12/27 Links Pt1: Toameh: Arab Apartheid Targets Palestinians; Fatah`s guide to rock throwing for kids; The blue-eyed poster girl of Palestinian ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: Arab Apartheid Targets Palestinians

Iraq has just joined the long list of Arab countries that shamelessly practice apartheid against Palestinians. The number of Arab countries that apply discriminatory measures against Palestinians while pretending to support the Palestinian cause is breathtaking. Arab hypocrisy is once again on display, but who who is looking?

The international media -- and even the Palestinians -- are so preoccupied with US President Donald Trump's announcement on Jerusalem that the plight of Palestinians in Arab countries is dead news. This apathy allows Arab governments to continue with their anti-Palestinian policies because they know that no one in the international community cares -- the United Nations is too busy condemning Israel to do much else.

So what is the story with the Palestinians in Iraq? Earlier this week, it was revealed that the Iraqi government has approved a new law that effectively abolishes the rights given to Palestinians living there. The new law changes the status of Palestinians from nationals to foreigners.

Under Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator, the Palestinians enjoyed many privileges. Until 2003, there were about 40,000 Palestinians living in Iraq. Since the overthrow of the Saddam regime, the Palestinian population has dwindled to 7,000.

Thousands of Palestinians have fled Iraq after being targeted by various warring militias in that country because of their support for Saddam Hussein. Palestinians say that what they are facing in Iraq is "ethnic cleansing."

PMW: Fatah`s guide to rock throwing for kids

Fatah posted on its Twitter account the above photo of a young boy hurling rocks with a slingshot together with an explanation to Palestinians how best to throw rocks:

Posted text:
"In order to hit the target, there are three conditions:
1. Stand stably and balance your legs, arms, and body well
2. Focus your gaze on the center of the target, and do not look at anything else
3. Keep the desired balance between your body and your weapon; you are the one that controls the weapon, and not the other way around
If you did not understand this, read it again, and if you still have not understood, here is an example picture for you"
[Official Fatah Twitter account, Dec. 16, 2017]

Rock throwing at cars has caused hundreds of injuries and many deaths, including the following babies who were killed by stones thrown at their family's cars:
Yehuda Haim Shoham, age 5-months;
Jonathan Palmer age 12-months (his father Asher was also killed);
Adele Biton age 3. The 5 people convicted of murdering Adele were all teens.

PMW calls on UNICEF to issue a stern condemnation of Fatah's recruiting children to commit acts of terror. Recruiting children to attempt to kill others and to endanger their own lives is clear child abuse.

Melanie Phillips: Our crazy world

Please join me here as I discuss with Avi Abelow of Israel Video Network the UN Jerusalem vote, the revelations about President Obama and Hezbollah, and further evidence of American collusion at the highest level –– between the FBI and the Democratic party.

Ben-Dror Yemini: The blue-eyed poster girl of Palestinian

For years, she has been the poster girl of Palestinian propaganda. The jewel in the crown. The star of Pallywood, a term coined by Prof. Richard Landes to describe the Palestinians' staged false displays for the purpose of accusing Israel of violence.

Ahed Tamimi, of course, isn’t the only one in these displays. But she’s the best. She looks just like a girl who could capture the hearts of foreign photojournalists and the Western public opinion. She has neither a hijab nor a burqa. On the contrary, she has a typical European look. A girl who looks like their girl.

For years, she has been at the center of more and more staged provocations. She always tries to get IDF soldiers to respond with violence, and she always fails. Because IDF soldiers are world champions in self-restraint.

But in a region which holds the world record for cameras per square meters, some kind of inappropriate behavior is found every few months. Not everyone is perfect. There are exceptions. Last week, soldiers were caught using unnecessary violence against a bound Palestinian. Certain organizations seize these opportunities eagerly. This is the IDF, they say. They’re lying, of course.

Not all Western newspapers, which usually love the blonde, blue-eyed girl, got caught in the trap. In recent years, different newspapers in the world—including the British Daily Mail and the American Tower—have exposed the real story of Tamimi and her parents as part of a propaganda machine in Pallywood’s service. But they were exceptions.

Vandals said to attack synagogue in Iran, rip up Torah scrolls

Two Torah scrolls were reportedly torn to pieces and prayer books were thrown into toilets in a vandalism attack Sunday night at a synagogue in the Iranian city of Shiraz.

The Yeshiva World News site reported Monday that Iranian police were investigating the incident at the Hadash (“new”) synagogue in the city’s Maaleh neighborhood.

A member of the Shiraz Jewish community told Israel’s Channel 10 the damage was documented by a pair of journalists and three local Jews.

“The rioters tore a prayer book and Torah scrolls, blew up lamps and broke the glass windows,” he said.

Blurry footage aired by the television channel purported to show the damage in the synagogue.

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations condemned the attack.

“We are deeply concerned by the reports of the vandalism of the Hadash Synagogue in the Maaleh neighborhood of Shiraz in which several Torah scrolls were desecrated and many prayer books destroyed,” the Jewish group said in a statement.

“We call upon the authorities in Shiraz and the central government in Tehran to take all necessary steps to protect the community and bring the perpetrators to swift justice,” it added.

After Vandalism Attack in Iranian Synagogue, Reports of Jews Arrested

Following a vandalism attack at a synagogue in Shiraz, Iran earlier this week, the Iranian Jewish community is further roiling from unconfirmed reports that several Jews had been arrested on unknown charges.

According to news reports, vandals broke into the Kenisa’eh Hadash (New Synagogue) on Sunday night, desecrated two Torah scrolls and prayer books, and destroyed furnishings. The damage was later discovered by three local Jews who came to pray. Iranian police are said to be investigating the incident. It is not clear who was behind the attack.

In a Persian-language voice note circulating on WhatsApp and obtained by Tablet, an Iranian Jew describes what happened: “They ripped two Torah scrolls to pieces. They ripped all the prayer books, and they broke all the lamps… They ripped two Torah scrolls, and not only did they rip them, they threw them into the toilet.” Israel’s Channel 10 aired blurry footage that purportedly depicts the damage in the synagogue.

On Tuesday, reports began circulating that several Jews had been arrested, though it is not known who they are or on what charges. Because of the precarious position of the Jewish community in Iran, fears of retaliation are running high, making it difficult to confirm these reports.

What is clear is that the Iranian Jewish community in the diaspora is unnerved. Many suspect these incidents are related, but they are not sure how or why—and fear they’re about to be followed by still other disturbances.

Richard Haass Is an Aass

Richard Haass is an American diplomat, a former Director of Policy Planning at the State Department, and the longtime president of the Council on Foreign Relations. So you would think that Haass is the kind of expert who, when it comes to international affairs, knows what he’s talking about.

Last week, the esteemed ambassador had this to say about the goings-on at the United Nations:

What makes Trump admin think it can act unilaterally on Jerusalem and threaten other governments and UN when US criticized for it-and then expect others to work with the US at the UN to pressure N Korea or Iran? Is nobody thinking strategically about relationships or priorities?
— Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) December 22, 2017

Literally as Haass was typing, the administration was shepherding a resolution on North Korea through the UN’s Security Council that posed a new set of sanctions on the rogue nation, strangling its energy supplies and further isolating it. North Korea, said the American ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, “is the most tragic example of evil in the modern world.” The Security Council agreed, passing the resolution 15 to zero and proving once again that the world cats like Haass occupy is a fantasyland of their own creation.

The chutzpah of EU intervention

It was supposed to be a routine decision. Without discussion or a vote, the Israeli cabinet was to ratify Israeli participation in the latest European Union regional framework, under the grandiose headline of "Cross-border Cooperation within the European Neighborhood Instrument (ENI): Mediterranean Sea Basin Program 2014-2020."

Largely an extension of a previous mechanism for funding joint cultural and other programs, the CBC-Med program would have been formalized had no ministers raised objections. But at the last minute, on Wednesday afternoon, Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev did just that, citing the EU's standard language excluding Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights from participation in these programs.

As a result, a debate is now required. If we want a serious debate on the topic, we must not limit it to the terms of this specific agreement, and raise questions regarding other EU terms of reference: The EU's ongoing attempt to force Israel to accept its views on borders, its widespread illegal construction in Area C, and its massive funding of NGOs that lead anti-Israel demonization campaigns.

The European Neighborhood Instrument, which provides the budget for the CBC-Med framework, has been, and continues to be, a major problem for Israel. Every year, some of the most virulently anti-Israel, anti-peace and in some cases, anti-Semitic NGOs are funded under the ENI framework.

For example, ENI houses the EU Peacebuilding Initiative (formerly Partnership for Peace), which funds propaganda groups such as the Ma'an Network, and the Popular Art Center.

PEACE
U.S. Ambassador Friedman Tells State Department to Stop Using the Word "Occupation"

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman recently requested that the State Department cease using the word "occupation" to describe Israel's control of the West Bank, according to a report on Israeli broadcasting channel Kan.

The State Department reportedly refused the request.

It has not commented on Friedman's remarks, nor has his spokesperson offered a clarification on the ambassador's assertion.

But an administration official dismissed the report as “misleading” and “twisted,” and the Trump team has offered no indication that its position on Israel’s presence in the West Bank has changed.

“The president is committed to facilitating a comprehensive peace agreement that will benefit both the Israelis and Palestinians and we remain hard at work on those efforts,” the official told The Jerusalem Post.

The original report did not attribute its sourcing.

Friedman, breaking with decades of US policy, has said that the settlements in the West Bank are part of Israel, and that the cities, towns and outposts only make up "under 2%" of the territory.

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post in September, he referred to Israel's control of the West Bank as an "alleged occupation," sparking ire from the State Department.

White House cites Jerusalem recognition among Trump’s 2017 accomplishments

The White House included President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his decertification of the Iran nuclear deal in a list of his first-year accomplishments.

“President Trump followed through on his campaign promise and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel,” said a bullet point on the list, posted December 22 and headlined “Year One of Making America Great Again.” It appeared in a category described as “Restoring confidence in and respect for America.”

“President Trump approved a new Iran strategy focused on neutralizing Iran’s regional destabilizing influence, sanctioning Iran’s ballistic missile program and decertifying Iran’s compliance with the multilateral nuclear deal,” was another bullet point, under the category “Restoring peace through strength.”

Trump reversed 70 years of executive branch policy earlier this month when he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. US officials have said that it will take at least several years before the US embassy moves there from Tel Aviv.

JPost Editorial: Breaking with consensus: Guatemala recognition gives cause for Israeli optimism

Guatemala was the first country to follow in the footsteps of the US and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Viva Guatemala!

While it was courageous of US President Donald Trump to deviate from the “international community” consensus and do what is right, for Guatemala it was beyond gutsy. And we here in the Jewish state are truly grateful.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely’s announcement Monday on Reshet Bet public radio that Israel is talking with more than 10 countries about recognizing Jerusalem as the Jewish state’s capital gave cause for more optimism.

Why is this happening now?

The answer provided by US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has been very simple. For more than two decades the US and the “international community” have invested enormous amounts of time and resources in trying to bring about a resolution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, with no success. The time has come, announced Haley, to try something new.

Guatemala's FM defends Israel embassy move, says no reversal

Guatemalan Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel on Tuesday defended President Jimmy Morales' decision to move the Guatemalan Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, rejecting international and domestic criticism of the move.

Jovel said the decision, which follows Washington's lead, amounts to "a foreign policy decision, therefore sovereign," and that there is no intention of reversing it.

"What we are doing is being coherent with our foreign policy and the ally we have been for Israel," she said.

Morales announced the change on Christmas Eve, becoming the first leader to follow U.S. President Donald Trump in announcing that a country's embassy would move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Israel welcomed Guatemala's announcement, while Palestinian authorities criticized it.

"God bless you, my friend, President Jimmy Morales, God bless both our countries, Israel and Guatemala," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Facebook post after learning of the decision.

Guatemala's government has given no timeline for the move. Trump has also not said when the U.S. may move its embassy.

Iran votes to declare Jerusalem ‘everlasting capital of Palestine’

Iran’s parliament has voted to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, according to state-run media.

The vote, which passed 207-0 in the 290-member Majlis, requires Tehran to recognize Jerusalem as “the everlasting capital of Palestine.”

The vote “comes in response to the recent US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in hopes of dealing a blow to Muslims,” the Turkish Anadolu news agency quoted speaker Ali Larijani as saying.

In a move that delighted much of Israel’s leadership but ignited protests across the Muslim world, US President Donald Trump announced on December 6 that the US recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and planned to move its embassy there from Tel Aviv. Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.

Trump’s declaration has been condemned by the Islamic Republic, which is committed to Israel’s destruction.

John Bolton: How to Defund the U.N.

As an assistant secretary of state in the George H.W. Bush administration, I worked vigorously to repeal a hateful United Nations General Assembly resolution equating Zionism with racism. Foreign diplomats frequently told me the effort was unnecessary. My Soviet counterpart, for example, said Resolution 3379 was only a piece of paper gathering dust on a shelf. Why stir up old controversies years after its 1975 adoption?

We ignored the foreign objections and persisted because that abominable resolution cast a stain of illegitimacy and anti-Semitism on the U.N. It paid off. On Dec. 16, 1991, the General Assembly rescinded the offensive language.

Now, a quarter-century later, the U.N. has come close to repeating Resolution 3379's original sin. Last week the U.N. showed its true colors with a 128-9 vote condemning President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

This seemingly lopsided outcome obscured a significant victory and major opportunity for the president. Thirty-five countries abstained, and 21 didn't vote at all. Days earlier the Security Council had endorsed similar language, 14-1, defeated only by the U.S. veto. The margin narrowed significantly once Mr. Trump threatened to penalize countries that voted against the U.S. This demonstrated once again that America is heard much more clearly at the U.N. when it puts its money where its mouth is. (In related news, Guatemala announced Sunday it will move its embassy to Jerusalem, a good example for others.)

While imposing financial repercussions on individual governments is entirely legitimate, the White House should also reconsider how Washington funds the U.N. more broadly. Should the U.S. forthrightly withdraw from some U.N. bodies (as we have from UNESCO and as Israel announced its intention to do on Friday)? Should others be partially or totally defunded? What should the government do with surplus money if it does withhold funds?

Hamas chief: US sees Jerusalem suburb as future Palestinian capital

The leader of the Hamas terrorist group on Tuesday claimed the United States is formulating a peace plan that would offer the Palestinians a suburb of Jerusalem in the West Bank as the capital of their future state.

Ismail Haniyeh also said that as part of the plan, Abu Dis — which lies east of Israel’s security barrier and outside Jerusalem’s municipal boundary — would be connected to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City by a bridge, according to the Middle East Eye.

“The plan involves building a bridge linking Abu Dis to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound with the ostensible aim of ensuring [Palestinians] access to the mosque,” the news site quoted Haniyeh as telling Gaza tribal leaders.

Haniyeh’s reference to Abu Dis came after The New York Times reported earlier this month that a Saudi peace proposal presented to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas included establishing the capital of a future Palestinian state in Abu Dis rather than in the heart of East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as their future capital.

Five challenges for Israel if Syrian regime retakes Golan border region

For the last five years Israel has been on the front line of the Syrian civil war as clashes between rebel groups and the Damascus regime of Bashar Assad unfolded near the Golan. In the last few weeks the regime has opened a small offensive to isolate and retake several villages located near Mount Hermon. This is seen as the first in a series of moves that will eventually bring the regime and its backers in Iran and Hezbollah back to the border, raising major concerns for Israel.

The following are the major challenges:

Refugees
Rebel groups control dozens of villages that separate the area of Israeli control on the Golan from the Syrian regime. Many of those are located in an area covered under a cease-fire agreement signed in July by the US, Russia and Jordan.

At the moment, the rebels’ hold is most precarious on the village of Beit Jinn and the nearby Mazra’at Beit Jinn and Mugh al-Mir, which are located in a small finger of rebel-controlled territory near Mount Hermon. These villages are flanked on three sides by the regime and its allies. If they fall, which is expected to happen soon, some of the wounded and civilians from the villages may seek shelter in Israel.

This is because Israel has treated thousands of Syrians over the past years. The total was estimated at around 3,000 by July 2017, including 1,000 children. They have not sought to remain in Israel. That could change, however, if they cannot return to their villages, or if they fear reprisals. The Syrian regime has attempted to “reconcile” with villages it is retaking, encouraging locals to accept Damascus rule in return for not being persecuted. Some of the armed rebels have been allowed to leave on buses in agreements in other areas of Syria.

However, years of Israeli fostering relations with locals, treating them, and sending aid across the border may have created some kind of dependency. When the day comes that the villages fall to the regime, Israel will have to monitor what happens closely and craft a policy for any refugees seeking a haven.

Russia to set up permanent military presence in Syria

Russia has started establishing a permanent military presence at naval and air bases in Syria, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday, as the Russian parliament ratified a deal with Syria to cement its presence in the country, the RIA news agency reported.

The deal will expand the Tartus naval facility, Russia's only naval foothold in the Mediterranean, and grant Russian warships access to Syrian waters and ports, Viktor Bondarev, head of the upper house security and defense committee, told RIA.

RIA quoted Shoigu as saying: "Last week the commander-in-chief [President Vladimir Putin] approved the structure and the bases in Tartus and in Hmeimim [airbase]. We have begun forming a permanent presence there."

The Tartus naval facility, in use since the days of the Soviet Union, is presently too small to host larger warships.

According to the RIA report, the agreement will allow Russia to keep 11 warships at Tartus, including nuclear vessels. The agreement will last for 49 years and could be extended.

Turkey: Still a U.S. Ally?

Is Turkey still a reliable ally? After repeated endorsements by the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of policies inimical to U.S. interests, the answer seems to be not really.

Erdogan recently announced he will seek United Nations support to annul President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

In addition, the Turkish Ministry of Justice has issued warrants for the arrest of two American Turkey specialists, in effect placing a bounty of $800,000 on their heads.

Additionally, there is the somewhat comical furor in Turkey over the adoption by Turkish entrepreneurs of the American "Black Friday" sales concept. Several Turkish businesses, which had attempted to increase sales by borrowing the U.S. "Black Friday" market lure, were attacked by devout Muslims who accused store owners of disrespecting Islam's day of prayer. The perceived insult to Islam's Friday Prayer obligation is just another example of a widening antipathy towards the U.S.

While the misunderstanding by Turks over "Black Friday," will likely fade quickly, the diplomatic damage brought on by the early October arrest by Turkey's police of a Turkish employee at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul allegedly for espionage is likely to be more long-lasting.

Erdogan on Trump’s ‘unacceptable’ recognition: Jerusalem is ‘our red line’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said his country would not tolerate the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“Jerusalem is our red line. Any steps against Jerusalem’s historic status and holiness are unacceptable,” Erdogan said, adding that his country will work toward international recognition of the Palestinian state and seek the support of the European Union.

In a move that delighted much of Israel’s leadership but ignited protests across the Muslim world, US President Donald Trump announced on December 6 that the US recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and planned to move its embassy there from Tel Aviv.

Trump stressed that he was not specifying the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in the city, and called for no change in the status quo at the city’s holy sites.

Erdogan spoke during a visit to Tunisia at the end of a four-day Africa trip focusing on economic issues.

Turkey's Erdogan calls Syria's Assad a terrorist, says impossible to continue with him

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a terrorist and said it was impossible for Syrian peace efforts to continue with him.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan / AFP PHOTO Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan / AFP PHOTO

Turkey has demanded the removal of Assad from power and backed rebels fighting to overthrow him, but it has toned down its demands since it started working with Assad's allies Russia and Iran for a political resolution.

"Assad is definitely a terrorist who has carried out state terrorism," Erdogan told a televised news conference with his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi in Tunis.

"It is impossible to continue with Assad. How can we embrace the future with a Syrian president who has killed close to a million of his citizens?" he said, in some of his harshest comments for weeks.

Though Turkey has long demanded Assad's removal, it is now more focused in Syria on the threat from Islamist militants and Kurdish fighters it considers allies of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who it says have formed a "terror corridor" on its southern border.

Argentine court rules prosecutor in AMIA bombing case was murdered

The Argentine special prosecutor who was found dead in 2015 while investigating a 1994 Jewish center bombing was murdered, a federal judge in the country ruled Tuesday.

Alberto Nisman’s death “could not have been a suicide,” judge Julian Ercolini wrote in his 656-page ruling, according to Reuters.

He said there was enough evidence to support foul play in the death of Nisman, who was discovered in his Buenos Aires apartment with a gunshot wound to the head, delivered at close range from a handgun found at his side.

Ercolini’s ruling also pointed to one suspect in the death: Diego Lagomarsino, an IT employee in Nisman’s office, who he said was a possible accessory to murder.

Nisman’s body was found on January 18, 2015, hours before he was to present evidence to Argentine lawmakers that then-president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner covered up Iran’s role in the attack on the Buenos Aires AMIA center that left 85 dead and hundreds wounded.

His death was initially ruled a likely suicide.

ISRAEL
Terrorist who killed W. Bank family convicted of 3 counts of murder

Omar al-Abed, the Palestinian terrorist who stabbed to death three members of the Salomon family in their home in Halamisch in July, was convicted Wednesday of three counts of murder, two counts of attempted aggravated manslaughter, one count of incitement and several other charges.

Prior to the conviction, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman called on the court to implement the death penalty for al-Abed.

“Today the verdict will be handed down to the terrorist who killed three members of the Salomon family in cold blood in the settlement of Halamish,” said Liberman. “The death sentence is the only appropriate punishment for such a despicable act. I call on the judges to demonstrate courage and hand down a death sentence to this terrorist. Jewish blood will not be abandoned! There is no place for terrorists, not even in prison.”

The Military Advocate General, which is trying the case, asked the court to sentence al-Abed to four life terms and another one for the other various offenses. The IDF said that the sentence will be decided on at a later date.

After the court hearing, family members criticized the prosecution and government for not demanding the death penalty, and not advancing legislation that would sanction a death sentence for Palestinian terrorists.

Gaza Strip terror tunnel detecting barrier 90% completed — report

A technological barrier that can detect attack tunnels crossing under the border with the Gaza Strip into Israel is nearly completed and could be finished in about four months, Channel 10 reported.

The barrier is about 90 percent done and will be supplemented by an enormous concrete wall extending deep into the ground along the border that should be completed by the beginning of 2019, according to the Sunday report.

Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that controls Gaza, has used tunnels to infiltrate Israeli territory and carry out attacks, including shootings and the kidnapping of an IDF soldier, Gilad Shalit, who was released after five years in captivity in exchange for about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

According to the report, it was the new technologies deployed on the barrier that discovered two Palestinian attack tunnels the IDF destroyed in recent months.

On October 30, the army blew up one tunnel, which belonged to the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group. The tunnel started in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis and extended into Israeli territory, ending near Kibbutz Kissufim. In the blast, 12 members of the group were killed, including two senior officers, along with two members of Hamas.

Culture Minister to Zoabi: 'Go back to Gaza, you traitor'

Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev (Likud) excoriated Joint List MK Hanin Zoabi Wednesday, calling the anti-Israel legislator a “traitor” and a “stain on Israeli democracy”.

Zoabi, who has served as an MK with the Arab nationalist Balad faction within the Joint List since 2009, drew criticism in 2010 for her participation in a pro-Hamas flotilla which attempted to force its way into the Gaza Strip.

The 48-year-old MK also drew angry responses for her scathing criticism of the Jewish state and sympathy for the terrorists responsible for the 2014 kidnapping and murder of three Jewish teenagers in Gush Etzion.

“They are not terrorists,” Zoabi said in July 2014. “Even if I do not agree with them, they are people who do not see any way to change their reality, and they are compelled to use means like these".

Following an address in the Knesset by Zoabi, Regev hit the Joint List MK, calling her a “stain on Israeli democracy”.

PA
Abbas praises family of jailed Palestinian girl who slapped soldiers

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas praised the family members of the 16-year-old Palestinian girl who was arrested for slapping and kicking IDF soldiers, for the key role they have been playing in the weekly protests held in their village. The praise came in a phone call Abbas made to the girl’s father checking up on her health and morale, the official PA news site Wafa reported.

After a video of her slapping soldiers went viral on December 15, Ahed Tamimi was arrested on December 19 from her family home in Nabi Salih, a village near Ramallah.

On Monday, a military court extended Tamimi’s remand for four days. According to court documents, Tamimi has been accused of attacking a solider, harming security of the area, incitement and other crimes.

“His excellency [Abbas] checked on the health and morale of the prisoner Ahed, praising her and her family which is always present at peaceful marches in their village Nabi Salih,” the Wafa report said of the phone call on Tuesday between the PA president and Bassam Tamimi.

Senior Hamas Official: Gaza has an army that can be depended on

Gaza has an army that can be relied upon, Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar said on Tuesday.

His comment came during a meeting between Hamas leaders and tribal and local leaders in Gaza.

“We would like to assure you that you have, by the glory of God, an army in the Gaza Strip upon which you can rely and depend,” Sinwar said in rare televised remarks. “The resistance is well. The resistance is very well.”

A number of armed groups – including Izzadin Kassam, Hamas’s military wing; and Saraya al-Quds, Islamic Jihad’s armed wing – together have thousands of fighters based in Gaza and have fought Israel in three wars over the past decade.

Sinwar suggested that the armed groups in Gaza have substantially increased their arsenals since the 2014 Gaza war.

“The resistance can hit... the entity [Israel] in 51 minutes today with what it hit it with in 51 days,” he said, referring to the 2014 Gaza war (Operation Protective Edge), which lasted 51 days.

PreOccupiedTerritory: Palestinian Gun Makers Keep Installing Barrels That Point At Shooter’s Foot (satire)

Makeshift firearms of Palestinian manufacture continue to roll off the assembly line with gun barrels that face downward toward the user’s lower extremities, industry observers report.

The weapons – homemade knockoffs of more reliable models – have been used in numerous attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers over the last dozen years, with the IDF making routine raids into Palestinian-ruled areas to conduct arrests and shit down facilities making the firearms. Military officials note that if not for a manufacturing feature that causes Palestinians to aim at their own feet, many more Israelis would have been harmed.

“The Palestinian Authority doesn’t have a formal set of standards for this kind of thing,” explained IDF Lt. Col. Carl Gustav, whose unit has confiscated dozens of the submachine guns in the course of operations. “But a gun barrel that points at the shooter’s feet is about the closest thing Palestinian firearms production has to an industry standard.”

Lt. Col. Gustav added that the manufacturing trend extends to arenas beyond armaments, and has been spotted in recent decades in Palestinian diplomacy, politics, economics, environmental protection, public health, infrastructure, and several other arenas.

In fact, several international bodies have either blamed Israel for the phenomenon or called on the Jewish State to do more to protect Palestinians from such developments. During the last war between Israel and Hamas in 2014, a significant proportion of Palestinian casualties were caused by rockets that fell short, and landed within the Gaza Strip, failing to reach Israel. The phenomenon became so dangerous that various UN officials demanded that Israel supply Gaza with its Iron Dome system to intercept incoming missiles.

MEMRI: Arab Writers: Arab World's Opposition To Kurdish Independence Referendum Is Hypocritical

Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani's September 25, 2017 referendum on Kurdish independence sparked vehement opposition in Arab countries, as was expressed in statements by leaders and also by many articles in the Arab press. The main argument raised was that the Kurds are a tool of Israel – which is working to divide Iraq, and after that the rest of the Arab countries. As proof of this, they cited the Kurds' good relations with Israel and the fact that Israel is the only country that supports them.

Along with this opposition, the Arab press also published a few articles defending the Kurds' right to independence and criticizing those who opposed it. These articles rejected the conspiracy theory – i.e. that Israel was backing the referendum, with the aim of dismantling an Arab country – and noted that the Arabs' refusal to tackle their own domestic problems posed more of a danger than Israel did. They also said that those who oppose the Kurdish referendum in the name of Arab unity and the Palestinian problem have made other mistakes over the years – such as also supporting Nazism and Communism. This, while they themselves were doing nothing for the Palestinians, and were even causing harm to the Palestinians within their own countries' borders.

MEMRI: Op-Eds On Kurdish Independence In Palestinian Authority Daily – From Absolute Support To Reservations About It

On September 25, 2017, Iraqi Kurdistan held a referendum on the region's independence; the result was overwhelmingly in favor of a split from Iraq. The Palestinian Authority (PA) released no official response to the referendum and its results, and the Palestinian press reported it only briefly. The PA daily Al-Ayyam was the only outlet to publish opinion pieces on it. These pieces ranged from expressions of absolute support for Kurdish independence to support qualified by concern over such a move in light of opposition from Kurdistan's neighbors and other risks that the new state would face. Some called on the Kurds to actualize their independence through coordination and understanding with their neighbors.

The following are translated excerpts from these articles:
"The Kurds Have A Right To Determine Their Own Destiny, Without Foreign Intervention"

As noted, several of the articles in Al-Ayyam expressed absolute support for the Kurds' independence. Writer and journalist Muhannad 'Abd Al-Hamid wrote that the Kurds' connection with Israel is no justification for rejecting their right to independence, and called on the Palestinians to support them because they shared the same fate. He wrote:

"There is a big difference between using [the excuse] of Israeli-Kurdish relations to deny the Kurdish people's legitimate rights... and exposing the truth regarding these relations, which cause damage to the interests of the Kurds and the Arabs. The grave error made by the Kurdish political elite in [maintaining?] relations with the apartheid Israeli state [must be] clarified, along with continuing the support for the Kurds' rights and strengthening the [Arabs'] alliance with the Kurdish people and the democratic elements among them...

MEMRI: Sermon At Islamic Centre Of Southwest Ontario, Canada On Jerusalem: Egyptian President Nasser Said 'Whatever Is Taken Away From You By Force...Will Be Restored By Force Alone'; We Run To 'The Black House... Seeking To Become Dignified' – But 'Our Dignity Will Be Achieved Not Through Negotiations'

In a Friday, December 15, 2017 sermon at the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario (ICSWO), in London, Ontario, Canada, Imam Jamal Taleb said, in English, that while the Arabs make up 19% of the world's Muslims, they buy 50% of the world's weapons – and not '[t]o fight the occupying entity' but "because they are killing each other."

Referring to Jerusalem, he quoted the late Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser as saying "Whatever is taken away from you by force… will be restored by force alone," and added: "We are running to the 'Black House,' we are running to Moscow, and we are running to this and that – seeking to become dignified... Our dignity will be achieved not through negotiations." He also noted: "We used to say: 'Palestine and noble Jerusalem as its capital.' Now what do we say? 'Palestine and East Jerusalem as its capital'... we replaced 'noble' with 'East' because this is what our masters told us." The sermon was posted on the YouTube channel of the ICSWO.

Additionally, in a March 2017 sermon at the ICSWO, Imam Jamal Taleb stressed that the March 22, 2017 London Bridge attack " has nothing to do with Islam" and added, "Anything that happens in the streets of Damascus, of Baghdad, or of Yemen has nothing to do with Islam." He went on to say: "Islam is not only for Jamal, Islam is not only for Ahmad. Islam is for Joe, and Islam is for Mike. They are waiting for you to tell them what Islam is, because if they know what Islam is, I would say that they will all become Muslims."

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