From Ian:
David Horovitz: President Abbas, tell your people to stop stabbing us
President Abbas, if you truly care about your people, you need to tell them to stop stabbing us.
They’ve killed about a dozen Israelis in the last month or so, and maybe three times that number of Palestinians have died in the attempt — suicidal stabbers, kamikaze knifers.
You’ve not condemned them. In fact, you’ve encouraged them — while simultaneously peddling the double-speak that we’ve been killing them in cold blood. You’ve publicly declared that “every drop of blood that has been spilled for Jerusalem” is clean and pure and blessed. You’ve reassured each new prospective killer that “every martyr will reach Paradise, and everyone wounded will be rewarded by Allah.”
You obviously don’t care about our people, who have had the temerity to build a thriving Jewish state in our historic homeland, and who you lie about and incite against. But since your people understandably seek their own independence, and to be freed from our rule, you need to tell them that trying to kill us one at a time with knives and screwdrivers and whatever else comes to hand is as counterproductive and doomed as the long series of previous efforts to massacre and terrorize us into leaving — the conventional wars, and the suicide bombings, and the rockets, and the car-rammings, and the relentless effort to demonize and delegitimize and isolate us internationally.
The path to the statehood and independence you seek is actually relatively straightforward. It was wide open in 1947 — all your predecessors had to do for a first-ever Palestine was accept a revived Israel. Instead, they opted for war and futile, bloody, tragic self-sabotage. Today, it’s a case of convincing Israel that it is safe for us to partner with you. Convincing us, to paraphrase president Bill Clinton at the Rabin rally on Saturday night, that the risks of peace are less severe than the risks of walking away.
Antisemitic hate speech by Abbas’ advisor on Islam: Jews represent “evil”
Abbas' advisor on Islamic Affairs and Supreme Shari'ah Judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash demonized Jews and Israel using classic Antisemitic hate speech, presenting Jews as "evil" and Israel as "Satan's project." He presented the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians as an expression of "the historic conflict" - a conflict between "good and evil, between two projects: Allah's project vs. Satan's project," during a sermon on official PA TV. Palestinian Media Watch has exposed the repeated Antisemitic content of another Palestinian teacher of Islam, teaching at the Temple Mount. He recently stated that "Jews worship the Devil."
Abbas' advisor on Islam spread his Antisemitic beliefs in a Friday sermon broadcast on official PA TV:
Mahmoud Abbas' Advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs and Supreme Shari'ah Judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash: "The conflict here in Palestine between us and the criminal occupation and its criminal leaders, is a further manifestation of our trials, a further manifestation of the historic conflict between truth and falsehood, between good and evil. Throughout history, there has been a conflict between good and evil. The good is represented by the prophets and their supporters. The evil is represented by the devils and their supporters, by the satans and their supporters. We are not inventing anything new here (i.e., Palestinian-Israeli). This is a conflict between two entities, good and evil, between two projects: Allah's project vs. Satan's project, a project connected to Allah, which is his will - true and good - and a project connected to oppression and Satanism, to Satanism and animosity, occupation and barbarism." [Official PA TV, Oct. 23, 2015]
Palestinian News Agency Editor-in-Chief: The Jews Will Enjoy Security Only under Arab Rule
Palestinian journalist Dr. Nasser Al-Laham, editor-in-chief of the Maan News Agency, recently said: "The Jews have never had a golden age except under an Arab and Islamic state." He further said: "they have always had and always will have security only under the protection of an Arab state." His statements were posted on the Maan Network Online on October 28, 2015.
There is no Hamas
Personally, I may slip now and then, but I pledge to quit honoring those thugs by giving them titles. It’s Radical Islam, period.
Bibi needs to take the hint.
That’s number 1.
Likewise here are four more usage mistakes that must be stopped:
2. Stop calling him “president” Abbas. Nobody called Al Capone “president” Capone. A thug is a thug.
The minute you call him “president” you give him legitimacy, him and the rest of his goons.
3. Stop being more merciful than G-d, which means stop treating these terrorist bums, their wives, their daughters in Israeli hospitals.
Yes, I know, we’re Jewish and that’s what we do – we do compassion. We’re supposed to be “better than them.”
It’s not working. For once let’s be worse than them and see how that works.
4. Stop voting for Democrats. American Jews, you can’t read the writing on the wall? Obama is no Roosevelt and even Roosevelt was no Roosevelt.
Hillary is no Truman and even Truman was not always Truman (to the Jews).
5. Stop putting your trust in people who proclaim themselves Zionists but blame it all on “the settlements.” Or on Israel’s “policies.” Beware of them who seek “peace” but only through “a two-state solution” but that to Israel falls the task of concession after concession. In other words, they want a 23rd Arab state to replace the one and only Jewish State.
These are not our friends, obviously. Do not be tricked. Know them by their words.
Don’t let them set the terms.
To win the war we have to win back the language.
Israel Embassy in London: Israelis are being stabbed to death in the streets of Jerusalem − why doesn't anyone care?
Radical clerics brandishing knives and holding up explosive belts, Hamas spokesmen acting as cheerleaders for terror attacks, and Palestinian radio playing songs of praise to the "martyrs", were of little interest to a media focused only on Israeli actions.
The willingness to disregard reality, to display this level of animosity toward Israel at a time when its civilians were facing a wave of rampant terror, sends a clear message: "Your lives are of no interest to us".
Unfortunately, reality doesn't conform to the attitude of the media, as we've seen in Syria, where civilians continue to die regardless of scant media coverage, or Gaza, whose population continues to suffer under Hamas even today.
When we read headlines focusing on Israel's in-the-moment response to murderous Palestinian terrorism, rather than on the terrorist stabbings and shootings themselves, I wonder precisely what such people expect from Israelis? When a television presenter asks Jerusalem's mayor if carrying a gun to protect oneself from a stabbing wasn't "excessive"? Do they wish for Israelis to passively accept the terrorist's knife in their chest, and not defend themselves lest this provokes another negative headline or protest abroad?
Solidarity and sympathy with Palestinians aside, what we have witnessed these past weeks has looked like solidarity with murderous Palestinian knife-wielders, mixed with callousness towards innocent Israelis' lives.
Culture of hate battles Israel’s sanctity of life
When the 13-year-old boy got on his bike after school on October 12 in Jerusalem’s Pizgat Zeev neighborhood, he planned to go buy candy and be home in five minutes. Instead, he was brutally stabbed and almost lost his life. He never expected his assailant to be a 13-year-old Palestinian peer.
I am a mother of a 13-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl. While serving my diplomatic post, our daughter, Chen, lived with us in Miami for a few years. This summer she returned to our home in Israel, located in Pizgat Zeev, to finish high school. It is frightening to think that my daughter could have easily been at that stabbing location.
In the recent wave of terrorism in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Beer Shevah and other Israeli cities, most of the attackers were young Palestinians between the ages of 16 and 25. Today, the toll stands at nine Israeli dead and over 100 wounded. Yes, it is shocking that a young Palestinian boy could carry out a terrorist attack, but sadly, it is not surprising considering the degree of incitement to violence that these children are exposed to.
From the earliest age, Palestinian children are subjected to propaganda that promotes hatred and incites violence. These young children watch TV shows with Disney-style characters and friendly-looking hosts that encourage them to kill Jews and become martyrs. Kindergarteners “graduate” in military uniforms, carrying toy guns as they chant their support for violence. I shudder at the thought of my 13-year-old being influenced by evil that would drive him to commit such horror.
Palestinian Preacher at Al-Aqsa Mosque Rally Calls to Restore the Caliphate, Annihilate the Jews
At a rally held at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinian preacher Ali Abu Ahmad said: "Allah willing, the Caliphate will be the one to liberate Jerusalem very soon, after annihilating the rulers of the wicked [Arab] mini-states,... and it will annihilate the Jewish entity." He further called upon Allah to "annihilate the Jews" and to "bring the whip of torment cracking down upon them." The address was posted on the Internet on October 24, 2015.
Palestinian Cleric in Al-Aqsa Mosque Address Discusses Annihilation of the Jews, Virgins of Paradise
In a lesson delivered at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinian cleric Sheikh Khaled Al-Maghrabi said: "Allah is capable of annihilating the Jews all over the world, down to the very last one." Al-Maghrabi compared the rewards of the martyr in Paradise to those of the murabitun in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, saying that while the martyr gets to be married to two virgins in Paradise, the murabit gets 70 virgins. The lesson was posted on the Internet on October 27, 2015.
IsraellyCool: Palestinians In Their Own Words
This is proper journalism. Unedited answers, just what do regular Palestinians living under the control of the Palestinian Authority think.
A couple of personal points.
I’d love to drive to Beirut. Or perhaps the skiing areas in the mountains of Lebanon. I can’t. It wouldn’t be safe to and guess what, there’s a dirty great international border in the way. Just like a checkpoint. There seems to be a lot of grievances about checkpoints that were dismantled five years ago. It’s like these people want the “right” to go travel, but they don’t actually do it that much.
Sure it sucks not to be able to drive right through downtown Jerusalem on your way somewhere, but guess what: last time I drove from Atlanta to New York I took a ring road around Washington DC. It was more than a 20 mile detour I reckon, but it’s better than going through the middle! There is a different reason here: Palestinians living under the PA generally can’t just walk into Jerusalem, but on this side we know why. If none of them were trying to kill us that would end!
Palestinians: How much do you suffer under occupation?
Does Facebook share responsibility for an American peace activist’s brutal murder in Israel?
Then there is the irony that Lakin’s lawsuit is against Facebook, when the retired teacher was an active user and believer in social media. In the days before he was attacked, he had posted numerous articles about the rising violence in Israel and Palestine. One post was an article on a lawmaker’s push to outlaw both Islamic and Jewish extremist groups. “No one on either side is fighting for the people of Jerusalem,” ran the headline to another article he shared with his 551 Facebook friends.
Even the backdrop to his profile page was a picture of a Jewish boy and an Arab boy embracing beneath the word: “Coexist.”
In the wake of the bus attack, however, Lakin’s family’s anger turned towards the very Web site his father had used to advocate peace and cohabitation.
According to Lakin’s son, Micah Avni, at least one of his father’s murderers had announced his plans on Facebook before the attack. Even more outrageous, as Lakin lay in the hospital, Avni found video reenactments of the bus attack on Facebook, “showing how to butcher people and encouraging others to do so,” he told the AP.
“My father had been a great beneficiary of social media. He used Facebook and Twitter to express his thoughts on education and on peace,” Avni told the New York Times. “He also became the victim of a tremendous amount of incitement and hate on those vehicles.”
IDF debunks claim tear gas killed an Arab baby
The IDF on Saturday debunked Palestinian Arab claims that its use of tear gas to break up Arab riots in Judea was at all connected to the death of an eight-month-old boy, after the Palestinian Authority (PA) health ministry said he was asphyxiated.
On Friday, the PA ministry made the claim that Ramadan Thawabteh was asphyxiated in his Bethlehem home by tear gas fired by IDF soldiers trying to disperse Arab terrorists hurling rocks at them.
"Following both medical and operational investigations it was concluded that there is no correlation of IDF activity in the village and the tragic death of the infant," a military spokesman said Saturday.
"Tear gas was used dozens of meters (yards) away from the Thawabteh residence, and no riot dispersal means were directed at the residence," a statement said.
Hundreds of people attended the boy's funeral on Saturday.
3 Border Police wounded in suspected car ramming attack north of Kiryat Arba
Three Border Police officers were wounded in a suspected car ramming attack at the Beit Anoun Junction on Route 60, north of Kiryat Arba, in the Hebron area on Sunday.
One of the victims was moderately wounded, while two others were lightly hurt, when a vehicle slammed into them, according to Magen David Adom. All three victims were approximately 20-years-old. The moderately wounded man was transported to Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem. The lightly wounded victims, a man and a woman, were transported by ambulance to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in the capital.
The suspected terrorist fled the scene of the incident in his vehicle. The IDF set up road blocks in the area in order to catch the suspect.
According to police, the vehicle sped toward a group of Border Police officers at the Beit Anoun junction. The officers opened fire on the vehicle, which continued on its path. IDF and police forces were searching the area for the suspect.
The attack marked the second such incident at the same site on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, a Palestinian was shot and killed after he attempted to stab IDF soldiers at the Beit Anoun Junction. According to the IDF, the attempted attack occurred during Palestinian riots in the area. No Israelis were wounded in that attack.
Terrorist Killed at Same Spot Where Soldier Was Stabbed Last Week
Alert Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian Authority terrorist near Hebron early Sunday afternoon as he tried to stab troops at the same area where a similar attack occurred last week.
Today’s attack during a riot near the intersection of Beit Anoon, immediately north of Hebron, and Highway 60, which links Kiryat Arab-Hebron with Gush Etzion and Jerusalem.
Last week, several hundred feet inside Beit Hanoon, another Arab terrorist seriously wounded a soldier with knife wounds in his throat and neck before he was shot and killed.
The soldier is recovering and now is out of danger.
Alleged plotter behind fatal Old City stabbing nabbed
Abed al-Aziz Mari was accused of helping Muhannad Halabi, 19, cross into Jerusalem illegally, purchasing a knife, and planning out the attack.
Mari planned the attack after police turned him and Halabi away from praying at the Al-Aqsa mosque, according to Hebrew media reports.
Around 7 p.m. on October 3, Halabi stabbed and killed Aharon Banita and Rabbi Nehemia Lavi, and injured Banita’s wife, Adele and their two-year-old son. He was shot and killed by security forces at the scene.
Police said Mari, a resident of Abu Dis, bought the knife for NIS 50 in the Old City after the two were not permitted to pray at the holy site.
Israel dismayed by Palestinian celebrations upon receiving bodies of terrorists
Appearing on Channel 2's Meet the Press on Saturday, Ya'alon voiced disappointment that "the Palestinians did not live up to their word that there would be no celebrations."
The Zionist Union criticized the government on the issue, issuing a statement saying "once again, there is a huge gap between the vocal declarations made by [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's government and its actual deeds. Even the war on terror needs a clear and consistent policy. This zigzagging on the issue of returning bodies suggests weakness."
Meanwhile Saturday, clashes erupted between Palestinian rioters and Israeli forces in Hebron after thousands attended a funeral procession for the five terrorists.
During the funerals, mourners waved Hamas and Fatah flags and called out, "In blood and fire, we will liberate Palestine!" After the funerals concluded, rioters began throwing rocks at IDF soldiers who, in turn, used riot dispersal gear to calm the situation.
Palestinians claims suggest that Israel is expected to transfer two more bodies of terrorists who committed attacks in Israel proper. According to Palestinian reports, Israel has conditioned the transfer of an additional nine bodies on a pledge that they will be buried unceremoniously, in quiet, nighttime funerals.
PA reports 71 'martyrs' died this month
The Palestinian Authority (PA) health ministry on Saturday issued a report of the toll of October's terror wave, in which it stated that 71 Palestinian Arabs died - all of them were termed "martyrs," a term employed for Arab terrorists who die committing their attacks.
In addition to the dead, more than 2,130 people were reportedly wounded by the defensive actions of Israeli security forces putting down violent riots and attacks in Judea, Samaria and Gaza according to the PA.
The announcement stated that 53 Arab terrorists were killed in Judea and Samaria, while another 17 were killed in Gaza, and in addition a resident of the Negev died - a reference to the Bedouin Arab citizen of Israel who conducted the lethal Be'er Sheva central station attack.
The report did not distinguish between terrorists killed while conducting murderous attacks and those who were allegedly not actively involved in riots and attacks but were present at the scene.
The PA went on to claim that 15 of the dead were children, a claim apparently referring to the large number of young Arab terrorists dying while conducting attacks, as well as one pregnant woman.
Ra'anana stabber hoped to be a 'martyr'
The Central District Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment to the Central District Court Sunday against Khalid Basti, 28, from Jerusalem, for attempting to kill Jews in a stabbing attack in Ra'anana earlier this month.
Basti made the deliberate decision to murder Jews, the indictment states, hoping to become a "martyr." To do so, he took a paring knife, concealed it beneath his shirt, and traveled to Ra'anana's popular Jerusalem street to carry out the attack.
He arrived at the station for the 34 bus, which was flooded with people - all of whom had their backs turned to him.
Basti then pulled the knife out and stabbed one of the commuters in the head, shoulder, and neck; the weapon broke due to the force of the blows.
Undeterred, he then proceeded to beat three people with the handle of the knife, not realizing the blade had broken.
Pro-Palestinian activists march on Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires"
Members of Palestinian solidarity organizations and their supporters marched to the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires on Friday to call for peace and to condemn the Israeli government amid the recent wave of Palestinian violence.
The demonstrators carried Palestinian flags and posters and banners blaming the Israeli government for the recent wave of Palestinian terror.
The international relations secretary for Argentina's Latin American Integration Movement of Social Expression (MILES), Rafael Araya Masry, called on the Argentinian government to denounce Israel for the violence and on citizens to boycott the country.
"We are calling on the national government to bluntly condemn this recent Israeli escalation of repression and death that the Israeli government is carrying out," he said.
Experts say jihadists could not have downed Russian plane
International investigators have begun probing why a Russian airliner carrying 224 people crashed in a mountainous area of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, killing everyone on board in one of the deadliest Airbus incidents of the past decade.
The IS affiliate waging an insurgency in the Sinai claimed it brought down the plane in revenge for Russian air strikes against IS in Syria.
But experts rejected the idea they would have either the equipment or expertise to hit the charter flight, which an Egyptian official said was flying at some 30,000 feet when communication was lost.
Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail said experts had confirmed militants could not down a plane at the 30,000 feet (9,000 meter) altitude the Airbus 321 was flying, while Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said the claim “cannot be considered accurate.”
To reach a plane at that altitude “you would need hard-to-use missiles, so it seems unlikely,” said Jean-Paul Troadec, former director of France’s BEA aviation investigation agency.
“This requires trained people and equipment that IS does not have, to my knowledge.”
ISIS group fires at Israel, hits Gaza
A rocket was fired at Israel from Gaza on Friday night, around 12 a.m., by a group identified with Islamic State (ISIS).
To the dismay of the terrorists, who hail from the Salafist “Sheikh Amar Hadid Brigades," the attempt to murder Israeli civilians failed as the missile fell far short of its target.
Instead of hitting Israeli sovereign territory, the rocket landed in Gaza; it is unclear whether any damage or wounds were caused by the projectile.
This is far from the first time Gaza terrorists have missed their mark and hit Gaza in recent months, as the rocket attacks continue despite the ceasefire sealed last summer.
The ISIS identified brigades took responsibility for the attack; back in June they pledged to step up their attacks, in a move estimated to be intended to cause a new conflict between Israel and Hamas and harm Hamas, which the ISIS group is currently clashing with.
The incident was not the only rocket to be fired from Gaza on Friday - in the late afternoon two rockets were fired from northern Gaza into the Mediterranean Sea by Hamas as part of its training and rocket development, as the terror group prepares for the next war against Israel.
EU Gives 13M Euro ‘Social Allowance Payment’ to Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian Authority received 12.6 million euros from the EU on Friday, according to a statement by the Office of the European Union Representative. Most of it went to Gaza.
It was the third of four quarterly payments of social allowances by the EU pledged to support poor Arab families in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
“Eligible beneficiaries are households living in extreme poverty that are registered in the cash transfer program of the Ministry of Social Affairs,” the statement read. “The program is designed to provide a basic safety net to the poorest and most vulnerable Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, through cash and in-kind assistance.
The Palestinian Authority grants convicted, incarcerated murderers monthly stipends of up $3,500, and release grants of up to $25,000, according to the Israel Government Press Office. The GPO quoted a senior PA official responsible for prisoner affairs who said in June 2014 that former Arab prisoners were to receive grants of up to $50,000.
“In this way, the PA is giving a strong financial incentive to terrorism, including through the misuse of fungible foreign financial assistance,” said Israel’s foreign ministry. “Publicly rewarding convicted murderers gives an official stamp of approval to terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians. It is a highly persuasive form of incitement to violence and terrorism… and may tempt young Palestinians to seek an answer to familial financial difficulties through the use of violence.”
PreOccupied Territory: My Scariest Halloween Costume? Palestinian Accountability By Mahmoud Abbas (satire)
Accountability means being held to a standard of behavior that the world now expects only from Jews, including that big one: caring about human life. It means that Palestinian atrocities and terrorism can no longer be excused or explained away. Can you conceive of a more dreadful prospect? It would take away our chief weapon. So of course it makes an excellent Halloween costume. But that is all it can be – a costume. The idea that anyone might treat Palestinian media, officials, and educators as responsible actors with actual volition and moral capacity is far too frightening to be realistic. But in our modern age of science and critical thought, we enjoy the suspension of disbelief, and revel in the extremes. The farther-removed from reality, the more entertaining the getup, provided it is rendered convincingly.
Therein would lie the challenge. How does one depict a Palestinian society expected to demonstrate accountability? Would such a costume even be recognizable? Does anyone even know what Palestinian accountability looks like? Vampires, zombies, skeletons, ghosts – those at least have years, even centuries, of imagery to evoke. Palestinian accountability has no mythology to invoke, no cultural memes – it would be a new phenomenon. No costume can be scary, let alone convincing, if you have to explain what it is.
So it’s a good thing this is little more than an intellectual exercise. I’m getting the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it.
Hamas flaunts 'elite unit' in new propaganda video
A new propaganda video released Saturday by Hamas’s armed wing, Izzadin Kassam, showed a supposed "elite unit" training for a confrontation with the IDF.
The video features Hamas fighters, their faces blurred out, storming would-be IDF posts in what appears to be an urban warfare training site somewhat reminiscent, yet much more basic, than the IDF urban warfare centers used to train troops for complex operations in highly populated areas.
The militants in the video can be seen storming posts - equipped with machine guns, mortars and bombs - practicing shooting skills and training in the usage of infiltration tunnels and handling of a would-be IDF hostage.
Does Iran’s anti-Semitism run too deep for deterrence?
One group, however, poisoned the planet with another idea. To Hitler, says Snyder, “It was the Jew who told humans that they were above other animals, and had the capacity to decide their future for themselves.” To Hitler, “Ethics as such was the error; the only morality was fidelity to race.” Hitler, who did not become a German citizen until 11 months before becoming Germany’s chancellor, was not a nationalist but a racialist who said “the highest goal of human beings” is not “the preservation of any given state or government, but the preservation of their kind.” And “all world-historical events are nothing more than the expression of the self-preservation drive of the races.”
Now, assume, reasonably, that Iran’s pursuit of a potentially genocidal weapon will not be seriously impeded by parchment barriers such as the recent nuclear agreement. And assume, prudently, that the Iranian regime means what it says about Jews and their “Zionist entity.”
Then apply Snyder’s warning: Ideas have consequences. The idea of anti-Semitism is uniquely durable and remarkably multiform. It can express a mentality that is disconnected, as in Hitler’s case, from calculations of national interest.
Hence an anti-Semitic regime can be impervious to the logic of deterrence. Much, including Israel’s calculation of what military measures are necessary for its safety, depends on the nature of Iran’s anti-Semitism.
Khamenei takes aim at ‘Zionist regime’ in major address
Iran’s supreme leader dismissed Sunday the prospect of cooperation with the US on regional issues, saying the latter’s support for Israel highlighted the incompatible policies of the two countries.
“The main factor of insecurity in the region is US support for the Zionist regime and terrorist groups,” Khamenei said.
In a wide-ranging speech on foreign policy, which was also shared on an official government Twitter account, the ayatollah cited US opposition to an Iranian proposal for Palestinian elections to “decide the fate of the Zionists and the settlers.”
Will Iran Walk Away from Nuclear Deal?
The world powers are now experiencing what it means to negotiate with Persian theocrats. All is negotiable; nothing is ever finally decided. Words never commit one to action. Changing circumstances vitiate the substance of any prior commitment, leaving the door open to additional demands. Although the Islamic Republic insists that it be recognized as a normal member of the international community, it will continue to behave as if it is not bound by global norms.
Khamenei's letter indicates that he will not approve implementation of the JCPOA unless the following conditions are met:
1. The U.S. and European nations must draft a letter promising to end all possibility of "sanctions snapback."
2. The West must lift -- not "suspend" -- all sanctions immediately and permanently.
3. The International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) must issue an irreversible declaration ending any future investigation into alleged military dimensions of Iran's nuclear programs.
4. Iran will postpone any renovations at its heavy water (plutonium) reactor at Arak until the signatories of the JCPOA produce an alternative usage plan.
5. Iran will not begin shipping out of country any of its enriched uranium unless the signatories agree to deliver uranium to Iran (albeit at a lower level of enrichment).
6. Iran demands right to implement a phased plan of centrifuge expansion to 150,000 over a period of 15 years.
7. No sanctions are to be leveled against Iran because of alleged support for terrorism or human rights violations.
8. Iran must be free to explore all future advances in nuclear enrichment technology.
Left-wing incitement: Director compares Netanyahu to Hitler
Incitement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reared its head again: Not long after a Ynet editor disseminated a doctored photo of Netanyahu in a Nazi uniform, film director Orna Ben Dor published a post on her Facebook page that appeared to draw a comparison between Netanyahu and Hitler.
Ben Dor wrote that "now [Netanyahu] is economy minister, too, and we aren't doing anything. We complain a little, mope a little, get stabbed a little, are ridiculed a lot, but don't do anything. [It's] a kind of limpness. A lack of belief in ourselves. Tell me -- when Hitler rose to power, did the "decent" Germans gripe and then go on with their lives?"
Some of the users who responded to Ben Dor's post took exception to the comparison, but others supported what she had written. Journalist Avishai Matia wrote that "the comparison isn't between Bibi [Netanyahu] and Hitler, but rather between the German people who allowed a dictator (in that case, a murderous psychopath) to take control of the media and the [public] consciousness and drag the nation into a war and the Israeli people, who are allowing their prime minister to do the exact same thing."
Ben Dor responded to Matia's comment with the words, "Thank you for understanding."
Vic Rosenthal: The Israeli Left’s ongoing reality show
Comparisons with Nazis were always a Big Deal in Israel, and even more so since the Rabin assassination. An editor for YNet (the news website associated with the Yediot Aharonot newspaper) was recently fired for posting a picture of Netanyahu in a Nazi uniform on his personal Facebook page.
The interesting part of the ben Dor controversy is the way she appears to be completely clueless about why people are so upset about her comments.
Her combination of viciousness and lack of comprehension marks the latest in a series of similar incidents in which the ‘creative’ and media elite of Israel have exposed themselves as both stupid and bigots. There was the famous remark by entertainer Dudu Topaz in 1981 that Likud voters were “chachachim” (a vulgar name for Mizrachim), and author and artist Yair Garbuz’s reference to “kissers of amulets, idol-worshippers and people who bow down and prostrate themselves on the graves of saints” this March. Shortly thereafter, poet and actress Alona Kimchi said Likud voters were “f-ing neanderthals” who should “take cyanide.” In June, actor/director Oded Kotler called them “straw and cud munching cattle.”
The pattern repeats over and over. The very people who claim that Netanyahu and his supporters are anti-democratic, racist, ideological sheep exhibit precisely those characteristics themselves. And the more their political camp recedes into irrelevance, the angrier they get. They’re entitled to be angry if they want. But what they are doing is libeling and inciting.
Government bill would oblige NGOs to declare foreign funding
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked was set to publish Sunday a memorandum on a cabinet-sponsored bill that would obligate groups that receive funding from foreign countries to note that fact on all official publications or letters to civil servants.
Representatives of such non-governmental organizations will also be required to wear a tag whenever they attend sessions in the Knesset, declaring the involvement of foreign countries in funding their groups.
The bill would have NGO representatives wear a tag similar to those worn by lobbyists — or face a fine of some NIS 29,000 ($7,500).
Almost all of the groups that would be affected by the bill are identified with the political left.
“The blatant interference of foreign governments in internal matters of the State of Israel with money is an unprecedented, widespread phenomenon that violates of all rules and norms in relations between democratic countries. Financial support by foreign countries to NGOs acting in the internal Israeli sphere destabilizes the sovereignty of the State of Israel and calls into question the authority of the government that was elected by the public,” Shaked said.
Israeli judokas win medals in Abu Dhabi, but without flag
Two Israelis won medals at the Judo Grand Slam tournament in Abu Dhabi over the weekend – albeit while keeping their home country and its flag hidden at the event.
Former world champion Yarden Gerbi won a bronze medal in the women under 63-kilogram weight class, and current European champion Sagi Muki won a bronze medal in the men under 73-kilogram category.
Both wore uniforms with the International Judo Federation insignia and not Israeli flags, as per an agreement with organizers in the United Arab Emirates, which does have formal ties with the Jewish state.
Israeli athletes competing in the Arab world have at times been asked to hide their country’s flag in exchange for visas to enter the country for a competition. Other times, local organizers decline to display Israel’s flag, sometimes drawing criticism.
Israeli Judo Association head Moshe Ponti told the Israeli sports website One that the UAE did not want to let the Israelis compete until a number of conditions were met.
“We went through a series of correspondence and talks with relevant officials in order to come and compete in Abu Dhabi. We got visas on the condition that no stories about this would be published in the Israeli and international media, and this on its own was a hard mission to meet,” he said.
State to intervene in anti-Israel sports boycotts
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu instructed the cabinet secretary and chairman of the National Security Council to intervene in the issue of sports boycotts against Israel on Sunday morning, following an urgent request from Culture and Sports Miri Regev over an incident at a global judo competition over the weekend.
Israeli judaokas Yarden Gerbi and Sagi Muki took home two bronze medals on Saturday night in the Grand Prix, but were forced to appear under the World Judo Federation flag - and not under the Israeli flag - due to the discrimination of the tournament's hosts. The flag was likewise forbidden from their uniforms, under "security" excuses.
The exclusive tournament will award the two Israelis critical points for the coming 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
In parallel to Netanyahu's measures, Regev will hold an emergency meeting at her office this week with the heads of all sports associations in Israel - and is expected to fly for an urgent meeting with the chairman of the Olympic Committee in Zurich in order to find a solution to the issue and prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.
Germany: "20 Million Muslims by 2020"
"We are importing Islamic extremism, Arab anti-Semitism, national and ethnic conflicts of other peoples, as well as a different understanding of society and law." — From a leaked German intelligence document.
"We need to be clear that there must be limits and quotas for immigration -- we cannot save the whole world." — Markus Söder, Finance Minister of Bavaria.
"The migration crisis has the potential to destabilize governments, countries and the whole European continent. ... What we have been facing is not a refugee crisis. This is a migratory movement composed of economic migrants, refugees and also foreign fighters" — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
"Meanwhile, refugees are still heading into Germany -- at a rate of around 10,000 a day. ... The decade after Ms. Merkel first came to power in 2005 now looks like a blessed period for Germany, in which the country was able to enjoy peace, prosperity and international respect, while keeping the troubles of the world at a safe distance. That golden era is now over." — Gideon Rachman, Financial Times.
Austrian MP: 'Zionist money Jews are the global problem'
Susanne Winter, a member of the Austrian parliament from the extreme right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), agreed with a Facebook post that wealthy pro-Zionist Jews are the source of the world’s problems.
A person named Oehlmann Hans-Jörg wrote Friday on Winter’s Facebook page: “The Zionist money Jews are the global problem. Europe, and in particular Germany, are now getting what they deserve from Zionist Jews, particularly rich Zionist Jews in the USA, for the century-long persecution of Jews in Europe. According to the Zionists, Europe, particularly Germany, should be cut off as economic competitors to the US.”
Winter responded to the post on Saturday: “It is great. You took the words right out of my mouth. There are a lot of things that I am not allowed to write. Therefore I’m even more pleased with courageous, independent people.”
Winter appears to have deleted the exchange on her Facebook page but viewers preserved screen shots.
Critics quickly weighed in.
Rare songbird reappears in the Negev after 50 years
Twice every year, some 500 million birds of at least 300 different species pass through Israel on their way to and from breeding grounds in Africa, Asia and Europe. Israeli ornithologists – there are dozens of them around the country – keep a running log of sightings on the Israeli Birding Portal.
In Octobe the blue-cheeked bee-eater made its first official appearance on that news feed in more than 50 years.r,
“All of a sudden, from out of nowhere, a flock of some 30-40 blue-cheeked bee-eaters appeared over the Yerucham Lake Park. There was no mistaking them as their colors and calls filled the air,” writes Eyal Shochat, academic manager at Hoopoe-Yerucham Center of Ecology and Ornithology, on the birding portal. “The blue-cheeked bee-eaters are rare spring migrants at Yerucham and this was the first time ever they showed up here in fall, quite a distance from their traditional migration route in the Jordan Valley.”
These colorful birds with bright green plumage happened to fly over Yerucham, a town in the Negev Desert, during a bird-ringing event. Shochat writes in his blog post that as soon as the ornithologists heard the songbirds’ cries, they played recordings of bee-eaters to attract them to the nets they had set up in order to tag other birds. They successfully caught and ringed six of these rare near-passerine birds.
5 Reasons an IDF Soldier Would Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
Let’s imagine you wake up tomorrow morning to a zombie apocalypse. Most of us do not have what it takes to survive the herds of the undead. That’s because most of us are not IDF soldiers.
Here are 5 reasons why it would be smart to stick with IDF soldiers when the dead come back to life.
1) Stay Stealthy, Stay Alive
2) Know What to Eat
3) Know How to Use a Radio
4) Don’t be a Rambo, Save Your Ammo
5) Know How to Heal Your Wounds
Of course, this is all just a joke. But remember, stick to an IDF soldier during a zombie apocalypse, and you’ll do just fine.
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