The Coming Sharia State of Egypt

 Theodore Shoebat

Egypt has now a modern pharaoh, named Muhammad Morsi, and with him as the sole ruler, the country will ultimately become an official Sharia state. Sharia is already enforced to some degree, but now that the Muslim Brotherhood is expanding its power, it will implement the edicts of its constitution, the Koran, to is fullest capacity.
This is was foreshadowed months ago when counter-revolutionaries were crucified in front of the presidential palace, since these type of executions are demanded in the Koran where it states that:

“The punishment of anyone who fight against Allah and His apostle and do mischief in the land is to be killed or crucified or to have their hands and feet from opposite ends or be banished from the land.” (Quran: The table spread)

That Egypt will become a Sharia state is most clearly shown in Egyptian politics itself. In September of this year, Egypt’s justice Hossam Ghariani, President of the Supreme Judicial Council, said in a video that the Egyptian people were demanding Sharia, and that to enforce it would be the correct choice:

IN VIENNA, ONCE AGAIN THE CRIES OF ‘DEATH TO THE JEWS’ ARE HEARD…….

KGS

Where have we seen this before?

The Viennese are letting it all happen again, this time through their Muslim immigrant surrogates.

Vienna protesters call for ‘death to Jews’

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL

11/26/2012

Activists protesting against Operation Pillar of Defense call for “Freedom for Palestine,” the destruction of Israel.

PHOTO: DIE JÜDISCHE ONLINE

Anti-Israel demonstrators gathered on Friday in the heart of Vienna, protesting Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense and chanting slogans calling for the murder of Jews and bashing the Jewish state.

Israel’s eight-day military operation to stop Hamas rocket fire from entering the country prompted two fiercely anti-Israel protests in the Austrian capital.

Samuel Laster, an Israeli journalist who lives in Vienna, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that he heard a contingent of 15 to 20 Austrian Islamists chanting in Arabic, “Death to the Jews.”

Laster first reported on the call to eliminate Jews on his website die juedische (“the Jewish”).

Speaking from Vienna by phone, he told the Post that a “mix of Austrian leftist radical extremists and Islamists” appeared at the protest. He estimated that at least 400 anti-Israel protesters, including Salafists, Muslim Brotherhood members and Palestinians, took part in the demonstration.

UK's Leading 'Palestine' Group Blasted for Anti-Semitism

Palestine Solidarity Campaign accused of ‘institutionalized’ anti-Semitism, support for terrorism

By Ari Sofer

First

Man waves pro-boycott sign in Ramallah

Flash 90

A controversial new website levels a series of severe accusations at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), the UK’s leading anti-Israel group. ‘Exposing the Palestine Solidarity Campaign’ alleges that extremism, support for terrorism, anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry are “an institutionalized problem” within the PSC.
One of the site’s founders spoke exclusively to Arutz Sheva – on condition of anonymity – about the motivations behind the initiative.
‘It’s about telling the truth,’ he said, ‘and shattering the illusion that groups such as the PSC care one bit about human rights. They don’t. For them, the language of human rights is a tool to further an anti-Jewish agenda. Worst of all, the PSC ruins the efforts of those Palestinians who are actually striving for peace, through the PSC’s representation of the Palestinian position as one of absolutist support for terror, hatred and ignorance.’

The ultimate aim of the initiative – a joint project of Jewish and moderate Muslim activists – is to ‘defeat bigotry, in all its forms, and restore the human rights narrative to its rightful place.’
On its website, the PSC claims to campaign ‘for peace & justice for Palestinians, in support of international law and human rights & against all racism.’

Gaza conflict puts crimp in tunnel smuggling biz

 Sarah Lynch, Special for USA TODAY

 RAFAH, Egypt — In this run-down, dusty town that straddles the border of the Gaza Strip, a long-thriving smuggling operation through tunnels has nearly come to a halt because of the violence between Israel and Hamas.
In the past week, Israeli airstrikes have destroyed many of the underground channels that connect Gaza to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt as part of its operation to stop the seemingly relentless rocket attacks against Israeli cities and towns.
Many smugglers in the Sinai have stopped their work.
FULL COVERAGE: Latest developments in Israel-Gaza conflict
"Israel can hit at any time," said Abou Khaled, an Egyptian with Palestinian roots who co-owns a tunnel. "It's too dangerous to work."
The tunnels are used to send things like construction materials and household supplies that are in short supply in Gaza, though there is always a markup in price. Illegal weapons such as rockets and mortars, cars and drugs have also been smuggled through, and people have passed undetected beneath the border.

Speaking Truth to Hamas

Andrew G. Bostom

The remarkably courageous Ramallah-born Mosab Hassan Yousef, the eldest son of Hamas cofounder Sheikh Hassan Yousef and a former Hamas activist himself, served time on several occasions in Israeli prison. Yousef is also known as "the Green Prince," the code name assigned him by the Shin Bet (Israeli security agency), with whom he later collaborated for a decade to thwart numerous terrorist attacks during the second intifada, sparing hundreds of Israeli lives. 

Hours before primary, PM calls on Likud members to vote

LAHAV HARKOV

11/25/2012 

Southern Likud activists release post-cease-fire endorsements; Ya’alon popular choice for next defense minister; 97 candidates compete for 24-25 spots; voting stations to open at 9 a.m; 125,351 party members to vote.

Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called on the Likud’s 125,351 members to vote in Sunday’s tight primary race, while activists released lists of recommended candidates in light of Operation Pillar of Defense and the security situation in the South.
“I call on you to come vote for the Likud candidates in the next Knesset,” Netanyahu said in a prerecorded call to party members. “In this primary, you will choose the country’s leadership in the coming years. Come influence, decide and vote.”

Related:

• Habayit Hayehudi primary candidates sue party
• Settler group encourages double-voting in Likud

Not Enough Dead Jews

Michael Brown

11/23/2012

 

In the aftermath of Israel’s latest conflict with Hamas terrorists, it seems that the Jewish state’s greatest failing was that it did not suffer enough casualties to satisfy its critics. And so, once again, the world is railing against “Israeli aggression” and casting its sympathies with those who seek to slaughter its civilians, and this despite the outrageous statements of the Islamic radicals hell-bent on destroying Israel.

NY Times, Washington Post perfume Hamas with anti-Israel poison pills

Leo Rennert

New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief Jodi Rudoren spent some time in Gaza during the eight-day Hamas-Israel war - an experience that left her smitten with the family of Ahmed al-Jabari, Hamas's top military commander who was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
In a dispatch, headlined "Life in Gaza's Courtyards: Displays of Pride and Sacrifice" (Nov. 23, page A11), Rudoren points to graffiti on the walls of Jabari's neighborhood that testify to his great popularity. "The colorful Arabic script reads 'Welcome haiji, Abu Muhammad,' a reference to Mr. Jabari's return from a pilgrimage to Mecca," she writes.
Rudoren goes on to report how portraits of Jabari were held high in "jubilant celebrations" after the cease-fire took effect, while his widow, mother and sister sat in the family courtyard surrounded by relatives, "praising God." And readers are told how one of Jabari's two wives remarked that "Allah gives him a big honor because he is going to go to paradise, thanks for God for all this."

Hamas: Ending Gaza arms smuggling not part of cease-fire

Photo: REUTERS

By JPOST.COM STAFF

11/24/2012

Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishiq says deal with Israel to end fighting does not include Egyptian commitment to work with the US to stop the flow of weapons into Gaza.

 

A senior Hamas official on Saturday claimed that the cease-fire deal it agreed to with Israel on Wednesday did not include an Egyptian guarantee to work with the US to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza.
“It is not true, as some say, that the cease-fire agreement included that Egypt will work with special US units to prevent smuggling of weapons into Gaza. These are Israeli leaks aimed to ease the impact of their defeat,” Hamas's Izzat al-Rishiq wrote on his Facebook page.

Related:

• 'Son of Hamas': Taking down Hamas is a necessity
• Nasrallah: Netanyahu failed to destroy Hamas

More Trouble in Jordan

Mudar Zahran

"They will not tolerate the king any longer…. It is too late for him to make any reforms." — Opposition leader, who preferred to remain anonymous

Last week, protests broke out in Jordan after a government decision to raise fuel prices. While protests have been taking place in Jordan for almost two years now, for the first time there is major involvement from Jordan's Palestinians, with open calls for toppling the regime. With the future of Jordan's King Abdullah in jeopardy, so is regional stability a,s well as Jordan's peace with Israel. Pro-Western forces have critical options to consider.
The protesters, last week, started openly to call for the king to step down. The Independent noted that previously the protests had been "peaceful and rarely targeted King Abdullah II himself," and reported that this time crowds "chanted slogans against the king and threw stones at riot police as they protested in several cities."

The Absurdity of Treating a Terrorist Gang Like a State

Bruce Thornton

The currently suspended missile duel between Israel and Hamas exposes yet again the surreal absurdity of the way the international community handles this conflict between a democratic state and a terrorist gang. Yesterday’s cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas is another example of the folly of treating a bunch of murderers like a legitimate government.
Consider, for example, the way a terrorist outfit like Hamas, self-defined in its charter by its genocidal goals, is treated as if it were a legitimate state. But Hamas is not a government that rules over a sovereign territory defined by international borders. If you want a recent graphic illustration of Hamas’ true nature, peruse this video of the aftermath of the summary execution of 6 accused “collaborators.” Or consider Hamas’ official television coverage of this week’s terrorist bombing of a bus in Israel. Or contemplate the barbarity of using its own “citizens” as human shields for its munitions dumps and rocket launchers. Calling Hamas honcho Ismail Haniyeh a “Prime Minister,” as virtually every world government and news organization does, doesn’t mean he is actually a prime minister, no matter how many elections are held. These titles and voting procedures do not constitute a legitimate government that should be recognized as such by the world community as though it respects international laws and treaties like the Geneva Conventions. Let alone should this façade of political legitimacy rationalize the millions of dollars Western governments give to Hamas under the guise of U.N. aid for social services, freeing up funds for purchasing weapons and munitions.

"Grim"

I know that many who will be receiving this are celebrating Thanksgiving today and I do not wish to impose unduly on that celebration.  And yet... and yet...

 

I entitled this posting "grim," because this is very much the mood of the nation here.  From the right and from the left there is criticism of the ceasefire agreement concluded yesterday. Somewhere in this country there must be someone who thinks this was a good move, but I have yet to encounter that person.  Unless there is a huge shift in the situation, it seems that Netanyahu and his Likud party may suffer in the coming election for what has happened.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

Ceasefire in Israel-Hamas War

Barry Rubin

 A ceasefire ending this round of the Hamas-Israel fighting went into effect at 9 PM local time, November 21, 2012. There were reports—still unconfirmed—of more rockets being fired from Gaza at Israel after the ceasefire was to be implemented. Hamas immediately claimed victory.

The brief agreement provides that both sides will stop all hostilities. For Israel, that included the targeted killings of terrorists and Hamas leaders. For the Palestinian side, the phrase, “All Palestinian factions,” was used. That means the Hamas regime is responsible for any attacks by Islamic Jihad, al-Qaida affiliates, and other small Salafist groups. According to the text, at least, Hamas cannot hide behind allowing or encouraging such groups to attack and then disclaiming responsibility.

Israel Commentary Neglected information and opinion relative to Israel, the Middle East and the immediate world. « Who is Barack Obama? – Part II – A Terrifying Analysis After the Election Only disproportionate deterrence will offset Hamas Terror

How dare anyone in the world including the US, Germany and Great Britain lecture to Israel on “disproportionate deterrence”? Did not the US via Harry Truman release atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima killing hundreds of thousands of civilians in one stroke with generations suffering the severe mental and physical consequences ever since?
Did not Britain and the US level the German cities of Cologne, Berlin, Dresden, Stuttgart, Hamburg killing tens of thousands of people indiscriminately? Did not Germany attempt to level London with blanketed bombing at the onset of WW II?
http://israel-commentary.org/?p=5141
How is that suddenly Israel, when the Jews finally have power of their own and is uses that power with maddening discretion so as not to kill innocent people, the hypocrites and Jew Haters of the world suddenly get on their phony humanitarian soap box relative to “disproportionate response.” Does it take any imagination to visualize what would happen to Israel if the Arabs had anywhere near Israeli military power?
jsk

Only disproportionate deterrence will offset Hamas Terror
by Isi Leibler


The Jewish state was created to overcome powerlessness and provide a haven for Jews – not to have them cringing in shelters. There had previously been considerable criticism of the government for its failure to adequately respond to the ongoing toll inflicted on over a million Israeli citizens obliged to endure thousands of missiles launched against them at the whim of a loathsome neighboring terrorist state. We had tired of hearing successive Israeli leaders repeatedly expressing empty threats and chanting the mantra “this is intolerable and unacceptable and must stop”.

Hamas is no longer a terrorist faction. It is in every respect an independent state the majority of whose citizens enthusiastically support the terrorist initiatives and missile launches initiated by its evil leaders committed to our annihilation.

The situation deteriorated with the advent to power in Egypt of the Moslem Brotherhood, the creators of Hamas. Since then, the Egyptian authorities stood by as Hamas accumulated vast quantities of sophisticated missiles and other lethal weapons including guided antitank missiles and shoulder mounted antiaircraft weapons from Iran, Libya, Sudan and other states.

That explains why despite awareness that Operation Amud Annan – “Pillar of Defense” may escalate into full-scale war, all sections of Israeli society fervently support the IDF operation. It is also gratifying that Jews throughout the world are actively demonstrating solidarity with Israel.

NGO FACTUAL AND LEGAL DISTORTIONS ON GAZA “MEDIA CENTER” ATTACKS

Summary

• On November 18, the Israeli army targeted Hamas’ operational communications arrays and antennas on the roof of two buildings -- the Shawa Hussari and Al Shourouq towers. A number of foreign media outlet offices were located on the lower floors of the Al Shourouq tower. (Hamas has systematically placed strategic infrastructure and weapons close to or within civilian buildings.)
• Many political advocacy NGOs active in the Durban strategy, including false accusations during the 2008-09 Gaza conflict, immediately accused Israel of deliberately targeting journalists and the foreign media. As in the past, these statements provided highly incomplete factual information, lacked context, and made allegations of “war crimes” and other legal claims without any evidence. 
• The NGOs incorrectly declare that Israel acted unlawfully -- simply because the buildings contained civilians. Under international humanitarian law, if civilian objects are being used for military objectives, they are indeed legitimate targets (attacks must comply with the rules of proportionality). This is particularly the case where combatants are exploiting those objects for cover, as Islamic Jihad members have.
• None of these NGOs acknowledges that Al Aqsa and Al Quds TV are an integral part of the Hamas military structure; that Al Aqsa is a Specially Designated Global Terrorist; that channels are used by Hamas to transmit threats to the Israeli civilian population; that they are used to incite genocide and war crimes on the civilian population of Israel; that they are used to indoctrinate and recruit child soldiers.
• Adalah and Al Mezan falsely claimed that Israel was intending to “demolish the ‘Al-Shoroq Tower’.”  The building was not demolished; rather, the IDF issued statements that it was targeting installations on the roof of the building, and based on video footage from the strikes, that is exactly what the IDF did.

Talking Point: Israel is the wrong enemy

AAMULEHTI : “Arabs have wasted decades in hatred against Israel. The newest clash between the Islamist Hamas, which rules in Gaza, and Israel is a continuation in a long series of stupidities, of which the most miserable victims are the arabs.”

What have the Arab states won, by not recognizing the state of Israel in 1948, but took it as an arch enemy, wanting to destroy it from the face of the earth?

The Arab Spring, inspired by the free winds will bring self-critical and difficult questions, which has already been shown in the Arab press and elsewhere.

The Arab states have wasted hundreds of billions in the war against Israel.

Has the US Administration Decided to Get Rid of Jordan's King Abdullah?

Khaled Abu Toameh

Unless the US clarifies its position regarding King Abdullah and reiterates its full backing for his regime, the Muslim fundamentalists are likely to step up there efforts to create anarchy and lawlessness in the kingdom. Washington needs to reassure King Abdullah and his followers that it will not allow the creation of an Islamic terror republic in Jordan.

Has the US Administration decided to get rid of Jordan's King Abdullah?
This is the question that many Jordanians have been asking in the past few days following a remark made by a spokesman for the US State Department.

Deputy State Department Spokesman Mark Toner managed to create panic [and anger] in the Royal Palace in Amman when he stated that there was "thirst for change" in Jordan and that the Jordanian people had "economic, political concerns," as well as "aspirations."
The spokesman's remark has prompted some Jordanian government officials to talk about a US-led "conspiracy" to topple King Abdullah's regime.

Hamas trying to scare Israelis, boosting morale among Palestinians

http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=8026

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

"Your army jeeps, your vehicles, your planes, your battle ships, are potential targets for our Qassam [rockets]."

As part of its psychological warfare and its efforts to scare Israelis, Hamas is using TV and other media to threaten Israelis with a number of different messages. On the website of its military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas posted several pictures with short texts designed to scare Israelis. Pictures showing armed Hamas fighters, scenes of combat and wounded Israeli soldiers warn Israelis that "your army jeeps, your vehicles, your planes, your battle ships, are potential targets for our Qassam [rockets]," and that "the Qassam rockets will chase you everywhere."

"Your leadership started this battle, but it won't be able to put an end to our rocket attacks."

What Agreements with PA are Really Worth?

by David Lev

Lieberman told the diplomats that throughout the four years that the current government has served, Israel has numerous times sought to restart talks with the PA - always to be put off, delayed, dodged, or outright rejected. And not only did the PA do everything it could to avoid talks - it arrogantly blamed the fact that no talks were taking place on Israel. "Their entire plan is to upset Israel's standing in the international community," Lieberman said.

Lieberman also discussed the renewed rocket terror attacks on southern Israel by Gaza Arab terrorists, and especially the fact that PA chief Mahmoud Abbas has not bothered to condemn the attacks, much less to take steps to end the rocket fire from territory of which he is supposed to be in charge. "This again poses the question who Abbas even represents among Palestinians, what his responsibility is for what has been happening, and what our agreements with him are worth altogether," Lieberman said. (The same game was played by Arafat, but the Israeli government is still unwilling to end the stupid game!)

Up Against a Faux-istinian Culture of Human Sacrifice

November 19, 2012 

Formerly colonized people of color, especially if they are Muslims, can Do No Wrong—and Jews and Israelis can Do Nothing Right. That’s the cognitive game, that’s how it’s rigged.

Prof. Phyllis Chesler

Prof. Phyllis Chesler is the author of fifteen books, including Women and Madness (Doubleday, 1972), The Death of Feminism: What's Next in the Struggle for Women's Freedom (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005) and most recently, The New Anti-Semitism. She is the co-founder of the Association for Women in Psychology and the National Women's Health Network.

I have been getting email and phone calls from dear friends in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The Tel Avivians and Jerusalemites are sober but slightly shocked to have woken up to a lesser, but still a Sderot-like reality. Senior citizen friends cowered in stairways and hunkered down in “safe” rooms. Younger citizens rushed to shelters or hit the ground. Everyone supports what the IDF is doing. No one was injured or worse.

Day #6 of Israel’s decision to fight back, to stop the constant barrage of Hamas rockets, meant this: according to the IDF, in the first five days, over 500 rockets from Gaza rained down on Israeli civilians and the Iron Dome intercepted 287 such rockets. Additionally, they note that 45% of Israelis live within rocket range of Hamas’s missiles and rockets. That number is equivalent to 140 million Americans.

Would America or any other non-Muslim majority country live with such constant terror, such overwhelming vulnerability to genocidal forces?

An Arab View...

Khaled Abu Toameh

This hostility is the direct result of years of anti-Israel and anti-Western incitement in the Arab and Muslim world -- not only toward Israel but also toward the United States. In today's world of the Palestinians, anyone who talks about peace with Israel is a traitor and a collaborator; but anyone who calls for the destruction of Israel and fires rockets at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem is a hero.

There is nothing more nauseating than watching people celebrate as rockets are being fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip.

This is what happened last week when Hamas fired rockets at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
As soon as the sirens went off, many Palestinians took to the streets and rooftops, especially in Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods, to cheer Hamas. Sometimes they responded to the Hamas rockets by launching fireworks into the air as a sign of joy, and chanting, "We are all Hamas!" and, "O Jews, the army of Mohammed is coming after you!"
Scenes of jubilation over the rocket attacks on Israel were also reported in several Palestinian cities in the West Bank, including Ramallah, the center of Palestinian "pragmatism and moderation."

The Escalating Conflict Between Hamas and Israel

James Phillips

November 19, 2012

Over the last four days, militants in Gaza have fired more than 840 rockets at Israel. Hamas rockets have reached the outskirts of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for the first time, thanks to the smuggling of Iranian rockets into Gaza. The increasing range and sophistication of Palestinian rockets has expanded the reach of terrorists, who now can threaten up to half of Israel’s population.
Israel has intercepted 302 of those rockets with its Iron Dome missile defense system, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Iron Dome, on which the U.S. has collaborated, has proven its worth and underscored the importance of missile defense in future U.S. military budgets.
Meanwhile, Iran is seeking—successfully—to keep the pot boiling at Israel’s expense to distract international attention from its nuclear program. A leaked International Atomic Energy Agency report indicates that Iran could soon double the number of centrifuges at its Fordo facility from 700 to 1,400.

Finally, the BBC's pro-Palestinian propaganda machine has swung into action

Peter Mullen
 World

The BBC has been slipping up recently. No – I don’t mean to refer to unpleasant recollections of Savilegate and McAlpinegate. Let us just leave them conveniently on the Corporation’s CV. Instead I am wondering why it took the BBC so long to get into its full propaganda mode in its reporting of the war between Israel and Hamas. I don’t say there was ever anything distantly approaching even-handedness. You never get that with an ideological pressure group as committed to its own unassailable self-righteousness as the BBC. But at least for the first few days of the war there was the pretence of objectivity.
But true colours will inevitably show themselves and, sure enough, over the weekend the Corporation began to screen its horrific and heart-breaking accounts (with pictures, of course) of the Gazan children slaughtered by the nasty Israelis. What is never explained – because propaganda aims not to explain but to seduce – is the fact that Hamas stores its rockets and high explosives in schools and hospitals, and those leaders who are not so far up the pay scale that they are allotted their personal bunkers are obliged to live in their own houses with their families. And even the most meticulously targeted airstrike cannot distinguish between a terrorist and his three-year-old son when they are sitting in the same front room.

Hamas's War On Journalists‏

TIP Press: press@theisraelproject.org
Main Office Phone Number:  202-857-6644

Hamas's human rights violations against journalists have increasingly found the group at odds with civil liberty and human rights groups. Hamas notoriously beats journalists, including citizen journalists. The Iranian-backed group has policies forcing reporters to be accompanied by "sponsors." And of course, just this weekend, Hamas began trapping journalists in the Gaza Strip, raising fears that the Iran-backed terror group intends to use them as human shields during Israel's anti-terror Operation Pillar of Defense.

Hamas disinformation: Israel's international airport closed, planes redirected to secret base

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=7998

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

On the fifth day of Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense that targets terrorist infrastructure in Gaza and which has successfully destroyed many Hamas rocket launching  points, Hamas issued false information about its own successes fighting Israel.

[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), Nov. 18, 2012]

Today, a news ticker on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV incorrectly claimed: 

"Media of the enemy: International airport Ben Gurion closed, planes being redirected to a secret base in the north
[of Israel]."

Similarly, the Hamas website Al-Risala falsely claimed yesterday that Hamas had succeeded in shooting down an Israeli F-16 plane:

"Hamas' military wing Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades confirmed that an 'Israeli' F-16 fighter plane was shot down... A reconnaissance aircraft was shot down as well."

Israel's image war

Boaz Bismuth

The Israel Defense Forces are bombing the Gaza Strip and the world is, for the most part, silent. In fact, the IDF is bombing Gaza and the world is, for the most part, supporting Israel.

How is this happening? Wars today are fought not only with bullets, but also with images. During Operation Pillar of Defense, Israel has succeeded in appearing as the victim, even though it is acting with strength and determination. But don't get too excited. This could turn around in a moment.

Israel's advocates have so far had a much easier time than they did during Operation Cast Lead, in 2008-9. The IDF has focused on attacking specific terrorists and has been extremely careful to not harm innocent civilians, even if this has meant calling off planned strikes. The government's instructions on this have been clear.

The true path for Israel

Dr. Gabi Avital

It's early in the morning. Max Nordau invites his friend, Vladimir Jabotinsky, for a coffee before the War of Independence, lamenting a Jewish reality that Moses already knew well in his time: "The Jew learns not by way of reason, but from catastrophes. He won't open his umbrella under a cloudy sky; he waits until he is drenched and catches pneumonia."

Time has passed and the sovereign State of Israel has a large and impressive military force. Has the "Jewish" principle mentioned above remained the same? One cannot deny there have been situations in which the country's leaders recognized danger and fought it, such as the Six-Day War, the bombing of the nuclear reactor in Iraq and, most recently, the intensive debate over the Iranian nuclear issue. But when it comes to counter-terrorism, the track Israel has followed is reminiscent of a self-designed obstacle course.

In Gaza, Macabre Manipulations of a Child Victim

CAMERA

Not for the first time, the death of a Palestinian child killed in hotly disputed circumstances is being categorically blamed on Israel. Elder of Ziyon blogger was the first to catch the latest case, involving the death of 4-year-old Mahmoud Sadallah of Jabaliya, whose body was photographed with Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Qandil as he visited the Gaza Strip Friday.

Photos of the boy's body on display were distributed by the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters, all of whose captions categorically stated that the boy was killed in an Israeli air strike, despite the fact that news articles by the New York Times and even AP itself made clear that the circumstances behind his death were "hotly disputed," (as AP put it), and that he may have been killed by an errant Palestinian rocket. CNN's Sara Sidner also reported as fact that Mahmoud Sadallah is "another victim of an [Israeli] air strike," ignoring evidence to the contrary.

Obama Stabbing Israel in the Back Behind the Scenes

 Daniel Greenfield
The trajectory of conflicts like these are fairly clear. Israel bombs some terrorist targets and then launches a ground incursion into Gaza to suppress terrorist activities. But the Obama Administration is already working against a ground offensive behind the scenes, as a New York Times report mentions.

Obama supposedly called Netanyahu to discuss options for “de-escalating” the situation, but all those options are going to involve signing on to another meaningless cease fire while Hamas continues carrying out attacks, on and off. Netanyahu has made calling off a ground operation contingent on an end to rocket attacks. Which Obama isn’t likely to be able to deliver. And worse still, Obama has proposed that Egypt broker a ceasefire.

Syria: Spillover into Iraq?

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
The Jerusalem Post

http://www.meforum.org/3381/syria-iraq-spillover

Writing on his blog "Syria Comment," Joshua Landis contends that "Iraq is seeing much more spillover from Syria than Lebanon." His premise is that "already in response to the growing civil war in Syria, Iraqi violence has spiked and al-Qaida is resurgent there."
However, I contend that Landis is wrong on several counts. Beginning with his premise, the notion that "Iraqi violence has spiked" is based on a short term overview of trends of violence in Iraq, without looking at the bigger picture. Indeed, this issue is a common fault when it comes to media reporting on statistics of violence and civilian casualties.

For example, at the end of September, outlets like Reuters reported that Iraq had seen its bloodiest month for more than two years, citing a figure of 365 killed, supposedly double the toll from the previous month.

Southern mayors oppose ceasefire

 Neri Brenner

Egypt's president said Saturday evening that there are indications for an imminent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, but heads of southern local authorities believe Israel must not agree to a truce before dealing Hamas a severe blow.

"If we've come this far, we must continue," Eshkol Regional Council head Haim Yalin told Ynet on Saturday evening. "We must reach a situation in which we have won, in which terrorism is forced into a peace agreement."

Beware of 'Pallywood' Magic

IPT News

http://www.investigativeproject.org/3816/beware-of-pallywood-magic

Fighting between Palestinian terrorists in Gaza and Israeli troops all but guarantees civilian casualties. With the fighting comes heart-wrenching photos of the dead and wounded, along with their grieving loved ones.
Each death represents a human tragedy.
But sometimes, reality is not enough. Some Palestinians have been caught faking images or appropriating them from other conflicts. This form of propaganda has been dubbed "Pallywood," and the nascent conflict already has several examples.
Tablet Magazine's Adam Chandler exposed one, a terrible image of a grieving father holding his dead child as mournful doctors look on helplessly. Hamas's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigade, sent the picture out on Twitter. It's a dead child all right, but it took place in Syria, not Gaza, and had nothing to do with this week's violence.
It's powerful to see the wounded being rushed into ambulances, and in the crucial battle for public sympathy, some Palestinians put on a show for international news cameras, as the web site Honest Reporting shows in this video.
The video shows a Palestinian in a beige jacket being hustled away due to an apparent injury following an Israeli airstrike. Moments later, it appears the same Palestinian has miraculously recovered.

Mainstream Media's Equivalenc​e Game

Leo Rennert

Here we go again. Four years ago, during and after Israel's antiterrorist counteroffensive in Gaza, mainstream media reported that more than 1,000 Palestinians were killed, while Israeli fatalities were only a miniscule fraction of that total. This left readers and viewers with a distinct impression that Israel had used excessive force. Israel, in effect, was depicted as the brutal Goliath against an outgunned David. 

The reality, however, was quite different. Israel was engaged in an asymmetrical conflict in which Palestinian terrorist groups deliberately targeted civilians, while Israel was bending over backwards to avoid Palestinian civilian casualties. As a result, most Palestinian fatalities were combatants, while most Israeli fatalities were civilians, or noncombatants. This distinction, however, was never made clear to readers and viewers because mainstream media simply lumped together combatants and noncombatant fatalities in a single total figure. 

Into The Fray: Aargh!!!

By MARTIN SHERMAN, JPOST
Despite the deadly display of hi-tech pyro-technics by the IDF, the depressing sense of déjà vu conveyed by the events unfolding in Gaza comprise a devastating indictment of Israel’s past and present political leadership.

Aargh: A word that proclaims sorrow, annoyance, anger, depression, hopelessness – The Urban Dictionary.

Watching the morning newscasts and the spectacle of Israelis scuttling to shelter from incoming projectiles, launched by implacable enemies, from areas voluntarily ceded them by a democratically elected government, which reneged on an election pledge not to do so, it was difficult not to succumb to the urge to yell: Aargh!!! For the sorrow, anger and hopelessness was almost overwhelming.

But worse – much worse – was to come.

CAIR Civil Rights Manager Endorses Hamas Terrorism Against Israel

Daniel Greenfield

Cyrus McGoldrick is CAIR’s Civil Rights Manager in New York and a product of Columbia’s notorious Middle Eastern Studies department.

CAIR already has extensive links to Hamas, so it’s no surprise that during the Hamas attacks on Israel, McGoldrick’s Twitter account began trending Hamas’ way.

Cyrus McGoldrick began describing the assassination of Hamas leaders as the death of “resistance leaders”

Cyrus McGoldrick @CyrusMcGoldrick

Israel is murdering civilians and resistance leaders alike. The colonial project of Israel was founded on violence & is fueled by it. #Gaza

14 Nov 12

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Then there were prayers for a Hamas victory.

Cyrus McGoldrick @CyrusMcGoldrick

#GazaUnderAttack for the last few days. May God protect them and grant them victory. #FreePalestine #Gaza

12 Nov 12

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Security is paramount for Israel

This week's escalation did not start with an attack on a Hamas military commander. It started with the use of Gaza as a launching pad for ideological war

John Howell MP

On Tuesday, I visited the Lebanese border and Golan Heights as part of a Conservative Friends of Israel delegation to the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
Earlier in the week, Israel was hit by errant fire from Syria – likely an act of incompetence by the Assad regime and an incident that was borne out of the continued civil war and increasingly desperate situation in the country. Amidst all this activity on the Golan Heights, little did we know that in the south of Israel, the activities of Hamas were coming to the fore, escalating to the point where Israel targeted a Hamas military leader on Wednesday.

Fake Palestinian 'victim' of Israel attack exposed

Rick Moran

They call it "Pallywood" - Palestinians staging fake scenes for western news cameras using men, women, and children as props.

This example is particilarly outrageous.

From the blog Honest Reporting:

What happens when the cameras turn up at the scene of an airstrike in Gaza and there simply aren't enough Palestinian dead and injured to produce dramatic footage that can be used against Israel in the international media? We've seen it before. Palestinians who appear to be injured or even dead for the benefit of the TV cameras turn out to be nothing of the sort once they are no longer the focus.

Islamists Target Arab Monarchies

Night Watch

11/16/2012

 

China: Update. The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China concluded on 14 November after the Congress elected a new Central Committee and a new Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Comment: NightWatch will report at greater length as details warrant. The two most impressive themes that emerged from the early speeches were that corruption is a threat to the survival of the party and possibly the communist state itself and that the new leadership will have no latitude to compromise the communist political leadership.

Targeted Killings: Good for the U.S.; Good for Israel

Sarah N. Stern

On November 14th, Israeli President Shimon Peres visited a school the town of Sderot in southern Israel. Sderot is the closest border town to Hamas-controlled Gaza and has sustained over 120 rocket attacks in just the prior four days.

"We were born as 'the code red children'", said Chen Malkiel. "Code Red "is the name of the siren that blasts giving residents no longer than 15 seconds to run to shelter."We are children who live in fear and anxiety that at any moment we will hear the code red siren, have to leave our games, our friends and enter the safe rooms", continued Malkiel.

There have been one million people, extending from Ashdod to Sderot who have been receiving a steady barrage of rocket attacks and have fifteen seconds to run for their very lives. Israel has endured over 800 of these attacks from Gaza in the last year.

Why is Israel not allowed to defeat her enemies?

Ted Belman
Many countries condemn Israel’s attacks on Gaza. A few countries including Canada, Britain, Germany and the US support Israel’s right of self defense. With the exception of Canada, the latter go on to recommend restrain with a variety of words.

But no country encourages Israel to devastate Hamas and its rocket arsenal. When they support our right of self defense they imply that should the rockets stop, Israel should stop.

Why is Israel not allowed to defeat her enemies? Especially here where our enemy Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization. Does anyone demand that the US stop killing al Qaeda terrorists. On what basis does the US have the right to kill terrorist who aren’t targeting the US.

"Enraged"

It is noon on Friday and I have scant time to post, and yet I must -- because I am enraged.  Enraged because the world does not want the Jewish State to defend herself, all the saccharine declarations to the contrary.  The world doesn't like Palestinian Arab dead and doesn't like strong moves by the IDF.

 

The issue must be clear:  It is not just a question of Hamas and Islamic Jihad temporarily stopping rocket launchings because that's in their best interest at the moment. It's a question of weakening or destroying their capacity to hit us again when the mood strikes them.  

 

Taking out their weapons -- pre-emption -- is defense.

 

Defense Minister Barak made that clear in his declaration of the goals of Operation Pillar of Defense. 

 

I have sat here for years at my computer, detailing what is being brought into Gaza -- the weapons of growing sophistication.  And all the time, horrified.  Now with Ghaddafi's weapons available to terrorists, it's even worse -- and make no mistake about it, those weapons are being smuggled into Gaza.

 

Gaza and International Law

Eli E. Hertz

What unites Palestinian Arabs is their opposition to Jewish nationalism and a desire to stamp it out - not aspirations for their own state. Murdering Jews is a collective Palestinian Arab effort that requires a collectively sensible response.

Israel's reaction to nearly ten years of shelling Israeli civilian population centers from the Gaza Strip is nothing more than a measured, fair response, designed to effectively terminate armed attacks and more importantly - to prevent its recurrence. All of Israel’s actions in this regard are supported by international law.

Hamas - a United States designated foreign terrorist organization, by their aggression and initial use of armed force against Israeli civilians and non-combatant Jews in breach of the United Nations Charter, constituted prima facie [Latin: on its face] evidence of an act of aggression - aggression being defined by international law as "the most serious and dangerous form of illegal use of force."[1]

Therefore, the rule of proportionality in this case of continuous aggression, needs to be met by Israeli acts that will induce the aggressor to comply with international obligations. A countermeasure need not be the exact equivalent of the breaching act.[2]

United Nations Resolutions demand of states to combat terrorism and reaffirm their:

"Necessary Battle"

Yesterday, on its FaceBook page, the IDF put up the following message:

 

“We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead."

 

A great message.  I am reading that Hamas and assorted other terrorist leaders are not to be seen. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

So we are waging the battle that is understood in all reasonable quarters to be necessary. 

 

IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai said last night:

 

"We are in the midst of an attack that will continue and grow. There is no hourglass. We received the green light from the Prime Minister and the Minster of Defense.  If I were a senior Hamas activist--I would look for a place to hide.

"...All options that allow us to cause serious damage to Hamas and the other terrorist organizations are on the table."

Credit: IDF

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PMW Special report on Operation Pillar of Defense #1

From the PMW archives:

Al-Ja'abari: "The Jew who comes to the soil of Palestine... is fighting us, and we will fight him
and kill him"

"Sacrifice your souls for the sake of Allah,

until the rats (i.e., Israelis) return to their holes"

"Haifa, Jaffa, and Tel Aviv... all of Palestine"

will be liberated

http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=7990

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Launching what has been named "Operation Pillar of Defense," Israel killed the head of Hamas' military wing Ahmed Al-Ja'abari yesterday. The operation comes as a response to Hamas' and other terrorist organizations' continuous rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Al-Ja'abari was a member of Hamas' political bureau and the leader of Hamas' military wing since 2002. He actively encouraged suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks against Israel.

Al-Ja'abari was Hamas' chief negotiator during the negotiations to release Hamas-captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Netanyahu talks to Obama, Ashton on Gaza operation

TOVAH LAZAROFF

LAST UPDATED: 11/15/2012 06:30

UN Security Council fails to agree on course of action.

Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday night thanked US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for supporting Israel’s right to defend itself after a targeted IDF assassination of Hamas military leader Ahmed Jabari in Gaza.
Obama expressed support for "Israel’s right to self-defense in light of the barrage of rocket attacks being launched from Gaza against Israeli civilians," according to a White House press release.

In his conversation with Morsi, Obama reiterated Israel's right to self-defense and expressed hope that Egypt would play a stabilizing role in the region.

Related:

Israel Bombarded by Rockets, Human Rights Watch Nowhere in Sight

Arsen Ostrovsky

While Israel is being bombarded by rockets from Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, placing more than one million civilians in danger, Human Rights Watch (HRW) is nowhere in sight. Apparently the human rights of Israelis are just not a concern to them. This is just another example of how HRW has not just lost its moral compass, but how the anchor has been thrown overboard as well.

In 2012 alone, Palestinian terrorists in Hamas-controlled Gaza have fired at least 850 rockets and mortars on southern Israel, however you would be hard pressed to find even a syllable of condemnation of the attacks from HRW.

Although the mission statement of HRW might begin with their pledge to be "... protecting the human rights of people around the world," when it comes to the human rights of Israelis, HRW is nowhere in sight.

Freedom House Still Doggedly Libelling Israel

Lee Kaplan

Using at best no research, and at worst venomous research, Freedom House chooses to honor the libel which emerges against Israel primarily from the same totalitarian countries Freedom House would have it believe it scrutinizes.

Freedom House, once a reliable guardian of protecting freedom and human rights, continues to slander Israel based on false Palestinian propaganda, which it presents as facts in order to declare Israel "less free" and a violator of human rights.
Freedom House's current research director on Israel, Arch Puddington, was, it seems, less than pleased with a recent Gatestone Institute article slamming the substandard, reckless, and apparently malicious methods to which Freedom House resorts to suppress "inconvenient" information, for example, reports that a member of its Board of Trustees might regard as "politically incorrect".

GNORING THE WARNING LIGHTS ON HEZBOLLAH: THE CASE FOR A EUROPEAN BAN

Matthew Levitt

Henry Jackson Society

To read the full version of the following excerpt, go to:
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/ignoring-the-warning-lights-on-hezbollah-the-case-for-a-european-ban

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

Twenty-nine years ago, Hezbollah blew up the U.S. Marines and French army barracks in Beirut, both compounds under the aegis of the Multinational Force sent to Lebanon as peacekeepers to oversee the evacuation of the Palestine Liberation Organization from Beirut. The barracks bombings left 241 Americans and 58 French dead, and came just six months after Hezbollah bombed the U.S. embassy, killing 63, including 17 Americans. Less than a year later, Hezbollah bombed the U.S. embassy annex in Beirut, killing 24.

The red flags in Obama’s foreign policy

Jackson Diehl

Barack Obama spent his first term undoing what he saw as the excesses of U.S. post-Cold War foreign policy, from land wars in the Middle East to insufficient attention to Asia. By his own account, he largely succeeded. But chances are he will spend his second term grappling with the flaws in his cure.

Contrary to the usual Republican narrative, Obama did not lead a U.S. retreat from the world. Instead he sought to pursue the same interests without the same means. He has tried to preserve America’s place as the “indispensable nation” while withdrawing ground troops from war zones, cutting the defense budget, scaling back “nation-building” projects and forswearing U.S.-led interventions.

Friedman vs. Israel

David Gerstman

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Thomas Friedman used the occasion of President Obama's re-election to return to his favorite topic: bashing Israel, in his Sunday column My President is busy. Aside from demonstrating his ignorance about suing Google, Friedman makes a couple of mistakes. 

You should be so lucky that the president feels he has the time, energy and political capital to spend wrestling with Bibi to forge a peace between Israelis and Palestinians. I don’t see it anytime soon. Obama has his marching orders from the American people: Focus on Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, not on Bethlehem, Palestine, and focus on getting us out of quagmires (Afghanistan) not into them (Syria). No, my Israeli friends, it’s much worse than you think: You’re home alone.

1,200 tunnels operating between Egypt and the Gaza Strip- Sinai tribal leader

By Mohammed Mohsin
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=31784
 
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat - The leader of the Al-Akur Tribe in Sinai, Arif
Abu-Akr, has revealed that the 1,200 tunnels between the borders of Egypt and Gaza Strip are working at full capacity. Abu-Akr told Asharq Al-Awsat that these tunnels were being used to carry out terrorist attacks, “but we cannot arrest them or present them to justice.”
 
During the transitional period, which was administered by the military, the Egyptian authorities had announced the closure of the tunnels to the Gaza Strip; however, security sources in Sinai have said that many of the tunnels are now fully operational since President Muhammad Mursi’s accession to power at the beginning of July 2012. Security sources also revealed that the governor of North Sinai had lodged a complaint with senior officials in Cairo, but was told: “The tunnels do not represent a problem.”

PA TV News: No trace of Jewish history in "our land" "Temple exists only in the minds of radical organizations"

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=7905

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Recently, Palestinian Authority TV News exemplified the PA policy of denying the existence of any Jewish history in Jerusalem. In a report about Israel's excavations on the Temple Mount exposing part of the Western Wall, the government-controlled PA TV stated:

"There's [an Israeli] race against the clock to complete the excavations in search of [Jerusalem's] Temple that exists only in the minds of radical organizations."

The Post Targets Israel

Leo Rennert

On Nov. 10, an antitank missile fired by Palestinian terrorists from Gaza at an Israeli army vehicle wounded four IDF soldiers. Retaliatory fire by Israel killed four Gazans, while dozens of rockets and mortar shells rained on civilian targets in southern Israel.
This was but the latest incident in a recent escalation of rocket attacks from Hamas-ruled Gaza against towns, cities, and kibbutzim in southern Israel. Israel's human toll and pain has been considerable. One million Israelis are having to dart toward bomb shelters at a moment's notice when red alert sirens sound. Israeli children succumb to post-traumatic stress. Authorities order schools to close as a precaution against a massive catastrophe if a school were hit with hundreds of kids inside. 

PA President Mahmoud Abbas Presents His Views on the Right of Return

http://www.memri.org/clip_transcript/en/3634.htm
For video
http://www.memri.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/3634.htm
 
Following are excerpts from an interview given by PA President Mahmoud Abbas to Israeli Channel 2 on November 2, 2012, and an interview with Al-Hayat TV
a day later.
 
Channel 2 (Israel), November 2, 2012:
 
Mahmoud Abbas: As long as I am here, in this office, there will be no third, armed, Intifada. Never. We don't want to use terror. We don't want to use force. We don't want to use weapons.
[...]
 
Interviewer: You are originally from Safed.
 
Mahmoud Abbas: From Safed, yes.
 
Interviewer: Do you wish to go there?
 
Mahmoud Abbas: Of course. I want to see Safed.
 
Interviewer: To visit or to live?
 
Mahmoud Abbas: No, no. I want to visit with somebody else who is sitting with us now. I visited Safed before once. But I want to see Safed. It's myright to see it. But not to live there.

"Christians in the Middle East"

I want to begin by switching gears today, to consider an important, and much neglected issue.  Last Thursday night, a symposium -- co-sponsored by B'nai Brith World Center, the Menachem Begin Center and the Ecumenical Theological Research Fraternity in Jerusalem -- was held on "The Present and Future of Christians in the Middle East."

 

That Christians in Muslim and Arab countries in this region have it very difficult was hardly news to me.  But this symposium provided a broader context and some significant information.

The Broader Implications of the Petraeus Resignation: Personal Behavior and Public Office

Barry Rubin On November 11

Genral Petraeus was the hero of the winning surge in Iraq. But he also has the distinction of becoming America’s first Politically Correct field commander. His strategy in Afghanistan was in line with that of the Obama Administration by putting the emphasis on winning Muslim hearts and minds as a higher priority than military victories or even at times the safety of American soldiers. There’s a reason why President Barack Obama made him CIA director.

Leaving aside the question of the resignation’s relationship to the Benghazi debacle, in some ways, his fall is more discouraging than the election results. Don’t these powerful people feel that their duty is more important than their personal self-aggrandizement or pleasure? We should remember, too, that Petraeus’s predecessor in Afghanistan was brought down because of some incautious things said in a magazine interview.

FBI Source: Petraeus Case Held Until After Election to Not Hurt Obama Politically

• Mdeleine Morgenstern

Outgoing CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus’ resignation over an extramarital affair was reportedly held until after Tuesday’s election to avoid “potential embarrassment” for President Barack Obama, according to Newsmax.
FBI agents learned of the affair while monitoring Petraeus’ emails out of concern that the woman, Petraeus biographer Paula Broadwell, may have had access to his personal account, the Associated Press reported.
But an FBI source told Ronald Kessler, the author and journalist who broke the Secret Service prostitution scandal, that rather than having Petraeus resign immediately, the decision was made to hold it until after the election for political purposes: