Palestinian Authority Tortured 96% of its Prisoners

Daniel Greenfield

“And then you throw them in jail on a parole violation, while claiming it had nothing to do with the movie.”

All this is not only paid for with American tax dollars, but those tax dollars paid for two decades of training the Palestinian Authority judiciary and “police” in proper judicial and law enforcement procedures.

An Arab human rights group based in London accused the Palestinian Authority of inhumane practices and human rights violations against Palestinian civilians in a scathing report published on Friday.
The Arab Organization for Human Rights has put the primary blame for the human rights abuses on PA President Mahmoud Abbas and called on the UN, Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation to take urgent action.
AOHR monitored the practices of the PA’s security agencies from January to July 2012 and used information from victims detained by the PA, their families, eye-witnesses and local NGOs in its report.

The "IgNobel" Policy of the European Union on the Middle East

Michael Curtis
December 31, 2012

The Czechs apparently realized that the UN Resolution enabling the Palestinians to be regarded as an observer non-member state was not only a unilateral action by the Palestinians in violation of the Oslo Accords, but also a direct violation of previous commitments — some even to the EU itself — to enter only into bilateral negotiations to determine final status arrangements. Ironically, instead of promoting peace, the Resolution encourages the Palestinian Authority not to negotiate with the Israelis or compromise on a reasonable solution -- in the belief that it can get more from bypassing Israel and going straight to the EU and the UN.

Although the Nobel Prize for Peace, which was awarded to the European Union, the economic and political amalgamation of 27 European states, on December 10, 2012, can be proud of some of its successes -- peace has certainly been kept after centuries of warfare among the European nations; France and Germany have been reconciled after long enmity, and the former Soviet bloc countries in Eastern Europe have been harmoniously integrated into the European structure -- the EU has failed to achieve a genuine economic and monetary union; has been unable to complete its currency union, and it is even more dubious that the EU has contributed to peace in the Middle East in any way that warrants a prestigious award, or that it has been helpful in efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Combatting Europe's serious anti-Semitism problem

This is a domestic issue that cannot be fixed with a magic wand, and blaming the victims of hate crime is an unacceptable solution.

By Joel Braunold / Jewish World blogger | Dec.31, 2012 |

Illustration: Anti-Semitic graffiti. Photo by AP

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Growing up as an active Jew in London I always hated when Americans or Israelis would comment on anti-Semitism in Europe. Always hyperbolic and often boarding on racism, their declarations of doom and destruction of the Jewish community of Europe was as unwelcome as it was uneducated.

Yet looking at the events of the past few years, and from my new home in North America, I can say that Europe has a serious anti-Semitism problem. With the recent advice that it is no longer safe for Jews to openly walk around Copenhagen, the number of safe European capital cities has shrunk to a tiny number. London and Berlin are some of the last holdouts for Jews to feel safe walking around with a kippa on. Europe is definitely going backward.

Going Over Fiscal Cliff Emerges as the Lesser Evil Facing Congress

DAVID MALPASS, Special to the Sun | December 31, 2012
http://www.nysun.com/national/going-over-fiscal-cliffbremerges-as-the-lesser/88128/

President Obama claimed yesterday that all that’s standing in the way of a budget deal is the behavior of Republicans protecting the wealthiest Americans from higher taxes. In reality, there’s much more at stake — including high unemployment and the explosion in government spending and debt. The deal the president wants, whether before or after the January 1 fiscal cliff, would lock in bigger government and a smaller private sector. That’s the issue blocking a “grand bargain.”

Before leaving Washington for a Christmas vacation, Mr. Obama claimed that “our economy is really starting to recover and we’re starting to see optimistic signs.” In fact, the economy remains weak, and the tax-and-spending crisis demands years of strong presidential leadership.
Throughout the process, Mr. Obama has failed to offer any real cuts in government spending. His months-long insistence on raising tax rates for families and small businesses earning more than $250,000 a year would hurt growth without raising much revenue. Even if he grudgingly accepts a deal with a higher targeted income, the results will be much the same.

Habait Hayehudi – Religious Zionism at the Crossroads

Isi Leibler
http://wordfromjerusalem.com/?p=4406

As a lifelong religious Zionist, I was saddened observing the ongoing collapse of the movement which had made a unique and valuable contribution to the welfare of the nation, upholding enlightened Jewish values, striving for unity and promoting tolerance.

So when the national religious Habait Hayehudi was resurrected and polls predicted it may become the third-largest party in the Knesset, should I not enthusiastically greet such a phenomenon?

The answer is yes, but…

It is an incredible tribute to the leadership qualities of charismatic 40-year-old Naftali Bennett that he assumed control of a moribund Habait Hayehudi and infused it overnight with a new lease of life. Bennett graduated from the elite IDF Sayeret Matkal commando unit and in his early thirties sold his start-up company for $145 million. He subsequently became bureau chief of staff to Prime Minister Netanyahu, resigning two years later after falling out with him and then assuming leadership of the settler’s council (Yesha) until he was elected head of Habait Hayehudi.

Poll: 77% of Israelis oppose pre-67 lines with small border adjustments for end of conflict

By Ted Belman. Given this poll what is there to talk about in negotiations. Obama is talking to both sides about restarting negotiations. France wants to hold an international conference. International leaders continue to argue that the region’s unrest make it imperative to make peace. But their arguments are without foundation. The Israelis have it right. Bibi stay strong. Don’t abandon the people.

By GIL HOFFMAN The Jerusalem Post Originally posted June 8/11.
Large majorities recognize importance of keeping J’lem under Israeli sovereignty, oppose transferring Temple Mount to Palestinian control.

Seventy-seven percent of Israelis oppose returning to pre-1967 lines
the poll reads “with minor border adjustments”] even if it would lead to a peace agreement and declarations by Arab states of an end to their conflict with Israel, a poll revealed Monday.

A Dahaf Institute poll of a sample 500 Israelis taken last week was
commissioned by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs to coincide with Monday night’s presentation of Bar-Ilan University¹s Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies’ Guardian of Zion Award to JCPA’s head, former ambassador to the UN Dore Gold.

Poll: More Israelis Support Settlement Enterprise

By Gil Ronen, INN
A new poll shows a solid majority of Israelis – 64% – supports the continuation of the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria. The remaining 36% support a temporary freeze on Jewish construction there or a complete freeze of construction.

While these numbers are unchanged from last year, this year’s poll shows a small increase compared to last year in the percentages of Israelis who think Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria is a “truly Zionist deed” (64%) and that Judea and Samaria are the country’s security belt (57%).

Erian tells Egyptian Jews to leave Israel, return to Egypt

Al-Masry Al-Youm 

AFP

Essam al-Erian, deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, called on Egyptian Jews to leave Israel to the Palestinians and return to their own homeland.
Their presence in Palestine contributes to the Zionist occupation of Arab lands, and every Egyptian has the right to live in his country — nobody can deny that, Erian said during an interview on the privately operated Dream TV on Thursday.
“Why did Nasser expel them [the Jews] from Egypt?” he asked, claiming that Nasser’s decision contributed to the occupation of other Arab lands.
"Egyptian Jews should refuse to live under a brutal, bloody and racist occupation stained with war crimes against humanity," Erian said.

Obama judge: First Amendment for Muslim convict, not for Christian business owner

December 30, 2012 by creeping
via Hobby Lobby Losing First Amendment Battle Once Won by a Muslim Prisoner | Independent Sentinel.

On December 21st, a federal appeals court stuck down Hobby Lobby’s request for an exemption from providing the morning-after and week-after pill in their health insurance plan as mandated by Obamacare (ACA).

A Court of Appeals in Denver, CO ruled against the arts-and-crafts store chain’s belief that the Christian fundamentalist beliefs of its owners should exempt them from that provision.

Beginning January 1, the Green Family, who own the chain, face $1.3 million a day in fines if they do not violate their core religious beliefs and provide the abortifacients.

Hobby Lobby immediately asked the SCOTUS for an emergency injunction. A Supreme Court injunction would have prevented the company from being forced into implementing the mandate temporarily while it appeals the most recent decision to a lower court.

A Paradox of U.S. Middle East Policy: The Friend Who Acts like an Enemy is an Enemy‏

Barry Rubin

The expression, “With friends like you who needs enemies?” is an apt summary of a major problem for U.S. foreign policy during Obama's second term.

Here’s the issue: a number of supposed allies of the United States don’t act as friends. In fact, they are major headaches, often subverting U.S. goals and interests.  But to avoid conflict and, for Obama, to look successful to the domestic audience, Washington pretends that everything is fine.

Consider, for example, Pakistan. The United States has given billions of dollars to that country in exchange for supposedly helping keeping the lid on Afghanistan—and especially to ensure the Taliban does not return to power—and to fight terrorism, especially al-Qaida.

And the nation with the second highest percentage of Jews is....

Gibraltar?
Pew just came out with statistics showing the religious populations of every nation.
The nations with the highest percentage of Jews are:
1) Israel 75.6%
2) Gibraltar 2%
3) United States 1.8%
4) Monaco 1.7%
5) Belize 1%
6) Canada 1%
JTA looked at Gibraltar's impressive Jewish community a year ago:

Why a two-state solution will never work

BARRY SHAW

Original Thinking: What will happen when you have pressured Israel into allowing a Palestinian entity to take hold on the 1967 borders, an entity that is taken over by a radical Islamic force bent on Israel’s destruction?

 

Photo: Jason Reed / Reuters

 

There is no place for you Jews among us, and you have no future among the nations of the world. You are headed for annihilation. – Mahmoud Zahar.

Death to Israel! – Heard at most anti-Israel demonstrations.

I will never recognize the Jewish state, not in a thousand years! – Mahmoud Abbas

From the river to the sea, from the north to the south, this is our land, our homeland. There will be no relinquishing even an inch of it. Israel is illegitimate and will remain so throughout the passage of time. It belongs to us and not the Zionists – Khaled Mashaal

Today is Gaza. Tomorrow will be Ramallah. After that Jerusalem, then Haifa and Jaffa – Ismail Haniyeh.

Which part of that do you not understand? For decades we have been bombarded by expert opinion telling us why the two-state paradigm is the only solution for a peaceful settlement with the Palestinians, and for the survival of a democratic Jewish state.

Having spent this period researching and studying the paths outlined for this road map, and analyzing the basic character and intentions of Israel’s adversary in this journey, it has brought me, irrevocably and inevitably, to the definite conclusion that it will never happen and, if it did, it would end in disaster for Israel.

If it did happen it would be the death knell for the Jewish state of Israel.

John Kerry at State: A Disaster for Israel

Moshe Phillips

President Obama's decision to nominate Senator John Kerry as his next secretary of state will prove to be a disaster for Israel.


The choice of the American Jewish establishment to vehemently protest the expected nomination of former Senator Chuck Hagel while granting Kerry a free pass for his anti-Israel behavior follows a longtime pattern.  Hagel is a Republican who has a history of marking foolish remarks regarding Israel and has long been seen as an independent thinker on Middle East policy with a non-interventionist outlook.  Kerry, however, is the much bigger problem for Israel.


Hagel as SecDef will be tasked with handling military issues.  Kerry will be in a position to effect policy as it impacts Israel, set an overall tone for the U.S. in the Middle East, and be a key player in future negotiations.

How Israel Should Avoid International Isolation

Dovid Efune:

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor. Photo: Screebshot.

As the political climate heats up in Israel, the oft chimed argument of choice for the withered and depleted ‘concessions camp,’ charges that various actions taken by Prime Minister Netanyahu and the current sitting government are leading to ‘international isolation’ of the Jewish state.

Last month, Tzipi Livni, leader of the newly formed ‘Hatnuah’ party opposed the announcement of new West Bank settlement building on the grounds that the move “isolates Israel [and] encourages international pressure,” according to the Guardian.

New Palestinian rift erupts after Fatah cancels Gaza event

KHALED ABU TOAMEH

Fatah officials decide to cancel anniversary celebrations in Gaza citing Hamas refusal to hold rallies in two of Strip's main squares, marring positive atmosphere that followed Palestinian statehood bid at UNGA.

Photo: REUTERS

The positive atmosphere that prevailed between Fatah and Hamas following Operation Pillar of Defense and the UN vote in favor of upgrading the Palestinians’ status appeared to have ended Thursday, as the two rival parties resumed their verbal attacks on each other.
The new crisis erupted after Fatah announced the cancellation of celebrations in the Gaza Strip that were scheduled for the end of this month to mark the 48th anniversary of its founding.

Related:

• PM-Cheney meeting shrouded in mystery
• Hamas shows strength at anniversary rally in Nablus

Fatah officials in Gaza said they had decided to cancel the events because the Hamas government would not allow them to hold rallies in two of Gaza City’s main squares.

The Redacted Iraqi Jews

Nabil Al-Hadairi

After reversing this injustice, it now needs to be activated and implemented at all levels.

The recent Conference of Religions and Sects in Sulaymaniyah, organized under the supervision of Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, was an important milestone: The first such conference to take place in Iraq that seriously covered the defense of religions and sects after the collapse of the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein.

Present at the conference were Christians, Muslims (both Sunni and Shi'a) and other, smaller, minority groups. What was surprising was that there was not a single representative of Iraqi Jews to relate their glorious history, so full of great accomplishments for the glory of Iraq and its constitution. In their absence, they could not tell of the calamity that befell them when their citizenship was withdrawn, their money and property confiscated, their rights denied, and when they were subjected to being imprisoned or murdered while ethnic cleansing was committed by forcing the best of my Iraqi Jewish friends to emigrate.

Ya’alon: US preparing for possible Syria intervention

Vice premier says U.S. will intervene if chemical weapons are used on Syrian citizens, or if weapons fall into wrong hands • Netanyahu and Jordan's King Abdullah meet secretly to discuss Syria's chemical weapons arsenal • Assad reportedly seeks asylum in Venezuela.

Daniel Siryoti, Shlomo Cesana, Eli Leon, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

Jordan's King Abdullah: He has reportedly ruled out a joint attack on Syria's chemical weapons. | Photo credit: Avi Ohayon (GPO)

<< 1 2 3 >>

The U.S. is gearing up for a possible military intervention in Syria in the event that chemical weapons are used on Syrian citizens or alternately fall into the wrong hands, Strategic Affairs Minister and Vice Prime Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon told Israel Radio on Thursday.

Ya’alon voiced conviction that it was unlikely Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's sizable chemical weapons stockpiles would be used against Israel at this time, but said, “The very discussion of the issue, and the U.S.'s need to draw red lines, points to how dangerous Assad really is."

"The U.S. and others have drawn two red lines recently,” Ya'alon said.

Why Arabs Hate And Kill Palestinians

Khaled Abu Toameh

The Arab League did not hold an emergency meeting to discuss what Palestinians describe as "massacres " against the refugees in a Syrian camp, home to more than 50,000 people. Those who meddle in the internal affairs of Arab countries should not be surprised when bombs start falling on their homes. Palestinians are not always innocent victims. They bring tragedy on themselves and then want to blame everyone else but themselves.

More than 800 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds others injured since the beginning of the crisis in Syria nearly two years ago.
In the past two weeks, thousands of Palestinians were forced to flee the Yarmouk refugee camp near Damascus after Syrian jets bombed their homes, killing dozens of people.
More than 3000 refugees have fled to neighboring Lebanon, where some politicians and cabinet ministers are already calling for closing the border to stop the influx of Palestinians into their country.
The Arab world, meanwhile, has done nothing to help the Palestinians in Syria.
The Arab League did not hold an emergency meeting to discuss what Palestinians described as "massacres" against the refugees in Yarmouk, home to some 50,000 people.
This is not the first time that Palestinians living in Arab countries find themselves caught in conflicts between rival parties. Those who meddle in the internal affairs of Arab countries should not be surprised when bombs start falling on their homes.
The Palestinians have a long history of involving themselves in the internal affairs of Arab countries and later complaining when they fall victim to violence. They complain they are being killed but not saying why they keep getting into trouble.
Palestinians are not always innocent victims. They bring tragedy on themselves and then want to blame everyone else but themselves.
In Syria, a Palestinian terrorist group called Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, which is headed by Ahmed Jibril, had been helping the Syrian regime in its attempts to suppress the opposition. Jibril's terrorists are reported to have kidnapped, tortured and murdered hundreds of anti-regime Syrians over the past two years.
The last time an Arab army bombed a Palestinian refugee camp was in Lebanon. In 2007, the Lebanese army destroyed most of the Nahr al-Bared camp after another terrorist group, Fatah al-Islam set up bases there and attacked army checkpoints, killing several soldiers.
In the 70s and 80s, Palestinians played a major role in the Lebanon civil war, which claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people.
The Palestinians also payed a price for meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq. After the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, thousands of Palestinians were forced out of Iraq for helping the dictator oppress his people for many years.
After the liberation of Kuwait more than 20 years ago, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled from the tiny emirate and other Gulf countries. Their crime was that they had supported Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait -- a country that for many years had provided the PLO with billions of dollars in aid.
Jordan was the first Arab country to punish the Palestinians for meddling in its internal affairs. In 1970, the late King Hussein ordered his army to crush armed Palestinian organizations that had severely undermined his monarchy. The violence resulted in the deaths of thousands of Palestinians and ended with the expulsion of the PLO to Lebanon.
What happened in the Yarmouk refugee camp in the past few days shows that the Palestinians have not learned from their previous mistakes and are continuing to meddle in the internal affairs of Arab countries. That is perhaps why the Arabs are reluctant to help the Palestinians overcome their financial hardships.
Arab League foreign ministers recently promised to provide the Palestinian Authority with $100m. per month to solve its financial crisis. But the Palestinians have not yet seen one dollar from the promised aid. And if they continue to meddle in the internal affairs of their Arab brothers, the only thing they will see is more bombs falling on their homes and thousands of people forced out of their refugee camps.

Batsheva Sobelman December 25, 2012, 11:14 a.m. JERUSALEM -- The Jerusalem district planning committee has granted approval to build another 1,200 housing units in Gilo, expanding the Jewish neighborhood built on Jerusalem-area land seized by Israel in 1967. It was the latest in a series of similar development decisions that have followed the United Nations vote in November granting the Palestinian Authority its request for non-member observer state status. Planning committee member Moshe Montag told Israel Radio on Tuesday that the plan had been submitted more than a year ago but that procedures had been blocked for diplomatic reasons -- until now. “Unfortunately, it takes a drama, terror attack or U.N. vote to release construction in Jerusalem, our capital, and this is absurd,” Montag said. Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ambassadors: “Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years.” “All Israeli governments have built in Jerusalem,” he said. “We are not going to change that.” The U.S. is “deeply disappointed that Israel insists on continuing this pattern of provocative action,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said last week, following approval of a 1,500-apartment project in a different part of the Jerusalem area, Ramat Shlomo. Palestinians say such development projects further divide Arab neighborhoods in the Jerusalem area from the West Bank and in some cases chip away at land they claim for a future state. Separately, steps have been taken to complete recognition of the Ariel University Center -- a large academic institute in the Israeli settlement city of Ariel on the West Bank -- as a full-fledged university. The decision was reached earlier this year but had awaited final approval from Defense Minister Ehud Barak, which came Monday evening. Netanyahu welcomed the new university that would further “strengthen higher education in Israel.” Other university presidents have expressed fear that the university, the first new one to open in Israel in 40 years, will eat into already shrinking budgets for higher education. Lawmaker Zehava Galon of Meretz criticized the move to local media, saying, “This is not an academic decision but a political one aimed at serving Netanyahu's election campaign.” In less than a month, Israel is holding general elections. Polls have consistently given Netanyahu's ruling party the lead. They also show competition from more conservative, pro-settlement circles opposed to a Palestinian state growing stronger. The Gilo construction project is part of a much larger development push throughout the greater Jerusalem area, said Hagit Ofran of the veteran anti-settlement Israeli organization Peace Now. “It looks like Netanyahu is taking advantage of every single moment left before elections to put more facts on the ground that will make reaching an agreement even more difficult,” she said.

A construction site in Gilo, a Jewish neighborhood in the Jerusalem area where another 1,200 housing units have just been approved. (Abir Sultan / EPA / December 20, 2012)

Batsheva Sobelman

JERUSALEM -- The Jerusalem district planning committee has granted approval to build another 1,200 housing units in Gilo, expanding the Jewish neighborhood built on Jerusalem-area land seized by Israel in 1967.

It was the latest in a series of similar development decisions that have followed the United Nations vote in November granting the Palestinian Authority its request for non-member observer state status. Planning committee member Moshe Montag told Israel Radio on Tuesday that the plan had been submitted more than a year ago but that procedures had been blocked for diplomatic reasons -- until now.

“Unfortunately, it takes a drama, terror attack or U.N. vote to release construction in Jerusalem, our capital, and this is absurd,” Montag said.

Hamas Bans Israeli Media

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/163567#.UNpRi7ao2Jg

The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday forbade local journalists from working with "hostile" Israeli media, the AFP news agency reports.

The terrorist group decided in its weekly cabinet meeting "to ban work with all Zionist media and journalists," and to declare Israeli media "hostile."

The statement mentioned Israeli media and television stations which operate in Gaza through local production companies, working with local journalists.

"Worse and Worser"

As I turn from other work to do a posting, what becomes clear is that the world situation sure isn't getting better.

 

We can start with Syria, where the proper word for describing the situation is perhaps "horrific."  How does one refer to the leader of a government that orders an airstrike on a bakery -- an airstrike that hit a crowd of people lined up to receive bread?  An "activist," Samer al-Hamawi, cited by the JPost, reported that, "When I got there, I could see piles of bodies all over the ground. There were women and children."

Christianity Close to Extinction in the Middle East

Christianity faces being wiped out of the “biblical heartlands” in the Middle East because of mounting persecution of worshippers, according to a new report. 

The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam Photo: ALAMY

By Edward Malnick

The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group.

And it claims politicians have been “blind” to the extent of violence faced by Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as “racism”.

It warns that converts from Islam face being killed in Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Iran and risk severe legal penalties in other countries across the Middle East.

The report, by the think tank Civitas, says: “It is generally accepted that many faith-based groups face discrimination or persecution to some degree.

Palestinian Officials Warn Israel of Retaliation If Netanyahu Re-elected

Palestinian officials have warned they will take retaliatory steps, including joining the International Criminal Court (ICC), if Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is re-elected in a general election due next month.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Photo: AFP

By Robert Tait in Jerusalem

They have also raised the possibility of mass demonstrations, encouraging international sanctions against Israel and ending the security co-ordination with the Israeli military that has kept the West Bank largely quiet since the end of the Palestinian intifada in 2005.

The warning is a counterattack against a flurry of announcements from Mr Netanyahu's government that it intends to build new settlements consisting of more than 6,000 homes in east Jerusalem and the West Bank on land the Palestinians want as part of a future state.

Shas worries it will be excluded from next government

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he prefers a Likud member as housing and construction minister, rather than a Shas member, as at present • Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef: Our man worked day and night; the Likud ministers before him just sat at home and smoked water pipes.

Yehuda Shlezinger

Netanyahu's words on Saturday make a second term as Housing and Construction Minister look less likely for MK Ariel Atias (Shas). | Photo credit: Oren Nachson

The Shas party was displeased with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement on Saturday that he would prefer having a Likud member as housing and construction minister in the next government, a position held in the current government by Shas MK Ariel Atias.

Netanyahu's statement caused some in Shas to worry that the party would be excluded from a future coalition.

Obama's carbon copy

 Prof. Abraham Ben-Zvi

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry's appointment as U.S. secretary of state, soon to be officially authorized following certain approval in the Senate, assures us that for the foreseeable future U.S. foreign policy will still be determined in the White House.

In contrast to previous powerful and influential secretaries of state such as Henry Kissinger, who profoundly affected the international arena, Kerry will, like his predecessor Hillary Clinton, play the role of expert implementer of policy rather than inspired architect with a vision of his own.

Indeed, all signs show that the main criterion for the appointment is not creativity, initiative or original thinking, but the fact that Kerry's authentic liberal worldview is almost completely in line with that of President Barack Obama. 

PM: Why does Abbas serially refuse to enter negotiations?

TOVAH LAZAROFF

 

In separate interviews aired simultaneously on Channel 10 and 2, Netanyahu says he will continue building in J'lem "because it is our right," says recent moves are response to PA status upgrade at UN, not connected to elections.

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he did not know if he could make peace with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in an interview with Channel 2, aired in full on Saturday night. "When Abu Mazen (Abbas) embraces Hamas and calls for reconciliation with Hamas, allows for Hamas demonstrations [in the West Bank] that call for Israel's destruction, I ask myself is he a partner for peace."

The next time someone claims that Israel is engaging in " Ethnic Cleansing ", just show them this

Syria: "Our first goal is to get rid of Assad. Then we want a state where the Quran is the only source of law."

 Jihad Watch

They want to make Syria a Sharia state, which means no alcohol or tobacco, or "immoral" movies and TV shows. No one seems to be offering any other vision of Sharia, despite claims in the West that it is so multifarious as to defy easy characterization.

"Jabhat Al Nusra's new Syria," by Balint Szlanko for The National, December 15 (thanks to Lachlan):

The man wearing the balaclava had eyes that never stopped smiling. Reclining on a pillow in an otherwise empty room, this burly, 41-year-old commander of Jabhat Al Nusra - the most fearsome jihadi group in Syria - exuded an almost disturbing calm, in marked contrast to the loud, chatty air that often characterises more mainstream groups of the Free Syrian Army.

The man, who calls himself Sheikh Abu Ahmed and said he was the military commander of Jabhat Al Nusra in the Hasakah governorate of eastern Syria, spoke to The National in the north-eastern town of Ras el Ayn, where fighting between Islamist rebels and the Kurdish PYD party has killed dozens of militants in recent weeks.
Dressed in plain clothes, Abu Ahmed outlined his group's vision for a new Syria.
"Our first goal is to get rid of Assad. Then we want a state where the Quran is the only source of law," he said. "Sharia is the right path for all humanity - all other laws make people unhappy."

Beit Ezra in Hebron

David Wilder

Beit Ezra in Hebron

Following the Six-Day War in 1967, past residents of the Old City in Jerusalem who had been expelled during the War of Independence in 1948 asked for, and were granted a meeting with then Defense Minister Moshe Dayan. They requested permission to return to their homes and property in the Old City, confiscated and occupied by Jordan. Dayan consented, and, as a result, Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter today flourishes.

Simultaneously, past Hebron inhabitants, who had been expelled in 1929, and again in 1936, requested a similar meeting with Dayan, in order to return to their homes in the recently liberated city of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. Dayan refused to meet them

.

So I heard from Hebron residents, some of whom no longer alive, years ago.

“The Lion of Justice” by Don Morris and Michael Toro reveals a nightmare scenario of a terrorist attack on California’s economy

 

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(PR NewsChannel) /  SAN FRANCISCO 

"The Lion of Justice" by Don Morris and Michael Toro

“The Lion of Justice” (ISBN 1463663692), a novel by Don Morris and Michael Toro, describes Islamic terrorists intent on spreading chaos with an attack in the San Francisco area and the efforts of an American-Muslim undercover law enforcement officer to stop them at any cost.

Jake Hakam and his team must hurry to discover the nature of the attack so that they can stop it, but the roots of the plan go deeper than they imagine. Sleeper cells have spent the last two decades infiltrating law enforcement, academia, government and local businesses, waiting for the signal from their sheik to strike. The local chief of police is too bogged down in procedure to do anything to help Hakam, leaving him and his small team on their own in fighting the coming destruction.

Joe Kaufman

 
The slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” can be heard regularly from the shores of the Gaza Strip, emanating from members of terrorist groups, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The river represents the Jordan River, and the sea is the Mediterranean – both sides of Israel. Essentially, this means the destruction of Israel.

Khaled Meshaal, the global head of Hamas, stated something similar, when he made his historic visit to Gaza this month. He said, “Palestine is ours from the river to the sea and from the south to the north.” Just one week previous to that, the leader of another Islamist group, Cyrus McGoldrick, repeated the slogan on Facebook and Twitter. Except he did not state it from the Middle East, he made it from the United States.

McGoldrick is the Civil Rights Manager and spokesman for the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations or CAIR-New York. The national organization of CAIR was founded in June 1994 as a part of the umbrella group created by then-global Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook. [Today, Marzook is the number two leader under Meshaal.] As well, CAIR was named a party to Hamas financing by the U.S. Justice Department for two federal trials against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). CAIR had asked people to donate money to the terrorist HLF charity via CAIR’s national website.

The postponed Iranian crisis

 Dore Gold

At the end of October, Defense Minister Ehud Barak gave a revealing interview to London's Daily Telegraph in which he explained why the urgency around the Iranian issue had changed. Iran was still progressing toward its goal of obtaining nuclear weapons. Israel was still concerned with Iran's stock of 20 percent enriched uranium that could be converted very quickly to weapons-grade uranium.

But during the course of 2012, Tehran took nearly 40% of its 20%-uranium stock and converted it into fuel rods, which could not be used for nuclear weapons. Theoretically, the Iranians could convert the fuel rods back into 20% uranium and enrich the product to weapons grade fuel, but that would take time. This startling information was not classified intelligence that Barak disclosed to the British newspaper, for it could also be found by carefully reading International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports. 

Using Children as Weapons

Nonie Darwish

If these are not abuses of the human rights of the child, what is?

In the Middle East, children are being used by the adults who should be caring for them to turn them into jihadist weapons to conquer the world -- sometimes with bombs strapped onto them to kill their perceived enemies. Children are given gun training to learn how to kill Jews, and are told that dying for the sake of jihad is the highest honor and the only guarantee to go to heaven. If these are not abuses of the human rights of the child, what is? In the elementary school we attended in Gaza, the political and cultural agenda of the Arab world was pushed down our throats in effectively every subject.

Rights group hammers Israel for journalists’ deaths in Gaza

http://www.timesofisrael.com/rights-group-hammers-israel-for-journalists-deaths-in-gaza/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli army attacks on journalists and media facilities in the Gaza Strip during last month’s military operation violated the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said in a release Thursday.
Two Palestinian cameramen were killed and at least 10 media personnel were wounded in the offensive, which was launched after weeks of rocket attacks on Israel.

The Israeli government has said each of the targets was a legitimate military objective.

In its statement, the New York-based rights group said it found no support for that claim.

“Just because Israel says a journalist was a fighter or a TV station was a command center does not make it so,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, the group’s Mideast director.

For the record: Netanyahu: "All Israeli Governments Have Built in Jerusalem"

Construction of 2,612 homes in East Jerusalem approved amid international condemnation

By Raphael Ahren and Gabe Fisher

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to Asian ambassadors to Israel at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, on Wednesday, December 19 (photo credit: Uri Lenz /Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday reiterated Israel’s right to build in the eastern neighborhoods of Jerusalem, notwithstanding global outcries. Speaking to ambassadors of Asian and Pacific countries on the balcony of Jerusalem’s King David Hotel, overlooking the walls of the Old City, Netanyahu asked them to look down at the city and contemplate international demands that Israel stop building there.

“The walls of Jerusalem that you see behind us represent the capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years,” said Netanyahu. “All Israeli governments have built in Jerusalem. We’re not going to change that. That’s a natural thing.”

“I want you to ask any of you to imagine that you would limit construction in your own capital. It doesn’t make sense… we are committed to our capital; we’re committed to peace; and we’re going to build in Jerusalem for all its residents. This is something that has been done by all previous governments; this is something that my government will continue to do,” Netanyahu told the envoys of China, India, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Australia, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka.

Al Qaeda Grows as Assad Forces Shell Civilians Across Syria

Chana Ya'ar

As the Assad regime becomes increasingly desperate, its forces are starting to shell civilians in every major city across the country.

Troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are attacking civilians and rebel forces alike around Hama, Homs and Aleppo, according to a report issued Wednesday by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Nearly 50,000 people have died since the savage civil war began in March 2011, with a simple scrawled grafitti message of protest by a teen on a wall in Dera'a. 

European-funded Palestinian NGO glorifies plane hijackings, terror, and hatred of Israel and the US

Poem read by hosts of youth program on PA TV
funded by the EU, the World Bank, Switzerland, Denmark,
the Netherlands and Sweden

"Expect us always,
expect us where least expected.
We're in every airport, and in every ticket...
A small rifle in the hand of a small boy
can kill the big one."

 http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=8219

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Two teenage hosts on the Palestinian Authority TV program for youth Speak Up, co-produced with the Palestinian NGO PYALARA, chose to read aloud a poem that glorified plane hijackings and threatened Israel and the United States:

"People of Israel, don't get caught up in arrogance,
the hands of the clock will surely come round...
Expect us always, expect us where least expected.
We're in every airport, and in every ticket.
We emerge in Rome and in Zurich from under the rock...
Our men arrive without warning, with the fury of thunder and the pounding of rain.
They come in the Prophet's robe and with Omar's sword (Muslim conqueror).
Remember, always remember that America, important as it is, is not Allah the Almighty and Omnipotent, and that America with all its strength will not stop the birds from flying.
A small rifle in the hand of a small boy can kill the big one."

Why Iran Won the Last Middle East Conflict

HERBERT LONDON December 19, 2012

Although the truce between Gaza and Israel didn't lead to an unequivocal result, Israeli officials said they destroyed most rocket launchers and Gazan leaders maintain the settlement means they resisted the Israeli offensive and have been emboldened by their relative success. Is there a victor in this struggle?

Despite the ambiguity and competing claims, there is a victor: Iran. Admittedly the rockets destroyed by the Israeli Iron Dome were Iranian made, but the Iranians deployed marginal, inaccurate Fajr 5 missiles in order to learn how to avoid anti-missile defenses. Moreover, this was a test for a class of missiles; their more sophisticated hardware remained at home for another day.

The Islamization of The ACLU

creeping

Americans might as well be living under Islamic blasphemy laws, yet the nation’s champion of free speech — the ACLU — is AWOL. That’s because it’s now largely run by Muslims.

The ACLU usually stands up strong for First Amendment rights. Not in the case of the Muhammad movie.

The ACLU’s executive director failed to release an official statement condemning the outrageous efforts of the White House to deep-six the film, including pressuring YouTube to remove its trailer from the Web.

Amnesty International, in contrast, asserted that any Muslim hurt over the film “should not be used as a justification to curtail core freedoms or justify potential government repression.”

Iraq: One Year After Withdrawal

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
The American Spectator
December 18, 2012

http://www.meforum.org/3406/iraq-after-withdrawal

One year after the completion of the pullout of American troops from Iraq, what are the main issues affecting the country today?
Russian Arms Scandal and Corruption: On October 9, Iraq announced the signing of a $4.2 billion arms contract with Russia. Commentators took this deal to be a sign of waning U.S. influence in Iraq since the deal — had it gone through — would have drastically reduced Iraqi dependence on American arms supplies.
Thus, when it was announced on November 10 that the deal was scrapped over concerns of corruption, these same commentators (e.g. Michael Weiss) surmised that the cancellation must have somehow been due to U.S. pressure.
This sentiment was fueled by the BBC's quoting of a Russian analyst — Igor Korotchenko — at the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of World Arms Trade. For he speculated: "As far as talk about corruption is concerned, I think it's a smokescreen. I believe this is just a pretext and the true reason is Washington applying pressure on Baghdad."

Chuck Hagel's Jewish Problem -

The would-be secretary of defense has some curious views.

• By BRET STEPHENS

Prejudice—like cooking, wine-tasting and other consummations—has an olfactory element. When Chuck Hagel, the former GOP senator from Nebraska who is now a front-runner to be the next secretary of Defense, carries on about how "the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here," the odor is especially ripe.
Ripe because a "Jewish lobby," as far as I'm aware, doesn't exist. No lesser authorities on the subject than John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, authors of "The Israel Lobby," have insisted the term Jewish lobby is "inaccurate and misleading, both because the [Israel] lobby includes non-Jews like Christian Zionists and because many Jewish Americans do not support the hard-line policies favored by its most powerful elements."

"More Harsh Realities"

Can't cover it all; that would be an impossibility. But it's essential to report sufficiently so that my readers understand what's going on here, and have the facts to speak on Israel's behalf.

 

The Shin Bet, working with the police, have uncovered a Hamas cell in northern Jerusalem -- in the Arab neighborhoods of Shuafat and Ras Hamis.  They have been indicted in a Jerusalem court, charged with arson and aggravated assault that includes attacks with firebombs.

Obama Cabinet Picks Bode Poorly For U.S.-Israeli Relations

Ari Lieberman 
On December 17, 2012

In March 2012 during a discussion about U.S.-NATO missile defense, President Obama informed his Russian counterpart, President Medvedev that he needed some “space” and would have more “flexibility” after his election. Medvedev, understanding the obvious implication gleefully responded, “I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir.” The conversation, meant for Medvedev’s ears only, was picked up on open microphones and administration spinmeisters immediately went into high gear sputtering  nonsense explanations that were accepted without reservation by an adoring and pliant media.

But those of us who know the nuts and bolts of Obama and his past affiliations with less than savory characters were indeed worried over his gaffe. Former Bush Press Secretary and media consultant Ari Fleischer asked Obama’s then deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter whether Obama would be asking the Arabs for “space” presumably to deal with Israel, post-election.  Cutter ducked the question.

Chuck Hagel for Defense Secretary - Bring it On!

 caroline glick

Many in the American Jewish community are aghast to discover that President Obama is planning to appoint former Senator Chuck Hagel to serve as Defense Secretary. If you want the skinny on how Hagel has come to be known as one of the few ferociously anti-Israel senators in the past generation, Carl from Jerusalem at Israel Matzav provides it.

Meantime, all I can say is I don't understand how anyone can possibly be surprised. Shortly after word came out that Hagel is the frontrunner for the nomination, I read a quaint little blog post written by a conservative leaning commentator voicing her belief that Obama wouldn't want to risk his relations with Israel's supporters by appointing Hagel. But as Powerline pointed out today, this is the entire point of the nomination. Obama isn't stupid. He picks fights he thinks he can win. He hasn't always been right about those fights. He picked fights with Netanyahu thinking he could win, and he lost some of those. 

But he is right to think he can win the Hagel fight. The Republican Senators aren't going to get into a fight with Obama about his DOD appointee, especially given that it's one of their fellow senators, even though many of them hate him. The Democrats are certainly not going to oppose him. 

Obama expected to nominate anti-Israel Hagel as secretary of defense

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/12/16/278358/antiisraeli-in-obama-pentagon-chief-list/

 

US President Barack Obama is expected to nominate former Senator Chuck Hagel, an outspoken critic of Israel, as the next Pentagon chief.

The White House Counsel's office has reportedly completed Hagel’s vetting process after Obama discussed the position with the former Republican Nebraska Senator on December 4, The Politico news organization reported.

Michele Flournoy, former defense undersecretary for policy, and Ashton Carter, deputy defense secretary are the other contenders for the post.