08/04 Links Pt1: Figures leave no room for doubt: Terrorism has been surging; Democrat Anti-Israel Bill Relies on Research From Designated Terror Group ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Figures leave no room for doubt: Terrorism has been surging

The spike in security-related incidents this week, as well as a surge in small-scale incidents that do make headlines because they don't result in casualties, is more than just a coincidence, officials told Israel Hayom.

"We are now at the height of this terrorist wave," a military official told Israel Hayom, pointing out the facts on the ground that support this. More than 15 brigade-level operations have been carried out by the IDF Central Command recently, two of which were carried out over the past two weeks following the IDF operation in Jenin. The official noted that in some of the raids, troops have been dealing with improvised explosive devices hidden beneath the surface, just like in Jenin. The official added that more than 100 terrorists have been detained in the latest Central Command raids.

According to the official, the figures leave no room for doubt that the terrorists have reared their heads. Over the past week, at least three cells were eliminated before they could perpetrate attacks, and since the start of 2023 more than 750 weapons have been seized, although this probably represents only a fraction of what has been trafficked.

As a result of this terrorist surge, settlers have recently lashed out at GOC Central Command Yehuda Fuchs for not cracking down on Palestinian violence and not using his powers to the full extent when it comes to roadblocks and weapon confiscation. However, such attacks have been criticized across the board, since the overall response to the new situation would have to come from the prime minister and defense minister.

UN agency reports nearly 600 settler attacks over past six months

The United Nations warned Friday of a dramatic rise in West Bank settler attacks on Palestinian people and property, with nearly 600 such incidents registered so far this year.

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said it had recorded 591 settler-related incidents in the territory in the first six months of 2023 resulting in Palestinian casualties, property damage, or both.

“That’s an average of 99 incidents every month, and a 39-percent-increase compared with the monthly average of the whole of 2022, which is 71,” spokesman Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva.

And that comes after “the number of such incidents in 2022 was already the highest since we started recording them in 2006,” he said.

Israel has controlled the West Bank since capturing it from Jordan in the Six Day War of 1967. The territory is home to nearly three million Palestinians and around 490,000 Israelis who live in settlements considered illegal under international law.

Since early last year, there have been a series of Palestinian terror attacks against Israeli targets, with Israel in turn carrying out raids in the West Bank that have frequently been accompanied by clashes with Palestinian gunmen. Amid this unrest, there has also been violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities.

JPost Editorial: Israel needs a measured response to the Ma'aleh Adumim terror attack

The usually languid atmosphere of Ma’aleh Adumim was shattered on Tuesday when a Palestinian employee of the local community center opened fire in the city center, wounding six people before being killed by an off-duty Border Police officer.

The terrorist, Muhannad Muhammad Suleiman al-Mazara’a, was from Eizariya, a Palestinian town neighboring Ma’aleh Adumim, and was one of some 7,000 Palestinians employed in Ma’aleh Adumim and its nearby industrial area, Mishor Adumim.

Mazara’a had just begun working at the community center, where his father has been working for some 20 years. On the day of the attack, Mazara’a said he was sick, got a ride to the entrance to Eizariya, and then returned to Ma’aleh Adumim an hour later with a gun.

Security forces are investigating how Mazara’a was able to get past the usually stringent security checks at the entrance to Ma’aleh Adumim. All work permits for Palestinians to enter the city were suspended for the day after the attack, Mayor Benny Kashriel announced.

In addition to those measured and sound responses, however, there also have been calls for more extreme measures and changes in policy regarding Palestinian workers in Israel.

Israeli lawmakers call to change policy for Palestinian workers
Likud MK Avichay Buaron accused the commander of IDF Central Command, Maj.-Gen. Yehuda Fuchs, of placing Palestinians’ freedom of movement in the West Bank above the well-being of Israelis.

“Allowing movement rights for Palestinians is more important than hermetically protecting Israelis,” Buaron charged soon after the Ma’aleh Adumim attack, adding that Fuchs’s policies were undermining the country’s top priority of fighting terrorism.

The comments were immediately condemned by both IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who tweeted: “Maj.-Gen. Yehuda Fuchs is a professional officer [who] dedicates his life to the defense of the people of Israel.”

Halevi said: “Any attack on IDF officers by public figures undermines Israel’s security. Under his command, the commanders and soldiers work day and night to ensure the safety of all residents of the West Bank. Any statement that impugns his considerations and his commitment to the security of Israel’s citizens has no merit and deserves all condemnation.”

Even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu distanced himself from his backbencher Likud colleague, saying: “The denigration of Maj.-Gen. [Yehuda] Fuchs is unacceptable and unworthy.”

Buaron’s attack on the IDF is consistent with the view of some on the Right who have criticized Israel’s provision of work permits to Palestinians, and they crop up whenever a terrorist attack is perpetrated by a Palestinian with such a permit.

Caroline Glick: Two State Solution: What the Average Israeli Knows, but the Average American Refuses to Acknowledge

Going back almost 30 years, on September 13, 1993, there was a tremendous amount of excitement in both the Israeli and the American Jewish populations. In a ceremony replete with lofty, inspiring speeches and the music of a Marine Corps band, Yasser Arafat, the grand-daddy of twentieth-century terrorism, airplane and bus hijackings, and school massacres, shook hands with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

This was the date of the signing of the Oslo Accords, a document that was predicated around the premise of “land for peace.”

However, this premise was summarily rejected by repeatedly generous offers to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on July 25, 2000, and by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on September 16, 2008.

And as the years ensued, the Israeli Jewish population has been subjected to repeated waves of terrorism, including a very recent wave of near-daily terrorism coming out of Judea and Samaria, or the West Bank. Since September 13, 1993, at least 1,670 Israeli civilians have been murdered by suicide bombings, automobile rammings, knifings, shootings, and various other forms of terrorism.

As the Israeli people may very well be divided about the controversial issue of judicial reform, they are united in the notion that there is simply no one to talk to on the Palestinian side and that the two-state solution is nothing more than a lovely, comforting fairy tale.

However, most American Jews desperately cling to the notion that the Israelis have a reasonable negotiator on the Palestinian side, and that there will be a two-state solution.

Why have American Jews clung to the two-state solution, against the brutal reality that Israelis must confront? Where is the disconnect? Here to answer is Caroline Glick.

About the Speaker: Caroline B. Glick is senior contributing editor at JNS and a senior columnist at JNS and Newsweek. She is also a diplomatic commentator at Israel’s Channel 14. Glick also serves as senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, DC and a lecturer at Israel’s College of Statecraft in Jerusalem. Glick is the author of The Israeli Solution: A One State Plan for Peace in the Middle East and Shackled Warrior: Israel and the Global Jihad. A widely sought-after lecturer, Glick has briefed policymakers from Washington to Canberra, military commanders in Israel and the U.S. and general audiences worldwide. She has received multiple awards for her journalism. As a captain in the IDF from 1994-1996, Glick was a core member of Israel’s negotiating team with the PLO and served as assistant foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from 1997-1998. She is the author of The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East, and Shackled Warrior: Israel and the Global Jihad. Glick lives in Efrat with her husband Shimon Suissa and their sons Yoav and Shilo.

Tom Gross: Street protests not the best way ahead for Israeli opposition, should unite to one party.

Commentary on the power struggle in Israel, by Tom Gross
Turkish International station TRT World, August 3, 2023

Democrat-Led Anti-Israel Bill Relies on Research From Designated Terror Group

A Democrat-led bill condemning Israel’s so-called military occupation of Palestinian lands relies on research from an Israeli-designated terrorist organization.

Rep. Betty McCollum (D., Minn.), along with nearly 30 of her Democrat colleagues, introduced earlier this year the "Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act." The legislation accuses Israel of wrongfully detaining Palestinian children and subjecting them to interrogation and imprisonment.

But the bill relies heavily on research and statistics produced by Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), a nonprofit group that Israel designated in 2022 as a terrorist organization. The Israeli government says the group is controlled by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a militant organization that has killed Americans and is a U.S.-designated terror outfit.

House Republicans say legislation like McCollum’s bill—which is co-sponsored by a who’s who of anti-Israel advocates in Congress, including Reps. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), Cori Bush (D., Mo.), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.)—is par for the course among House Democrats, where anti-Semitism has become commonplace. Tlaib, for instance, attempted to organize an event in May mourning the "catastrophe" of Israel’s creation, prompting last-minute intervention by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.). And a July speech by Israel’s president sparked boycotts among many Democrats, with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.) calling Israel a "racist state."

Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.) pointed to the disturbing trend among Democrats, saying McCollum’s recent legislation crosses the line into a partnership "with a known terrorist organization."

"Democrats have hurled every insult under the sun at our closest ally Israel, and they haven’t stopped at words," Banks told the Washington Free Beacon. "Democrats have now partnered with a known terrorist organization in a push to leave Israel more vulnerable to terrorist attacks by cutting U.S. aid."

House Republicans, Banks added, "must remain firm in our commitment to Israel’s security by calling out Democrats’ radical anti-Semitism."

Palestinian Activists Demand Israel Not Be Included In U.S. Waiver Program

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), an advocacy organization, created a petition to attempt to prevent the U.S. from allowing Israel to join its Visa Waiver Program.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on July 19, starting a trial run for the Jewish nation to adhere to the terms of the agreement for up to six weeks before being fully admitted into the program, which allows citizens of certain countries to travel in the U.S. for up to 90 days without needing a visa, according to Axios. AMP started a petition on Tuesday protesting the State Department’s decision and demanding that Israel be immediately disqualified for its alleged “discriminatory policies” against Palestinians in Gaza, according to the press release.

Petitioners signed onto a letter listing five reasons that Israel does not meet the standards necessary to be included in the program, arguing that the current agreement would reinforce Israel’s “apartheid policies.”

“The MOU reinforces separate-and-unequal Israeli practices for Americans visiting or residing in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, who face no restrictions, and Palestinian-Americans with West Bank IDs visiting or living in the same territory,” the letter reads. “And by excluding the besieged Gaza Strip from the VWP, the US reinforces Israel’s illegal collective punishment and contributes to its fragmentation of Palestinians. By concurring with Israel’s apartheid policies toward US citizens in the West Bank and denying access to Gaza, the MOU may violate the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.”

MEMRI: A Terror Enabler In Beverly Hills And Bel Air – Part I

Did the United States grant a visa to former Qatari prime minister and foreign minister Hamad bin Jassim – who headed a state that has the death penalty for homosexuals[1] and who was personally involved in providing millions of dollars of support to U.S.-designated terrorist groups (including Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria),[2] to Hamas in Gaza, to Hizbullah in Lebanon, and even to Iran's IRGC?[3]

Bin Jassim is comfortably residing in his multi-million dollar luxury mansion in Bel Air while developing his billion-dollar business empire (which includes the Maybourne Hotel in Beverly Hills).

Any person seeking a visa to the United States – including current and former foreign government officials – must answer several security-related questions as part of the application, including: "Have you ever or do you intend to provide financial assistance or other support to terrorists or terrorist organizations?"[4]

Question from U.S. Nonimmigrant Visa Application Form (DS-160).

If bin Jassim answered "No" to this question, he would have been lying and subject to immediate expulsion from the United States.

And if he answered "Yes" and was nonetheless granted a visa, perhaps this was through the known Qatari methods. These same methods were employed with regard to the FIFA 2022 World Cup, which according to media sources was held in Qatar due to generous bribery.[5] Similarly, the European Parliament was recently rocked with scandal when several of its members were investigated for accepting bribes from Qatar. Former European Parliament vice president Eva Kaili was even found in possession of over €1,000,000 in cash from Qatar, and she was detained on charges of corruption and money laundering.[6]

Germany allocates €28 million to UNRWA

The German government and The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), signed deals totaling €28 million, UNRWA announced on its website on Thursday.

The deals were made through the German KfW Development Bank, an investment bank which, according to the bank’s website, “cooperates closely with EU institutions on behalf of the German Federal Government” and supports development programs all over the world.

“The German government will continue to support Palestine Refugees throughout the region,” said the Head of the Representative Office of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ramallah, Oliver Owcza. "The new agreements will make a substantial contribution to improving living conditions in Palestine Refugee camps. They will enable UNRWA to invest in camp infrastructure and modernize its service provision system. This will make UNRWA’s services more efficient and accessible for Palestine Refugees.”

One of the agreements, which alone allocates €12 million to the UN agency, is earmarked for the continuation of a program that aims to digitalize elements of UNRWA’s Health and Education services in Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan, Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.

The Digital Transformation in Health and Education program is set to enter its second phase of implementation.

The other two agreements that have been signed by UNRWA and the German government, which together account for the remaining €16 million euros allocated, are destined for a program intended to “improve infrastructure in Palestine Refugee camps in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, supporting the construction, extension and rehabilitation of social, economic, and environmental infrastructure.”

“I am very grateful to Germany for these new agreements that will help improve the living conditions of Palestine Refugees across the region and will allow UNRWA to make crucial infrastructure investments,” said the UNRWA Director of External Relations and Communications, Tamara Alrifai. “In addition, the new phase of the digitalization program will help UNRWA implement its digital transformation strategy in the areas of health and education.”

Tunisian Singer’s Concert Cancelled After She’s Accused of Normalizing Ties With Israel

Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi announced on Wednesday that her upcoming concert in Tunisia has been cancelled by organizers, reportedly because she recently performed in Israel.

Mathlouthi, 41, performed for the first time ever in east Jerusalem on July 27, as part of the Tarab Nights Festival, and also recently in Bethlehem and Ramallah, which is under the Palestinian Authority. She was scheduled to perform on Aug. 9 at the Hammamet International Festival in Tunisia but her show has been removed from the event’s lineup.

Tunisia has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

“I am very sorry to announce our much awaited concert in Hammamet has been cancelled with no official reason,” Mathlouthi wrote in an Instagram post. “We believe that our latest tour in beautiful Palestine has sparked an unjustified controversy accusing me of normalization.”

The singer added that the concerts in Israel were “organized by Palestinians to a Palestinian audience” and adhered to the “guidelines” of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel as well as the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).

“My body of work and long stand with the Palestinian people is unquestionable,” she explained in her Instagram post. “Long live Palestine and its beautiful people. I have been deeply touched by their warmth, generosity and amazing resilience. This was the most beautiful week of my life.”

Moroccan man jailed for 5 years for criticizing king over Israel ties

A Moroccan man has been sentenced to five years in jail for criticizing the king on Facebook over the country’s normalization of ties with Israel, his lawyer told AFP Wednesday.

Said Boukioud, 48, “was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday for Facebook posts denouncing normalization with Israel in a way that could be interpreted as criticism of the king,” El Hassan Essouni said, adding that he has appealed.

Under the country’s constitution, foreign affairs are the prerogative of the monarch, King Mohammed VI.

Morocco and Israel normalized relations in December 2020 as part of the US-backed Abraham Accords.

The Casablanca court’s verdict “is harsh and incomprehensible,” the lawyer said.

He added that despite his client’s expressing rejection of ties with Israel, he had no intention to offend the king in doing so.

The posts on Facebook dated from the end of 2020, when Boukioud was living and working in Qatar.

He “deleted the posts and closed his account when he learned he was being prosecuted in Morocco,” the lawyer said.

Boukioud was convicted under Article 267-5 of the penal code which stipulates a jail term of between six months and two years for anyone who undermines the monarchy.

But that sentence can be increased to five years if an offense is committed publicly, including by electronic means.

Aide to Brooklyn District Attorney accused of antisemitic remarks

A former chief of staff to one of New York City’s leading prosecutors will face scrutiny as an investigation begins into accusations of discrimination, abusive behavior, improper use of state resources and bigoted statements.

Brooklyn’s District Attorney Eric Gonzalez told his staff in an internal memo that he and they “need to do more” after the New York Post reported last week that staffers said the recently promoted “confidential executive ADA” Maritza Ming, 51, had engaged in a range of unprofessional acts, some which might place her in legal jeopardy.

Ming is accused of calling her Jewish co-workers “privileged,” claiming that there were “too many Jews in power.” Other allegations include bullying, insults, using profanity, trying to start a fistfight at a retirement party and ordering others to do personal errands. This range of conduct allegedly inspired many in the office to resign.

DA spokesperson Oren Yanivhas dismissed the claims of a potential physical fight as “categorically false” and described the complaints as “meritless office gossip.”

Employees for Gonzalez said they were afraid to report the abuse since those who handled Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) cases reported to Ming.

WATCH: Last night on @RealAmVoice, we exposed and condemned @RashidaTlaib for attending an art show in Detroit that prominently featured artwork of the famous picture of convicted Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled holding an AK-47.@BryanLeibFL @AmandaHead @jsolomonReports pic.twitter.com/PS0EKc5EHH
— CASEPAC (@CasePacUSA) August 4, 2023

After days of total silence, @FranceskAlbs finally mentions Hamas’ brutal attacks on innocent Palestinians, but only after anti-Israel propaganda group @AlMezanCenter speaks first. She fails to mention Hamas by name but manages to blame Israel. Yet another example of the UN… https://t.co/EF4aGEKLsi
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) August 4, 2023

Would @antonioguterres and @FranceskAlb kindly explain why RPGs and other weapons are used freely in the @UNRWA camp of Ain el Hilweh in Lebanon? For that matter why is it that in every Palestinian refugee camp there are more weapons than people? pic.twitter.com/d974QG3tQM
— ElBluemountain #reinstate @sharkdiveruk (@EBluemountain1) August 3, 2023

LEBANON TICKING DEMOGRAPHIC TIME BOMBS:
No it's not one of those #Lebanon's summer nights sound and light shows nor a futuristic fireworks display or a blazing part of a Star Wars movie;
Sadly, it's merely an exchange of fire happening now between two belligerent #palestinian… pic.twitter.com/IXK2PThQAx
— Alexandre Ziad Karkour ???? ???? (@AZKARKOUR) August 3, 2023

Russian TV Report About “Lancet” Kamikaze Drones: Production Has Increased 50 Times Since the Start of the Ukraine War; Lancets Are Cannot Be Jammed; The Next Generation Will Be Able to Launch in Swarms, Intelligently Prioritize High-Value Targets pic.twitter.com/PZRKUHZQXU
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) August 4, 2023

The Israel Guys: Is America Funding Hezbollah in Lebanon? Why America May Not Survive. . .

How much longer will America exist? As an American, Joshua has a lot of interest in seeing America prosper, but he thinks our secret to survival has been lost, and if we don't bring it back soon, will America survive as a nation? Stay tuned for the breakdown on what is going down on the Lebanon border and how Israel plays a critical role in America's success.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the military arm of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, confirms that 18-year-old Palestinian terrorist Muhammad Abu Sa'an was killed in Tulkarm while attacking Israeli troops.https://t.co/wRHJ4BUWgo
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) August 4, 2023

Israelis fundraise to help Palestinian teen escape abusive father in Gaza

A number of Israelis helped conduct a crowdfunding campaign for a teenage girl being abused by her father in the Gaza Strip in recent weeks.

The crowdfunding campaign was shared on Twitter by journalist and director Shlomi Eldar, with over 5,600 people viewing the tweet.

Eldar wrote that he had met the 18-year-old girl and her mother a few years ago, but since then the girl had ended up in Gaza and was being abused by her father who would not let her see her mother.

The journalist added that a way had been found to get the girl out of Gaza and to Turkey, attaching a link to a crowdfunding campaign opened by two Israeli young women for that purpose.

The crowdfunding page, run by Abigail Szor, included a description reading “Rana needs financial support to buy a plane ticket from Egypt to Turkey, and to help her with starting money for an apartment and food. We are asking you to support and donate, this is an opportunity to save her life.”

Hundreds of Israelis contributed to fundraiser
A few days later, Eldar published an update writing "I thought that amid the great chaos that surrounds us, maybe there would be some people who will be willing to give, whose hearts will be open to those who have been forgotten. In practice, hundreds of people mobilized to help. Hundreds of Israelis. And the girl? Since yesterday she has been outside of Gaza. Her life was saved."

Bassam Tawil: A Cry for Help from Palestinians

The two events -- in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon -- received little attention from the international community and media, most likely because Israel was not involved. Needless to say, the United Nations Security Council was not asked to hold an emergency session to discuss the crimes committed by Palestinians against Palestinians.

A statement issued by a group, the Unified Command of the Intifada in the Gaza Strip, noted in response to the protests that "the time of silence over oppression and the exploitation of religion to kill has ended." The group was referring to Hamas's continued repressive measures against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including a crackdown on journalists, political rivals, and human rights activists. It was also referring to Hamas's use of Islam to justify its policies and measures against the residents of the Gaza Strip.

Among those arrested by Hamas security officers was Batoul Abu Salimeh, a 14-year-old girl from Jabalya. A 15-year-old boy from Rafah, who asked not to be identified, said Hamas thugs beat him in the leg and that he is afraid to go to hospital for treatment.

The protests in the Gaza Strip were organized by local Palestinian youth movements to put pressure on Hamas to solve the problems of poverty and unemployment. The protesters also demanded an end to the shortage of electricity and gas supplies.

It is no secret that Hamas has been investing millions of dollars in building tunnels and manufacturing weapons to attack Israel, while ignoring the dire economic crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Reports from the Gaza Strip -- almost completely ignored by the international media -- said that Hamas security officers stormed the Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah and abducted three Palestinian men who were wounded during the protests: Midhat Daoud, Nizar al-Liddawi, and Wissam Rasras.

Hamas officers also physically assaulted Palestinian journalist Walid Abdel Rahman, a correspondent for the Palestinian Authority's Palestine TV, while he was covering the demonstrations in Jabalya.

Rami Farajallah, member of the International Federation of Journalists, criticized Hamas for cracking down on Palestinian journalists who were reporting about the peaceful protests in the Gaza Strip.

MEMRI: PLO Summer Camps – Part I : Praise And Glorification Of Terrorists

Every year, summer camps are held for the Palestinian children in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. The camps are sponsored by the Higher Council for Youth and Sports, which is subordinate to the PLO and headed by Jibril Rajoub, who is also secretary-general of Fatah's Central Committee.

This year, the approximately 650 summer camps were attended by about 65,000 girls and boys.[1] The name for the camps this year was "Luminaries Not Numbers,"[2] with the aim of raising the children's awareness about terrorists who have perpetrated attacks against Israelis and whose bodies have not been returned to the Palestinian Authority (PA) but are buried in specially designated Israeli cemeteries.[3]

Camp activities included glorification of these terrorists, as luminaries whose examples should be followed. The children learned about them, were photographed holding pictures of them, and decorated the camps with posters bearing the terrorists' names and photos. In some of the camps, the children were divided into groups named for the terrorists. Also at the camps were activities glorifying terrorists currently imprisoned in Israel for carrying out attacks in which Israeli civilians and soldiers were killed.

At the opening ceremony for this year's summer camps in the Gaza Strip, Fata Central Committee member Ahmed Hils, who is also Fatah's Commissioner for Recruitment and Organization in the Gaza Strip, stressed that the "Luminaries Not Numbers" name for the camps "is very important because it familiarizes the pioneers [i.e. the campers] with the suffering of the families of the martyrs, whose bodies are held in the Cemeteries of the Numbers." Asserting that "the Israeli enemy strives to deprive our people of its identity and to transform [the martyrs] into nothing but numbers," he added that "for our people, they are true luminaries. The martyrs are luminaries and the prisoners are luminaries… These luminaries will continue to glow in the sky of the homeland."[4]

At the closing ceremony for the summer camps, Higher Council for Youth and Sports and Fatah Central Committee head Rajoub said: "The name 'Luminaries Not Numbers' was chosen in the steadfast belief that our martyrs are luminaries who sacrificed their lives for the homeland, and that they were and will remain in the people's memory." Calling Israel's refusal to return the terrorists' bodies is a mark of disgrace for the occupation, he added, "We shall neither rest nor be at ease until these martyrs [receive] the respect they deserve."[5]

It is notable that in the past, the Higher Council for Youth and Sports received funding from the European Union and from UN organizations, among them the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).[6] Moreover, the council is still the official Palestinian body that works with international organizations in all matters concerning youth empowerment in the PA. The PLO Higher Council for Youth and Sports cooperates with the UN organizations and the European Union, both of which provide it with consultation and supervision.[7]

In Khan Younes, south Gaza Strip, scene of the largest demonstration on Sunday, there are reports that Hamas has suddenly started work repaving main roads, on a Friday afternoon, long after the roads were damaged in the most recent war. #TheGazaYouDontSee pic.twitter.com/2SdJ6vrfJ0
— Imshin (@imshin) August 4, 2023

Protestors are beginning to gather in al-Jalaa St. Sheikh Radwan, Gaza City, for a demonstration demanding Hamas improves living conditions for Gazans.#TheGazaYouDontSee https://t.co/7PuLU1mctt https://t.co/EHJQbydG8n pic.twitter.com/iGb8thZ5cw
— Imshin (@imshin) August 4, 2023

He asks people to remember people he met in Hamas prison, 50-60 year old men who were imprisoned because of 50-100 shekels ($13-$27), as a result of their poverty.#TheGazaYouDontSee
— Imshin (@imshin) August 4, 2023

I heard a Gazan giving the estimate that 200,000 Gazans had emigrated from Gaza in recent years, mainly young men. So much for the #openairprison #TheGazaYouDontSee #leavingGaza
— Imshin (@imshin) August 4, 2023

We all saw the luxury cars at the new showroom in Gaza, but is anyone buying?
Yes.
Yesterday Gaza businessman Mousa Harara paid Motor One owner Mohanad Shuhaibar $250k for this Mercedes.#TheGazaYouDontSee https://t.co/eLmYgPMKXM https://t.co/lpGn0JSaJn pic.twitter.com/2JHjNgjXtY
— Imshin (@imshin) August 4, 2023

Update: Not menswear - shoes! New shoe store opening in Gaza tomorrow.#TheGazaYouDontSee https://t.co/yWFh30tTii https://t.co/eZE4aQXTrz pic.twitter.com/k2mlWgGJ68
— Imshin (@imshin) August 4, 2023

Continued Hezbollah Impunity Risks Regional Explosion

Three years ago this week, in a Beirut blast widely blamed on Hezbollah, one of the world’s largest-ever non-nuclear explosions killed over 220 people, wounded 7,000, and destroyed or damaged 74,000 homes. The failure to hold Hezbollah accountable for both the blast and the terrorist group’s continuing aggression toward Israel has unfortunately now brought the entire Middle East to the brink of a conflict that could result in far more casualties and damage.

Hezbollah’s role in the 2020 blast, caused by hundreds of tons of explosives improperly stored under its control, should have weakened the organization’s grip over Lebanon. Instead, Hezbollah has repeatedly obstructed the Lebanese legal system’s efforts to hold it and its allies accountable, including by assassinating witnesses, attacking investigators, and engineering the release of 17 detained suspects.

Meanwhile, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, warned in a July 27 letter to the United Nations that tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border “are higher than they have been in years as a result of Hezbollah’s violent escalations, blatant violations of Security Council resolutions and dangerous military advancements.” As a result, Erdan stated, “the Middle East is a powder keg on the cusp of being ignited.”

Erdan referenced a July 15 illicit crossing into Israel by 18 Lebanese persons, rockets fired into Israel, and Hezbollah’s erection of two military structures in Israeli territory. Erdan also referenced the construction in Lebanon over the past year of dozens of military outposts all along, and mere yards from, the border with Israel by a Hezbollah front group called Green Without Borders (GWB).

The outposts enable Hezbollah — which is banned from possessing weapons by Security Council Resolution 1701 — to illicitly hide troops and weapons right next to Israel. The outposts also block border access by United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers.

Erdan warned that unless the Security Council takes action, including by bolstering UNIFIL, the situation will continue to deteriorate “towards outright conflict, and the consequences of such a conflict will be disastrous for the entire region.” Erdan was not optimistic, lamenting that “[s]adly, inaction in the face of Hezbollah’s violations has become a running trend.”

Congressmen Call for Investigation of Iranian Regime Control of Mosques in U.S.

Lawmakers have called on the Biden Administration to investigate four Shi'a mosques in the United States they believe are working on behalf of Iran's Islamist government.

In a July 28 letter shepherded to publication by Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., lawmakers asked Attorney General Merrick Garland and Avril Haines, director of National Intelligence, to investigate Shi'a religious institutions across the U.S. Citing information published in Focus on Western Islamism, the lawmakers declare that the mosques appear to form "a network of regime-sponsored mosques acting as agents for a foreign adversary."

There's very little doubt that the mosques in question — which have been subjected to very little scrutiny by mainstream media outlets in the U.S. — are controlled by the Islamist regime in Iran, said an Iranian dissident speaking on the condition of anonymity.

"In Iran, there's a Basij [Islamic Republic paramilitary] base in every mosque that constantly ensures the political loyalty of the clergy," the source told FWI, adding that regime security services vet mosque appointments. "The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) are controlling the mosque appointments in the US. MOIS oversees the regime's U.S. operations, which includes using religious institutions."

The July 28 letter was shepherded to publication by Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-CO.

The regime-tied Shia mosques function as proxies of the regime, which "wants to influence US culture to destroy the US from within," the source said.

One mosque mentioned in the letter is the Islamic Education Center (IEC) in Houston, Texas, formerly led by Maulana Ghulam Hurr Shabbiri. Shabbiri's current employer, the Islamic Community Centre in Nottingham, England, says on its website that Iran's "office of the Supreme Leader" appointed Shabbiri to his position at the IEC. As documented by FWI last summer, the Houston IEC recorded its children singing the regime's anthem, "Salam Farmande" (Hello Commander), idolizing Khomeini and swearing allegiance to the regime.

After Years of Supporting Jihadists, Pakistan Has a Terrorism Problem

On Sunday, a suicide bombing in northwestern Pakistan—likely carried out by an Islamic State affiliate—struck a convention of an Islamist party belonging to the country’s governing coalition. The attack killed more than 50 people and wounded almost 200. Husain Haqqani places the incident in the context of the surge of jihadist violence Islamabad now faces:

Terror attacks have surged in Pakistan since the Taliban’s return to power in neighboring Afghanistan; in the current year, at least 682 people have been killed in 232 attacks so far. . . . Pakistan has faced terror attacks from one group or another since the late 1990s, when local veterans of the U.S.-backed mujahideen fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan during the 1980s turned their attention to other issues and causes closer to home. The government’s approach has ever since then been to work with some jihadists but to spurn others.

As Hillary Clinton famously warned Pakistani leaders thirteen years ago, “You can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbors.” Even after ostensibly becoming an American ally in the Global War on Terror in the aftermath of 9/11, Pakistan never seriously disarmed all jihadist groups operating from its territory. The human toll of Pakistan’s approach has been immense. Some 16,225 terror attacks have been reported in Pakistan since 2000, resulting in 66,601 deaths, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, a website that tracks terror attacks across the region.

Groups such as the Afghan Taliban have enjoyed active Pakistani government support over the years, notwithstanding the militants’ longstanding ties with al-Qaeda. That’s because the country’s all-powerful military saw them as allies in ensuring that Pakistan maintained greater influence than India—which many Pakistanis see as their [primary] enemy and rival—in Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal.

Pakistani officials might make distinctions among various categories of jihadists, but the militants do not always see things through the same lens.

Is Muhammad Rabbani of Cage also on the trip? If so he appears not to have faced the same problems getting into Afghanistan as he recently faced trying to get into France. pic.twitter.com/l4zw0GyaVz
— Harry's Place (@hurryupharry) August 4, 2023