12/29 Links Pt1: Can the Palestinians adjust to changing times?; Saudi Arabia-Israel normalization deal estimated within one year; Abbas’ Fatah enters 2021 flaunting terror with video of past terror-parade ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Palestinians: An International "Peace" Conference to Displace Israel

While Abbas is talking to the international community about his desire to achieve a peaceful settlement alongside Israel, his Fatah faction is sending messages to the Palestinians that glorify the "armed struggle" against Israel and that promise a "revolution until victory" -- meaning replace Israel.

The poster chosen by Fatah to celebrate the January 1, 1965 anniversary of the first terrorist attack against Israel depicts a map of "Palestine" superimposed over the entire state of Israel.

It is important to note that Fatah is one of the groups forming the Unified Leadership of the Palestinian Resistance. When the Palestinians talk about "resistance," they are referring to actions such as throwing rocks and firebombs at soldiers and settlers, as well as stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks.

Abbas has long been dreaming of a multi-party conference that will impose a solution on Israel. He does not want to hold direct negotiations with Israel.

Abbas claims to the international community that he just wants to establish a Fatah-controlled Palestinian state next to Israel, with the help of the UN, Russia, China, and the European Union.... He does not want Biden and other world leaders to hear the messages of violence that Fatah is spreading (in Arabic), including his pledge to "liberate Palestine."

What Fatah is saying in Arabic is infinitely more important than what Abbas writes in a letter to the UN secretary-general or to any world leader.... Failure to call out the Palestinians for their self-contradictory messages will not advance any cause of peace, but, on the contrary, only further embolden Palestinians to carry out more terrorist attacks and thwart the way to peace.

Jonathan Tobin: Can the Palestinians adjust to changing times?

They'll always have the United Nations. Even as the rest of the world abandons their cause, the Palestinians can still count on the world body to be their faithful ally in their century-old struggle against Zionism. According to UN Watch, the UN General Assembly voted to condemn Israel 17 times during the current session, as opposed to resolutions noting anything happening anywhere else on the planet only six times. The international diplomatic community remains committed to prioritizing the Palestinians' grievances against the Jewish state.

But in the real world outside of the fantasy land of UN resolutions, which have no impact on actual events, the Palestinians find themselves more isolated than ever.

The Arab states, which once sacrificed their national interests, as well as much blood and treasure in the name of the Palestinian cause, have largely abandoned them. The once potent left-wing parties within Israel that championed efforts to create another independent Palestinian state in addition to the one that already exists in all but name in Gaza are now completely marginalized. And not even the most ardent American advocates of a pro-Palestinian policy and the two-state solution have the slightest expectation that the incoming Biden administration will do much to advance those goals.

In other words, after spending the last decades confident in the belief that sooner or later the international community would deliver an isolated Israel—universally branded as a pariah state—to them on a silver platter, it turns out that it is the Palestinians who are the ones without meaningful allies. Israel's critics were sure that it was running out of time to divest itself of the territories in order to prevent a "diplomatic tsunami" against them. But it now seems that the side that has run out of time is the Palestinians.

The Trump administration's successful push for the Abraham Accords meant more than just the fact that the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco have normalized relations with Israel. The tacit support for the accords from Saudi Arabia and the refusal of the Arab League to intervene against Israel's new friends demolished the assumption that the Arab world would always back the Palestinians' refusal to make peace indefinitely. And no one in the Arab world or among Israel's foes in the United States thinks even Trump's defeat by Biden will lead to another round of futile peace processing.

250m coexistence initiative only whets the PA appetite for thievery and corruption

The new Stimulus Package which President Trump isn't really keen on, is 'pork' for a people who have trusted their leaders, proven to be most unhalal in their self-induced determination not to abide by any peace initiatives between the Palestinian Arabs and Israel.

$250M. American dollars, in the name of retiring Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) is to be spent on co-existence initiatives between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs. To be sure, any monies that the Palestinian Authority leadership ever received, history has shown, has been shifty finger food, also known as, the Palestinian Authority Leadership Treasury.

In 2018, Congress signed off on the Taylor Force Act, prohibiting U.S. Taxpayer Funds from going directly to the Palestinian Autority, which enjoys writing checks to surviving terrorists and the families of those that don't survive their loved ones going to that '72 Virgin Lie In The Sky'.

It was supposed to be NO MORE U.S. 'BREAD' TO THOSE HAVING BRED TERRORISTS.

The Palestinian Arabs have been bereft of a Life Coach from anyone they counted on to lead them. Only America and Israel have ever stepped up to the plate to show the Palestinians humanity.

David Samuel, in his article, "In a Ruined Country: How Yasir Arafat Destroyed Palestine" The Atlantic, September 2005, says: "The Ministry of Finance served most of Arafat's reign as his personal cashbox through the corrupt practices of Arafat's inner circle, so staggeringly large the amounts may exceed half of the total $7B in Foreign Aid-the biggest thief Arafat himself."

The fragmentation of the right ahead of Israel elections and more with @carolineglick https://t.co/xQnglxmaVG
— President Elect Avi Abelow (@AviAbelow) December 29, 2020

I Don’t Have a Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

With each new American administration comes the hope of a better future. New beginnings brings with it new dreams. Inevitably, problems that have plagued the world for decades are revisited with the hope that a new administration can solve them. With every new administration comes the hope that they’ll develop a new plan to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While the Biden administration – to its credit – has not made any grandiose pronouncements about solving the conflict, many Biden supporters, from the heads of think tanks to writers, have begun offering suggestions of how a Biden administration can solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

As a Jewish resident of Judea and Samaria, I’m personally invested in finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I’ve spent many years studying the conflict and I teach students about it professionally. I escort American, European, Asian and Australian students studying in Israel into Judea and Samaria. On a program called “Crossing the Line,” I show them the conflict up close. I don’t know how one is designated as an expert, but I am confident that I have an above average understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In addition to my studies and teaching, I live the conflict each day. I drive, shop and live alongside Palestinians. I visit Palestinian villages and they come into our town. I drive through checkpoints, see IDF soldiers and Palestinian Authority patrols. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict isn’t just something I study in the abstract, it is something I experience daily.

I have spent a significant amount of time familiarizing myself with the various peace plans meant to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I’ve read the various peace plans and studied the maps. I’ve spent hundreds of hours with the authors, negotiators and government representatives, of peace plans, all to understand their perspectives. I’ve weighed the one state solution, two state solution, Trump plan, federation and confederation ideas. I have philosophical problems with some of the plans, but all plans are impractical.

The biggest impediment to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been Palestinian intransigence. While I’m aware that Palestinians and their advocates judge me as much of an impediment to peace as I do the Palestinians, the constant Israeli peace offers, Palestinian prisoner releases, and settlement building freezes show me a strong commitment on Israel’s side to finding a solution to the conflict. Every Israeli offer at achieving peace has been ignored or rejected by the Palestinians with no counter offer in response. Palestinian behavior in negotiations reflect a lack of commitment to finding a negotiated solution to the conflict.

Saudi Arabia-Israel normalization deal estimated within one year

There are expectations among some of Israel’s highest echelons that there will be normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia by the end of 2021, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

There is high confidence among some that normalization will not come before the Trump administration exits nor in the early stages of the Biden administration, but certain trends will have some momentum within 12 months.

The assertions come following a series of sometimes complementary and sometimes seemingly contradictory statements by top Israeli officials in recent months as the normalization trend lurched forward.

Confronted with the assertions, the Foreign Ministry had no official comment.

Last week, Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen said a deal could come with the Saudis in the next few years but not before January 20; nor did he publicly specify that it would come by the end of 2021.

This came following Cohen’s statement on November 2 that a deal with the Saudis could be close, though he qualified his prediction in light of uncertainty at the time as to who would win the US election and future Iran policy.

On November 23, it was widely reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had recently met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) as part of a joint visit to the key Sunni country along with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

After UAE, Bahrain normalization, will ties with Egypt, Jordan improve?

Throughout the decades since the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, the regimes allowed the anti-Israeli hate discourse to thrive, and, in fact, it managed to play on both sides. On the one hand, both president Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah preserved the peaceful relationship with Israel and solidified their position as mediators between Israel and the Palestinians; on the other hand, they never promoted the importance of peace with Israel at home, allowing the public to express hostility against Israel and did little to prohibit anti-Zionist and antisemitic voices. Attempts to censor antisemitism were mainly due to pressure from the United States.

Such a dual position served them on their home front to cope with Islamic elements, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, which regularly preached against Israel and Judaism, and with the leftists and liberals, whose opposition to Israel concentrated on the objection to what they perceived as the Israeli occupation.

This approach also characterizes Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who despite having strengthened the diplomatic and military cooperation with Israel behind the scenes and publicly supported the UAE move, still abstains from supporting civil normalization with Israel. For Sisi, his legitimacy to rule is rooted in projecting himself as the only leader who can stabilize the country and protect it from its internal and external enemies. The depiction of Israel as a potential enemy, in addition to the Islamic threat, serves his argument for the necessity of military autocracy.

The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, together with the absence of any solution on the horizon, continues to fuel the anti-Israel discourse in the Egyptian and Jordanian publics.

The leading elements propagating anti-Israeli and sometimes antisemitic discourse include the Islamic associations and labor unions. For them, opposition to normalization constitutes an implicit form of attacking the regime without being branded a traitor or hurting Egypt’s interests and honor. To put it simply, attacking Israel is the only “legitimate” form of protesting against the autocratic regime.

In this context, the attack against Ramadan serves both as an opportunity to condemn Sisi’s “traitorous” relationship with Israel, while also an opportunity for the Egyptian public to declare its disapproval of the Gulf states’ “appeasement” of Israel, “serving the Zionist dream of leading the Arab world.”

The Sharaka Project brings Israeli-Arab peace to ordinary people - opinion

The Sharaka Project is a group of influencers in the UAE and Bahrain who visited Israel last week to promote communication among young people in the Arab Gulf States and Israel. This group is non-governmental and calls for peace, seeking partnerships in science, technology and research. Its primary goal is to make the peace process relevant to people. It was established after the signing of the Abraham Accords between the UAE and Israel, establishing Dubai and Tel Aviv as its headquarters.

The meetings and dialogue of the Sharaka Project in Israel focused on communication and making connections, a goal that the visit achieved. It was an intensive week in which several activities took place: a meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin; a visit to Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center; a tour of Tel Aviv and the Golan Heights; joining a Hanukkah menorah lighting ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem; and visiting al-Aqsa Mosque.

The most important characteristic of this visit was that it was informal and thus it supported the idea that a peace process is not complete unless it involves ordinary people. This is what Rivlin emphasized to the Sharaka delegation, “Peace is made between peoples and nations. Your visit here is another step in the path of building warm relations between our countries.”

Dr. Majid Al Sarrah, from the University of Dubai and a founding member of the Sharaka Project, responded, “To visit Israel for the first time as part of a delegation is a historic moment. Israel is a prime example of tolerance in the region. This is a new era of peace and stability between peoples.”

The concept of warm peace was also reiterated by Amjad Taha, the regional director of The British Middle East Center for Studies and Research from Bahrain, “The mission of this visit is to send one message, which is the message of peace through building bridges of knowledge among people.”

Israeli Model Makes History Gracing Cover of UAE Magazine

Nineteen-year-old Yael Shelbia has become the first Israeli model to be featured on the cover of the prominent Dubai-based fashion and lifestyle magazine L’Official Arabia, reported Ynet.

Shelbia is also the first Israeli to star on the cover of a fashion magazine published in the UAE in an issue dedicated solely to Israeli fashion.

The upcoming issue will highlight Israeli fashion designers and local artists in collaboration with the Foxylab New York brand.

The photoshoot took place in New York and Shelbia was joined by several other Israelis, including photographer Yossi Michaeli, according to Ynet.

The magazine has not announced when the issue starring the Israeli model will be published.

This recent collaboration follows the normalization agreement between Israel and the UAE that was signed in September.

That same month, Israeli model May Tager shot a campaign in Dubai alongside UAE-based Anastasia Bandarenka.

Love this.

Israel's Minister of Economy and Industry, @AmirPeretz, was born in Boujad, Morocco, and immigrated to Israel with his family at age four.

One million Israelis—more than one in ten—have family roots in Morocco. https://t.co/XNcwg3RThc
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) December 28, 2020

Honduras becomes 50th country to form Parliamentary Israel Allies Caucus

Honduras just became the Israel Allies Foundation’s (IAF) 50th country to join its Parliamentary Israel Allies Caucuses network.

Achieving its goal to reach 50 countries by the end of 2020, IAF president Josh Reinstein said “what started out as an effort by former Knesset member Yuri Shtern 15 years ago to reach out to Christian supporters of Israel has now spread to six continents, 50 countries and 1,200 parliamentarians around the world whose support for Israel is unwavering. This group of pro-Israel parliamentarians is the greatest tool that Israel has in its diplomatic arsenal.”

New pro-Israel parliamentary caucuses were also recently formed in Central Africa Republic, South Sudan and Cameroon, joining a network that mobilizes political support for Israel based on shared Judeo-Christian values—a movement that the IAF calls “faith-based diplomacy.”

Reinstein told JNS that “faith-based diplomacy takes biblical support and turns it into real political action.” Whereas, he continued, “being pro-Israel used to be a personal thing that you only discussed, now Israel is a political issue that Christians are getting involved with, organizing within their own parliaments and taking the lead on pro-Israel issues all over the world.”

Such diplomacy is vital for the State of Israel, stressed Reinstein, as matters of faith are a common language that don’t waver with political or economic events. “People of faith are coming together to stand with Israel because it is a major part of the Bible. If faith and values are what your support is based on—with Israel as the only free democracy in the Middle East—that support doesn’t change with current events.”

More Israelis vaccinated against COVID than sick since start of pandemic

The number of Israelis vaccinated against the coronavirus is now higher than the number who have been infected with the virus since the beginning of the outbreak, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced on Tuesday morning.

Some 495,000 Israelis were vaccinated as of Tuesday morning, just nine days into the vaccination campaign, while 407,285 Israelis had been confirmed as infected with the virus since the beginning of the outbreak. More than 115,000 Israelis were vaccinated on Monday alone.

A quarter of all 70- to 79-year-olds in Israel were vaccinated against the virus as of Tuesday morning, while 20% of Israelis in their 60's, 18% of citizens in their 80's and 11% of citizens 90-years-old and older were vaccinated as well.

Some 1,765 Israelis under the age of 20 were vaccinated as well as of Tuesday morning, with 12 children under the age of 10 vaccinated despite regulations banning children under the age of 16 from receiving the vaccination.

Arsen Ostrovsky
Wow, with almost 500,000 people already vaccinated in one week, #Israel is powering ahead in terms of most #COVID19 vaccinations in the world per capita. Today alone, at least 100,000 people received #vaccines.

[Graphic: @OurWorldInData] pic.twitter.com/EYokYdECxP
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) December 28, 2020

PMW: Abbas’ Fatah enters 2021 flaunting terror with video of past terror-parade

Caption: “Fatah rally in Salfit”
Lyrics: “We pledge to Allah - we won’t leave!
We pledge to Allah - we will starve to death and won’t leave!
We pledge to the revolution, the revolutionaries, and the public – we won’t leave!
We are a piece of this land and we pledge to Allah – we will never leave!”
[Official Fatah Facebook page, Dec. 24, 2020] This video was posted by Fatah in honor of the 56th anniversary of its first terror attack in 1965, which Fatah also refers to as “the Intilaqa” – “the Launch” of Fatah, which will be celebrated on Jan.1 2021. It shows a Fatah parade that was held in Salfit in December 2019 for the then upcoming 55th anniversary. The Intilaqa is marked every year with parades, and Fatah possibly posted the video of last year’s parade due to the Coronavirus pandemic preventing similar events from being held this year. The full lyrics of the song also include the following verses:
“We pledge to Allah and to the blood! …
We have caused the outbreak of the revolution, a popular revolution.”

Palestinian Police Arrest Female Techno DJ for ‘Obscene’ Party at Muslim Holy Site

Palestinian Authority (PA) police on Monday arrested a young female DJ for playing at a party over the weekend at a disused mosque in the West Bank.

Sama Abdulhadi was taken into custody after being identified from a video of the party, which took place on Saturday night at the Muslim holy shrine of Nabi Musa, near the city of Jericho.

The party featured alcohol and the co-mingling of men and women — both of which are strictly forbidden by Islamic religious guidelines.

PA sources told Israeli media outlets that Abdulhadi — an internationally-celebrated techno DJ — was detained for her part in organizing the party, and that she had been accused of desecrating the Muslim faith.

After the party, dozens of Palestinians arrived to pray at the site — where Moses, according to Muslim tradition, is buried.

“What happened there at Nabi Musa is obscene,” Hussam Abu al-Rub — the PA’s deputy minister for religious affairs — said in a statement. “We will not remain quiet and will prosecute anyone who took part in it.”

Known for her driving sets of rhythmic, minimalist techno, Ramallah-native Abdulhadi has been organizing electronic music parties and events in the West Bank for over a decade.

Palestinians vandalize EU-funded site to protest music party

Hundreds of Palestinians have rampaged through an architectural and religious site that was renovated last year with funding by the European Union, setting fire to furniture and other equipment after removing them from the compound.

Over the past few days, the Palestinians, mostly from east Jerusalem, converged on the historic site, known as Maqam Nabi Musa, or Tomb of Prophet Moses, after discovering that it was being used by young men and women to hold a music party.

The compound consists of a shrine, mosque, minaret and dozens of rooms built during the reign of al-Dahr Baybers, a Mamluk Sultan, in 1269 CE. Located near Jericho and 20 km. east of Jerusalem, the site has been under the control of the Palestinian Authority since 1995.

Abandoned for many years, the site previously served as a center for the rehabilitation of drug addicts from east Jerusalem and the West Bank. Last year, PA Prime Minister Mohamad Shtayyeh, together with representatives of the EU and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), inaugurated a 5 million euros EU-funded project to renovate the site.

Gaza’s drill – preparation for war or a PR stunt?

After a weeks-long public relations build-up that included articles, banners, and propaganda videos, the Gaza Strip’s terrorist factions on Tuesday launched a military exercise that, unsurprisingly, attracted the attention of Israel’s media.

It is rare when Gaza’s different factions, which include Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and other groups, who usually train separately, decided in an “act of unity” to join together for the operation, which was named “a-Rukn a-Shadid,” which means “the strong foundation” (an expression taken from the Qur’an).

This has come in the wake of the establishment of a joint operations room of Gaza’s different factions – who until now, have each issued statements concerning their own actions and intentions. The drill now shows that there is proper cooperation between them.

It is believed that this exercise – that was meant to last three days but was shortened to one day, and then to half a day – is a response of sorts to the major drills the IDF has held in recent months.

Among them, was “Lethal Arrow,” a large-scale exercise held within the IDF’s Northern Command which simulated a war with Hezbollah. It was considered a multi-day General Staff drill and involved the participation of thousands of troops from various branches of the military including the air force, navy, and ground forces, as well as from military intelligence and the IDF’s technological, logistics, and cyber defense directorates.

Gaza Terror Groups Fire Rockets Into Sea in First Joint Exercise

An array of Palestinian terror organizations launched rockets into the Mediterranean Sea off the Gaza Strip on Tuesday at the start of what they called their first-ever joint exercise, which Israeli media described as a show of force organized by Iran.

Gaza is run by Hamas and also home to other groups, including Islamic Jihad. The exercise was announced on behalf of a joint command set up by the groups in 2018.

Eight rockets streaked through a cloudless sky in Gaza towards the Mediterranean after Abu Hamza, spokesman for Islamic Jihad, delivered a speech launching the drill. It will include land and coastal exercises described by the groups as a test of their preparedness for any future confrontation with Israel.

Israeli media said the drill was organized by the groups’ sponsors in Tehran to demonstrate risks Israel could face if Iran comes under US or Israeli attack in the waning days of the Trump administration.

On the eve of the exercise, a large portrait of Iranian military commander General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed last January in a US attack in Iraq, was erected along Gaza’s main coastal road.

Tensions between Iran and Israel have risen since the Nov. 27 assassination of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Iran has blamed Israel for his death; Israel has neither confirmed nor denied a role.

It appears the famous fake Merkava IV battle tank including Palestinian militants dressed up as IDF soldiers will be a part of the drill today as well. #Gaza pic.twitter.com/0OPZDJ90op
— Joe Truzman (@Jtruzmah) December 29, 2020

Egyptian TV Host Ibrahim Eissa: We Say That the West Is Our Enemy, But We Wait for It to Send Us the COVID-19 Vaccines pic.twitter.com/ZwH1SdKTwW
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) December 29, 2020

Iran Red Crescent says Pfizer vaccine batch being sent by US benefactors

An unidentified group of US-based philanthropists plans to send 150,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Iran in the coming weeks, Iranian media reported Monday, in a step that could bring the hardest-hit country in the Middle East closer to inoculating its citizens against the coronavirus.

Details remained scarce in the report by semiofficial Tasnim news agency. It quoted the chief of the country’s Red Crescent Society as saying he expects the vaccine created by American drug maker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech to be imported by January19 “based on coordination with a group of benefactors in the US.”

Iran has struggled to stem the worst virus outbreak in the Middle East, which has infected over 1.2 million people and killed nearly 55,000.

Karim Hemmati, the Red Crescent director, said his organization plans to receive an additional 1 million vaccine doses, which on Sunday the semiofficial Khabaronline.it news website reported would come from China. The vaccines will be offered to citizens free of charge, Hemmati said.

Officials have said previously that importing the Pfizer vaccine, which must be shipped and stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit), poses major logistical challenges for Iran.

Iran has signed up for COVAX, an international program designed to distribute coronavirus vaccines to participating countries regardless of their wealth. It’s run in part by Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance. which says the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control has already issued a license for Iran to take part. The US Treasury has not reacted to Iran’s participation.

IRGC General Mohammad-Reza Naghdi: The Only Fitting Revenge for Soleimani’s Assassination Is to Drive the U.S. out of the Middle East, Erase Israel pic.twitter.com/53P1AHB8IY
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) December 29, 2020

Former Iranian Diplomat Amir Mousavi: The Day Will Come When Trump Is Arrested for His Involvement in the Assassination of Soleimani And Brought to Justice in Iran pic.twitter.com/MmC7wS94iJ
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) December 29, 2020

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