The Innocence of Hillary

Sultan Knish

THE MEANING OF 'IS'

In “Hard Choices,” Hillary claims that there were “scores of attackers that night, almost certainly with differing motives. It is inaccurate to state that every single one of them was influenced by this hateful video. It is equally inaccurate to state that none of them were.”

Since it’s impossible to disprove a negative, it would be equally inaccurate to state that none of the attackers were influenced by a frustrated passion for Hillary Clinton. Since there’s no way to disprove the possibility that at least one of the attackers was motivated by the video, by love for Hillary or by hallucinations induced by bath salts, it’s inaccurate to state that none of the attackers carried a torch for Hillary, were angry at a YouTube video or were tripping on bath salts.

You expect to hear that kind of argument from a college freshman who just took Logic I and is trying to explain that she didn’t finish her essay because nothing can truly be finished. But you don’t expect to have to listen to this kind of childish drivel from the frontrunner for the presidency of the United States.

The Innocence of Hillary







I did Jamie Glazov's show last week and here's the video of our conversation about Iraq, Afghanistan and Obama's foreign policy. There are a lot of books in the background because of a bookshelf collapse.

How the Syrian War is Reshaping the Region

JCPA
Ted Belman


-->

Vol. 14,  No. 20 

• The current political and military upheavals in the Middle East are producing new and far-reaching demographic realities.

• The communities in Syria are consolidating as the Alawite-Shiite components gain strength; the Sunnis are leaving for Lebanon and undermining Hizbullah’s status; in Jordan the relative weight of the Palestinians has declined and the “Jordan is Palestine” threat has diminished; and the West Bank is undergoing emigration pressures which will certainly be copied in Gaza if emigration is allowed.

• Some minority communities in the Levant and in Libya are expressing a positive attitude toward Israel and repudiating pan-Arabism.

• Syria is being transformed from a Sunni to a Shiite country not only demographically but also in religious terms.

• The Syrian ethnic-cleansing policy also includes the Palestinians in Syria. The regime is systematically destroying the refugee camps in Syria as one way to “cause (Sunni) emigration.”

The regime of Bashar Assad in Syria held general elections on June 3, 2014.¹ Apart from the regime’s “victory” after three years of a bitter war, a key aim behind the elections was to entrench the demographic changes that have occurred in Syria during the war, making it more of a country of Alawites, Shiites, and minorities and less of a Sunni country.  That was achieved by denying the right of participation in the elections to the refugees who have fled – the overwhelming majority of whom are Sunnis.

The refugee movements will not only alter the composition of Syria, but also of its neighbors Lebanon and Jordan, to which most of the refugees have fled. The recognized leadership of the Syrian opposition, the Syrian National Coalition, announced that if Assad himself ran in the elections, it would boycott them.² At some point, the SNC leadership considered participating in the elections – if a formula could have emerged for a new transition government in Damascus without Assad and that would have allowed the refugees to return. Assad refused to consider the proposals at the two failed Geneva conferences on Syria.³

Guarding American Interests in the Sunni-Shiite War

Shoshana Bryen
June 20, 2014 

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4371/sunni-shiite-war

Either way, bottom line: no nuclear Iran. The U.S. retains a still-vast ability to meet its national defense priorities. The open questions are: the political skill to define them, and the will to ensure that that the greatest threat to regional and world stability -- Iranian nuclear capability - is stopped for good.

The rapid (although not unpredicted) entry of radical Sunni jihadists into Mosul, Tikrit and other largely Sunni areas of Iraq, and their movement toward Baghdad, has prompted cries from left, right and center about the failure of U.S. policies in the region. And failure it is, although not of the "Bush should never have gone there," or "Obama should never have withdrawn from there," or – perhaps most oddly, "If Obama had only armed the 'moderate, secular opposition' in Syria, this never would have happened" sort.
It is a failure to look back, look forward and look around. It is a failure to ask the truly existential questions, "What can the United States tolerate in the world – what MUST we tolerate because we are not prepared to stop it?" and the corollary, "What can the United States simply not afford – not now, not later, not ever – and how are we going to keep truly intolerable things from happening?"

• The United States can afford for Iraq not to be a "democracy." In fact, we can afford for no truly democratic Arab governments to emerge in the Middle East. It would be a shame for the millions of Arabs and Muslims who aspire to better, but the scrabble of dictatorships, religious and secular, emerging and falling, are a running pattern that is much older and better entrenched than is the constitutional form of government with which we are familiar.
  • This should prompt a "reset" of U.S.-Egyptian relations. Sisi is doing no more than identifying the Muslim Brotherhood as an existential Islamist threat, like ISIS, and doing what dictators do to retain power; in this instance, power that has never threatened U.S. interests.

Six Hamas terrorists killed in Gaza tunnel collapse

Tunnel falls on 12 members of Hamas military wing involved in 'resistance activity' in what Hamas official said was 'accidental explosion.'

AFP

Published:  06.20.14 Israel News

GAZA CITY - An explosion killed six members of Izzadine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, in a tunnel under the Israeli border Thursday, Palestinian officials said.

"Five martyrs were killed in a resistance activity in Saghira neighborhood" in eastern Gaza City, the local Hamas information office said, without elaborating. Later a Hamas official confirmed six men had been killed.

Hamas tunnel in Rafah, Gaza (Photo: EPA)

A security source told AFP the "accidental explosion" happened "inside of an Al-Qassam Brigades tunnel, which collapsed on some 12 members."

Rape in Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood 'Gets Even'

Raymond Ibrahim
Human Events
http://www.meforum.org/4731/muslim-brotherhood-rape

Muslim Brotherhood sympathizers recently went on a sexual assault and rape spree in Egypt as a way of "getting even" with those women who dared to celebrate the presidential victory of Abdel Fatteh al-Sisi—the former army chief who overthrew Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt.
On June 8, when tens of thousands of Egyptians congregated in Tahrir Square to celebrate Sisi's inauguration, dozens of women were sexually assaulted and many more harassed. According to a statement later released by the Ministry of Interior, seven men between the ages of 15 and 49 were arrested for sexually assaulting "a number of women."
One 19-year-old female student was especially brutalized—and videotaped as she was stripped naked and sexually assaulted by a throng of men. (I saw the graphic video on YouTube, though it has since been removed; a much less graphic clip of the initial assault appears here.) A gun-waving police officer eventually managed to rescue the woman from her ordeal, though after sustaining injuries himself.

Britain Outlaws Forced Marriage

Soeren Kern
June 19, 2014 

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4367/britain-forced-marriage

"The challenges are in terms of giving evidence, particularly where the perpetrators may be those who are close to them i.e. family members, and the coercion and pressure that they may be subjected to in terms of withdrawing [the complaint]." — Aisha Gill, University of Roehampton.
The number of children who called ChildLine (free, 24-hour phone counselling for young people) over concerns that they could be forced into marriage nearly tripled in 2013. About one-quarter of those who contacted ChildLine were aged 12 to 15.
"Families pay bounty hunters [to track down the victims of forced marriage who try to run away]. We have cases where the family paid more than £100,000 [€125,000; $170,000] to track someone down and kill them." — Diana Nammi, Director of the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organization (representing women from the Middle East, North Africa and south Asia).

A new law has come into effect in England and Wales that makes it a crime to force people into an unwanted marriage.

The Daily Tip

New bipartisan letter to White House: "sanctions relief for Iran requires Congressional action" Hezbollah preparing to send new fighters to Syria to account for Iraqi Shiite militia recall Palestinian sources: Hamas kidnapping plot likely to ignite Gaza conflict Major U.S. pharmaceutical company signs commercial cooperation agreement with Chief Scientist of Israel

 

Reps. Ed Royce (R-CA) and Eliot Engel (D-NY) - respectively the chairman and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee - on Tuesday released the text of a bipartisan letter that they indicated would soon be sent to President Barack Obama "noting that Congress played a central role in enacting sanctions against Iran and informing him that any long-term sanctions relief for Iran requires Congressional action," the latest in what has become a back-and-forth between the White House and Congress over the degree to which lawmakers should be involved in the implementation of any agreement between Washington and Iran over the latter's atomic program.

Guess Who’s Responsible for the Sunni-Shiite Carnage in Iraq? (Hint: Starts with a “J”)

Andrew Bostom
 
The jihadist butchers (see here, here, here) of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)—supported by a much broader Sunni insurgency (see here, here, and here) against the Shiite-dominated, U.S. mid-wived al-Maliki government—continue their Baghdad-bound carnage.
 
Predictably—confirming obvious trends I documented 8-years ago—Maliki’s longstanding patron (and puppet-master) Iran, has committed (and pledged even more) military assets against the Sunni assault. Eli Lake of the The Daily Beast reported today (6/17/2014):
 
“The offer to help us with everything we need has been made from the highest levels of the Iranian government,” a senior Iraqi official told The Daily Beast.
 
Lake added,
 
This official stressed that Iran’s offer to assist Iraq’s fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) [the Levant/ (ISIL)] was not conditional on Maliki making any immediate reforms or changes to his government.

Oil and the Rise of Al-Qaeda 2.0

Majid Rafizadeh 
 

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, an Iranian-American political scientist and scholar, is president of the International American Council and he serves on the board of Harvard International Review at Harvard University. Rafizadeh is also a senior fellow at Nonviolence International Organization based in Washington DC and a member of the Gulf project at Columbia University. He has been a recipient of several scholarships and fellowship including from Oxford University, Annenberg University, University of California Santa Barbara, and Fulbright Teaching program. He served as ambassador for the National Iranian-American Council based in Washington DC, conducted research at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and taught at University of California Santa Barbara through Fulbright Teaching Scholarship. He can be reached at rafizadeh@fas.harvard.edu.
Dr. Rafizadeh is a regular commentator for national and international outlets including CNN, BBC TV and radio, ABC, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, RT, CCTV and Aljazeera English. He is frequently quoted in major news outlets including CNN, BBC, Aljazeera and he regularly writes for both academic and non-academic papers such as New York Times International, Foreign Policy, Aljazeera,  Los Angeles Times, The Nation, The Atlantic, Newsweek, Yale Journal of International Affairs, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, George Washington International Review, to name a few. Follow Dr. Rafizadeh at @majidrafizadeh.

When President Barack Obama made a decision to withdraw all US forces from Iraq at the end of 2011, he ignored calls from many senators in Congress as well as military generals to leave some token US military force in case of urgent situations in order to assist the newly established Iraqi government.

Lieberman: Zoabi is a terrorist and should share kidnappers' fate

Balad MK Hanin Zoabi says in radio interview that the kidnappers of the three teens "aren't terrorists" and are "forced" to use such means as the only way of changing their reality • MK Moti Yogev: I will work to have Zoabi removed from the Knesset.

Israel Hayom Staff

Balad MK Hanin Zoabi is inciting kidnappings, Lieberman says | Photo credit: Lior Mizrahi

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman took to his Facebook page on Tuesday morning to condemn remarks by Balad MK Hanin Zoabi, who said that the kidnappers who abducted three teenaged yeshiva students on Thursday night "aren't terrorists."

In an interview with the 102 FM radio station, Zoabi said that the kidnappers "are people who don't see any opportunity of changing their reality. [They] are forced to used such means until Israel wakes up, until the citizens of Israel and the society wake up and feel the suffering of the other."

"Not only are the kidnappers terrorists, Zoabi herself is a terrorist," Lieberman posted in response.

"The kidnappers and Zoabi, who is inciting kidnappings, should meet exactly the same fate." Lieberman's post garnered thousands of "likes."

Other parliamentarians were swift to respond. MK Moti Yogev (Habayit Hayehudi) said he intended to take action to have Zoabi removed from the Knesset.

IRAQ'S DIRE SITUATION

PolicyWatch 2272

Featuring Michael Knights, James F. Jeffrey, and Aaron Y. Zelin

Watch video or read this summary on our website:
http://washin.st/1on8ctf

******************************

On June 13, Michael Knights, James Jeffrey, and Aaron Zelin addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Knights, a Lafer Fellow with the Institute, has worked extensively with local military and security agencies throughout Iraq. Jeffrey is the Institute's Philip Solondz Distinguished Visiting Fellow and former U.S. ambassador to Iraq. Zelin is the Institute's Richard Borow Fellow and an expert on the jihadist groups currently waging war in Iraq and Syria. The following is a rapporteur's summary of their remarks.

******************************

MICHAEL KNIGHTS

The battlefield in Iraq is evolving in two important ways. First, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has attained great strategic depth in terms of the distance that reconstituted Iraqi forces would need to travel to retake key areas -- namely, 350 kilometers of contested terrain from Baghdad north to Mosul. Yet the jihadist group's east-west strategic depth is as small as 10-30 kilometers in places, underlining the major role that Kurds could play. Key ISIS strongpoints are within striking distance of Kurdish forces, making it vital to bring them fully into this fight. Accordingly, Baghdad must offer the Kurdistan Regional Government a solution on at least some of the revenue-sharing and oil issues that have divided them. The Kurds are already taking casualties now that the Iraqi army has abandoned certain areas. They have also suffered depredations at the hands of radical Islamists in the past, and will not tolerate a major ISIS control center within an hour's drive of Erbil, the KRG's economic capital.

The Daily Tip

Kidnapping crisis rocks Palestinian unity government, as Fatah officials scramble to distance themselves from Hamas-linked abductions ISIS makes gains near Baghdad amid reports of deepening Iranian interference Analysts: Renewed barrel bomb attacks risk setting region-wide precedent In wake of kidnappings, Israeli start-up releases emergency system app

Officials from the Fatah faction of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas have spent recent days openly lashing out against the rival Hamas faction as evidence continued to emerge - acknowledged by the Americans, by the Israelis, and by Fatah officials themselves - that the terror group was linked to last Thursday's abduction of three Israeli teenagers traveling through the West Bank.

Israel, not Gaza, is under siege

Ruthie Blum

On Monday morning, I met with the editor of a New York newspaper.‎

‎"Isn't it hard being away from Israel right now, with all that's going on?" he asked, ‎referring to Thursday night's abduction of three teenagers -- Naftali ‎Frenkel, 16, Gil-ad Shaer, 16, and Eyal Yifrach, 19 -- who were on their way home for the weekend from yeshivas ‎they attend in Gush Etzion and Hebron.‎

"Yes," I said. "But there is always something critical happening there."‎

Indeed, I have yet to visit my family in the United States without either leaving behind, ‎or greeting upon my arrival, a worrisome event that is dominating the news in Israel. And ‎my first response, like that of all Israeli parents, is to locate each of my children to make ‎sure they are safe, or to find out whether they have been called up for reserve duty.‎

Anti-BDS resolution passes at Western Washington U

Elder of Ziyon

I missed this remarkable story from last week. (Yeah, I know, Ian probably caught it because he doesn't miss much, but I have been really busy....)

Associated Students of Western Washington University (ASWWU) became the first North American university student government to pass a proactive resolution against the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

In a 7-0 vote, ASWWU resolved that it would not consider BDS resolutions based on national origin because of the “tensions between students related to foreign conflicts should be managed in a healthy and collaborative manner rather than be exacerbated.”

Additionally, the resolution noted that BDS campaigns could result in students being targeted based on their nationality and lead to “disrespectful bias, hostility, hate, or harassment.”

Abbas Urged to Declare 'Jihad' Against the 'Zionists'

Hamas and Islamic Jihad condemn PA Chairman over the continued cooperation between Israeli and PA security forces.

By Dalit Halevi and Elad Benari

First Publish: 6/17/2014, 4:42 AM

Mahmoud Abbas

Flash 90

The Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist groups on Monday condemned Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas over the cooperation between Israeli and PA security forces in the search for the three kidnapped yeshiva students.
The two groups said that instead of cooperating with Israel, Abbas should declare “jihad” against the “Zionists.”
Senior Hamas official Yahya Moussa demanded that the PA renounce all the agreements it signed with Israel, and in particular on security-related issues, noting that the PA’s security cooperation with Israel is contradictory to its security strategy.

Obama DHS Adviser on ISIS: 'Inevitable That Caliphate Returns'

• Posted by National Director, Dee on June 16, 2014 at 4:22am in Terrorism
• Send Message   View Discussions

Mohamed Elibiary, a member on the Obama administration's Homeland Security Advisory Council, is at the center of a controversy involving allegations that former DHS Sec. Janet Napolitano gave him secret clearance which led to him downloading classified information. According to Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Elibiary later shopped that classified material around to a reporter.

Elibiary, a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood who regularly goes after the Sisi led Egyptian government,  is also an active participant on Twitter and mocked the "freak out" by U.S. talking heads discussing the terrorist activities relating to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). 

 

Chana Givon

IT CAUGHT MY EYE 128

Posted by Chana G.

QUOTE
If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands---Milton Berle

---

THEY SAID IT
Jay Leno: When you ask an Israeli politician what his cell number is, it has a whole other meaning.

We leave the government but stay in power… We give up the chair but not the role we play. Ismail Haniyeh describing the relationship with Fatah

Israel is like a mistress. Everyone meets with her secretly, having a good time. However, no one is willing to be seen in public with her. Meir Dagan talking about the secret talks with Arab countries

“The Struggle Goes On”

This is not an uncommon refrain for me these days:  This posting must be short because other considerations are pulling at me.  I did want to follow through a bit more about the search for the three kidnapped students.  But, unfortunately, the very same matter that has my attention today may prevent me from posting again until later in the week.  Please God, let there be good news to post!

 

What we are seeing now is:

 

[] Israel is squeezing Hamas in order to force the release of the boys.  There have been multiple arrests of Hamas affiliated people – including some significant persons within Hamas - done in the course of the search in the Hevron area. And Israel is considering harsher actions, such as expulsions. 

 

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-mulling-options-to-pressure-hamas-into-freeing-teens/

 

[] Netanyahu, for the first time in over a year, contacted Abbas and asked him to help with finding the boys.

 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4530951,00.html

JORDAN HAS A JIHADI PROBLEM TOO

David Schenker

American Interest

June 13, 2014

View this item on our website:
http://washin.st/1qVlWIK

******************************

The full extent of Salafi jihadist inroads in the kingdom will likely remain unknown until the war in Syria ends, but the current indicators are troubling.

******************************

The Jordanian city of Maan is boiling. Three hours of bad road south of the capital, Amman, this underdeveloped and economically depressed tribal town of 60,000 has long been a locus of anti-government protest. But lately the natives have been particularly restive. Last June, so many locals were firing automatic weapons at the downtown police station that a decision was made to move the headquarters out of town. More recently, violent clashes between Maanis and the gendarmerie have become so ubiquitous that a tank has been stationed along the highway at city limits.

Endemic unemployment -- believed to be more than 30 percent -- is a big part of the problem. So is criminality and hair-trigger hostility toward the central government. Worse, the city's residents are armed to the teeth, and misunderstandings routinely escalate to Hatfield-McCoy proportions. Perhaps most troubling, however, has been the unprecedented growth of the Salafi jihadist movement in Maan.

Arabs, and Israeli leftists, mystified by thousands of Jews praying for kidnapped boys

Arab media have been covering the massive prayer vigils at the Kotel and in synagogues, especially fascinated by the idea of so many people crying for the safety of three kidnapped teenagers:

Apparently, praying for the welfare of others is an alien concept to these Arab newspapers. The impression is not so much that they are gloating over the Jews' tears as that they are surprised.

Interestingly, the Arab papers refer to all the people praying as "settlers."

LIVE BLOG: The search for the kidnapped teens

JPOST.COM STAFF

inShare

JPOST.COM STAFF

Follow all the latest updates on the search for yeshiva students Gilad Sha'ar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Frankel here.

Missing yeshiva students (left to right) Gilad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Frankel. Photo: Courtesy

Yeshiva students Gilad Sha'ar,16, Eyal Yifrach, 19, and Naftali Frankel, 16 were kidnapped by terrorists late Thursday night from a hitchhiking point in Gush Etzion.

Here are the latest updates:

05:50 A.M.   Israeli forces searching for three teenagers believed to have been kidnapped swept into a second West Bank city on Monday, touching off street confrontations in which they killed a Palestinian, witnesses and hospital officials said.

The bloodshed near the de facto Palestinian capital of Ramallah marked an escalation in a dragnet which risks ensnaring US-backed President Mahmoud Abbas though it targets Hamas, Islamist rivals with which he agreed a power-share in April.

Witnesses said Palestinians threw rocks at soldiers conducting house-to-house searches in al-Jilazoun refugee camp, outside Ramallah, before dawn. Army gunfire killed a 20-year-old Palestinian and wounded another, hospital officials said.

The military, which had announced plans to step up its West Bank operations to locate the three Israeli teens who disappeared after leaving a Jewish settlement on Thursday, did not immediately comment on the al-Jilazoun incident. (Reuters)

Beware the Islamic Caliphate in the Middle East

Michael Curtis

In his poem "The Geography of the House," W.H. Auden advised, “[L]eave the dead concerns of yesterday behind us: face with all our courage what is now to be.”  A major contribution would be made towards peace in the Middle East if the Western world emphasized the necessity for the two Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, to heed this advice after their public reconciliation on April 23, 2014 after seven years of animosity.

After attempts at reconciliation failed in Mecca in 2007, in Cairo in 2011, and in Doha in 2012, the two factions agreed on an arrangement for the Palestinian Authority to set up a new government for a six-month period, after which elections for the president and a legislative body would follow.  This government of technocrats, seventeen ministers not professionally affiliated with any political group, is headed as prime minister by Rami Hamdallah, the 55-year-old former president of An-Najah National University, the largest institution of higher learning in the West Bank.

Real but Painful Progress‏

“Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opened Sunday morning's cabinet meeting with dramatic revelation over the kidnapping of three Israeli yeshiva students, saying that the Islamist terrorist group Hamas is behind the kidnapping, and vowing ‘serious consequences.’

 

“This morning I can say what I was unable to say yesterday before the extensive wave of arrest of Hamas members in Judea and Samaria.

 

“’Those who perpetrated the abduction of our youths were members of Hamas – the same Hamas that Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] made a unity government with; this has severe repercussions...’

 

“According to Palestinian media outlets affiliated with Hamas, IDF forces have already raided hundreds of houses in Hevron, Jenin, Ramallah and other cities.

 

“Officials said that more than 80 Hamas members were arrested overnight as part of the investigation into the kidnapping. Those detained include members of the so-called ‘unity government’ between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

 

“At least one of the terrorists arrested by IDF forces was apparently Hassan Yousef, a senior Hamas official.”

The PA and Fatah celebrate kidnapping of three Israeli youths

Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik In an odious distortion of the World Cup 2014 logo, the official Palestinian Authority daily printed today a cartoon celebrating the kidnapping of three Israeli youths last Thursday night, June 12, 2014. Instead of the famous logo of the World Cup 2014, in which three victorious hands hold the globe, together creating the prestigious trophy, the PA cartoon shows a "trophy" of three hands holding three people with their hands up in surrender. Instead of the text "Brasil" below the "trophy," the word "Khalil" is written - Arabic for Hebron, a city near where the Israeli youths were kidnapped.     [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 15, 2014] Original World Cup logo         Similarly, Fatah is celebrating the kidnapping as a victory. On its official Facebook page, the movement posted a cartoon of a victory sign with three fingers held up instead of two, symbolizing the three kidnapped youths. Accompanying the picture was a smiley with the text, "For your interpretation :)".    [Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page", June 15, 2014] Palestinian Media Watch has documented the PA's support for the kidnap-for-hostage strategy.

Because of the hate propaganda

 Nadav Shragai

The Palestinians see kidnappings as a weapon that tips the balance in their favor. They have been talking about it openly and in secret for years, and making attempts. They try to kidnap Israelis all the time: In the past three years, more than 80 Palestinian kidnapping attempts have been foiled. Many of them targeted civilians. Last year alone (2013) saw 52 such attempts. The recent diplomatic "steps" -- and most of all the Gilad Schalit deal and the ones that preceded it -- and the release of hundreds of hard-core terrorists, including murderers, have only whetted their appetite.

The way the Palestinians see it, freeing prisoners as part of one deal leads the way to the next kidnapping. Ahmed Jabari, head of the armed wing of Hamas who was targeted and killed at the beginning of Operation Pillar of Defense, discussed this in public and promised to continue kidnapping soldiers and officers. Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal has also said openly that "the resistance that captured Gilad Schalit can capture more and more Schalits, until not one prisoner remains in the enemy's jails."

ISIS Threatens to Invade Jordan, 'Slaughter' King Abdullah

Khaled Abu Toameh

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4354/isis-jordan

The recent victories in Iraq and Syria by the terrorists of ISIS -- said to be an offshoot of al-Qaeda -- have emboldened the group and its followers throughout the Middle East. Now the terrorists are planning to move their jihad not only to Jordan, but also to the Gaza Strip, Sinai and Lebanon.
Failure to act will result in the establishment in the Middle East of a dangerous extremist Islamic empire that will pose a threat to American and Western interests.
"The danger is getting closer to our bedrooms." — Oraib al-Rantawi, Jordanian political analyst

Islamist terrorists in Iraq and Syria have begun creeping toward neighboring countries, sources close to the Islamic fundamentalists revealed this week.
The terrorists, who belong to The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS -- known as DAESH in Arabic] and are said to be an offshoot of al-Qaeda, are planning to take their jihad to Jordan, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula -- after having already captured large parts of Syria and Iraq, the sources said.
The capture this week by ISIS of the cities of Mosul and Tikrit in Iraq has left many Arabs and Muslims in the region worried that their countries soon may be targeted by the terrorists, who seek to create a radical Islamist emirate in the Middle East.
According to the sources, ISIS leader Abu Baker al-Baghdadi recently discussed with his lieutenants the possibility of extending the group's control beyond Syria and Iraq.
One of the ideas discussed envisages focusing ISIS's efforts on Jordan, where Islamist movements already have a significant presence. Jordan was also chosen because it has shared borders with Iraq and Syria, making it easier for the terrorists to infiltrate the kingdom.
Jordanian political analyst Oraib al-Rantawi sounded alarm bells by noting that the ISIS threat to move its fight to the kingdom was real and imminent. "We in Jordan cannot afford the luxury of just waiting and monitoring," he cautioned. "The danger is getting closer to our bedrooms. It has become a strategic danger; it is no longer a security threat from groups or cells. We must start thinking outside the box. The time has come to increase coordination and cooperation with the regimes in Baghdad and Damascus to contain the crawling of extremism and terrorism."
The ISIS terrorists see Jordan's Western-backed King Abdullah as an enemy of Islam and an infidel, and have publicly called for his execution. ISIS terrorists recently posted a video on YouTube in which they threatened to "slaughter" Abdullah, whom they denounced as a "tyrant." Some of the terrorists who appeared in the video were Jordanian citizens who tore up their passports in front of the camera and vowed to launch suicide attacks inside the kingdom.

A Jordanian ISIS terrorist wearing a suicide bomb belt and holding his Jordanian passport declares his willingness to wage jihad in an ISIS video. (Image source: All Eyes on Syria YouTube video)

Security sources in Amman expressed deep concern over ISIS's threats and plans to "invade" the kingdom. The sources said that King Abdullah has requested urgent military aid from the U.S. and other Western countries so that he could foil any attempt to turn Jordan into an Islamist-controlled state.
Marwan Shehadeh, an expert on Islamist groups, said he did not rule out the possibility that ISIS would target Jordan because it views the Arab regimes, including Jordan's Hashemites, as "infidels" and "apostates" who should be fought.

Hamas Calls on Palestinians to Obstruct the IDF Search for the Kidnapped Teens

On Thursday evening , shortly after 10 p.m. 3 Israeli boys left their school together hoping to get home.  They never made it because, as many have heard, they were kidnapped.

As often happens here, hitching a ride is one way of getting around;  often when one is at the 'trempiada' (the station where one gets a 'tremp' - a hitch) drivers who see someone from their community stop to pick up their neighbors. 

In some cases, terrorists dress up as religious men - with a kippah (yarmulkeh) or fringes - in order to lure victims into their cars.  There is no safety in numbers, as we can see, and the 3 young students - 2 of them 16 years of age and one 19 - got into a car whose driver had evil plans.  One of the boys managed to alert authorities on his cellphone before contact was lost.  A burned out car, apparently used in the abduction, was found and it is assumed that the 3 were transferred to another vehicle. 

 

Since Thurs. evening the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been conducting a mass search and taken some into custody.  As yet there is no news and we wait and pray that the 3 will be returned safely to their immediate families and to us; they are all our children.

 

As we know, just a few days ago, the PA Unity government which includes the terrorist group, Hamas, was recognized by President Obama who has said in the past that he would not deal with terrorists and that the US 'has Israel's back'.  Accepting a government whose goal it is to destroy Israel is not reconcilable with caring about Israel's security; thus, the President has added two more lies to his long list.  He has said for a long time that he would establish a Palestinian state and this advance notice has meant that Israel's enemies could take it for granted - without cooperation.

 

We must remember, too, that Sec'y of State Kerry who shuttled back and forth several times for many months, threatened Israel should she not agree to his demands in the 'peace process'.  His warnings to Israel included renewed terrorism by the enemy and further international isolation.  No such warnings were given the terrorist regime of Abbas who could only interpret Kerry's words to Israel as an invitation to new attacks. 

 

If Abbas is, indeed, the head of the Unity government, it is he who is culpable for the kidnappings.  Israeli news programs have been showing photos of the cheering Arabs in Hebron and Gaza as they hand out sweets in celebration of the abductions.  This, too, was their reaction to the WTC bombings on 9/11/01 and whenever tragedy has occurred to the US as well as Israel. 

 

It is time for all Americans to understand that the enmity of the radical Islamic countries of the Middle East is not reserved just for Israel.  Their ideology is incompatible with Western civilization and their goal is the destruction of the West and the creation of a worldwide caliphate with sharia law for all.  Israel, a western democracy, is in the way.  Europe has already undergone a perceptible change and there are already elements in the US.  Many do not want to hear this; some do not believe it.  We hear it and believe it because we have heard it directly from them and we are experiencing it. 

 

Tonight, Israel speaks with one voice; politics are forgotten as we stand united with the hope that we will soon hear good news - the safe return of our boys -

 

Yaacov Naftali ben Rachel Devora, Gilad Michoael ben Batgalim, and Ayal ben Iris Teshua

 

Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

 

The following article has additional information.

 

Chana

in beloved Jerusalem

 

 

Hamas Calls on Palestinians to Obstruct the IDF Search for the Kidnapped Teens

Follow Virtual Jerusalem on and

 Date Posted: 2014-06-13 16:37:59
Three students, two of them from the Makor Chaim Yeshiva in the religious kibbutz Kfar Etzion went missing Thursday night in what officials say was likely a kidnapping by terrorists.

All communication was lost with them as they were on their way home from the yeshiva, located in Gush Etzion, roughly between Jerusalem and Hevron in Judea; security sources suspect they were taken into a vehicle driven by terrorists that stopped for them as they waited at a popular hitchhiking spot.

The story has been under a media embargo until now, given the sensitive nature of the incident and the danger posed to the three. Several false reports concerning the event were circulated in its initial aftermath, but these are the initial details of the incident that have been permitted for publication as of now.

Massive IDF and police forces have been searching in the hours since the suspected kidnapping to try and locate the three young students, one of whom is a joint Israeli-American citizen.

“National Anguish”

And fear.  And fury.  And a terrible sense of déjà vu.

 

Late Thursday evening, three boys disappeared. 

 

They are Eyal Yifrach 19, Naftali Frenkel, 16, and Gilad Sha’ar, 16.

 

 

 

 

At this point in time, it’s impossible to piece together full information, especially as some details are being withheld.  Two are students in Makor Chaim yeshiva high school in Kfar Etzion, which is in Gush Etzion, and the third is a student in Shavei Hevron yeshiva in Hevron.  It is being reported that Naftali Frenkel has American citizenship as well as Israeli – which should be of interested to US authorities.  All three, I am assuming, were headed out from their residential places of study for Shabbat.

 

To the best of my understanding, they were last seen before midnight Thursday at a junction in Gush Etzion frequently used by hitchhikers.  Hitchhiking is not an uncommon practice in Israel.  They were picked up – that much is clear.  One of the boys sent an emergency message via his cell phone before it went dead; signals from all three of the boys’ phones were cut off. 

 

It is believed that they wanted to head to the Jerusalem area, but were brought into the area of Hevron.  An incinerated stolen car was found in the Hevron area; there is suspicion that this may have been the car that was used for picking up the boys.