"As Time Draws Near"

Tonight is the last presidential debate and two weeks from tomorrow comes the election.  Tensions are high and the sharing of credible information that impinges upon electoral choices becomes increasingly important. 

 

This is from the Investigative Project on Terrorism, founded and headed by Steve Emerson -- a most reliable and trustworthy source (emphasis added):

 

Credit: msnbc

 

"A year-long investigation by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) has found that scores of known radical Islamists made hundreds of visits to the Obama White House, meeting with top administration officials.

"Court documents and other records have identified many of these visitors as belonging to groups serving as fronts for the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and other Islamic militant organizations.

Abbas's Epic Fail

Leo Rennert

If more evidence were needed that Mahmoud Abbas is bereft of any peacemaking credentials, look no further than the Oct. 20 Palestinian municipal elections, which resulted in a humiliating no-confidence vote for the leader of the Palestinian Authority.
Because of his duplicitous record on a two-state solution -- ruling it out when addressing his own people while peddling it to gullible Western leaders and mainstream media -- Abbas already had lost any credibility in the eyes of most Israelis. But the municipal elections in the West Bank have now stripped him of any remaining peacemaking credentials in the eyes of his own people.

Terrorists who killed 6 labeled "heroes" by PA TV in its annual praise of two terror attacks

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=7647

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

"The heroes of the Kfar Yuval operation," PA TV (Fatah), Oct. 10-12, 2010, Oct. 12, 2011, Oct. 11 and 13, 2012

"The heroes of the Misgav Am operation,"  PA TV (Fatah), Oct. 10-12, 2010, Oct. 12, 2011, Oct. 11 and 13, 2012

Again in 2012, Palestinian Authority TV chose to broadcast a tribute to terrorists who killed 6 Israelis in two terror attacks in 1975 and 1980.

On the 44th anniversary of the Palestinian Arab Front (formerly Arab Liberation Front), the organization responsible for the attacks, PA TV broadcast a clip showing two pictures of the terrorists who committed the killings, with captions that read "the heroes of the Kfar Yuval operation" and "the heroes of the Misgav Am operation."

Palestinian Media Watch reported on the PA TV clip when it was broadcast in 2010 and 2011.

After two-week delay, Palestinians to take SAT college admission tests Saturday

American exams had arrived during Jewish holidays, when Israeli customs offices were closed, causing holdup

 JERUSALEM (AP) — The US State Department said dozens of Palestinian students whose SAT exams were delayed because of Israeli customs will take the test this Saturday.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Wednesday that about 100 students in the West Bank will sit the exam this weekend.

“I’m happy to say that we have learned that this issue has now been resolved,” Nuland said.

"That Was Fast!"

And it's not OK. 

 

Last week I wrote that reports had been leaked that Prime Minister Netanyahu was going to bring the Levy Report, or some undefined parts of it, to the Cabinet today for acceptance.

 

But by Friday word was out that he would not be doing so after all.  That was because Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein was opposed. 

 

I will take a moment here to point out that Weinstein tilts left, and that he had made clear from the get-go that he was not enamored of the Levy Report.  As much as we would like to think that the law is the law, interpretation is often colored by political perspective.

Peace Envoy Brahimi Arrives in Damascus; Calls for Truce

BEIRUT — International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi arrived in the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday to try to broker a brief cease-fire in the war between President Bashar al-Assad and rebels, a U.N. spokesman said.

Brahimi, envoy for the United Nations and the Arab League, has been criss-crossing the region with the aim of convincing Assad's main backers and his foes to support a truce during the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha next week.

The U.N. spokesman in Damascus, Khaled al-Masri, told Reuters that Brahimi would meet Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem on Saturday morning. He did not say whether the envoy would meet Assad himself.

Despite positive words from the different backers of the warring factions, the task of securing even a temporary ceasefire appears daunting in an intensifying conflict in which more than 30,000 people have been killed.

Honing Anti-Semitism in France and Sweden

"Blame the Victim"

by Shoshana Bryen

In France and Sweden – and in the UN – authorities fail to acknowledge that Europe's Jewish communities are under attack by Muslims who have formed insular, radical and often criminal enclaves. They are attacked NOT because of what they do or do not do; NOT because of what Israel does or does not do, and NOT because their tormentors face discrimination in Europe – but because they are Jews.

A wave of anti-Jewish violence has taken place in France and Sweden over the past few weeks. The difference in government response is notable, and yet there is something similarly disquieting about their actions. The Swedish government alternately denies the problem, blames the Jews and blames Israel -- it recently funded a book on Israeli "apartheid." The French are more complicated. French counter-terror police have been good at tracking domestic radical Islamists, but the government has made overtly anti-Israel gestures that appear to be nothing so much as "compensation" to its increasingly angry and radical Muslim community and to the Arab world.

What is Abbas' true ideology?

The official PA daily quotes Abbas' Facebook page:

"...our land is occupied and not disputed territory,

and this applies to all the territories

that Israel occupied before June 1967 (i.e., all of Israel)."

A second Abbas Facebook page

(not quoted in the PA daily):

"...our land is occupied and not disputed territory,

and this applies to all the territories

that Israel occupied in June 1967."

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=7616

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

This week the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida quoted a letter that "President Abbas wrote on his Facebook page" to "the people of Palestine." Part of the letter read:

"The [sought UN] recognition will not liberate the land the following day, but will prove that we are right that our land is occupied and not disputed territory, and this applies to all the territories that Israel occupied before June 1967 (i.e., all of Israel)." (emphasis added)

A Facebook page in the name of "President Abbas" had this text posted on Oct. 11, 2012, as part of a letter to "the residents of Gaza." (See below)

Obama, Oy Vey! American Jews Finally Have Had Enough

Stella Paul 

"Two Jews, three opinions" goes the famous joke. And every day, more of those opinions turn pro-Romney, as American Jews increasingly reject the collapsing presidency of Barack Hussein Obama.

Romney's surging poll numbers in the crucial state of Florida reflect his growing success with Bubbie Molly and her unemployed grandson Adam, who both thought their right hand would wither if it ever pulled the lever for a Republican.

Suicide terrorist who killed 21 receives "highest honor" from Palestine Committee of Arab Lawyers Union

Union is observer at UNESCO,

in consultative status with ECOSOC

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=7625

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

[Al-Ayyam, Oct. 14, 2012]

Female Palestinian suicide bomber Hanadi Jaradat, who killed 21 Israelis and injured more than 50, has been chosen worthy of "the highest honor" by the Palestine Committee of the Arab Lawyers Union. The Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam reported earlier this week that the Arab Lawyers Union had "created the 'Martyr Hanadi Jaradat plaque of honor,'" which a delegation presented during a visit to Jaradat's family.

Hanadi Jaradat was working as a lawyer when she carried out a suicide terrorist attack in a restaurant in Haifa in 2003.

A university’s negative view of the Jewish state

http://www.thejewishadvocate.com//news/2012-10-19/Charles_Jacobs/

 

 

 

Charles Jacobs

 

Richard Cravatts’ new book, “Genocidal Liberalism: The University’s Jihad Against Israel and the Jews,” concludes that across America, “it is the academics who lead the charge against Israel.” This seems confirmed by our experience at Northeastern University (NEU), where anti-Israel (and anti-Semitic) professors have taught hundreds if not thousands of America’s future leaders a negative and at times demonic view of the Jewish state and its supporters.

 

Apart from the damage this does to American support for Israel, it can also create a hostile climate on campus for Jews. Indeed, the Jewish students who appear on our NEU videos (www.shameonneu.com) complain that they feel culturally and ethnically assaulted in some classes.

"The Levy Report"

From where I sit, this is the news of the day. 

 

Back in January Prime Minister Netanyahu appointed a committee -- consisting of former Israeli Supreme Court justice Edmund Levy, former deputy president of the Tel Aviv District Court Tchia Shapira, and former Foreign Ministry legal adviser and expert in international law Alan Baker -- to examine the status of Israeli building in Judea and Samaria.

 

That report was released on July 8.  It offered both conclusions and recommendations.

Amnesty hosts yet another anti-Israel Headbanger ...

Jonathan Hoffman

http://www.thejc.com/blogs/jonathan-hoffman/how-does-shamnestys-kate-all...
Readers will be well aware of how Amnesty in London - under the inspiration of its Campaigns Director Kristyan Benedict - offers a platform to every anti-Israel headbanger in the universe. The latest - tonight - was Itay Epshtein of ICAHD (Israel Committee Against House Demolitions).

Prior to the meeting NGO Monitor issued a Press Release entitled "ICAHD and Amnesty-UK Team Up To Abuse Human Rights":

http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/icahd_and_amnesty_uk_team_up_to_abuse...
From Epshtein we got the utter fiction that in 1949 Israel pursued an "Evict and Judaise" policy. Another fiction was that Canada supports Israel "because it has problems with its own indigenous minority" (the aboriginal Canadians).

“Jenin Jenin” – What Really Happened?

 http://www.idfblog.com/2012/10/15/jenin-jenin-operation-defensive-shield/

Dr. David Zangen is a 50-year-old Pediatric Endocrinology specialist at the Hadasa Ein-Karem hospital in Jerusalem. He finished his reserve service five years ago, but still volunteers to serve during emergencies. In 2002, he was called in to take part in Operation Defensive Shield in the Jenin Refugee Camp and was stationed with the Armored Corps 5th Brigade. In that time, he was faced with life-and-death decisions concerning the lives of his friends. Today, he agreed to share his experience from the operation — and how he stood up against the lies told about it.

Dr. David Zangen today.

Where did you serve during Operation Defensive Shield?
I was called to join my reserves brigade during the operation in the Jenin Refugee Camp, which is where the deadliest terror attacks came from.

The government decided to start Operation Defensive Shield due to the incessant suicide bombings in Israel. Jenin was home to the most dangerous terrorists. They knew about the operation and booby-trapped the area of the camp before we arrived. We also knew about their readiness and were prepared for a difficult battle.

Hillary Clinton is the New Baghdad Bob

Daniel Greenfield

No need to worry guys, the Arab Spring is working just fine. Just listen to Hillary Clinton’s speech from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (via Jihad Watch) packed with absurdities like these.

For the United States, supporting democratic transitions is not a matter of idealism. It is a strategic necessity.

It might be more of a strategic necessity for China and Russia, considering that the democratic transition replaced allies with Islamist enemies. It’s obviously a strategic necessity for Huma Abedin and her friends. But it’s a strategic disaster for us.

And we will not return to the false choice between freedom and stability. And we will not pull back our support for emerging democracies when the going gets rough. That would be a costly strategic mistake that would, I believe, undermine both our interests and our values.

How would abandoning Islamists be a betrayal of either our interests or our values?
Do our interests lie with the Muslim Brotherhood? Do our values? Do Hillary Clinton’s values or interests align with movements that call for the destruction of Israel and oppose a woman or non-Muslim running Egypt.

American Jewry’s Cherished Values

Caroline Glick 

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.
Decades ago, the sociographer Milton Himmelfarb coined the aphorism that “American Jews earn like Episcopalians and vote like Puerto Ricans.” And his words ring as true today as ever. Surveys show that roughly 70 percent of American Jews intend to cast their ballots for President Barack Obama’s reelection next month.

Himmelfarb’s quip indicated that American Jews abjure their economic interests in favor of their liberal values. Certainly it is true that for American Jews to vote for Obama next month they must act against their economic interests.

MB Chief Calls for ‘Holy Jihad' Against Israel

STEVE EMERSON 

The head of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood called for Muslims to "raise the flag of Jihad in the way of God" to liberate Jerusalem. In a statement issued Thursday in Egypt's Al-Ahram newspaper, Mohammed Badie said negotiations are pointless.

Golan Heights Report Part of a Smear Campaign, Says Hotovely

MK Tzipi Hotovely accuses Yediot Achronot newspaper of running a smear campaign against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

By Elad Benari

MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) on Sunday accused the Yediot Achronot daily newspaper of running a political campaign against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Yediot Achronot, once Israel’s most read newspaper, has fallen to second place in popularity since the free daily newspaper Yisrael Hayom entered the market. Yisrael Hayom is owned by Jewish billionaire Sheldon Adelson, a close friend of Netanyahu, and has a clear pro-Netanyahu stance. In an attempt to fight Yisrael Hayom’s popularity, Yediot Achronot has taken a very strong anti-Netanyahu stance.

Mona Eltahawy Still Has No Clue How the First Amendment Works

Daniel Greenfield

Mona Eltahawy recently became an American citizen. Maybe that accounts for her inability to process the First Amendment. But it’s not that simple. Reading her latest Al-Guardian rant is like an excursion into the mind of a literate but completely immature 5-year-old. Her only real theme is, “But I wanna. And I’m right!”

For those just joining us on the #Savages bus and subway tour, Mona Eltahawy vandalized a pro-Israel ad run by Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs. Except according to her, she wasn’t attacking free speech but expressing her own free speech. It’s kind of how a three-year-old thinks that drawing on a wall with crayons is artistic expression. Adults are supposed to be smarter than that. Mona Eltahawy isn’t.

Hamas govt: Salafists can apply for official status

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – The Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip will not 
oppose the establishment of any new political party as long as the process 
is carried out according to Palestinian law, an interior ministry spokesman 
said Saturday.
 
Islam Shahwan asserted in a statement that freedom of expression and the 
right to establish political parties and other organizations is guaranteed 
for everybody.