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Thursday, February 10, 2022

02/10 Links Pt1: Kontorovich: There's Apartheid in the Holy Land, but Not in Israel; UN covered up Assad’s killing of humanitarian workers; NGOs call on US aid group to stop funding use of Palestinian child soldiers

From Ian:

Prof. Eugene Kontorovich (WSJ$): There's Apartheid in the Holy Land, but Not in Israel
There are reasons to be concerned about the emergence of apartheid in the Holy Land but not the ones Amnesty cites. The defining characteristic of apartheid - what distinguishes it from generic racial discrimination - is the rigid separation of groups in public spaces and positions of power. Thus, a sign of apartheid could be a government policy that bans real-estate sales or transactions to the disfavored group.

Apartheid is suggested by policies that carve out massive zones where the disfavored group cannot live or work, create ethnically homogenous zones, and restrict the disfavored group to ghettos. One might consider it apartheid if a government enforced a policy of extrajudicial execution of members of a disfavored group.

All these policies are practiced in the West Bank and Gaza by the Palestinian Authority government against Jews. The "Israel apartheid" meme is not just a lie, it is an inversion of the truth. In all areas controlled by Israel, Jews and Arabs mix openly. Yet all the areas under PA jurisdiction are Jew-free. Palestinian law makes selling land to Jews a crime punishable by death, often without trial. The South African government used death squads against blacks. The Palestinian government pays terrorists for killing Jews.

In all the territories controlled by the Palestinian government, Jews are prevented from worshipping at their holy sites, despite explicit provisions in the Oslo Accords requiring the Palestinian Authority to protect such worship.
UN covered up Assad’s killing of humanitarian workers
The United Nations has allegedly concealed the murder of two humanitarian staffers by the regime of President Bashar Assad, workers who were part of a relief convoy between the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Homs in 2016.

A nearly year-long investigation into alleged UN misconduct in Syria can now reveal that UN officials in 2016 appeared to have worked at cross purposes and did not publicize an internal UN message saying that Assad’s military had killed two aid workers.

A UN source in the Middle East said the reluctance to investigate and report the alleged murder of aid workers can be explained by the global organization’s fears it would be banned from conducting future relief missions in the Syrian Arab Republic.

Mohammad Al Abdallah, a Syrian human rights and democracy researcher and activist who is the executive director of the Washington-based Syrian Justice and Accountability Centre, said the United Nations had accepted a “poisoned and unhealthy” relationship with the Damascus government.

He added the Syrian regime has allowed them to access the places where they operate in exchange for dealing with the regime or concealing its violations.
NGOs call on US aid group to stop funding use of Palestinian child soldiers
The Coalition to Save Palestinian Child Soldiers called on CAF (Charities Aid Foundation) America to stop providing funds to Palestinian NGOs like “Defense for Children International Palestine” (DCI-P) due to its ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which has been documented as using child soldiers.

The coalition is asking the public to email CAF with a request to stop funding such organizations as part of Palestinian Child Soldier Week which is observed from February 7-13. The campaign aims to raise awareness about the plight of Palestinian child soldiers and pressure offending organizations to stop their abuses.

"CAF America must stop providing a financial platform to NGOs affiliated with terrorist groups exploiting Palestinian children," wrote the coalition on the campaign's website.

"These organizations that profit from private money funneled through CAF America, exploit children for political purposes. CAF America provides, by association, a financial safe haven for 'retired' PFLP and Hamas terrorists. They are guilty by omission, affiliation and direct action in the incitement to violence, recruitment and training of Palestinian children for military purposes."

The coalition called the funding from CAF an "essential part in the upkeep of the brutal, systemic use of Palestinian children by terrorist organizations in the Levant."


Caroline Glick: Amnesty's Conspiracy Theory Puts Biden and Progressive Jews in a Bind
Amnesty's report, and Luther's assertion that the report was motivated by social pressure to keep up with the progressive herd, make clear that the two-state paradigm is defunct. The progressive Left, which was the two-state solution's main champion, no longer accepts its central premise—that Israel has a right to exist in the first instance. Obviously, with the progressive Left now fully aligned with the PLO, Hamas and Iran in rejecting Israel's right to exist, the jig is up. There can only be one sovereign state on the landmass west of the Jordan River—either Israel or Palestine.

The principal victim of this state of affairs is not Israel. Most Israelis accepted long ago that Amnesty and the progressive Left, of which it is a leading member, are implacably hostile to the Jewish state. So too, most Israelis recognized in 2000 that the two-state solution was dead after the PLO rejected statehood and peace and instead initiated a terror war, the Second Intifada, against Israel.

The principal casualty of the progressive camp's formal embrace of Iran's position that Israel must be wiped off the map is the Biden administration. President Joe Biden and his team have lost the fig leaf of "peace" to justify their demands for Israeli concessions to the Palestinians. With the two-state solution now abandoned by its main champions—Biden's progressive base—the strategic and political rationale for the two-state solution is gone. All that remains is hostility toward Israel.

The secondary casualty of the progressive Left's open championing of Israel's destruction is the American Jewish left. Amnesty's report, like the "Israel apartheid" campaigns more generally, present Jewish progressives with a choice. They can support Jewish political freedom and rights, or they can be progressives. Reasonably, but futilely, American Jewish progressives, such as the Union of Reform Judaism, reacted with fury to the Amnesty report.

Israel has managed over its 74 years to develop a system that provides full civil rights to all its citizens, while protecting and preserving Israel's Jewish national identity. Contrary to Amnesty's conspiracy theory, Israel's democracy is real, sustained and sustainable. But its progressive detractors in the Biden administration and the American Jewish community are now faced with a choice. Either they can embrace conspiracy theories and maintain their position in their progressive circles, or they can embrace the truth.
Khaled Abu Toameh: The Real Apartheid in the Middle East
Where is the outcry from Amnesty International and other human rights organizations? When an Arab country subjects Palestinians to actual apartheid measures, the international community is too busy lying about Israel's alleged abuses to take notice.

"It is estimated that 65% of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon live under the poverty line." — UNRWA, October 2017.

Palestinians in Lebanon have long been prevented from practicing such professions as medicine and law, given that only the Lebanese could join professional syndicates.

Thirty-nine professions remain prohibited to Palestinians in the following fields: healthcare (general medicine, dentistry, nursing, midwifery, pharmacy) transport and fishing, services and daycare, engineering, law, tourism, and accounting.

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are at risk of food insecurity, electricity blackouts, increased health problems and complications amid the shortages of medicine and health-care interventions. — UNRWA, January 2022.

"My husband works as a driver and earns less than two dollars a day. We mainly eat vegetables and beans because that's all we can afford. Meat and chicken have become a dream; we can't buy them because prices have increased so sharply. We no longer eat three meals a day, and sometimes I send my kids to bed without dinner." — Rihab Maajel, a 50-year-old Palestinian from Shabriha in southern Lebanon, UNRWA, January 2022.
Clifford D. May: Amnesty International Spreads the Virus of Anti-Semitism
The UN has no problem with nations declaring themselves Arab (the Arab League has 23 members) or Islamic (the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has 57 members). Zionism merely holds that the Jewish people, like other peoples, have a right to self-determination. Yet Jews living in a slice of their ancient homeland - you've heard of the Judean Hills, the Judean Desert and the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem - practicing the same religion and speaking the same language as did their ancestors, are to be regarded as racists, according to Amnesty International.

To anyone who has visited Israel, it is obvious that Israelis come in all colors, including Black Jews from Ethiopia and Brown Jews from India. Most Israeli Jews are of Middle Eastern and Northern African descent. Israel is not segregated: not its universities, hospitals, judiciary, beaches or government.
The Amnesty Report Against Israel Is the Same Old Tired Propaganda
I grew up in South Africa. The South African Afrikaners were Dutch colonizers who eventually took over a country to which they had no claim. Nothing in South Africa's apartheid system remotely resembles Israel, where Jews are indigenous to the land.

Much of the Amnesty report draws on the work of watchdog groups based within Israel, none of which would have even been able to operate under a true apartheid regime. In apartheid South Africa, everything that challenged its system was deemed illegal, and tens of thousands of people were imprisoned for such acts.

Amnesty relied on information provided by at least four of the six NGOs designated by Israel as terror organizations for their close ties with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
A Proper Response to Amnesty
While a multitude of analyses discredited the Amnesty International report on Israel, the bigger impact I'm afraid is to give it more publicity than it would have gotten otherwise. There is nothing new when the anti-Israel propaganda machine "investigates" Israel and publicizes its preordained conclusions. These groups all know they have no impact on Israeli policy. What was the point of Amnesty writing a report, other than attracting a few days of publicity and a hook for fundraising?

The NGOs know the media is their megaphone and have learned, like the Palestinians, that whoever gets their message out first in the propaganda war wins. Meanwhile, Israel has only grown stronger despite the demonization. Look no further than the Abraham Accords. It's ironic that Arabs don't believe or care about the apartheid lie, but Westerners do.


Unpacked: Why Amnesty International's Claim of Apartheid in Israel is Dangerous
On February 1st, Amnesty International published a report titled "Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel system of domination and crime against humanity.” Unlike healthy criticism of Israel that offers space for dialogue, this claim is problematic. The report doesn't allow for a nuanced breakdown of the situation. The claim is also dangerous in that this accusation puts Jewish communities at risk during this time of rising antisemitism. Mislabeling Israel as an apartheid state won’t actually move the needle on this age-old conflict.


What the Washington Post Won’t Tell You About Amnesty’s Attack on Israel
A Feb. 1, 2022 Washington Post dispatch is distinguished by what it doesn’t tell readers about Amnesty International’s anti-Israel libel.

Reporter Miriam Berger begins by giving Amnesty’s report undue credibility, writing that AI “accused Israel of ‘committing the crime of apartheid against Palestinians’ in a report released Tuesday, echoing a growing consensus among leading human rights groups and drawing a fierce rebuke from Israel’s government…[emphasis added].”

Regrettably, the Post’s report doesn’t get any better. Indeed, it reads more like Berger is simply echoing Amnesty’s talking points instead of being neutral and unbiased. Many of those “leading human rights groups,” Amnesty included, have a long track record of anti-Israel bias and even antisemitism.

Indeed, as CAMERA has documented (“The Faces Behind Amnesty International’s Lies,” Feb. 3, 2022), several of the individuals involved in compiling the report don’t even believe that Israel has a right to exist. The organization’s research director, Phillip Luther, has advocated for the “right of return” which, as CAMERA noted in the Washington Examiner, would effectively end the Jewish state’s existence. Ditto for Amnesty’s deputy regional director for the Middle East, Saleh Hijazi, who has promoted Palestinian terrorists on his Facebook page. In fact, Amnesty’s own head, Agnès Callamard, has referred to anti-Jewish violence as a “legitimate exercise of the rights of freedom of expression.”

Amnesty’s anti-Israel agenda is unsurprising when one considers its sources. As the Jewish Chronicle, among others, noted, Amnesty “relied in part on information provided by at least four human-rights NGOs designated by Israel as terror organizations.” These NGOs have documented links to U.S.-designated terrorist groups like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and other terrorist networks. Indeed, they serve as their propaganda fronts—and Amnesty’s sources.

In September 2017 Amnesty even referred to one of the employees of those NGOs, Salah Hammouri of Adameer, as a “human rights defender.” In 2005, Hammouri was arrested for attempting to assassinate Ovadia Yosef, the one-time Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel.

None of this pertinent information, however, is noted in the Washington Post’s report.


U.S.-Israel Relations in the Age of Great Power Competition
Some Americans complain that Israel is too friendly to China and coming under its sway in light of the major projects Chinese companies have built in Israel. Israel long ago made the choice that its irreplaceable strategic ally is the U.S. However, that doesn't preclude economic ties with China. America itself has such ties in abundance.

Critics described the operation of a part of Haifa Bay port by a Chinese company as a severe security risk. But the container wharf cannot serve China's navy. Israel's security agencies enjoy wide inspection authorities there against espionage threats. A port call by the U.S. Fifth Fleet's USS O'Kane in October showed that the U.S. Navy is satisfied with the security of the port.

China is not Israel's enemy. Israel's policy should combine supporting the U.S. and taking America's concerns seriously, while having fruitful, selective and safe economic relations with China.
The US retunr to UNESCO is an ominous sign of where Iran talks are going
On February 9, 2022 Arutz 7 reported "Israel has withdrawn its opposition to a US return to UNESCO.

"To return to UNESCO, the United States must approve in Congress an allocation of more than half a billion dollars to pay American debts to the organization and thus return to full membership.

"The Biden administration has been pressuring Israel for a long time to renew its membership in the organization and not to oppose the American return to it."

Before withdrawing its opposition to a US return to UNESCO Israel should at least have insisted that UNESCO cancel its outrageous declaration that Rachel’s Tomb is the Bilal ibn Rabah mosque.

Six years ago, in a 24-6 vote, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization gave preliminary approval to a resolution that denies Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the vote stating: “The theater of the absurd continues at the UN. Today UNESCO adopted its second decision this year denying the Jewish people’s connection to the Temple Mount, our holiest site for more than 3,000 years. What’s next? A UNESCO decision denying the connection between peanut butter and jelly? Batman and Robin? Rock ‘n’ roll?”

On November 8, 2010 Nadav Shragai wrote in JCPA “UNESCO has declared that Rachel’s Tomb near Jerusalem is the Bilal ibn Rabah mosque – endorsing a Palestinian claim that first surfaced only in 1996 and which ignores centuries of Muslim tradition.

:"...The Temple Mount and the Cave of the Patriarchs are Jewish holy sites but also serve as the location of mosques, Rachel’s Tomb never served as a mosque for the Muslims.

"The Muslim connection to the site derives from its relation to Rachel and has no connection to Bilal ibn Rabah, Mohammed’s first muezzin. Rachel’s Tomb, located some 460 meters south of Jerusalem’s municipal boundary, has been identified for over 1,700 years as the grave of the Jewish matriarch Rachel. Many generations of Jews have visited the place for prayer.

"The depiction of Rachel’s Tomb has appeared in thousands of Jewish religious books, paintings, photographs, stamps, and works of art.”

And Israel?
US envoy calls for progress in Lebanon-Israel maritime border deal
The time has come for Israel and Lebanon to move toward an agreement on demarcating their maritime border, US Senior Advisor for Global Energy Security Amos Hochstein said on Wednesday.

“I think that after 10 years of these discussions, it’s time for moving on to a deal,” Hochstein told Lebanese news channel LBCI. “I came here in November, I was in Israel, and now we’re at a stage that I understand the parties’ positions and think we’re at the moment of narrowing those gaps toward a deal.”

Lebanon and Israel’s maritime border dispute has prevented exploration in an area that is potentially rich in natural gas, at a time when Lebanon is in an economic and energy crisis.

The countries both claim a triangular area of the Mediterranean Sea that starts at the countries’ land border, which is five to six km. (3.1-3.7 miles) wide on average and makes up about 2% of Israel’s economic waters.

Because the Lebanese government – which includes Hezbollah representatives – refused to talk directly with Israel, they began indirect negotiations at the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) installation in Naqoura on the border, which the US mediated in late 2020. Hochstein, however, has preferred shuttle diplomacy.
Germany Has ‘Historical Responsibility for Israeli Security,’ Says Foreign Minister Ahead of Mideast Trip
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock embarked Wednesday on her inaugural visit to Israel, Egypt and Jordan, pledging support for Israel’s security and new efforts to revitalize the Middle East peace process.

“Even if the Middle East conflict seems like a crisis that has always existed for many, we cannot accept it as the status quo,” Baerbock said before her trip. “Every individual has the right to hold on to hope — especially the hope for peace.”

Baerbock arrived Wednesday in Israel, the first stop on her three-day Middle East tour that also takes her to the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Egypt.

“During my visit to the Middle East I particularly want to emphasize that Germany remains a strong and reliable partner,” she stated. “I have deliberately made Israel the first stop on my trip. Building on the unique, close and diverse relations that we have with Israel is a top priority for the German government.”

Baerbock emphasized that Germany has a “special historical responsibility for Israel’s security.”


Israeli, Iranian Skiers Race Winter Olympics Event Despite Iran’s Ban on Competing Against Jewish State
Israeli skier Noa Szollos and her Iranian counterpart Atefeh Ahmadi both competed in the women’s slalom event at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, on Wednesday — an uncommon occurrence given that many Iranian athletes in recent years have refused to go head-to-head against competitors from the Jewish state.

Szollos, 19, a Hungarian-born athlete whose father is Jewish, finished her first round with a final time of 58.21 seconds, which placed her in 45th place out of the 88 contestants who competed, 30 of whom failed to complete the course, according to Israel Hayom. She finished her second run with a time of 59.13 seconds and was in 41st place in the overall standings with a combined time of 1:57.34 minutes.

Ahmadi, 21, finished her first round with a time of 1:11.88 minutes, which put her in 57th place. The athlete, who failed to complete her second run, is Iran’s youngest female skier to ever compete in the Winter Olympics, according to the Tehran Times.

Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova won the gold medal with a combined time of 1:44.98 minutes. Austria’s Katharina Liensberger took home the silver and Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener received the bronze.
Three Palestinians indicted for murder of Yehuda Dimentman in Homesh
Three Palestinians were indicted on Thursday by the IDF's Military Advocate General (MAG) for the murder of Homesh yeshiva student Yehuda Dimentman in December 2021.

Following the filing of the indictments, which are said to be "severe," MAG Tomer Yifat-Yerushalmi will request the three to be detained until the conclusion of legal proceedings against them.

Last week, a 17-year-old Palestinian who allegedly acted as the three's getaway driver in the terror attack was indicted for his involvement in the killing.

In addition to legal action taken against the terrorist, the IDF has in January signed demolition orders for the houses of the terrorists involved.

Dimentman's killing sparked protests in Homesh due to the Israeli government's plan to evacuate the West Bank outpost, which has been demolished in 2005 following the Gaza disengagement.

Despite that, the state is yet to give a response to the High Court of Justice's request of a date for the evacuation, as right-wing politicians and settler leaders feared that the state would set a date for demolition of the yeshiva, which has been illegally located on the Homesh hilltop for over 15 years.
BBC News report contradicts BBC News profile on al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
No further information is provided to explain that last sentence or to give readers any background on the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. In contrast to the Times of Israel article it quotes, the BBC’s report does not bother to clarify that Fatah is the dominant faction in the Palestinian Authority.

The BBC’s profile of Fatah – which has not been updated for well over a decade – tells readers that:
“The second intifada saw a number of armed groups associated with Fatah emerge, most notably the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. The Brigades are neither officially recognised nor openly backed by Fatah, though members often belong to the political faction.

During the intifada, the Brigades carried out numerous operations against Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza, and suicide attacks on civilians inside Israel.”

If the BBC has now reached the conclusion that the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is “the military wing of the Palestinian Fatah faction”, that profile clearly needs to be updated.

Additionally, the BBC did not bother to update its report to inform audiences of the related attempted lynching of an Israeli taxi driver who entered Nablus (Schem) a short time after the operation had taken place.
Police Search for Suspect Who Shot at Jerusalem Bus Driver
The Jerusalem District Police on Thursday morning continued the search for a suspect who allegedly opened fire on a bus driver in the city late on Wednesday night, according to police.

The bus suffered damaged, but no casualties were reported. The driver was treated for shock.

The incident occurred around 9:30 pm on Levi Eshkol Street, police said. The shooter fled the scene and police continued to search for him until late into the night, setting up checkpoints around the area, including in the Old City. A police helicopter also took part in the search.

Police believe the background for the incident was criminal and not nationalistic, though the matter is still under investigation.


Israeli Defense Ministry Thwarts Attempt to Smuggle 10,000 Bullets Into Gaza
Israel’s Ministry of Defense thwarted an attempt to smuggle more than 10,000 bullets, as well as a handgun, to Gazan terror factions in recent days, it said in a statement.

According to a statement, the ammunition was hidden in an innocuous shipment of home goods designed for the Gaza Strip. It was intercepted by security inspectors working for the Crossings Authority at the Kerem Shalom Crossing between Israel and Gaza.

“The shipment has been seized and transferred for the treatment of security forces,” said the ministry in a statement.

According to the IDF’s Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) for Gaza, which is is responsible for implementing the civilian policy by the Israeli government towards the Strip, the Kerem crossing is used to transport to the coastal enclave.

The crossing is managed by Defense Ministry’s Land Crossings Authority together with CLA representatives.

Requests to bring goods into Gaza are received from representatives of the Palestinian Authority and the international community, coordinated at the Merchandise Coordination Department of CLA.
4 Bedouin Arrested for Assault on Jewish Journalist and Torching His Car
Four Bedouin who assaulted a Jewish Israeli journalist and torched his car during riots in the Negev in January and who threw firebombs at a police station in the Segev Shalom area were recently arrested by the Shin Bet security service.

Following the JNF’s planting of trees in the Negev in January, on state lands which the Bedouin claimed as their own, the Bedouin rioted, including the blocking of roads with burning tires and rock-throwing at passing vehicles. A train was forced to make an emergency stop after the driver noticed that rocks were placed on the tracks, apparently by the rioters.

The four suspects are Mahran Abu Adra, Bilal Abu Adra, Kerem Al-Qadi and Ismail Al-Qadi, aged 18-19. Mahran, Balal and Karem were born in Israel and their parents, born outside the country, received their legal status in Israel as part of the family unifications proceedings between Arabs with Israeli citizenship and those from enemy countries.

Some 38% of the detainees arrested for rioting in the Negev in January are descendants of Palestinians living in Israel by virtue of family reunifications. According to the Shin Bet data, from 2001 to July 2021, 165 Palestinians who were granted status in Israel by virtue of family reunification, or children of Palestinians who were granted status by virtue of this procedure, were involved in terrorist attacks.
Palestinians Enter Gaza Border Zone and Set Fire to Truck
Three Palestinian men entered the Gaza border region on Wednesday and threw a firebomb at an empty Israeli civilian maintenance truck, setting it on fire, before running back, according to Palestinian media and the IDF.

The Palestinians never crossed the recently completed border barrier.
MEMRI: Suspension Of Hospital Construction Project Sparks Rage In Palestinian Authority; Former Minister: Corruption And Lack Of Democracy Are Leading Us To Collapse
The Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership, and especially PA President Mahmoud 'Abbas, have recently faced sharp criticism for freezing the construction of a new Palestinian hospital specializing in the treatment of cancer after extensive public funds have already been raised for this purpose. The cornerstone for the new hospital was laid by 'Abbas himself in a ceremony in January 2016,[1] and in 2018 'Abbas issued a presidential decree establishing the Khaled Al-Hassan[2] Foundation for Cancer Treatment and Bone Marrow Transplantation, whose purpose was "to assist in the establishment of the Palestinian hospital specializing in the treatment of cancer." However, on January 14, 2022, the Palestinian news agency Qods, known for its opposition to the PA leadership, reported that three days earlier 'Abbas had signed a presidential decree changing the function of the foundation to "assisting in the establishment and/or development of a special [cancer] hospital and/or departments specializing in the treatment of cancer in the public or private hospitals of the state [of Palestine]."[3] This change, which enables to transfer the funds raised for the new hospital to departments in existing hospitals, was made when vast sums have already been collected for the project from the Palestinian public, including through deductions from the salaries of PA employees.[4]

The report evoked immediate public outrage, and the decision was described as corruption and theft of public funds. Journalist Majed Al-'Arouri, for example, called to establish a national investigative committee; civil society organizations, such as the Popular Coalition for Change, threatened to launch protests against the PA, and a group of Palestinian teachers submitted an official request for the PA to reimburse them for the funds that had been deducted from their salaries for the purpose of building the hospital.[5]

In response to the report and the public outrage it sparked, the PA government issued a clarification. On January 15 the Palestinian Health Ministry announced that the project of building the new hospital had been frozen because the funds raised for it had been insufficient, and assured the public that these funds were safely deposited in the account of the Khaled Al-Hassan Foundation. Two days later, on January 17, PA Prime Minister Muhammad Ishtayeh, explained that, according to the President's new decree, the foundation would open new cancer departments in the PA's public and private hospitals, and devise viable plans for establishing the new hospital at a lower cost.[6] These clarifications, however, failed to allay the concern over possible mismanagement and corruption or the public's anger against the PA.[7]

Against this backdrop, Ziad Abu Zayyad, a former PA minister of Jerusalem affairs, published an article in the Palestinian daily Al-Quds slamming the corruption of the PA and claiming that the incident of the hospital was just one of an "endless series" of scandals and fiascos produced the PA institutions. The main reasons for this, he said, is the absence of democracy and of a parliament that can oversee the PA government, as well as "the adoption of underhand operation methods that insult the public's intelligence." He lamented that the Palestinians have destroyed their state institutions with their own hands and caused a governmental, moral and social deterioration, and called to stop this deterioration before it becomes too late.

It should be noted that, in the recent years, there has been extensive public criticism of the corruption and disorder in the PA, and of its undemocratic measures, manifested mainly in abuses of power by the executive branch, headed by the PA government and President 'Abbas, which is taking over the other branches of government.[8]

The following are translated excerpts from Ziad Abu Zayyad's article:
Former Palestinian Minister: "The Main And Fundamental Problem Threatening The Entire [Palestinian] National Enterprise… Is The Elimination Of Democratic Life… The Adoption Of Underhand Operation Methods That Insult The Public's Intelligence"

"Not a week or even a couple of days go by without the [Palestinian] public finding some issue to discuss, in what can be described as an endless series [of scandals]. All of them have to do with the performance of the PA, not only of the government but of all the echelons of power. Yesterday we were surprised [to hear] various questions [in the media] about the Khaled Al-Hassan Cancer Hospital, whose cornerstone was laid [by PA President Mahmoud 'Abbas] in a festive ceremony [in 2016]. According to the reports, nothing has been done since then on the ground. The project has remained on paper and all the funds that were raised for it are still in the bank, in the best-case scenario, if they haven't been loaned out for other purposes.[10] Before the Khaled Al-Hassan Hospital [scandal] there was the scandal of the inherited positions in the diplomatic corps,[11] and before that [the affair of] the appointment of children and associates of Fatah officials to top positions [in the PA] without transparent tenders providing equal opportunity.[12] The investigative committees [formed by the PA over the years] never published their findings. Nobody is held accountable for the financial corruption, poor administration and legal violations [in the PA].
Teen's Death Fuels Palestinian Authority Corruption Claims
Saleem Nawati, 16, was transferred from Gaza to the West Bank on Dec. 26 to receive treatment for leukemia.

But the An-Najah National University Hospital in Nablus refused to admit him, citing a dispute with the government over unpaid hospital bills.

Not one hospital in the West Bank agreed to receive him, Saleem's family told Al Jazeera, and he died on Jan. 9 at the Ministry of Health office in Ramallah as he was waiting to secure a hospital bed.

Mohannad Nawati, Saleem's brother, said, "When Saleem went to the hospital, they refused to admit him, saying the PA has not paid its debts, but three other people were admitted - I am sure they had better connections and managed to get themselves in."
PMW: Abbas’ Fatah vows revenge for death of 3 Fatah terrorists
During the last few weeks, a Palestinian terror cell had carried out a number of shooting attacks against Israeli targets. After the Israeli authorities identified the terrorists as members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade - the internationally designated terror wing of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party - and received intelligence that the terrorists intended to carry out an imminent additional terror attack, Israel sent special forces to the city of Nablus to intercept them. Three terrorists, armed with two semi-automatic M-16 rifles, were killed in the ensuing confrontation.

Responding to the incident, representatives of Fatah condemned the “assassination,” declaring that "what was before it is not what will be after it”:
“The Fatah Movement’s Nablus branch held the right-wing occupation government responsible for the escalation against our people and against the Nablus district specifically, with its latest incident being the crime of assassinating three Fatah fighters in Nablus.

In a statement issued today, Wednesday [Feb. 8, 2022], Fatah emphasized that the assassination crime is a severe escalation, and that it constitutes a turning point for everything regarding the escalation of the confrontation with the occupation, as what was before it is not what will be after it, and no one can turn back the hands of time.”

Facebook page of the Fatah Movement – Nablus Branch, Feb. 8, 2022]

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades announce the death f the terrorists and threatened:
"Our Martyrs blood has not be shed in vain, and the response will surely come, Allah willing.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 9, 2022]
Khaled Abu Toameh: How the Killing of Fatah Gunmen Serves Abbas
The killing of three Fatah gunmen involved in shooting attacks against soldiers and Israeli civilians, by the IDF in Nablus on Tuesday, serves the interests of Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas. First, it diverts attention from the controversy surrounding the meeting of the Palestinian Central Council (PCC) in Ramallah earlier this week, which several Palestinian factions and figures boycotted.

Second, the three militants belonged to Fatah's armed wing, the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, showing that its members are also involved in military action against Israel, not just Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The Brigades were quick to publish a statement endorsing the three as its "martyrs," sending a message to the Palestinian public that Fatah remains committed to the "armed struggle" against Israel.

Third, the Nablus incident allows the PA leadership to continue its campaign of incitement against Israel. The PA called for an international commission of inquiry into the "horrible crime" and urged the UN to condemn Israel.

On the other hand, the presence of various armed groups on the streets of major Palestinian cities is seen by many Palestinians as a sign of the PA's failure to enforce law and order and rein in the militias, most of which are affiliated with Fatah and feuding clans.
“Nothing proves” that Jews “were ever” here, says director of human rights org.

Israeli children are taught that “Arabs are liars and traitors,” says director of human rights org.

Jordan to Increase Electricity Supply to Palestinian Authority
The Ramah Electricity Station is expected to begin operating this summer to increase the electric power exported from Jordan to the Palestinian Authority from 40 to 80 megawatts, Director General of Jordan's National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) Amjad Rawashdeh said Tuesday.

Such cooperation began in 2008 with Jericho receiving 26 megawatts from the Jordanian grid.


Biden Admin Won’t Commit to Legally Mandated Congressional Review of New Iran Deal
The Biden administration will not commit to submitting a new Iran nuclear deal to Congress for approval, as is required by U.S. law.

With the United States poised to ink a new deal with Tehran that will unwind virtually all economic sanctions on Iran and provide the hardline regime with billions in cash windfalls, the State Department won't say whether the deal will be sent to Congress for sign-off. Under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (INARA)—which was passed after the Obama administration signed a deal without congressional approval—President Joe Biden must submit any deal to the Senate for it to be considered American policy.

The State Department told the Washington Free Beacon on Wednesday that it will consider the INARA law but stopped short of guaranteeing a new deal will first be submitted to Congress.

"The administration will carefully consider the facts and circumstances of any U.S. return to the JCPOA to determine the legal implications, including those under INARA," a State Department spokesman told the Free Beacon in response to questions about whether Congress will get an up-or-down vote on the deal. "We are committed to ensuring the requirements of INARA are satisfied." The spokesman did not expand on that answer.

The State Department comments come just days after 33 GOP senators wrote to the Biden administration demanding that any deal reached with Tehran be presented to Congress for approval. The lawmakers vowed to block the implementation of any deal, including massive sanctions relief, if the Biden administration violates INARA.


12 hurt as drone targets Saudi airport; Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis blamed
The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said Thursday that 12 people were wounded in a drone attack on an airport in the southern Saudi region of Abha near the kingdom’s border with Yemen.

It was not immediately clear from the coalition statement whether the people, who included travelers and workers at the airport, were wounded by the drone itself or from fallen debris.

Saudi air defenses destroyed the drone, according to the statement, which also said it was launched by Houthi rebels inside Yemen early Thursday afternoon. Saudi state television and accompanying social media accounts carried video from inside Abha’s airport showing operations there running as normal.

Saudi Arabia has been at war in Yemen since 2015 fighting against Iranian-backed Houthis who overran the capital and ousted the government from power.

On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden spoke with Saudi King Salman. The White House said the president and king discussed “Iranian-enabled attacks by the Houthis against civilian targets in Saudi Arabia.” Biden underscored US commitment in supporting Saudi Arabia in the defense of its people and territory from such attacks, it added.









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