largest annual gathering of people, and politicians in Tehran suggested Riyadh was incapable of managing the event.
"Death to the Saudi dynasty!" hundreds of demonstrators chanted at a protest in the Iranian capital Tehran.
Twenty years ago this week, Israel's occupation of the Palestinians came to an end. So why do Israel's critics keep claiming that Israel is still occupying the Palestinians?Canada Park wasn't stolen from the Palestinians
On September 28, 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo II accord, also known as the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement. It provided for Israel's withdrawal from the cities in Judea-Samaria (the West Bank) where 98% of Palestinian Arabs reside.
And in the weeks that followed, Israel did just that.
Israel's forces retreated from the cities of Nablus (Shechem), Jenin, Qalqilya, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Tulkarm, Jericho and almost all of Hebron. Later, they withdrew from all of Gaza.
The Palestinian Authority took over all those areas. For the past 20 years, the PA has policed the streets, collected the garbage, issued the building permits, and administered the elections — that is, when the PA deigned to have elections at all. In Gaza, the PA ruled at first; today, Hamas is in charge there.
The portion of Judea-Samaria that is completely ruled by the PA is called Area A. The PA also has civilian control over another portion of the territories, where Israel is still in charge of security. That's called Area B. Altogether, the PA has full or partial control of 39% of the territories, and 98% of the Palestinian population, and Hamas rules 100% of the Gazans. The occupation of the Palestinians ended.
The only debate now is over issues such as whether the PA should be given additional portions of the Israeli-controlled section of Judea-Samaria, and whether the PA should become a sovereign, independent state.
In light of some serious misconceptions in Mira Sucharov's column ("Is it time to have a debate about the JNF?"), according to which the land on which the Jewish National Fund-administered Canada Park is located was illegally stolen from Palestinians in contravention of the Geneva Convention, the following points need to be made.Move Over Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Make Room for the Yinon Plan
The land, including the former Arab villages that existed in what is now Canada Park, was never part of any Palestinian state or entity. No such entity has ever existed, and hence the land could not have been "stolen" from a non-existent entity that neither owned nor occupied it.
During the 1948-49 War of Independence, in which, as is widely known, Israel defended itself from a combined attack by neighbouring and local Arab forces, the area in question, including the villages that were located there, together with units of the Jordanian army, played an active and strategic role in blocking the route to Jerusalem and in attacking and bombarding both Jerusalem itself and convoys driving to and from Jerusalem.
In the 1949 Jordan-Israel armistice agreement, which terminated the hostilities but left the issue of "territorial settlements or boundary lines" open for future peace negotiations, the Latrun area, including what is now Canada Park, was determined as "No-Man's Land" and a demilitarized zone between the forward lines of the forces, with strict limitations on any military presence or activity therein, and remained so until the 1967 Six Day War.
The armistice demarcation line has never been considered to be a border and has never been so designated by United Nations agencies or governments, including Canada.
Apparently, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, one of the most notorious anti-Semitic fake documents of all time, has a sequel to cover conspiracies about the modern State of Israel, and many Jews do not realize that it exists.Ministers toughen measures against stone-throwers
The theory is based on an article that was published in the 1982 winter edition of Kivunim, a "Journal for Judaism and Zionism," by Oded Yinon, who writes that the agreements in the Camp David Accords should not be honored, and discusses how Arab states will be eroded along ethnic and religious lines. This article might otherwise have been forgotten, but conspiracy theorists got their hands on it and ran with the ball. The theoretical stance outlined by Yinon was expanded perhaps beyond the originator's wildest dreams, so much so, that Arab conspiracy theorists are now ready to blame internal discord in their countries on a Zionist plot to destabilize their nations and to gobble them up as part of a future Israeli colonialist empire.
Just this week, the so-called Yinon Plan was mentioned in an article published in the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) with a title which, at first glance, seems to say something nice about Israel: "Israel Ready to Help Africans Produce Food." This must be a way to produce click-bait shock for readers, since an IRNA headline reflecting well on Israel should raise readers' eyebrows and hook them into reading the article. The very first sentence, though, makes clear the aim of the article is not to praise Israel: "For long (sic) Africa has been a missing link in the evolution of a Zionist plan to set up the so-called Greater Israel." According to IRNA, Israel has its sights set on Africa's oil reserves, its precious gems and diamonds, as well as uranium to increase its nuclear stockpile. The Iranian author claims to have retrieved this information from spy cables sent by the Guardian and Al Jazeera. It also said that Israel has been aggravating crises in African countries with a divide and conquer strategy, for which IRNA uses the "Yinon Plan" as evidence. Rather than a notion hatched out by a near-anonymous individual, IRNA asserts that the Yinon Plan has been policy from the moment Theodore Herzl, the founder of Zionism, first put his pen to paper. Occupying lands in 1967 was just a first step, IRNA insists, to a larger scheme of a complete Zionist stranglehold on the continent of Africa, and it is exploiting one conflict at a time.
The security cabinet on Thursday voted unanimously in favor of a series of proposed measures aimed at combating stone-throwing, including mandatory minimum sentences for those convicted of throwing rocks and firebombs, and an easing of the rules governing police use of live fire in rock-throwing incidents.The Temple Mount is in danger
The cabinet agreed to back legislation to allow live fire in any case in which lives are endangered; use of .22 Ruger sniper rifles against rock throwers; a minimum four-year prison sentence for rock throwers, including imprisonment and fines for minors aged 14-18; the cancellation of welfare benefits for minors in prison; and an evaluation of fining parents of convicted children aged 12-14.
"The security cabinet has decided to authorize police to use live ammunition against people throwing stones and Molotov cocktails when the life of a third person is threatened and no longer only when a police officer is threatened," a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said.
Following the vote, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted that "In Israel, these murderous objects won't be thrown unanswered and without prevention."
Forty-eight years have passed since the Temple Mount, the site of the Temple, returned to Jewish sovereignty – and never have Muslims been restricted from entering. On the contrary, the State of Israel has invested great effort to make freedom of worship possible on the Mount – even at the cost of harming Jewish visitors who wish to ascend to the site. (Without debating the issue of allowing Jews into the Temple Mount area, the Chief Rabbinate, which I represent, forbids Jewish entry to the Temple Mount.) And yet, from the depths of hatred, the cry of "The Temple Mount is in Danger" is sounded again, enlisting naïve people who will kill and be killed in this mendacious war.Abbas Calls for Returning Temple Mount to Pre-1967 Status Quo, with Jews Barred from Entry
Only a few days ago, on the eve of Rosh Hashana, another name was added to the horrific list of the Temple Mount libel victims. A Jew, wrapped in tallit and tefillin, was on his way to the Western Wall when he was nearly beaten to death by a gang of young Muslims. His only sin was his Jewish appearance, and for this he almost paid with his life.
Since then and while these words are being written, the Temple Mount is aflame. Make no mistake – this fire is burning from within the Mount, not outside of it. This fire is bursting forth from Molotov cocktails and pipe bombs that have been hoarded over a long period by heartless and Godless people in preparation for a well-planned attack on Jewish worshipers praying at the Western Wall during Rosh Hashana, which took place this week.
I ask you, dear readers of these words – can you conceive of desecrating the holy site with ammunition? Would you dare bring arms meant for murder into your House of God? Can you imagine making your God a co-conspirator in your plan to harm innocent men, women and children? Indeed, Haj Amin al-Husseini was correct in declaring that the Temple Mount is in danger. It is in danger because of those who call themselves "believers," but use faith to rationalize their blind hatred and cruelty toward Jews. The Temple Mount is in danger from those who claim to be men of religion, but who use their position to spread hatred, dispute and war. Is this God's will? Is it for this purpose that we were all created? So that we shed each other's blood forever? If the Temple Mount were sacred to you, you would not dare turn its mosques into armories and its gates into blockades.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday called for the "protection of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound" and ensuring that "Palestinians'" freedom of worship in Jerusalem remain in line with the order that existed before the "Israeli occupation of 1967," WAFA, the official Palestinian Authority news agency reported.PA Charges Jews with Wearing 'Priestly Garments' on Temple Mount [video]
From 1948 until June of 1967, Jews were not allowed anywhere in the Old City of Jerusalem, and Jewish tombstones from the Mt. Olive old Jewish cemetery were being used by the Jordanian legion to pave roads.
"The Israeli systematic aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque compound … the third of the holy sites in Islam in occupied East Jerusalem, the capital of the state of Palestine, could not serve peace, coexistence and tolerance among faiths and peoples," Abbas said during the inauguration ceremony of the reconstructed central mosque in Moscow.
"On the contrary, it provides a pretext for worldwide extremists who are exploiting religions for terrorizing humanity," Abbas added.
The official Palestinian Authority website WAFA has accused "extremist Jewish settlers" with "wearing priestly garments" on the Temple Mount on Yom Kippur.Radical Leftist Activist Smuggles Arab Infiltrators
WAFA as well as all Arab media inside and outside Israel routinely incite Muslims into a frenzy over Jews "storming" the Temple Mount.
WAFA added that the "settlers," a term referring to any Jew who ascends the Temple Mount, "attempted to perform Talmudic (Jewish) prayers, however their attempts were foiled by the Mosque guards."
That statement is probably not true because Jerusalem police stay within inches of all Jews on the Temple Mount and haul them away if they even dare to whisper a prayer.
WAFA also told its faithful that Israeli police were deployed in such large numbers that it made Jerusalem a "military barrack."
The Palestinian Authority's official website's reference to the "priestly garments" could have been part of its strategy of incitement against Jews or could have been plain ignorance and paranoia.
Ilana Hamerman, an activist and one of the founders of the radical leftist group Lo Metsaytot (We Do Not Obey), smuggled Arab infiltrators who have no permit to enter sovereign Israeli territory in her car.Hezbollah Were Surprised by How Easily their Spy Entered Israel
Hamerman did not try to hide the incident, but rather published the story in the leftist paper Haaretz. She wrote that on Rosh Hashanah Eve last week on Sunday, she smuggled an Arab worker who lived under the Palestinian Authority (PA) in her car trunk.
In the car itself she smuggled a female Arab resident into Israel. What's more, Hamerman wrote that this wasn't the first time that she smuggled the same Arab woman, and emphasized that neither of the two had a permit to enter sovereign Israeli territory.
The shocking breach of security shows a total disregard to the dangers of terrorism conducted by Arab residents illegally entering Israel. Just one of many examples was the mass stabbing attack in a central Tel Aviv train station last November, in which an Arab who illegally entered stabbed numerous Israelis, murdering the 20-year-old soldier Almog Shiloni.
Hamerman went on to describe how she let the Arab woman who illegally entered Israel stay at her home overnight, and the next day drove the infiltrators directly to Jerusalem - where a wave of Arab terrorism has been engulfing the capital since last Sunday.
Hassan Hizran, a Swede of Lebanese origin, was arrested in Israel during the summer on suspicion of spying for Hezbollah. The story of his capture and interrogation, to be published this weekend by Walla! Magazine, reveal the enormous scope of the Shiite terror organization anti-Israel mission.Commander of Elite IDF Unit Says Hezbollah's Newfound Strength Is Its Achilles Heel
"I'll tell you the whole story," Hassan Hizran told his Israeli interrogators. Hezbollah's assignments for Hizran included observations of the Dimona nuclear reactor, photos of classified IDF bases, and recruiting Israeli Arabs who had contacts with Israeli soldiers.
In 2011, Hizran visited Lebanon. "I remember the day I arrived in Lebanon a large car bomb exploded in Hezbollah's stronghols, the Dahieh predominately Shia Muslim suburb south of Beirut. After four days, I saw a friend who told me that Hezbollah wanted to meet with me. I agreed." Hizran's eyes were bound and he was taken to a safe house where he was questioned. "In the room I was taken to there was a large map of Israel," recalls Hizran. "A man walked in and introduced himself as Abbas Almosawi. He looked to be in his late 40s. Abbas said that he apologized that the meeting would be brief on account of the blown vehicle, which is why he was very busy. He asked me to tell him what happened to me 'inside' [the Green Line]. At first he wanted to hear details on the Tel Aviv airport, how do people coming to Israel from abroad get in, how are the security arrangements there. I told him I had been greeted me very well. I entered Israel without any difficulty." "How can it be? " the man from Hezbollah insisted." That's what happened, everything was easy and without problems. "
The commander of an elite IDF combat combat unit claims to be benefiting from Hezbollah's seemingly enhanced strength, as a result of the experience it has gained fighting in the civil war in Syria, and increasingly sophisticated weaponry at its disposal.Debt-Ridden PA Owes Israel $400 Million for Electricity
Lieutenant Colonel "Yud," who commands the Egoz Reconnaissance Unit, established to confront the threat posed by Hezbollah, said in an exclusive interview with Walla! on Thursday that his unit has upgraded its capabilities to fight the terrorist group, and has found its Achilles Heel.
The interview was held on the 20th anniversary of the unit's founding.
"Yud," a graduate of another elite unit, Sayeret Matkal (in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other illustrious Israeli figures served), explained the apparent paradox of an ever-emboldened Hezbollah — equipped with tanks, planes and artillery — presenting less of a threat than before.
"Our greatest challenge is an invisible enemy," said "Yud," who was nearly killed in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge last summer –"Anywhere he is not invisible, he will be killed…I see opportunities, not problems [in confronting Hezbollah in its current role]. When forced to act in an organized way, [as today in Syria], [Hezbollah] creates points of weakness."
The Palestinian Authority now owes the Israel Electric Corporation $400 million (1.7 billion. shekels) despite the trumpeted agreement nearly a year ago in which Israel resumed transferring tax collection revenues to the PA for the umpteenth time.Investigation into Arafat's Death Closed, But New One Needs to Begin
The debt-ridden regime in Ramallah supposedly would use some of the money to cut the debt for electricity, but Israel Electric CEO Ron Tal says the debt has grown to an "insane" amount.
He wants to start cutting the power to the Palestinian Authority, but that is unlikely to happen because the world would start screaming, "War Crime! War Crime."
In the United States, and elsewhere, if someone does not pay for water or electricity, the municipality or utility company pulls the plug, without being charged with a war crime.
But there is hope, sort of.
The World Bank has announced it is transferring another $25 million to the Palestinian Authority from its "Palestinian Reform and Development Plan Trust Fund" that the Bank manages to support the PA budget.
Three investigative teams—Swiss, French and Russian—were involved in the exhumation of Arafat's tomb in Ramallah, West Bank, where tissue samples were extracted.Hamas Threatens Egypt Over Gaza 'Moat'
All three teams have now concluded polonium poisoning had "not been demonstrated," bringing the case to a close.
But with the close of this investigation, another one is long overdue.
As her husband lay dying in 2004, Suha—who had not seen him for the previous four years—raced to his bedside. It was not to profess her love for the Palestinian leader but to press him for information about his bank accounts. She quickly became "executor of a vast fortune," heading off PA leaders rushing to Arafat's side to do the same.
As the Palestinian people were struggling to survive, Arafat's wife, Suha, was not. In addition to receiving monthly payments of $200,000 from her husband, occasional deposits in the millions were made to her personal account—one alone of $11 million in the 2002/2003 timeframe. Living the high life in Paris, her monthly spending reportedly equaled what it would take to cover "the basic needs of five thousand Palestinian refugees in a place like Jabalya in the Gaza Strip."
But this apparently was not enough for Suha, who clearly saw an opportunity to get much more as her husband was dying.
It was well known that millions of dollars in aid given to the Palestinian Authority had failed to reach the Palestinian people. Arafat, as well as other PA leaders, established their own personal bank accounts into which much of these funds were deposited.
Hamas on Thursday accused Egypt of besieging Gaza by flooding its smuggling tunnels and building the infrastructure for a moat of sorts on the border area to the south of the terror enclave.The new landlord in Syria
Egypt has been carrying out digging work in the area for several weeks that Palestinian Arabs believe is intended to flood the last remaining tunnels between Gaza and the Sinai, where jihadist fighters have been battling Egyptian forces.
Palestinian Arabs say such moves will further isolate Gaza, where Israel is imposing a naval blockade to prevent the influx of weapons, and is inspecting goods passing through the land crossings - Israel already foiled numerous attempts to smuggle weapons materials.
Egyptian officials have declined to comment on the work criticized by Hamas, the Gazan offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood that enjoys de facto control over Gaza, where residents have reported water seeping over the border.
One way or another, the recent visits made by Revolutionary Guard commander Qasem Soleimani to Moscow should make it clear that Russia's actions in Syria are coordinated with Tehran. This assumption was supported by the declaration made by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's security advisor Yahya Rahim Safavi at the Tehran Friday Sermon, saying that Iran and Russia were working together in Syria.Multiple Investigations Launched into Skewed Islamic State Intelligence Allegations
Russia's air and land forces are already taking an active part in the battles in Syria. It seems that the air base that Russia is establishing in Latakia, which according to reports is closed to Syrian forces, has revealed the new reality in which Russia is the landlord. After Jerusalem announced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Moscow, Tehran announced that on the same day Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian is expected to visit as well to discuss increasing cooperation between the two countries.
Regardless, it is important that Israel preserve its essential interests on its northern border to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah and to control the fate of Assad's chemical and biological weapons caches.
This past June, there were reports that Iran intended to activate its defense pact with Damascus, according to which Iran would participate in Syrian battles on a mass scale. But Tehran denied the reports. It's possible that Soleimani's visit to Moscow will be used as an opportunity by Russia to significantly increase its military presence in Syria and in doing so, to fill its role in the Iranian strategy that aspires to preserve its direct involvement in the Syrian battles as a way of preventing a regional Shiite-Sunni war. This also suits Moscow's goal of preserving its essential national interests in Syria, not the least of which is maintaining the Syrian shoreline.
Multiple investigations have been launched into allegations that senior officials at the U.S. Central Command altered intelligence estimates about the U.S. campaign against the Islamic State to indicate a more favorable impression of progress.German Reporter Reveals ISIS Plans 'Nuclear Tsunami'
The news comes less than a month after the Pentagon's inspector general began probing allegations of skewed intelligence assessments.
Bloomberg reported:
In addition to the Pentagon inspector general's investigation into allegations by dozens of intelligence analysts, other inspectors general inside the intelligence community and two oversight committees in Congress have begun their own probes, according to senior lawmakers and intelligence officials. The Congressional investigations will expand the scope of the existing inquiry by examining allegations of intelligence tampering that predate the war against the Islamic State, some dating back years.
The main whistleblower in the matter has already met with Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Senate Armed Services Committee staffers and is scheduled to meet with senior senators next week. Sen. John McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that he plans to schedule a meeting with the whistleblower soon.
A veteran German journalist who became the first to gain access as an embedded reporter with Islamic State (ISIS) revealed the jihadist terror group plans to bring nuclear annihilation across the globe.Yemen: Five Civilians Killed For Every One Combatant
The journalist, Jurgen Todenhofer (75), released his findings in a book called "Inside IS - Ten Days in the Islamic State," reports the UK's Daily Express on Friday.
Todenhofer, who previously was an MP in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party before turning to journalism in 2000 as a war reporter, spent ten days with ISIS.
He was overseen during his visit by "Jihadi John," the ISIS terrorist from the UK named Mohammed Emwazi who gained fame in gruesome beheading videos.
According to the journalist, the West is unprepared for ISIS. He writes that "the terrorists plan on killing several hundred million people. The west is drastically underestimating the power of ISIS."
ISIS intends to get its hands on nuclear weapons, says Todenhofer, calling the group a "nuclear tsunami preparing the largest religious cleansing in history."
Hey Chris Gunness and the rest of the Jew hating NGO armies in Israel: do you cry for these people?Saudi Arabia sponsors own UN resolution on Yemen to preempt investigation of war crimes
The following report from the UN has received almost no attention.
Bombs In Yemen Kill, Injure Five Civilians For Every Armed Casualty
Airstrikes, tank shells and IEDs used by both sides in Yemen's ongoing war are wiping out an alarming number of innocent people, according to a new report
Innocent men, women and children are bearing the brunt of bomb blasts and other explosions that have rocked Yemen throughout its ferocious war, as nearly nine out of ten casualties have been civilians, a new report by an international monitoring group shows.
At least 5,200 people in the country were killed or maimed by airstrikes, tank shells and other explosive devices between January 1 and July 31, according to statistics compiled by Action on Armed Violence, a London-based organization that tracks incidents, deaths and injuries caused by such weapons. Among those casualties, civilians accounted for almost 4,500 of them, or roughly 86 percent.
Saudi Arabia has sponsored its own softball UNHRC resolution on the Yemen conflict in order to supplant a Dutch-led draft resolution that would dispatch the UN rights office to investigate possible war crimes by the Saudis, Iran-backed Houthis and others.
For more on the U.S. position, informed by its direct support for the Saudi-led bombing attacks in Yemen, see this AP report.
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Posted By Ian to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 9/25/2015 12:00:00 PM
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