09/17 Links: Congress Probes Obama's anti-Bibi Campaign; BDS activist: Move Israel to Germany ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Leading BDS activist: Move Israel to Germany

It would not be absurd to relocate Israel to Baden-Württemberg, embattled German BDS activist Christoph Glanz wrote.
The news that Glanz welcomed the idea that the Jewish state should be eradicated surfaced on Thursday in a review of his YouTube comments endorsing a pro-BDS video in 2015.
Alper Çugun wrote in the comments section on YouTube in English: “I always wondered why they didn’t just carve out a piece of Germany and found the State of Israel in Baden-Württemberg” state in southwestern Germany.
Glanz responded in the same language, “an absurd idea? i don’t think so given that it was us Germans who perpetrated the genocide of Jews in Europe. and an Israeli artist came up with precisely that idea.”
The school authorities in Lower Saxony have launched an investigation into Glanz because he is a public school teacher in the city of Oldenburg.
When asked about the Israel transfer comments, Bianca Schöneich, a spokeswoman for the school system, told The Jerusalem Post on Friday, “We are examining all accessible information” as part of the legal process.
German teachers are required to remain politically neutral because of their status as members of the civil service.

The "Virtuous" New Nazis

Instead of worrying about Islamist terrorism and Molenbeek, Brussels' nest of jihadists, there are racists in Europe who want to crush Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.
They all falsely claim to be a "peaceful", using "economic means" to correct "wrongs" in the Palestinian territories. However, they never seem to try to correct any of the wrongs of the corrupt, repressive governments of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas in Gaza, or even to advocate there for a free press, for the rule of law or for building a stable economy. Their true, racist motives are unmasked.
The pre- or post-1967 lines are only an alibi for these new Nazis. Many consider Israel in its entirety illegal, immoral, or both -- even though Jews have lived on that land for 3,000 years -- part of it is even called Judea. Their appetite for accusing Jews of having the audacity to "occupy" their own historical, Biblical land only reveals their collusion the darkest lies of Islamic extremists, who are trying to destroy the indigenous Christian Copts in their native land of Egypt, and the indigenous Assyrian Christians whom we see being slaughtered throughout the Middle East. Should the French be accused of "occupying" Gaul? Just look at any map of "Palestine," which blankets the entire state of Israel: to many Palestinians, all of Israel is a single giant settlement that has to be dismantled.

Gil Troy: A useless nihilist seeks asylum - The Canadian Jewish News

An Israeli leftist who supports boycotting his own country has applied for asylum in Canada, claiming that because some Israeli officials denounce the boycott divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, he needs refuge. “I said that I’m persecuted as a BDS activist due to the general threats by ministers [Gilad] Erdan and [Arye] Deri,” Gilad Paz told Ha’aretz from his new home in Montreal, where, I guess, no public disputes ever take place and no ministers ever denounce positions dissidents take. Paz has a hearing on Sept. 29.
If I were a satirist, I wouldn’t be brave enough to make up this absurdity – who would believe it? Beyond the fact that most serious human rights activists in Israel have never even heard of this guy, the Israeli left remains loud, proud and free. Read the anger that Ha’aretz spews daily. Watch how many Israeli academics ingratiate themselves with Europeans by knocking their own country with outlandish criticisms. Beyond that, note that Israel’s political culture, while famously fragmentary and volatile, certainly compares to a burkini-banning France, to a Trumpificacious America and to a French-first Quebec. In fact, Paz’s case is less compelling than an Anglo Montrealer applying to the United States for asylum in flight from Quebec’s language police, and no American judge would take such idiocy seriously.
Alas, in our topsy-turvy world, filled with people anxious to believe the worst about Israel, many will respect Paz’s claims. To use words like “persecution,” and “asylum” and “refugee” in a conversation about the free-spirited debates of Israeli democracy demeans refugees who genuinely need asylum. Those of us lucky enough to live in democracies that pass what former Soviet Refusenik Natan Sharansky calls the public square test – can you denounce your leader publicly and avoid jail or worse – should never compare the occasional discomfort we might feel when debating with the suffering dissidents experience in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China and other dictatorships.

Congress Investigating Obama Admin-Funded Campaign to Unseat Israeli PM

Congress on Friday launched a wide-ranging probe into a secret Obama administration-funded campaign to unseat Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to information exclusively obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
The probe comes on the heels of an internal government report determining that the State Department provided hundreds of thousands to an organization that plotted to unseat Netanyahu in the country’s 2015 election.
Obama administration officials were found to have deleted emails from State Department accounts containing information about its relationship with OneVoice, the non-profit group that led the effort.
OneVoice, which was awarded $465,000 in U.S. grants through 2014, has been under congressional investigation since 2015, when it was first accused of funneling some of that money to partisan political groups looking to unseat Netanyahu. This type of behavior by non-profit groups is prohibited under U.S. tax law.
A group of nine leading lawmakers led by Sen. David Perdue (R., Ga.) are now formally petitioning the State Department to come clean about the effort and provide answers about how U.S. taxpayer dollars were permitted to be spent on an organization working against the elected leader of America’s closest Middle East ally, according to a readout of the investigation obtained by the Free Beacon.
“State Department officials failed to properly vet the OneVoice grant proposal because they failed to properly conduct an analysis of risks in the pre-award phase,” the senators wrote in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry. “Unfortunately, it seems that inconsistency and apathy toward oversight of such grants at the State Department is not new. Our aid dollars should be going toward solving real problems, not contributing to the destabilization of allied governments.”

In first, Iron Dome intercepts 2 projectiles fired from Syria

Two projectiles fired from Syria were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system on Saturday afternoon, the IDF said.
The apparently errant projectiles were destroyed mid-flight with no harm to civilians or property. Military officials said the projectiles were the result of fighting inside Syria and were not meant to target Israel.
The first missile was reportedly intercepted at around 4 p.m. local time. The second one approximately 90 minutes later.
“This is the first time that fire from Syria has been intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defense system,” a military spokesman said.
Officials told Channel 2 News that the projectiles would likely not have hit Israeli territory. Iron Dome was nevertheless activated in order to send a message to both Israelis and Syrians that it would defend its territory from fire near the border.
On Thursday, Israeli security sources told The Times of Israel that errant projectiles from Syria that have landed on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights over the past two weeks have been fired by Syrian opposition groups as well as by Syrian army forces.

Assad Not Man Enough To Down an Israeli Plane on His iPad: Lebanese Satirist

Weekend’s surge in Palestinian terror shows ‘contagion’ is still at work

There is a sudden new uptick in the “wave” of terror attacks. Almost a year has passed since the beginning of the “Lone Wolf Intifada” and the feeling among the Israeli public — though less so among members of the defense establishment — was that it was all but finished. But then, on Friday and Saturday, came a spate of terror attacks starting, improbably, with a Jordanian national who decided to try and carry out an attack in Jerusalem’s Old City.
This was followed by a series of attacks in a familiar location — Hebron. Again, we saw a motif that has featured frequently in the context of the lone wolf attacks: contagion. Like a virus spreading among friends and family members, one terrorist inspires other friends and relatives to carry out an attack. They do not even need to be on Facebook or another social media outlet. Often, it is blood relations which inspire the attackers to go out and “avenge” the recent death of a relative killed in the course of attempting an attack.
This phenomenon had weakened over the past few months but it never totally disappeared. Rather, the Israeli and Palestinian security apparatuses have utilized better tools to deal with it. The IDF and Shin Bet security service, as well as Palestinian security, have been arresting on an almost weekly basis young men or women who planned to carry out attacks of this type. The motivation to carry out attacks is not what it was a year ago, in light of the failure of the previous attacks to effect any real change in the diplomatic situation. But it is still there. And one can assume that it will never go away completely in the period of the so-called “status quo.”
The weekend’s flare-up is fueled mainly by this phenomenon of contagion. There is no discernible rise in incitement or in the level of hostility between Israel and the Palestinians, nor is there any dramatic deterioration in ties between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. Quite the opposite. Over the past few weeks, we have been in an economic-security “honeymoon” of sorts in relations between the two sides.

Video shows Palestinian give troops papers, then lunge with knife

A newly released video shows the moments in which a Palestinian assailant attacked Israeli soldiers with a knife in Hebron Saturday morning, lightly wounding one of them before being shot and killed.
The attacker, identified as Hatem Abdel-Hafiz al-Shaloudi, is seen approaching a soldier at a checkpoint near the West Bank city’s Jewish Tel Rumeida neighborhood and presenting him with a piece of paper, ostensibly his credentials. The moment the soldier accepts the paper and glances down at it, Shaloudi is seen pulling out a knife and lunging at him.
The soldier manages to duck away in time, and Shaloudi then turns his attention to another soldier. He chases him with the knife and the two are seen scuffling. The soldier wrestles Shaloudi to the ground as three more troops rush to his aid, weapons drawn.
It is not clear exactly when the assailant is shot. At the end of the clip the soldiers are seen moving away from the now motionless Shaloudi as he lies on the ground.
A military statement said the attacker drew a knife during a routine security check, wounding a soldier. “In response to the immediate threat, forces at the scene shot the assailant, resulting in his death,” the statement said.

On day of violence, Abbas aide says IDF killing of attackers is ‘execution’

A spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday called the killing by Israeli security forces of two attackers in separate incidents in Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba earlier in the day “a crime and an execution.”
Nabil Abu Rudeineh called on the international community to defend the Palestinian people.
Israel has previously come under criticism for the way in which it responds to attacks on its civilians and soldiers. In March, senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat submitted a request to the United Nations asking it to formally investigate what he called Israeli extrajudicial “executions” of Palestinian attackers. The request came days after an IDF soldier was filmed shooting and killing a wounded assailant in Hebron.
Israel has in turn repeatedly accused Abbas of failing to condemn the wave of Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians and security forces that erupted late last year, and says his PA hierarchy presides over incitement to terror and violence against Israel.

Jordan condemns ‘barbaric’ killing of knife-wielding Jerusalem attacker

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry on Saturday sharply condemned the killing of a Jordanian national who attempted to stab Border Police officers outside Jerusalem’s Old City the previous day.
In a statement, the ministry said killing Saeed Amro was “a barbaric act.”
Security officials said Amro, 28, was shot and killed Friday as he approached a group of policemen with a drawn knife. Upon searching Amro’s body, police found three knives on his person.
But Jordanian authorities expressed doubt that Amro had assaulted the Israelis at all, saying he was merely a tourist.
A spokeswoman for the Jordanian Foreign Ministry denounced “the barbaric act of the army of the Israeli occupation, whose premeditated shooting of the Jordanian Saeed Amro… killed him on the spot.”
“Amro was part of a group of tourists who had entered the Palestinian territories on Thursday to visit Jerusalem,” Sabah Refai said.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm in Jordan said Amro’s death was an “execution” and called for Israel’s embassy in Amman to be closed.

US designates senior Hamas official a ‘global terrorist’

The United States on Friday added a senior Hamas official, the Islamist group’s former interior minister Fathi Hamad, to its “global terrorist” list.
Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has already itself been proscribed by the United States as a “foreign terrorist organization.”
Under the new designation, US citizens and companies will be banned from doing business with Hamad and any property he holds in areas under US jurisdiction will be frozen.
According to the US State Department, which issued the designation, as interior minister Hamad used his position to “coordinate terrorist cells.”
The statement also said Hamad founded Al-Aqsa TV, “with programs designed to recruit children to become Hamas armed fighters and suicide bombers upon reaching adulthood.”

Blacklisted Hamas official: US shows ‘total bias’ for Israel

A senior Hamas official designated by Washington as a “global terrorist” accused the United States on Saturday of “total bias” in favor of Israel.
The US on Friday added Hamas politburo member Fathi Hamad to its terror blacklist, meaning that US citizens and companies will be banned from doing business with him and any property he holds in areas under US jurisdiction will be frozen.
According to the US State Department, which issued the designation, during his time as Hamas interior minister in Gaza Hamad used his position to “coordinate terrorist cells.”
The State Department said that Hamad had founded Al-Aqsa TV, “with programs designed to recruit children to become Hamas armed fighters and suicide bombers upon reaching adulthood.”
Washington already defines the Hamas organization, which rules the Gaza Strip, as a “foreign terrorist organization.”

Closing ceremony of leaders' course for Palestinian scouts named after terrorist: Follow his path

Egyptian State Media Claims US Invented ISIS, West Behind 9/11

An Egyptian state media columnist claims the United States invented the Islamic State, and the West similarly orchestrated 9/11 in order to justify invading the Middle East.
“I don’t know who [the Americans] are fooling, us or themselves,” journalist Noha Al-Sharnoubi wrote in Al-Ahram, according to an English translation by the Middle East Research Institute. “What terror are they talking about and associating with Islam or even with extremist Muslims or people claiming to be Muslims?”
All of her assertions come in the form of rhetorical questions. “Can we believe the U.S. administration’s official version of the events of September 11, 2001?” she asks. “Is it a coincidence that the commanders of the September 11 attack trained at American flight schools? … Or was the whole thing planned [in advance] in order to justify the war on terror, the [first] episode of which[later] began in Iraq?”
“Does it make sense that most ISIS members are foreigners [i.e., Western nationals], unless ISIS is another story that was prepared in advance [by the West] to justify the devastation, partitioning and occupation [of countries] that is taking place and will continue to take place in the Middle East?” she adds.

MEMRI: ISIS Video Features Children Who Aspire To Martyrdom, Says They Are Being Prepared To Conquer Rome, Spain (WARNING: GRAPHIC)

The following clip is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM).
An Islamic State (ISIS) video released online on September 6, 2016 showcased a shari'a school that it operates in its Al-Khayr Province, featuring its young pupils – "the cubs of the Caliphate" – discussing their aspirations of martyrdom, instructing citizens on approved clothing and grooming, and fighting on the front lines. The video states that these children will "become the vanguard of the army of the Caliphate, Allah willing, and... the generation that will conquer Damascus, Baghdad, Jerusalem, Mecca, Al-Madina, Dabiq, Rome, and Andalusia."
The following is the transcript of the video:
Narrator: "The Caliphate's Generation
"In the lands of the tyrants, the children are asked, from a very early age: 'What would you like to be when you grow up?' If a child says that he wants to be a mujahid, or a student of religion, or an imam, or to work in the field of da'wa, his words are frowned upon and he is held in disdain. But if a child says that he wants to be a minister or an MP, a judge, a pilot, a soldier, or a policeman, they rejoice, laugh, and praise him. This way, the secular education system instills these aspirations in the souls of Muslim children from a very early age, so that they are raised on heresy and on fighting Islam and the Muslims, and they view things in a distorted way, using misnomers. The child who wanted to become a fighter pilot realizes his dream, thanks to the secular education he received in the education systems of the tyrants. He sees nothing wrong with receiving orders from the American Crusaders, or with honoring them with a military salute. He is not ashamed to fly over Muslim cities, and to rain rockets and bombs down upon them, killing vulnerable women and children.
"On our tour of a shari'a institution, run by the Islamic State in the Al-Khayr Province, we asked the cubs of the Caliphate about their dreams and aspirations."

Hijack U.S.-Made Humvees, Use Israeli Guns against "Sons of Monkey People"

In a video posted on his personal YouTube account on September12, on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, former British boxer Anthony Small, who now goes by the name Abdul Haqq, said: "May we see the day when the monotheists conquer the White House and 10 Downing Street." Calling to "buy Israeli-made Desert Eagles, cock 'em back and let 'em go with the sons of monkey peoples," to "hijack an American Humvee, and stick a black flag over the USA eagle," and to "listen to the sira by Anwar [Al-Awlaki] if you want more ideas," Small then added a "disclaimer" that he was not calling for violence, terrorism, or killing, but just expressing "a lighthearted bit of poetry."

ISIS Sleeper Cell Claims Responsibility for Removal of iPhone 7 Headphone Jack (satire)

The world is in shock following Apple’s launch of the iPhone 7 without a traditional headphone jack. While Apple attempted to placate the masses by offering Bluetooth ‘airpods’ to replace the old stalwart wired earbuds, many dark-web theorists believe that this signified the beginning of the downfall of Western civilization.
These dire projections were validated when ISIS issued a statement formally claiming responsibility for this heinous design choice; “Mohammed Al-Jeniusbar, a soldier of the Caliphate, with help from Allah, carried out an operation wherein he was able to strike terror into the hearts of infidels by threatening that which they hold most dear, their rose-gold iPhones and earbuds with which they blare the infidel music of Selena Gomez! Infidels, this attack is the first of the storm, and serves as a warning. Next, we are coming for the Jew-tooth wireless devices.”
Although this seemingly indicates the primary goal for the infiltration of Apple was the disruption of the protected American Constitutional right to get tangled up in errant headphone cords, Al-Jeniusbar himself acknowledged ISIS has a practical reason for the sudden execution of the iPhone jack: “We have captured just so, so many slaves. Several of our female slaves have managed to escape their ropes, because we only know how to do a basic bow. Forget zip ties and duct tape, NO ONE has the wherewithal to untangle earbud cords. We need all of these useless cables to make sure our captives NEVER make it to the Turkish border.”

Democrat Who Compared Jews To ‘Termites’ Says Trump Is Too Polarizing

A congressional Democrat who previously referred to Israeli Jews as “termites” declared on Friday that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was too polarizing to be president. At a Congressional Black Caucus press conference on Friday afternoon, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) attacked Trump over his previous demands to see President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and said that Trump “continues to stoke the fires of polarization.”
This is the same Hank Johnson who recently compared Jews who were living peacefully in Israel to “termites.”
“There has been a steady [stream], almost like termites can get into a residence and eat before you know that you’ve been eaten up and you fall in on yourself,” he said of Jewish Israeli settlers.
The Anti-Defamation League excoriated Johnson for his comments, noting that Johnson’s statement perpetuated the “demonization, dehumanization of settlers.” Likening Jews to insects is nothing new, of course, as Rabbi David Wolpe noted in TIME:
These are not trivial issues. We are a half century away from millions of human beings who were designated as “vermin” and killed. When people say the Nazis “exterminated” Jews they unwittingly appropriate this insect metaphor. To call Jews “termites” is base and vile.

'Women's flotilla' to Gaza accuses Israel of causing delays

The flotilla to Gaza, which was set to arrive in early October carrying 30 women from around the world on two ships, got off to a late start.
One of the ships, the Amal (Hope) was forced to turn back after facing engine trouble. The second ship, the Zaytouna (Olive), set off only late in the afternoon after being delayed for many hours by local Italian police.
The flotilla's organizers accused Israel of causing the delays and stated that they hope the Amal will be able to return to sea after being repaired.
One of the passengers of the Flotilla, Zohar Regev, an Israeli who grew up on a kibbutz and has since relocated to Spain, spoke in an interview on the flotilla's website. Regev discussed her expectation of Israel to use force to stop the flotilla.
"We are committed to non-violence. We will not give Israel a reason to attack us violently," Regev stated.
She continued, "You need courageous people to set out on a flotilla like this. Silence on Israeli actions would be an outrageous injustice and shame."

Womens’ Gaza Flotilla delayed after getting Lost & stopping for Directions (satire)

A Women-Only “Flotilla to Gaza” has run into an unexpected problem after getting lost somewhere between Barcelona and Sardinia. The Flotilla, which set out to show Solidarity with a regime that promotes Honor Killings and Polygamy the women of Gaza, has been at sea for four days and according to the latest Blog entry of Bree Skyfire-Williams, one of the Ship’s four Co-Captains, they have “like no idea where they are” and “need to maybe stop another ship and ask for directions or something.” The Daily Freier was able to communicate further with the crew via What’s-App whenever they got some decent Wi-Fi.
“I think our problems started before we even got on the boat.” explained Jade, who took a month off of work from her job at the World Bank in order to participate. Jade, who was appointed to the Packing and Supply Committee, described the chain of events. “I mean our Ships’ Manifest didn’t account for everyone packing way too much stuff for the trip.” To further drive home this point, Jade showed us the packing list of Melissa from the (Fair Trade) Coffee Committee:
“A cold weather outfit, a warm weather outfit, some formal wear in case we go some place nice, a hat, boots, my laptop, Uggs, a yoga mat, yoga pants, French press, a little black dress, 5 swimsuits, hair dryer, 9 pairs of shoes, waffle iron, Crocs, coconut oil, scrunchies, my journal, crystals, ‘The Alchemist’ by Tony Coelho, a headscarf, and my rice cooker.”
Jade continued. “Now just multiply that by 20 women, and, well, we had to unload the two boxes of stuff we had for Gaza.”
The boat suffered a further delay when after stopping to ask some Moroccan fisherman how to get to “The Occupied Territories“, the fishermen directed the boat to Ceuta and Melilla.

Five Things You Need to Know About World Council of Churches

Between Sept. 18-24, 2016, activists and staffers associated with the World Council of Churches, an umbrella organization of 350 Protestant and Orthodox churches headquartered in Geneva Switzerland, will be participating in a “World Week for Peace in Palestine-Israel.”
It's an annual event promoted on the internet and in WCC member churches throughout the world every September.
The WCC promotes a distorted view of the Arab-Israeli conflict. In this narrative, Israelis are responsible for the continued existence of the Israel-Palestinian conflict and the suffering it causes. The misdeeds of the Palestinians, are generally not worth mentioning. (For a brief discussion of the propaganda that is being broadcast by the WCC this year, please see this CAMERA-produced article published in The Algemeiner earlier this week.)
The WCC has been a regular antagonist in the propaganda war against the Jewish State. Here are five things you need to know about the WCC to understand its role in promoting anti-Zionism in Christian churches throughout the world.
1. WCC staffers and peace activists roar like lions at Israel, but behave in a rather submissive manner when dealing with Muslim leaders and jihadist movements.
2. The WCC has two bureaucracies – the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum (PIEF) and the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine Israel (EAPPI) which are dedicated to condemning Israel. There is, however, no similar WCC bureaucracy that advocates for Christians suffering in Muslim-majority countries.
3. While the World Council of Churches regularly condemns Israel and its leaders, it has been very reluctant to speak about the atrocities committed by Syrian Bashar Al Assad.
4. WCC deliberative bodies refrained from condemning the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan during the 1980s.
5. The World Council of Churches was a major player and defender of the UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance that took place in Durban, South Africa, in 2001 and which turned into an antisemitic hate fest. In particular, it moved to delete a condemnation of antisemitism and efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state from a resolution before the conference.

Firing of York U Faculty Member for Antisemitic Posts Called ‘Victory’ by Canadian Jewish Groups

The recent firing of a York University faculty member over antisemitic and anti-Zionist social media posts represents a welcome start to combating campus Jew-hatred, major Canadian Jewish groups and college activists told The Algemeiner.
Referring to the Wednesday termination of Department of Physics and Astronomy lab technologist Nikolaos Balaskas, who accused Jews of being “followers of the Evil One,” Amanda Hohmann, national director for B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights, said the move was “only a first step.”
The school’s decisive action against Balaskas, Hohmann told The Algemeiner, was “very positive, especially coming from a university where there have been ongoing and very public issues of antisemitism and extremist anti-Israel sentiment.”
“It is incredibly heartening to see that the administration, in this case, not only took the allegations seriously but took real action to correct the problem,” she said, referencing her organization’s complaint to York over Balaskas’ offensive comments.
Hohmann told The Algemeiner, “B’nai Brith Canada will continue to work closely with York to ensure that its students are not subjected to a toxic, discriminatory and unsafe campus environment.”

The Washington Times Covers Underreported Iran-Backed Shi’ite Militias

Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias are “liberating” areas of Iraq once held by the terror group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)—and subsequently committing atrocities of their own, according to a Washington Times article by reporter Carlo Munoz (“Iran-backed militias taint terror war,” Sept. 14, 2016). Many U.S. news media outlets have failed to shine a light on the militias.
Munoz highlighted an operation by “Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Shiite militias” who—“under the cover of U.S. air support”—retook the Iraqi city of Fallujah from ISIS in June. Although initially applauded by the Pentagon, gory details soon surfaced:
“Reports emerged that as many as 300 Sunni Muslim civilians had survived Islamic State's nightmarish two-year grip on their city only to be summarily executed and dumped in shallow graves by Shiite militiamen who had taken over in the terror group's wake.
“Such atrocities by the militias—officially known as the Popular Mobilization Units[PMUs]—underscore a crisis within the wider fight against Islamic State in Iraq, one that has vastly complicated the Obama administration's attempt to work with Baghdad's Shiite political leaders toward destroying the terror group without a massive influx of U.S. troops.”
The PMUs were initially deployed as a “desperate, stopgap campaign by Iraqi leaders to stem Islamic State forces from overrunning Baghdad and other major cities in the country is now fueling a new era of sectarian violence,” Munoz said.

Warsaw Ghetto archives to open, be available online

The Jewish Historical Institute said it will open an exhibition dedicated to the Ringelblum Archive, which chronicles the history of the Warsaw Ghetto.
The entire archive also will be available for free on the Internet, the Warsaw institute said Thursday at a news conference while presenting details of the project. Individual documents will be described not only in Polish but also in English, and some also in Hebrew.
“Often we do not see that the Ringelblum Archive is part not only of Jewish history, but Polish history as well,” said Marian Turski, vice president of the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute and an Auschwitz survivor.
Jewish Historical Institute researchers will complete work next year on the release of the final four volumes of the Ringelblum Archive, making the complete edition 36 volumes.
“Members of the archive wanted to record testimony of every Jew,” said Pawel Spiewak, director of the Jewish Historical Institute. “Their resistance to the Germans was of an intellectual nature. Their documents are the most important testimony of what happened during the Holocaust.”
The archive was initiated in 1940 by historian Emanuel Ringelblum, who established a secret organization called the Oneg Shabbat to collect documents. The group collected documents from official institutions as well as the press, and the journals and diaries of ghetto residents; German announcements, posters, leaflets and letters that managed to make it to the ghetto; food coupons, and even candy wrappers and tram tickets.

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