08/22 Links Pt1: Blood money -The PA has paid 2,692,500 shekels to terrorists who murdered 23 people ~ EoZ

From Ian:

PMW: Blood money -The PA has paid 2,692,500 shekels to terrorists who murdered 23 people

16 years ago tonight, the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Av, 23 Jews were murdered in a suicide bombing while traveling on a bus in Jerusalem's Beit Yisroel neighborhood. Those murdered included 7 children. There were six terrorists directly involved in the attack, including the suicide bomber, two terrorists killed in an attempt to arrest them and three terrorists who are still in prison.

According to the calculations of Palestinian Media Watch, the Palestinian Authority has paid the imprisoned terrorists and the families of the dead terrorists, as payment for the murderous attack, a cumulative sum of 2,692,500 shekels ($764,482).

One of the more dominant terrorists who planned the attack was Majdi Za'atri who was sentenced to 23 consecutive life sentences and an additional 50 years. He alone, through June 2019, has been paid by the PA 706,800 shekels ($188,996).

Two other terrorist arrested at the same time have been paid the same amount. Accordingly, since the arrest of the three terrorists in August 2003, the PA has paid them, to date, a total of 2,142,300 shekels ($608,263).

Confronting UNRWA education antisemitism at the UN

The timing of the Palestinian Authority being called to task for antisemitism in its textbooks by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination coincides with the UNRWA mandate coming under debate for renewal every five years, since 1949.

This year, for the first time, there will be no automatic renewal.

What is the connection between the PA textbooks and UNRWA?

I personally interviewed Dr. Na’im Abu Hummus, who was then Palestinian education minister, at his office on August 1, 2000, the very day the first textbooks published by the PA curriculum were provided to UNRWA.

In that interview, Al-Hummus explained that the PA had contracted with UNRWA to function as the exclusive supplier of schoolbooks for all UNRWA schools in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and Jerusalem.

That day, the PA provided the Center for Near East Policy Research (CFNEPR) with its first 80 school books, and the center has over the last 19 years received and examined all 365 school books which the PA has supplied to UNRWA.

Conclusions? The CFNEPR has found that PA textbooks used by UNRWA have been indoctrinating virulent antisemitism into the hearts and minds of refugees from the 1948 War of Independence and their descendants.

Significance? UNRWA is responsible for the education of 321,000 students in 370 schools.

UN agency for Palestinians is too corrupt to save

The United Nations General Assembly renews UNRWA’s mandate every three years and is expected to rubber-stamp its extension this November. Perhaps the assembly would reconsider if UNRWA’s top donors — the European Union, Germany, Britain, and Saudi Arabia — made clear that their patience is at an end.

Instead, UNRWA donors should call on the UN to treat Palestinian refugees like all other refugees in the world and address their needs through the UNHCR, which is less prone to corruption, though still not immune. The provision of services to Palestinians in need would continue or even improve. The U.S. could incentivize the proposed reform by offering to restore most or all of its $360 million annual funding if the UNHCR takes charge.

Additionally, as President Trump’s special envoy Jason Greenblatt suggested, nearby countries hosting Palestinians should assume many of UNRWA’s responsibilities — with donor support — so that these populations can finally start building lives outside the camps.

Corruption within a self-serving and self-preserving bureaucracy is entirely predictable. UNRWA has become a vestigial organ, no longer serving its purpose of helping actual refugees. Eliminating a bloated, bureaucratic UNRWA and redirecting its work towards more efficient bodies determined to solve the problem will ultimately serve all interested parties. It would cause some pain, but it is better than condemning another generation of Palestinians to grow up in the camps, where they learn to blame Israel for their suffering.

WaPo: Our Son, Hadar Goldin, Was Abducted by Hamas. We Want His Remains Returned.

Five years ago this month, our son Hadar Goldin, a second lieutenant in the Israel Defense Forces, was abducted by Hamas militants during a UN-sponsored humanitarian cease-fire in the 50-day war along the Gaza border with Israel. The militants dragged him into the tunnel from which they had apparently emerged. Hadar was killed during the ensuing firefight as Israeli forces raced to try to rescue him.

To this day, we believe that Hamas holds our son's remains, presumably as a bargaining chip to extract political concessions - just as it holds the remains of Oron Shaul, another Israeli soldier who was killed during the conflict, as well as hostages Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed.

The UN and U.S. condemned the abduction at the time, but since then have done nothing to press Hamas to return Hadar's remains or those of the others it holds. Meanwhile, international funding and aid flows into Gaza, including from the UN. Even modest pressure from the UN to make some of its aid contingent on Hamas' return of the remains it holds might lead to a solution.

On June 11, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2474 on people reported missing in armed conflict. The resolution insists that combatant groups are obliged to return remains. What's needed now is concrete action by the UN and the U.S. to put these ideas into practice.

Danon: UN Must Help Bring Home Israeli Soldiers Whose Bodies Are Held by Hamas

The parents of the late Lt. Hadar Goldin — an IDF soldier who fell in battle in the Gaza Strip during Operation Protective Edge and whose body was kidnapped by Hamas and is still being held by the terrorist group — met in New York on Wednesday with Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.

According to a statement published by Danon’s office, the diplomat told Leah and Simha Goldin that Israel was “continuing to focus its efforts at the UN and with senior members of the international community on returning Israeli prisoners and missing persons to their homes.”

Hadar Goldin is one of two IDF soldiers — the other being Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul — who died in the summer 2014 Gaza war and whose remains have yet to be handed over to Israel.

“Holding our boys hostage is a blatant violation of international law, which requires that UN officials work to bring them home,” Danon said after Wednesday’s meeting with the Goldins. “Hadar and Oron were captured during a UN-initiated cease fire, and the organization must now fulfill its humanitarian duty and assist in efforts return our soldiers for a proper burial in Israel.”

In the coming days, the Goldins will also meet with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and a number of diplomats from around the world.

Edwin Black: Who’s funding illegal PA settlements in Area C—Nearly 10,000 cases

Area C —also called Judea and Samaria—comprises roughly 60 percent of the 'West Bank'. The majority of Area C residents are Israelis—an estimated 325,000 alongside some 300,000 Arabs. Under the Oslo Accords, only the Israeli Civil Administration can authorize new construction in the zone—for Israeli and Arab alike.

But in 2009, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Fayyad introduced the so-calledFayyad Plan, well-described by a 2011 article in the Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture as having “the potential to dramatically transform the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and, by extension, the Middle Eastern political landscape.”

The analysis adds, “The essence of the Fayyad plan involves establishing an internationally recognized demilitarized Palestinian state encompassing both the West Bank and Gaza, based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Since August 2009, Fayyad, with the help of the Barack Obama administration and the European Union, has been quietly building national institutions and physical infrastructure … in the West Bank.”

To create a de facto Palestinian State without further negotiation or even diplomatic consultation with the Israelis, European countries, individually and through the EU, have pumped hundreds of millions of euros annually into scores of illegal state-building and related projects—called Area C “interventions.” Just one cluster of the “European Union Area C Development Programme” boasts a €300 million annual commitment, and within three years, is budgeted to reach about €1.5 billion. A single 1650-meter roadnear Jenin in Area C was funded with a €500,000 allocation.

The Area C Palestinian boom advances without any coordination with Israelis about land use, security, environmental impacts, or close proximity to Jewish villages. The PA’s 2014 Roots Project greatly accelerated the entire process. Thus, European governments and the PA have completed the shredding of the already-weakened Oslo agreements.

‘The Occupation’ — How the EU Discriminates Against Israel

Like Israel (again on the assumption that the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria are Israeli-occupied territory), all three of these other states have colonized the contested lands — China and Morocco massively so; Israel and Turkey on a much smaller scale relative to the existing populations.

There is of course a crucial difference. Only Israel has a deep historical claim to the area it “occupies.” The 24 books that make up the Jewish Scriptures refer to “Judea and Samaria,” the Jewish tribes that inhabited them, and the places they inhabited in the area hundreds of times. So frequently are they mentioned, indeed, that it is abundantly clear that Judea and Samaria were the centers of Jewish life and politics for thousands of years.

Let us now take a look at the search function on the European Commission’s internet site. (The phrase “military occupation” was used by this author rather than simply “occupation” as the latter produces thousands of documents on work vocations.)

These are the results, entering in the relevant country names:
- Israeli military occupation — 85 results
- Turkish military occupation — 3 results
- Moroccan military occupation — 2 results
- Chinese military occupation — no results

Considering how proud the European Commission is that it treats all states fairly, it is hard to understand why Israeli military occupation receives nearly 30 times more consideration (and opprobrium) than Turkish occupation and colonization and over forty times more than Moroccan occupation. It also prompts the question of why the Chinese colonization of Tibet is not viewed as an occupation at all.

Isi Leibler: American Jewry’s implosion

Whatever the rationale justifying their exclusion, reversing the initial approval resulted in a no-win situation. They could now misrepresent themselves as martyrs, accuse Israel of denying freedom of expression, and unite the Democrats against Israel.

Most of the 23 contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination are already on record appeasing the radicals.

Even former Vice President Joe Biden, the front-runner, stated, “I will insist on Israel, which I’ve done, to stop the occupation of those territories, period.”

Jewish Senator Bernie Sanders, second in the polls, boycotts AIPAC, condemns Israel for the “ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” rails against the “occupation,” and sees Netanyahu as part of a “new authoritarian axis.” He undertakes, if elected president, to cut military aid unless Israel changes its policies.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, third in the polls, appointed Max Berger, co-founder of the anti-Israel organization IfNotNow, as her progressive partnerships director.

Nearly all Democratic leaders, and even some Republicans, condemned Israel’s refusal to grant the visas. A group of Democrats bizarrely sought to censure the American and Israeli ambassadors, demonstrating the extent to which even congressional friends of Israel were succumbing to pressure by the radicals.

Almost all the establishment Jewish groups, including AIPAC, joined the pack criticizing Israel – an improper intervention by organizations that should have remained silent or at least pointed out the historical precedents.

Although the media has inflamed the situation, most Democrats still support Israel whereas wide segments of American Jewry remain silent as the Democratic Party radicals gain influence. Should this trend continue and bipartisanship break down, this would undermine one of the pillars of Israeli security.

Netanyahu willing to stand up to Trump on peace plan, says official

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is willing to go head to head with US President Donald Trump over his administration’s peace plan if it contains demands rejected by Israel’s government, a senior Israeli official said on Tuesday.

The official, a member of Netanyahu’s delegation to Ukraine who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the prime minister has proven in the past he can stand up to US presidents and is willing to do the same with Trump, if necessary.

Netanyahu has communicated to Trump what polices he would reject, according to the official, among them the demolition of even a single West Bank settlement home, dividing Jerusalem, or allowing Palestinian refugees and their descendants the “right of return” to homes they fled or were expelled from after Israel’s creation in 1948.

The senior official said Netanyahu also stressed that Israel must retain “complete control” of all areas west of the Jordan River, apparently referring to security control.

MEMRI: Senior Jordanian Journalist's Response To Calls For Cancelling Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty: The Decision-Makers Must Proceed With Caution; Cancelling Treaty May Bring About Cancellation Of Jordan's Custodianship Of Holy Sites In Jerusalem

On August 19, 2019, the Jordanian House of Representatives, which is the lower house of the Jordanian parliament, held an urgent special session to discuss the situation in Jerusalem. The session concluded with a number of recommendations, including expelling the Israeli ambassador from Amman, recalling the Jordanian ambassador from Israel, halting all forms of normalization with Israel, and reexamining the 1994 Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty. House speaker 'Atef Al-Tarawneh, who led the session, called on the government to clarify to the Israeli government that the peace treaty was in danger and also called for an Arab Interparliamentary Union conference in Jordan to discuss Israeli violations of the status quo.[1]

These recommendations reflect the anger in Jordan in recent weeks over Israel's policy vis-à-vis Al-Aqsa; the anger peaked against the backdrop of the clashes there during the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha that this year coincided with the Jewish fast day of Tisha B'Av, August 10-11, and particularly because of statements by Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan that Jews should be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. Non-Muslims have not been allowed to pray there as part of an arrangement that has been in place since the 1967 War. Official Jordanian elements, headed by the Foreign Ministry, hastened to condemn Minister Erdan's statements, which were perceived as an attempt by Israel to change the status quo, and warned about the "grave consequences" that might result.[2]

Furthermore, in Jordan there is apprehension, and not for the first time, that Minister Erdan's statements reflect an attempt by Israel to interfere with Jordan's custodianship of Al-Aqsa mosque and Muslim and Christian holy sites, and perhaps even to replace Jordan with another Arab country – notably Saudi Arabia – as custodian, under the Deal of the Century.[3]

IDF strikes fresh Hamas targets after 2nd rocket fired from Gaza Strip

The latest tit-for-tat fighting between Hamas and Israel continued throughout the night Thursday with Israeli planes striking a round of fresh targets in the Gaza Strip belonging to the terror group after a second rocket was fired from the coastal enclave toward Israeli towns.

The IDF confirmed that it has struck several “terror bases” in the Strip in the second set of sites targeted by airstrikes since midnight Wednesday.

The round of raids came in response to a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel early Thursday morning, the IDF said. That attack came shortly after Israeli planes struck Hamas naval targets off the coast of the Strip, following an earlier rocket attack which landed in an open field in Israel.

The IDF said that warning sirens were activated near the Gaza border. There were no injuries in the rocket attacks.

The army said earlier that fighter jets and aircraft hit several “sea-based bases” in the north belonging to Hamas. The army said the strikes were in response to the rocket attack, as well as “continuing terror activities from the Strip.”

It's utterly intolerable and unfathomable that a generation of Israelis have grown up under the constant terror of Hamas rockets. This video from @haimjelin makes your heart stop. ?? pic.twitter.com/n66ubFpGRG
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) August 21, 2019

Israel blames Islamic Jihad for Gaza violence, tells Hamas to clamp down

The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday blamed the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad for the recent increase in violence from the Gaza Strip and called for Hamas, the de facto ruler of the enclave, to rein in the terror group.

“We do not plan to accept terror attacks and rocket fire against our citizens,” the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee tweeted.

Adraee was referring to a number of rocket and mortar attacks directed against southern Israel and infiltration attempts along the border in recent days.

Rockets were fired at Israel from the enclave late Wednesday and early Thursday, prompting Israeli reprisal attacks.

There were no injuries in the Palestinian rocket attacks.

The Islamic Jihad is the second most powerful terror group in the Gaza Strip after Hamas. Israel has routinely accused the Iran-backed group of seeking to derail its unofficial ceasefire agreements with Hamas by carrying out attacks from Gaza.

“Hamas, as the ruler of the Strip, must enforce its authority over Islamic Jihad and prevent these terror attacks and plots,” Adraee said.

Palestinian Attempts to Strangle Israeli Interior Ministry Employee at Jordan Border Crossing

In what appeared to be a bizarre attempted terror attack, a Palestinian man attempted to strangle an employee of the Israeli Interior Ministry at the Allenby Bridge border crossing with Jordan on Wednesday.

According to Israeli news site Mako, the 35-year-old resident of Nablus was reentering Israel from Jordan when the employee happened to pass by.

The Palestinian man then attacked the employee and tried to strangle him with a rope. Guards at the crossing responded to the victim’s cries for help and overpowered the attacker.

The guards handed the attacker over to security forces.

Two Lebanese Sentenced to 10 Years for Acquiring Israeli Nationality

The military court, chaired by General Gerges Tahoum, on Tuesday convicted two Lebanese, Abdellatif Hammoud and Hoda Shaaban, over collaboration with the Israeli enemy and the acquisition of the Israeli nationality.

Both were sentenced to ten-year imprisonment with hard labor.

2 Israeli Arabs indicted for planning ISIS-inspired attack

Two Israeli-Arab residents of the northern city of Tamra have been arrested for allegedly planning an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack, the Shin Bet security agency said Thursday.

Twenty-two-year-old medical student Amin Yassin and 28-year-old Ali al-Aroush, who had previously been arrested for alleged affiliation with the jihadi terrorist group, face charges of supporting a terrorist organization, contact with a foreign agent, receiving terrorist training, and conspiracy to commit a terrorist attack.

According to the Shin Bet security agency, the investigation found that "the two support ISIS and even see themselves as its emissaries until such time that an Islamic State is formed in Israel."

The investigation further discovered that Yassin and al-Aroush had downloaded dozens of files containing "substantial ISIS-related contents," including weapons and explosives training videos.

"The Shin Bet will continue to work with the Israel Police to expose suspects operating on behalf of Islamic State terrorist organization, and will take the necessary enforcement measures to prevent any activity that is detrimental to state security," the agency said.

Hamas: Busier than ever in the West Bank

The same week the Palestinian Authority doubled the salary of Hamas member Hussam Kawasme, who is in prison for planning the abduction and murder of three Jewish teens in Gush Etzion in the summer of 2014 – as revealed by Palestinian Media Watch – IDF soldier Dvir Sorek, 18, was murdered in the same area. Sorek's murder took place exactly five years after the kidnapping that shook the entire nation, and now authorities are looking into whether Hamas in Gaza and its "terrorism headquarters" were involved in this latest incident, at least tangentially.

For now, there are no proven links between Hamas in Gaza and the two suspects arrested for Sorek's murder, Hamas operative Nazir Saleh Khalil and his cousin, Qasem Araf Khalil, both from the Atafra clan.

According to the Shin Bet security agency, two other Atafra clan members, Yazan and Saif, were recruited at the behest of Hamas in Gaza by Awis Rajoub to carry out a terrorist attack at a shopping mall, on a bus, or on a train. They were supposed to pick their target and prepare the explosives that were to be used. Rajoub was being handled from Gaza. He maintained contact with his handlers using a telephone that he picked up at a pharmaceutical warehouse in Ramallah. The phone's password was sewn into a pair of pants that he was given by an elderly woman from Gaza who was allowed into Israel to receive medical treatment. The Shin Bet says that Hamas in Gaza and its branch in Judea and Samaria, which is made up almost entirely of terrorists released in the deal to free captive soldier Gilad Schalit and which played a part in the kidnapping of the three teens in 2014, never stops trying to execute terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria and within the Green Line. Its activity is directed not only from Gaza, but also from Lebanon, Turkey, and Qatar, and in the past few months, Iranian money has also entered the picture. Last week's events on the Temple Mount, in which Hamas was also involved, provide the organization with an opportunity to set dozens of potential terrorists and terrorist attacks in motion.

Egypt arrests son of PA official, a BDS activist, for aiding ‘terror group’

The family of prominent Palestinian politician Nabil Shaath accused Egyptian authorities on Wednesday of arresting Shaath’s son Ramy last month.

He has been charged with allegedly aiding a terrorist group, but the family says Ramy was targeted because he criticized the Egyptian government’s ties with Israel and the US as part of his role in the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

“Ramy was arrested on Friday July 5th at 12:45 AM, from his home in Cairo,” the family said in a statement on Facebook.

“At least a dozen heavily armed security agents stormed and searched his residence without presenting any legal document,” they added.

The son of a senior Palestinian politician and Oslo peace process negotiator, Ramy also entered politics and served as an adviser to Palestinian Liberation Organization head Yasser Arafat.

Fatah Official Dr. Hazem Abu Shanab: Trump Will Be Re-Elected in 2020, Americans Opt for Extremism

Fatah Revolutionary Council member Dr. Hazem Abu Shanab, the former Palestinian ambassador the Pakistan, said in an August 18, 2019 interview on Alhadath Alyoum TV that U.S. President Donald Trump will be re-elected in 2020 because American society has turned to extremism the same way that Israeli society has favored extremist parties for the past 18 years. He added that the situation is similar with Boris Johnson in the United Kingdom, and the TV host, Sayyed Ali, said: "We are creating a Hitler worse than Hitler."

Head of Hamas Abroad: Those Who Normalize Relations with Israel Are Committing Treason

Maher Salah, the head of Hamas in the Palestinian diaspora, said in an August 18, 2019 interview on Al-Hiwar TV (U.K.) that Israel is the root of all evil in the Middle East. He said that there is a large revolution coming that will require great sacrifices and that will change the region. He harshly criticized anybody who recognizes Israel, who sees it as an ally, and who normalizes relations with it, and he said that such people should be excommunicated because they are committing treason and "falsifying" the will of the nation and the "true feelings of contemporary Arabs and Muslims." Salah also explained that Hamas has a good relationship with Iran because of Iran's financial and material support for the Palestinian cause and because of its continued hostility to Israel.

Ahed tamini is “wow” at a film taken on Gaza streets . The “open air prison “ with a beach ?? that the #bds try to fool everyone in thinking . Cafes shops ??. Don’t let Palestinianism fool you . It’s no prison pic.twitter.com/pgqcJEJKFm
— Eye On Antisemitism (@AntisemitismEye) August 22, 2019

Seth Frantzman: Everything you need to know about alleged airstrikes in Iraq - Timeline

Alleged airstrikes in Iraq targeting the bases of Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias have increased over the last month, with the militias blaming America and Israel for the incidents. Here is everything you need to know about the emerging crisis.

It began on July 19 with unidentified “bombs” falling on an “Iran-allied militia base” in Iraq north of Baghdad, according to Kurdish media. The attack happened at Amerli. Local members of Kata’ib Hezbollah, a militia group, immediately blamed Israel and the US. Washington said that it had not carried out the “attack against the Iranians and Popular Mobilization Forces” at the base. By the next day, the militia groups said that none of their forces had been killed.

On July 30 a new attack was reported at Camp Ashraf in Diyala province, not far from the first incident. Reports in Asharq al-Awsat said that Israel was behind the attack “using F-35s.”

On August 12, another explosion south of Baghdad at Camp Falcon was blamed on “foreign actors” by Iraqis on social media. Satellite images from ImageSat International published on August 14 showed the site of the explosion and concluded that it had been an airstrike. Iraq put new orders in place to restrict use of its airspace by the US. An Iraqi MP blamed Washington, and PMF militia leader Qais Khazali called for an investigation. A member of the State of Law Coalition in Iraq’s parliament said that the US was attacking Iraq on August 19. The Harakat Hezbollah militia also blamed America.

Iranian-backed militia: Israeli attacks on Iraqi bases 'declaration of war'

Ahmed al-Asadi, a Popular Mobilization Forces official, said on Wednesday that the targeting of PMF headquarters at two bases over the past few weeks and the entrance of Israel into Iraqi territory is a "declaration of war against Iraq, its people and its sovereignty," according to Al-Sumaria.

"Israel's entry into our national sphere declares war against Iraq, its people, sovereignty and capabilities, and silence on aggression is not a rational position, but rationality and political realism require the exhaustion of diplomatic options with the UN Security Council so that Iraq, its army and its people are in a situation of military deterrence against aggression and drones," said al-Asadi.

"This Israeli and American act will not pass without an explicit position on it first: At the level of the state and the executive and legislative bodies, I call from my position as a deputy in the parliament and head of the international movement to exercise its national right to defend our sovereignty, which is violated by Israel and the forces supporting it," stated the PMF official.

Al-Asadi also stressed that action must be taken on an international and regional level to act against attempts to target Iraqi airspace and military forces.

Iran-backed militia walks back accusation that Israel, US behind Iraq strikes

The head of Iraq’s paramilitary Shiite forces, supported by Iran, appeared Thursday to walk back a statement made by his deputy, who blamed Israeli drones and said the US was responsible for a series of attacks on bases run by the militia.

Faleh al-Fayyadh said that the Wednesday statement by his deputy, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, didn’t represent the view of the mainly Shiite paramilitary group known as Popular Mobilization Forces — or that of the Iraqi government.

Al-Fayyadh’s statement alleged the attacks on the bases over the past weeks “were the result of an act organized by a foreign side,” without naming that side.

The statement highlighted divisions within the Popular Mobilization Forces, which is mostly run by the deputy, al-Muhandis, a military commander known for his anti-American sentiments.

The rare statement by al-Muhandis had said the group had accurate information showing the US brought in four Israeli drones this year to work as part of the US fleet in Iraq and target militia positions in Iraq.

Pompeo warns of ‘new turmoil’ if UN lifts arms embargo on Iran

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on Tuesday that Iran will be “unshackled to create new turmoil” when a UN arms embargo on Iran and a travel ban on the leader of the regime’s elite Quds Force is lifted in October 2020.

“Time is drawing short to continue this activity of restricting Iran’s capacity to foment its terror regime,” he said at a UN Security Council meeting about the latest in the Middle East, which also included mention of the situations in Yemen and Libya and the threat from Islamic State. “The international community will have plenty of time to see how long it has until Iran is unshackled to create new turmoil and figure out what it must do to prevent this from happening.”

Pompeo noted that the US State Department’s website has a “Countdown to Terror” clock leading up to the removal of the restrictions in accordance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which the United States withdrew from, reimposing sanctions, in addition to enacting new financial penalties against Tehran.

Additionally, the US top diplomat warned against helping the vessel, which is carrying 2 million barrels of oil.

“We have made clear that anyone who touches it, anyone who supports it, anyone who allows a ship to dock is at risk of receiving sanctions from the United States,” he told reporters at the United Nations, where he addressed the UN Security Council about the latest in the Middle East.

Pompeo: U.S. to Act to Prevent Iranian Tanker from Delivering Oil to Syria

U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said Tuesday in New York: "The United States has a set of sanctions that preclude [Iranian] crude oil from being shipped to any country. We've made clear - anyone who touches it, anyone who supports it, anyone who allows a ship to dock is at risk of receiving sanctions from the United States of America. So if that ship [that was detained in Gibraltar] again heads to Syria, we'll take every action we can consistent with those sanctions to prevent that."

"Remember, the reason we don't want that crude oil to go to Syria, I think, is shared by the entire world. That crude oil will be offloaded, sold, used by the Qods Force, an organization that has killed countless Americans and people all across the world, and we want to deny them the resources to continue their horrific terror campaign all across the world. That's the rationale for preventing a ship that's loaded with [Iranian] crude oil arriving in Syria."

The United States will continue to deny Iranian leadership the resources, wealth, funds, and capacity to continue to foment terrorism around the world and to deny the people inside of Iran the freedoms that they so richly deserve.
https://t.co/W5uOz16Fj8 pic.twitter.com/af5P9QweJ5
— Department of State (@StateDept) August 21, 2019

Unveiling missile defense system, Iran’s president says talks with US ‘useless’

Iran’s president struck a belligerent tone on dealings with the US, saying Thursday that “talks are useless” as Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers crumbles further.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made the comment in a speech in Tehran during the unveiling of the Bavar-373, a long-range surface-to-air missile system that he described as an improvement to the Russian S-300 missile defense batteries.

“Now that our enemies do not accept logic, we cannot respond with logic,” Rouhani said in the televised speech.

He added: “When the enemy launches a missile against us, we cannot give a speech and say: ‘Mr. Rocket, please do not hit our country and our innocent people. Rocket-launching sir, if you can please hit a button and self-destroy the missile in the air.'”

On Wednesday, Iran’s state TV reported that the Bavar-373 is able to recognize up to 100 targets at a same time and confront them with six different weapons.

JCPA: Is Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani Iran’s Ultimate Negotiator?

This is not the first time a senior Iranian official has suggested that General Soleimani is the figure who should talk with the West and the other “enemies.”

Mahmoud Nabavian, a former member of the Majlis and member of the so-called hard-line Endurance Front (from which Ahmadinejad came to the presidency), said it is Soleimani who needs to talk with the United States instead of Zarif.

In Iranian eyes, Soleimani already humiliated Mike Pompeo in recent years. While he was CIA director, Pompeo sent Soleimani a letter in 2017 via Nouri al-Maliki, former prime minister of Iraq. As Pompeo later confirmed, Soleimani “refused to open the letter. It didn’t break my heart, to be honest with you.”[5]

According to Pompeo, the letter warned that the United States would hold Soleimani and Iran accountable for attacks against American forces fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Soleimani’s responded to the letter, according to Iranian sources: “I will not accept your letter, nor will I read it. I have nothing to do with these people.”[6]
Zarif and Trump

In the Swedish capital, Zarif also stated that in his assessment, President Trump will be reelected, and the Iranian regime cannot count on his leaving office.

Zarif seems to have been referring indirectly to an American article published last week that claimed the Iranian regime had taken a final decision not to soften its position until Trump’s ouster in the 2020 elections.

Middle East Scholars Blame Trump for an Iran Policy 40 Years in the Making

When the new academic year convenes days from now, students attending American colleges will learn that there is a crisis in the Middle East caused by a radical departure from traditional U.S.-Iran relations instigated, of course, by President Donald Trump.

At the University of Michigan, Juan Cole may tell them that "Trump created this crisis by breaching the 2015 Iran nuclear deal," as he wrote on his blog, "Informed Comment."

Georgetown's Iran specialist, Trita Parsi, may tell them that "this is a TOTALLY UNNECESSARY CRISIS" and "We're only here cuz Trump quit the deal and put (national security adviser John) Bolton in charge of Iran policy" — assuming her Twitter commentary and classroom conduct are not out-of-sync.

Sasan Fayazmanesh, director of the Middle East studies program at California State University, Fresno, may tell his students "the immediate cause of the recent crisis is the current US administration's unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)."

Iran's Mullahs: Loving the Democrats' Presidential Debates

"As long as Iran has money, we will have money...." — Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of the Lebanese paramilitary party; CNSnews.com.

"Iran Executed 110 In Six Months, Including Minors" — Radio Farda, July 5, 2019.

It is not hard to track Iran's aggression and quest for regional dominance in the Middle East.

What should come as a surprise, is that the Democratic presidential candidates have apparently not learned a thing from the damage their nuclear deal inflicted -- in Iran, in the region and even as far as Venezuela -- under the leadership of their former president.

European leaders welcome FM of Iran - world's largest terror exporter

Iran's Foreign Minister Javed Zarif is currently being welcomed by European leaders today, as the world marks International Day of Remembrance & Tribute to the Viictims of Terrorism. Thousands of these victims were killed and injured in terror attacks PERPETRATED BY IRAN and its proxies, on European soil and around the globe.

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