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Wednesday, June 3, 2020

06/03 Links Pt1: John Podhoretz: Only an intellectual could ‘justify’ these riots; Why the Israeli left backed annexation; Half of Israelis Support West Bank Annexation, Poll Finds

From Ian:
Ha'aretz: Don't Confuse the Struggle of African Americans with the Struggle of the Palestinians
Despite the temptation to draw a comparison, the struggle of black people in the U.S. has nothing in common with the struggle of the Palestinians. The struggle being waged by blacks in the U.S. is a racial one, while the Palestinian struggle against Jews is nationalist in character.

The Palestinians refused the UN partition plan in 1947. They refused then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak's peace proposal in 2000. They refused to turn the Gush Katif settlement bloc, which was evacuated for their benefit in Israel's 2005 disengagement from Gaza, into a heaven on earth, choosing instead to create terrorist strongholds there. They chose Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Some chose, and still choose, terrorism.

In contrast to blacks in the U.S. who seek to live in peace with their American compatriots, the Palestinians don't want genuine peace. It's true that we and the Palestinians do not belong to the same nation, share the same language, or were raised with the same values, but that doesn't mean we cannot live in peace. But for that to happen, the Palestinians will have to recognize Israel's Jewish character and its link to Zionism.

In fact, such Palestinians already exist: Israeli Arabs, who enjoy full equality in terms of civil rights. The Israeli national anthem is addressed to the yearning Jewish soul and it will remain that way. Nevertheless, Arab citizens are not asked to sing it, the way that American Jews sing the U.S. national anthem and French Jews sing the French national anthem. They need only to recognize that it is the national anthem of the country of which they are a part.

If not for the extremist worldview adopted by many Palestinians and their supporters, which seeks to change Israel's Jewish-Zionist character, perhaps they would have their own state already.
John Podhoretz: Only an intellectual could ‘justify’ these riots
The difference between the hoodlums of Mailer’s day and the antifa “insurgents” of Thrasher’s and our time is that our insurgents are fully aware there is a phalanx of media and academic apologists at the ready, who will not only excuse their behavior but laud it. This both provides them internal psychological cover for the unleashing of the evils inside them and a vocabulary to explain away the evils they release.
Business owners from Mercado Central, a cooperative of largely Latino-owned businesses on Lake Street, nail pieces of white cloth onto the boarded-up building as a symbol of peace and a possible deterrent against rioting, in Minneapolis.Business owners from Mercado Central, a cooperative of largely Latino-owned businesses on Lake Street, nail pieces of white cloth onto the boarded-up building as a symbol of peace and a possible deterrent against rioting, in Minneapolis.AP

Making excuses for rampant violence has been a reflexive habit among the cognoscenti in the United States since the 1960s, from the Leonard Bernsteins hosting the Black Panthers at the elegant party ­immortalized by Tom Wolfe in his essay “Radical Chic” to the aftermath of the 1977 New York City blackout, when the looting of entire neighborhoods causing more than $1 billion in damage ($4.5 billion in today’s dollars) was justified in the op-ed columns of The New York Times as a consequence of (wait for it) a cutback in city-provided teenage summer employment.

Ideological partisans of all stripes face this temptation every day — the temptation to believe that those who seem to be making the same argument you make but then add violence to the mix only do so out of an excess of zeal. In other words, the violent people may be wrong in their tactics, but their passionate loathing of injustice simply got the best of their good intentions.

Perhaps they feel it necessary to do so because they don’t want the bad behavior to discredit their beliefs, or because they can’t bear to examine their ­beliefs in light of the violence and wonder if they are a part of what made the violence happen.

Or they double down and come to think that the violence is a mark of virtue — that the ­violent are even more committed than the cowardly couch potatoes who sit on the sidelines bemoaning injustice but refuse to put it all on the line. That was also the story with the cop-killing and bank-robbing terrorism by the Weathermen and others that erupted from the anti-Vietnam-War student protests.

The perpetrators were romanticized rather than vilified. That was half a century ago. And the spiritual virus that provided such rancid moral “immunity” has surged anew with a recurrence of the evil.



Ben-Dror Yemini: The Jews are to blame, again
They allege that the despicable death of George Floyd in Minneapolis was a result of the police officers being trained by the Israel Police.

Many police departments around the world cooperate on training and information gathering and the Israel Police has extensive expertise in anti-terror tactics and operations.

The Jewish Institute for National Security of America prides itself on sending delegations of high-ranking police officers from the U.S. to
Israel to learn about counter-terrorism methods.

Organizations affiliated with the anti-Israel BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement have protested in the past and tried to stop these delegations.

Amnesty International even released a report in 2016 alleging that human rights violations by police officers in the U.S. were connected to their training in Israel.

In response to the report, the National Black Police Association wrote a letter supporting the training in Israel, highlighting the counter-terrorism tactics they are taught.

There is not a single shred of evidence that American police officers are brutalized during their visits to Israel or that those who mistreat African Americans have any connection to such training.

Data shows that police brutality has actually dropped in recent years, but again, anti-Semitic propagandists never care about the facts.

One of the main proponents of this lie is Eran Efrati, an erstwhile member of Breaking the Silence, whose former organization seems to have become too mild for him.
Israeli in LA: Palestinians piggybacking on riots to wreck synagogues
An Israeli living in the City of Los Angels, Eyal Dahan, has told Israel Hayom that the area in which he and his family live "looks like a war zone" since riots over the death of George Floyd began – and some Palestinians are taking advantage of the chaos to wreck synagogues,

A number of Los Angeles synagogues have been vandalized or even destroyed during the riots, including one in Beverly Hills. According to Dahan, the buildings have not been targeted by any of the peaceful protesters demonstrating against Floyd's death, but rather Palestinians who "exploited the opportunity to destroy synagogues."

"I saw a PLO flag and them shouting to 'free Palestine.' I don't think it was black protesters who did this damage," he says.

Dahan, a clothing supplier who has lived in the US for 41 years, says the chaos is "immense."

"The army [National Guard] is in the streets. Businesses have been burned and torn apart. [Rioters] tore down pharmacies, stole all the medicine. All the electronics stores have been destroyed. It started bad, and because the police didn't pressure them, it got worse," he says.

Dahan says that businesses that haven't yet managed to get back on their feet from the coronavirus crisis are crashing.

"It was terror on Saturday and Sunday, the entire city was engulfed. Yesterday [Monday] there was some quiet, but that night the break-ins and looting started again. … Right now, 90% of the demonstrators are peaceful, but the 10% who come after them have been looting and causing huge damage."
LA Jews reeling after local institutions looted and burned in Floyd protests
Graffiti on the walls of a synagogue read “Free Palestine” and “f*** Israel.” A statue of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazis, was smeared with anti-Semitic slogans.

Along with the synagogues, Jewish-owned buildings and stores were defaced, in several cases also with anti-Semitic graffiti. The businesses were looted, too.

This city’s Fairfax district, a heavily Jewish area that has been continuously represented by a Jewish city councilman since 1953, was hit particularly hard by the kind of vandalism that has struck major cities following the killing of George Floyd in police custody.

“The attack on our community last night was vicious and criminal,” Paul Koretz, the district’s current city councilman, said in a statement Sunday. “As we watched the fires and looting, what we didn’t get covered were the anti-Semitic hate crimes and incidents. Under the guise of protests, some advanced their anti-Semitic agenda.”

The anti-Semitism included the above messages on Temple Beth El and similar graffiti on the nearby Baba Sale Congregation.

Across the street from Beth El, the Kosher Mensch Bakery and Kitchen and the Jewish-owned clothing store Go Couture were destroyed. Stores on the fashionable Melrose Avenue, on the district’s northern border, also were damaged, as were multiple Jewish institutions in the area: Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Tivereth Avi/Morasha Educational Centre, Shaarei Tefilah synagogue and the Shalhevet school for girls, according to Aram Goldberg, vice president of the Jewish Federation Council.

The Jewish Free Loan Association is now offering interest free “looting loss loans” of up to $18,000 for damaged or destroyed businesses.


De Blasio: Large Group Protests Are Acceptable, Religious Observances Are Not
De Blasio's comments Tuesday come just weeks after the mayor took heat for criticizing New York's Jewish community following a rabbi's funeral. The mayor took to Twitter to single out the Jewish community for not observing social distancing guidelines during the procession, which was occurring in cooperation with the NYPD.

"My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period," he wrote on Twitter.

De Blasio's tweet drew condemnation from other New York lawmakers. Rep. Max Rose (D.) described the statement as "breathtaking" and "beyond insensitive."

Under de Blasio's watch, New York City has experienced an epidemic of anti-Semitic crime in recent years. The city only prosecuted 13 individuals for anti-Semitic hate crimes between 2017 and 2019, a number that comprised just 6 percent of all complaints of anti-Semitic hate crimes in the city.






MEMRI: Iranian Researcher Dr. Sam Mehdi Torabi: Iran Would Be Willing To Help The Americans In Their Revolution; The American Oligarchs Must Be Annihilated
Dr. Sam Mehdi Torabi, the Director of Iran's Risalat Strategic Studies Institute, said in a May 30, 2020 interview on Channel 2 (Iran) that the United States is an oligarchy in which the power and wealth are controlled by one percent of the society, and that the legal processes and constitution in the U.S. cannot lead to reform. He said that the way to reform the United States, which he referred to as "Satan," is through a revolution that would annihilate America's oligarchs. Dr. Torabi added that Iran would help the American people if they have the courage to start a revolution, but that if they don't have the courage, someone from the outside will have to finish off the American oligarchs. For a related statement in which Dr. Torabi discusses the current unrest in the United States, see MEMRI TV Clip No. 8033.

"The Reality Is That There Is An Oligarchy In America. There Is No Democracy"

Dr. Sam Mehdi Torabi: "The reality is that there is an oligarchy in America. There is no democracy. The existing legal process and the American Constitution are not supposed to reform America.

"Don't Pin Your Hopes On Reforms Through The Existing Legal Methods In America... The Only Solution... Is For Those Oligarchs To Be Annihilated"

"Don't pin your hopes on reforms through the existing legal methods in America. So long as the power and the wealth are held by one percent of society, America will remain the same. If we want America to change, we must deal with those people - not in legal ways but through a revolution.

"I've said before that I don't pin much hope on the Americans carrying out a revolution, but the only solution that will bring an end to this Satan, in the words of Imam Khomeini, is for those oligarchs to be annihilated.

"If [The Americans] Do Not Have The Necessary Courage, Someone From The Outside Must Finish Those [Oligarchs] Off"

"If the Americans have the courage to do it - by all means. We will help them, too. If they do not have the necessary courage, someone from the outside must finish those [oligarchs] off."
MEMRI: Palestinian Journalist: Arab Society Too Is Steeped In Racism, Especially Against Blacks
The May 25, 2020 killing of George Floyd, a black man, by former police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, and the ensuing protests across the U.S., sparked many reactions in the Arab press, which focused on accusing the U.S. of racism and discrimination, both towards its own citizens and towards other nations. In response to this discourse, Palestinian journalist 'Abd Al-Ghani Salameh published an article in the Palestinian Authority (PA) daily Al-Ayyam titled "What Racism Are You Talking About?". In it, he argued that Arab societies have also been steeped for millennia in racism and discrimination – against minorities, women and in particular blacks. He called on the Arabs to acknowledge this racism and denounce it before condemning the racism of others.

The following are translated excerpts from his article:[1]
"The murder of the American citizen George Floyd by a police officer exposed the extent of the racism that prevails in American society. [But] this case is not the first of its kind. The [American] police is often too harsh with black suspects. [Moreover,] the manifestations of racism are not confined to police brutality but also characterize [other] broad sectors. According to the British Guardian, American blacks, including those from strong social sectors, suffer discrimination. They receive less pay compared to their white colleagues, receive different [quality] healthcare, and are sentenced to longer terms in prison [if they are convicted of a crime]. Judges are [also] quicker to sentence a criminal death if he is dark-skinned.

"Although American society has begun to recover from expressions of racism since the abolition [of the discriminatory laws] in the late 1960s, and although [the U.S.] even elected a black president, Barak Obama, as well as some congressmen of various races and backgrounds, it appears that Trump's populist, racist right-wing discourse has revived the racist fundamentalist right-wing groups and fanned the discourse of hatred against minorities and various ethnic groups [in the U.S.], including blacks…

"Floyd's tragedy is also an opportunity for us Arabs to examine the forms of racism that have existed in our [societies] for millennia: racism against blacks, against women, against minorities, against people of other faiths or sects, and against the disabled. Just as we demand to expose the American, Israeli or European racism against the Muslim communities, we must also examine our own racism, acknowledge its existence, and only then resume our justified campaign against all forms of discrimination and racism. Otherwise our criticism of America’s and Israel’s racism is completely meaningless…

"It seems that racism has been rooted in Arab societies for a very long time. Arab slave-traders plied the Indian ocean for centuries, carrying African slaves to the Arabian Peninsula and from there to the Old World countries. When Islam emerged and called for justice and non-discrimination, and encouraged the liberation of slaves because all men are equal, [Arab] society did not heed this divine call…

"In Arab culture, the color black has negative, reprehensible and pessimistic connotations, while the color white is associated with cleanliness, beauty and optimism. This cultural [trend] is reflected in various popular proverbs and sayings, such as the curse 'may Allah blacken your face' or the saying ‘a white penny for a black day,' [in which] money represents wellbeing and whiteness signifies happiness, whereas poverty and deprivation are [described as] black. An Arab proverb says, ‘When the black man is hungry he steals and when he is sated he fornicates’… Dark-skinned people are sometimes called ‘crows,’ likening them to these black birds, which are considered unlucky.




PreOccupiedTerritory: Palestinians Offer Black Lives Matter Tips On How To Shoot Selves In PR Foot (satire)
Organizers of a grassroots movement to raise awareness of and protest police violence against African-Americans have received helpful advice from activists working to advance the cause of destroying the world’s only Jewish state under the guise of pursuing “justice” no other aggrieved group has ever enjoyed, advice to help the movement duplicate the success anti-Israel groups have enjoyed in undercutting their own public relations achievements through misdirected or wanton violence, a spokesman for this chapter of the protest movement disclosed today.

Black Lives Matter activist Shawanda Cooper told reporters that she and her comrades in the movement have maintained contacts with Palestinian advocates for years, and received numerous tips on how to squander hard-won public support by encouraging, or at least condoning, destructive acts that undercut that support among the political and social mainstream where the critical mass of potential voters and supporters exist to make the movement’s vision a reality.

“Palestinians have become the masters of shooting themselves in the public relations foot,” gushed Ms. Cooper. “While Gandhi was pioneering non-violent strategies against the British in India that resulted in recognition of the undeniable immorality of imperialist rule over natives, Palestinian Arabs back then and down to today have always alternated between talking up their innocent victim status vis-à-vis Jewish ‘aggression’ and attempted to commit atrocities far worse than most anything Jews ever did to them. Here in Black Lives Matter we don’t have that kind of organic dig-yourself-into-an-even-deeper-hole experience. We welcome that input our Palestinian allies have provided.”
Israel won't annex Palestinian towns, Palestinians won’t get citizenship
Israel will not apply its sovereignty to Palestinian towns within areas that it plans to annex in the West Bank, and as such, Palestinians – including those living in the Jordan Valley – will not be granted Israeli citizenship, American and Israeli sources said on Tuesday.
"I don't anticipate Palestinians becoming Israeli, based on the principles laid out in the plan,” a Trump administration source said.

The plan the Trump administration released in late January, titled “Peace to Prosperity,” would allow for Israel to apply civil law, as opposed to military law, to 30% of the West Bank, consisting of all settlements and land surrounding them, and the entire Jordan Valley. An American-Israeli mapping committee has been working on the exact parameters of that area.

The Trump plan does not say that these would be Israel’s final borders, rather that the final details would have to be agreed-upon by Israel and the Palestinians, who refuse to enter negotiations based on the Trump plan.

But with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly setting a July 1 goal date to begin moving towards applying sovereignty, some Palestinians could find themselves in the middle of sovereign Israel – as opposed to disputed territory governed by the military – this summer.

Netanyahu addressed this issue in an interview with Israel Hayom last week, in response to a question of whether Palestinians in the Jordan Valley will become Israeli citizens.

"They will remain a Palestinian enclave,” Netanyahu said. “You're not annexing Jericho. There's a cluster or two. You don't need to apply sovereignty over them, they will remain Palestinian subjects if you will. But security control also applies to these places."
Why the Israeli left backed annexation
The Oslo accords, which Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed in 1993, were consistent with the Allon Plan. Rabin said time and again that he would keep the Jordan Valley, Gush Etzion, Jerusalem and other areas within Yehuda and the Shomron, while allowing Palestinian Arab self-rule in other parts of the territories.

Today, the Labor Party is a partner in the Israeli government coalition, alongside Likud, Blue-White, and others. Although Labor has shrunk in size and influence over the years, its stalwarts can feel pride that the Allon Plan annexations that they always favored now may finally become reality.

There is a broad national consensus in Israel in favor of reunification today for the exact same reasons that Labor has favored it all these years: those territories are vital for Israel’s defense.
All of which must be terribly frustrating for the likes of J Street and Peace Now. They want to pretend that annexation—or, more accurately, reunification—is a scheme cooked up by messianic settlers and rightwing Greater Israel expansionists. In fact, it was invented by Labor, promoted for decades by Labor, and is now on the verge of implementation by a government of which Labor is a part.

There is a broad national consensus in Israel in favor of reunification today for the exact same reasons that Labor has favored it all these years: those territories are vital for Israel’s defense, they are part of the historic Land of Israel, and, as Allon noted, they are devoid of any “substantial Arab population.”

Reunification does not pose any demographic danger to Israel. That’s because more than 98% of the Palestinian Arabs live in areas ruled by the Palestinian Authority or Hamas. Reunification will not affect them or their status.

Pay no mind to the shrieking editorials in the New York Times or the toothless press releases churned out by Jewish Voice for Peace. They are thrashing about in agony over reunification precisely because their arguments are hollow, and the tide of history has turned against them. The Jewish consensus in support of reunification, so ably articulated by Yigal Allon and his colleagues on the Israeli left sixty years ago, still holds.
Annexation and the "International Law" false argument
In the end what did the U.N.'s Security Council Resolutions really mean for Israel? Was there any tangible impact? Any lasting impact at all?

It is worth noting that Begin was not alone in the 1980s in seeing his actions criticized by the U.N.. President Ronald Reagan's 1986 order to bomb Libya and 1983 order to invade Grenada also were condemned by the U.N. and called illegal.

But Begin was not alone. Prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and defense minister Shimon Peres gave the go ahead for the 1976 Entebbe rescue mission.

-In the aftermath of the Entebbe operation then U.N. Secretary General Kurt Waldheim described the raid as "a serious violation of the national sovereignty of (Uganda) a United Nations member state." The U.N. should have praised the Israeli victory against the terrorist hijackers but failed to do so.

The U.N. sides with Israel's enemies again and again - no matter what the issue. And that is the simple truth.

We cannot hold our breath and wait for the U.N. to ever praise Israel or approve of its actions. Even a move such as this, which is in reality simply the enforcing of the 1920 San Remo conference's binding international treaty that called for all of this land (including the 30% of Judea and Samaria that the Israeli government has said it will not be applying sovereignty in at all), to be included in the Jewish homeland.

What we can do is remind Israel's leaders, and ourselves, that instead of hesitating, we should look to the five examples mentioned above and gain the confidence necessary to do necessary things. History has taught us this. It has also taught us that Israel is not hurt by U.N. criticism and threats.
Covid-19 Crisis Delays West Bank Mapping
It could take up to several months before the joint U.S.-Israel mapping committee concludes its work, which the White House has declared a precondition before it would give a green light for applying Israel law in parts of the West Bank. The mapping committee is tasked with delineating the exact borders of these areas, a mission that requires meticulous, on-the-ground work.

However, a key member of the committee, the U.S. National Security Council's Israel and Palestinian affairs director Scott Leith, has not been able to travel to the region since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. It is unlikely that the committee could complete its work by the proposed July 1 date.

An official from the settlement movement who met with Prime Minister Netanyahu on Tuesday said he left the meeting under the impression that moves toward applying Israel law would not be taking place "as soon or in the scope" that had initially been pledged.
Half of Israelis Support West Bank Annexation, Poll Finds
Half of Israelis support annexing parts of the West Bank, although they are divided over whether to take the step without US support, an opinion poll showed on Wednesday.

Some 25 percent of Israelis surveyed by the Israel Democracy Institute think tank said they wanted their government to apply sovereignty to West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley even without backing from Israel‘s closest ally.

US President Donald Trump’s plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace includes Israel keeping most of its settlements in the West Bank.

Palestinians have rejected Trump’s proposal. They and many countries consider Israel‘s settlements in the West Bank illegal. Israel disputes this.

A quarter of the 771 Israelis polled preferred annexation only with Washington’s backing, while another 30 percent opposed the move entirely. The remaining 20 percent were undecided.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to begin cabinet discussions on July 1 on extending Israeli sovereignty to West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley — a de facto annexation of land captured from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Palestinians, Jordan bluffing on Israeli sovereignty, former US officials say
David Wurmser, a former senior intelligence officer and adviser to the U.S. National Security Council, said that while both the Palestinians and Jordanians are threatening Israel over plans to apply Israeli law to the Jordan Valley and parts of Judea and Samaria, the PA and the Jordanian regime need Israel and the U.S. much more than the other way around.

"The Jordanian leadership thinks it can buy quiet by yelling at Israel and letting its radicals blow off steam, but like in the past when it appeased radical forces, they [the Jordanians] will again turn to the U.S. and Israel to save them," said Wurmser. "The PA is entirely dependent on its cooperation with Israel to survive. We saw how long the PA lasted in Gaza before Hamas took over."

Harold Rhode, who served for 28 years as an advisor on the Islamic world in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, said Abbas' threats are "almost assuredly just bluster," calling his rhetoric the "hold me back or I'll commit suicide strategy." "Past history shows us that whatever they say in public, they will most likely find a way to cooperate in private. Abbas and other senior officials are running a racket and the money for the Palestinians is going straight to their own foreign bank accounts, so they have the most to lose."



Norway Urges Israel Not to Annex Parts of the West Bank
Norway, which chairs a group of international donors to the Palestinians, urged Israel on Tuesday not to annex parts of the West Bank.

Norway heads the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), which met on Tuesday, partly to discuss Israel’s plan to extend its sovereignty to West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley.

“Any unilateral step would be detrimental to the (peace) process, and annexation would be in direct violation and contravention of international law,” Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide told Reuters after the meeting.

Norway helped to broker the 1993 and 1995 Oslo Accords, which provided for interim and limited Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and initiated a now-moribund long-term peace process.

Soereide said she had spoken on Tuesday with her Israeli counterpart, Gabi Ashkenazi, to urge Israel to resume direct talks with the Palestinians and avoid unilateral moves.

“It would undermine the potential for a two-state solution,” she said.
Jordan warns of annexation's grave impact on ties with Israel
Israeli annexation of portions of the West Bank would have grave consequences for its ties with the Hashemite Kingdom, Jordan's
Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Tuesday.

"We stand at a defining crossroads,” he told the 15-member Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, which held a virtual conference on Tuesday. “We either fall deeper into the abyss of conflict and hopelessness, or we save the peace that is a regional and international necessity.

“The message should be clear. Annexation will not go unanswered. For if it does, there will only be fiercer conflict. Annexation will make the two-state solution an impossibility,” Safadi added.

“We unequivocally warn against the grave consequence of annexation for the quest for regional peace and for Jordanian-Israeli relations.”
The meeting to oversee donor funding for the PA was chaired by Norway. Among the participants were representatives from the Palestinian Authority and Israel as well as the Quartet, which is composed of the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States.
Peace Now activists warn: Annexation will lead to war
Activists from the Peace Now movement protested in Tel Aviv on Wednesday Israel's plan to annex the Jordan Valley and parts of the West Bank on July 1, a press release reported.

The activists hung a large banner from a bridge on the Ayalon Highway that said "there will be war over annexation."

Peace Now Director Shaqued Morag called the planned annexation “a disaster for Israel.”

She also said it is a “step without any connection to reality and without any diplomatic, defense or moral responsibility that will explode in all our faces.”

Peace Now plans to launch a campaign against the annexation, which is a part of US President Donald Trump’s "Deal of the Century," to sway public opinion in the next few weeks.

Several European countries, as well as Jordan, expressed their concern over the annexation.
Boris Johnson urged to reject Crispin Blunt letter against annexation
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been urged to reject Conservative MP Crispin Blunt’s claim that Israel’s planned annexations in the West Bank would be a violation of international law.

Mr Blunt had written a letter to Mr Johnson – signed by 126 MPs and Peers as part of a campaign for the Council for Arab British Understanding (Caabu) – describing Israel’s plans “as a mortal blow to the chances of peace between Israelis and Palestinians based on any viable two-state solution”.

But in a response from Colonel Richard Kemp, the Marquess of Reading and film-maker Hugh Kitson, the PM is urged to recognise ‘’the historical and legal facts pertaining to this matter that the signatories of Mr Blunt’s letter seem either to not understand or to reject”.

In their letter of June 1, the trio suggest: “Decades spent pursuing the received wisdom reflected in Mr Blunt’s letter have, as you know, proven not only fruitless but have also increased suffering for the Palestinian people and heightened danger for Israeli citizens and the Jewish diaspora.

“Now is the time for new and creative thinking.”

Col Kemp writes that he has drawn on his experience of working for the Joint Intelligence Committee to conclude that “the US Administration’s current peace proposals, including sovereignty implementation, in fact represent the best chance for a lasting peace between the two sides as well as a future two-state solution”.

He adds: “I believe that this plan also has the potential to bring much-needed prosperity for the Palestinian people as well as greater stability to the region”.
As Canada Condemns Israel, HRC Prompts CBC to Acknowledge Israel’s Claims to Judea and Samaria
There’s been lots of discussion recently about Israel’s plans in July to apply sovereignty to Judea and Samaria (30% of the “west bank”) and to the Jordan Valley, in accordance with U.S. President Trump’s “Peace to Prosperity” Middle East peace plan.

With governments and various stakeholders each taking out positions, for or against, it was only a matter of time for Canada to wade into the matter with Prime Minister Trudeau publicly condemning Israel’s plans on June 2 in a media scrum and for our journalists to cover Canada’s official position.

In the lead up to P.M. Trudeau’s public opposition to the U.S-Israeli plan, it’s been reported that he privately expressed Canada’s opposition to the plan in calls he had in May with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz. (The calls were held to congratulate both leaders for forming Israel’s new government following three inconclusive elections.)

On May 21, Evan Dyer, a CBC Parliamentary Bureau Senior Reporter, authored a news report entitled: “Critics say Canada’s silence speaks volumes as Israel races towards annexation” which HonestReporting Canada felt was highly problematic.

Importantly, nowhere in the article was there any context explaining Israel’s claims to what it refers to as Judea and Samaria (the “west bank”) and why it might want to apply sovereignty to the region (watch this video from the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs for context). Simply put, the Jewish state plans to apply sovereignty (make the region Israel proper and apply Israeli law) to the Jordan Valley and 30% of Area C territory per the Oslo Accords of Judea and Samaria (“west bank”) per the Trump peace plan and consistent with past U.S. peace proposals that have long understood that Israel will retain these areas in a final peace accord.
Conciliation of the Century between Jordan and Saudi Arabia
Turkey, which is increasing its real estate holdings and its influence on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, is threatening to depose the Jordanians from their role as the custodians over the Muslim holy sites on the Mount. At the same time, old rivals Jordan and Saudi Arabia could be headed toward rapprochement due to their shared animosity toward Turkey.

The Jordanians and Saudis have been dueling for control of the Muslim holy sites for 100 years. The Hashemite dynasty, which now controls Jordan, ruled Saudi Arabia until 1924 and was kicked out by the House of Saud. The Hashemites lost their custodianship of Mecca and Medina and have never forgiven the Saudis for it. Jordan's current about-face may stem from its tardy realization of Erdogan's growing power in eastern Jerusalem.


It’s Official: France Will Not Designate Hezbollah a Terrorist Organization
France is steadfast in its refusal to designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization, despite the growing wave of condemnations for the group in Europe and elsewhere. In April, Germany banned Hezbollah and dropped the distinction between the Iranian proxy’s “political” and “military” wings, declaring the group as a whole terrorist. The UK, the Netherlands, the United States, Australia, Canada, the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council have already done it. The Austrian parliament is pushing for it.

On Monday, the new French ambassador to Israel, Eric Danon, told the Times of Israel that “the mere fact that the Germans have changed their position does not necessarily mean that we have to change our position as well,” adding: “You would have to ask them what moment or event triggered their change of positions. There were reports in the press about a possible terror attack planned in Germany. Maybe this played a part? But really, to avoid speculation, you would have to ask the Germans directly as to the reasons behind this decision. For our part, we have not identified a particular event that would prompt us to change our position.”

So French…

The European Jewish Press’ Yossi Lempkowicz wrote on Wednesday that, following Germany’s move to ban Hezbollah on April 31, Peter Stano, EU spokesperson for foreign affairs, told, EJP that the EU only bans the “military wing” of Hezbollah. Apparently, everyone else over in the Nasrallah bunker in Beirut is fine.
Five Jordanians on trial for allegedly plotting attacks against Israel
Five suspects are on trial in Jordan for allegedly plotting to carry out suicide attacks against Israeli targets in the West Bank, according to a report by AFP.

A Jordanian judicial source told the AFP that the suspects, all citizens of the Hashemite kingdom, are accused of planning to carry out suicide attacks against Israeli targets, such as Israeli buses traveling on West Bank roads.

The official, who is part of the Jordanian judiciary system, added that the suspects are being prosecuted at the State Security Court which deals with terror incidents.

They were arrested in February.

One of the suspects visited Gaza in 2007, where he was trained in preparing explosives. He arrived in Jordan in 2010. Seven years later, he managed to recruit four other local Jordanians and together they started to plan their infiltration and attacks, according to the report.

AFP did not include comment from any Israeli officials.


Surrender: IDF Base Commander Forbids Chasing Bedouin Who Steal Military Equipment
The Jewish Press Online reported Tuesday that on Sunday, soldiers in the IDF Tze’elim base in the Negev confronted local Bedouin they suspected were trying to steal military equipment. The IDF investigated the incident and released its findings, according to which a chase ensued during which Bedouin vehicles surrounded a military jeep, a menacing crowd was formed and one officer fired a warning shot in the air (IDF Soldiers Circled and Threatened by Israeli Bedouin on the Highway, Officer Fires Warning Shot).

Now, it turns out, the soldiers were wrong to pursue the Bedouin thieves, and, according to Kipa, Tze’elim base Commander, Colonel Ohad Maor, has issued an order against future chases after equipment thieves.

Breathe… It gets worse…

The IDF spokesperson issued a statement Tuesday, saying that “during a training session in the Tze’elim base shooting area, several officers identified a suspicious attempt to steal military equipment from the training site and pursued the suspect vehicle. During the pursuit, additional suspicious vehicles arrived and surrounded the jeep of the force in a threatening and delinquent manner. The officers reported to the Israeli police about the incident and stopped at the side of the road. In response to the dangerous crowding around them after they had stopped, one of the officers fired a shot in the air. Police arrived at the scene and filed a complaint against those involved in the incident.”

You may recall that our report very sarcastically followed the above paragraph with, “Just to be clear, the complaint was filed against the Bedouin, not the IDF soldiers, because down in the wild Negev you never know.” And you probably figured we were being excessively cheeky. In fact, we were as deadly serious as a Bedouin shabariya point pressing against the neck of an IDF soldier.
Israeli Watchdog Triggers Probe of EU Funding of Terrorist-Linked NGOs
The EU on Tuesday ordered its representatives in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to investigate whether EU funds are reaching organizations affiliated with Palestinian terrorist groups. The move follows a report by NGO Monitor exposing an EU letter assuring Palestinian NGOs that even if they are affiliated with EU-designated terrorist groups or employ individuals from these groups, the EU will still provide them with funds and legitimacy.

EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said the EU "will have to conduct an in-depth review, and if there is any concern we will act immediately....This [funding terrorism] will not be tolerated. And if it happens, it will have to be rectified." EU Ambassador to Israel Emanuel Joffre said Tuesday, "If there is evidence of improper use of EU funds, we will investigate them."

PMW: PA children echo adults' terror values
Don't be surprised that a Palestinian child who wants to praise the governor of Ramallah chooses to define her as "great" because she is like Dalal Mughrabi – a female mass murderer who together with other terrorists killed 12 children and 25 adults in 1978. A young girl expressed her admiration for Ramallah Governor Laila Ghannam by referring to her as “sister of Dalal,” because of her “fighting” both the Coronavirus and “the Zionist enemy”:
Girl to Ramallah Governor Laila Ghannam: “Laila has sacrificed herself for the security of the citizens and the homeland. O how great you are, Laila the Palestinian. O how great you are, sister of Dalal [Mughrabi] (i.e., terrorist murderer of 37), when you fight the [Coronavirus] epidemic, and when you fight the Zionist enemy - daring and courageous like the brave lion.”

[Facebook page of Ramallah and El-Bireh District Governor Laila Ghannam, April 8, 2020]

Endorsing the praise, the governor posted the video on her official Facebook page.

The girl’s choice of a female role model who is a mass murderer unfortunately is not surprising, as the PA has made a great effort to establish terrorist murderer Dalal Mughrabi as a hero for Palestinians. For example, a PA schoolbook teaches 11-year-old Palestinian children that child murderer Mughrabi is one of the Palestinian heroes who "everyone wants to be like." Proving its educational point, the PA has also named at least five schools after murderer Mughrabi as well as other institutions.

Two weeks ago, Palestinian Media Watch reported that the PA published names and pictures of "the giants of Palestinian history" – they were all terrorists and murderers of Israeli children and adults, now imprisoned by Israel.



Turkey opens new Islamic center near Western Wall
The Turkish government aid organization TIKA, which has been investing heavily in eastern Jerusalem in recent years in an attempt to increase Turkey's influence, recently renovated a building near the Temple Mount and the Western Wall for use as an Islamic center known as the "Khan Abu Khadija." The center hosts Arab tourists, including some with links to the Muslim Brotherhood and Turkey. In addition, TIKA has been providing money to shuttle tens of thousands of Arabs from the Galilee to visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Turkish-Backed Syrian Militias Target Kurds in Northern Syria
Video last week from the Kurdish area of Afrin in Syria captured the moment that eight women were liberated after being held in a secret prison by a Turkish-backed Syrian group. The area has been occupied by Turkey since January 2018.

Turkey has been accused of systematic human rights abuses throughout areas it runs in northern Syria.

More than 300,000 people, mostly Kurds, have been displaced in ethnic cleansing, as Turkey has systematically resettled mostly Arab refugees in Kurdish homes.

Reports say the Kurdish population of Afrin - once 90% - has fallen to 30%.
Erdogan's Libya Campaign: Another Neo-Ottoman Design
Erdogan knows that every political adventure outside Turkish borders increases his popularity, especially at a time when economic hardships could prune his approval at home.

Further escalation may turn Libya into a second proxy for Turkey's war theater, after Syria. There, Turkish and Russian interests remain deeply conflicting. Turkey wants to overthrow President Assad and to replace his regime with Sunni jihadists; Russia wants Assad in power and is fighting Sunni jihadists.

Libya is fast becoming another challenge for a man who loves military challenges -- but tends to lose most of them.

A military confrontation between Turkey and Russia in Libya would be too risky a venture even for a ruler who does not want to miss a single opportunity to revive his country's once glorious imperial past -- especially at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently wishes to seal his country's imperial dream of having a permanent presence in the Mediterranean -- in Syria and Libya.

For Turkey, the Libya campaign is part of a sectarian (pro-Sunni) war. Erdogan wants a loyal, Turkey-friendly regime in Libya, one that could be useful for restoring to power in Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood, another Islamist Erdogan ally, like Hamas

Russia's Putin also appears keen to have his second permanent military presence in the Mediterranean after Syria.




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