WarSclerotic

Israel: Diplomacy Wins As Turkey Halts ‘Freedom Flotilla’ To Gaza
by Jordan Schachtel 30 Jul 2014, 9:14 AM PDT

They’re lucky the Israelis have the patience to deal with this while at war. – LS

Turkey has agreed to cancel a second “freedom flotilla” which was set to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. In exchange for Ankara’s cancellation, Jerusalem allowed for the Turks to send planes of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Earlier this week, Turkey’s “humanitarian relief” organization known as IHH announced it was going to attempt a “rerun” of the 2010 incident that resulted in the deaths of nine Turkish nationals. Israel considers IHH to be a terrorist group.

In 2010, the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, filled with anti-Israel rioters, attempted to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. The flotilla and its relief organization had overtly planned on violating a sovereign country’s legal authority to continue a blockade of Gaza. When IDF forces boarded the ship, they were attacked by the crew of the “freedom flotilla,” forcing Israeli soldiers to draw arms and respond, which resulted in the death of nine of the Mavi Marmara’s passengers.

Turkey responded with fury to the incident, announcing that Israel’s ambassador to Ankara would no longer be allowed to stay there. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan also demanded an apology from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. After two years, Erdogan finally received his apology after US President Barack Obama continuously pressured the Israeli Prime MInister to do so.

Under international law, an attempt by a state-sponsored organization to break a blockade by another sovereign state can be defined as an act of war against the latter state.

Iran General: We Will Hunt Down Israelis House To House
Reza Kahlili 9:50 PM 07/27/2014

The snake is beginning to rear its ugly head.-LS

The deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards vowed revenge against Israel for its ongoing military incursion into Gaza, which has already killed hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis.

“You [people of Israel] are trees without any roots which were planted in the Islamic lands by the British,” Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami said at this week’s Friday prayer sermon in Tehran, Fars News Agency reported. That statement referred to the Balfour Declaration, which led to the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire after World War I and the eventual creation of the state Israel in 1948.

“We will chase you house to house and will take revenge for every drop of blood of our martyrs in Palestine,” Salami said. “and this is the beginning point of Islamic nations awakening for your defeat.”

The deputy commander promised that Palestine will no longer remain calm and cited a statement by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic regime: “Imam [Khomeini] with the statement that Israel must be wiped from the face of the Earth gave a true message to the world. This message enlightened the Muslims and became the concept on the streets of Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.”

Salami, recalling previous wars Israel fought against Hezbollah in Lebanon, said: “The end of the Zionist regime [Israel] has arrived. Islamic movements are armed, missiles are positioned, and today we witness how the arms of the resistance in a corner of the Islamic world are controlling the events in the face of the tragic and barbaric attack by the Zionist regime against the oppressed and defenseless Palestinians in Gaza.”

Salami blamed the U.S. and England for Israel’s policies and activities in the region and stated, “The balance of power will change to the benefit of the Islamic world, and we warn the Zionists that you are a rootless society with no land, no race, no history and no element which constitute a nation. Today, no place in the occupied land is safe for the Zionists … today the missiles of the Palestinian resistance cover much farther than the Zionists expected.

“We are confident that Allah’s promises will come true and in the end the Islamic world will be the graveyard of America and the Zionist regime’s policies along with their allies in the region. The flag of Islam will be raised,” Salami concluded.

The Islamic regime has long trained and armed Hezbollah and Palestinian forces for attacks against Israel. In reference to further arming Palestinians, the speaker of the regime’s Parliament, Ali Larijani, said in a statement Wednesday: “The clear need of Palestine is its need for weapons and basic necessities, and Iran plays an important role in meeting the clear needs of the Palestinian people.”

As reported by The Daily Caller on Wednesday, the Islamic regime’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that the only solution for the region is the destruction of Israel, and that the armed confrontation must expand beyond Gaza.

“These crimes are beyond imagination and show the true nature of the wolfish and child killer regime, (and) the only solution is its destruction,” the ayatollah declared to his audience. “However, until that time, the expansion of the armed resistance of the Palestinians (from Gaza to) the West Bank is the only way to confront this wild regime.”

Tasnim News Agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards, reported on Wednesday that in a letter, 40 high-ranking Guard commanders warned America that it will “certainly be held responsible for the consequences of these events [in Gaza].” The commanders included Ali Shamkhani, current secretary of the regime’s Supreme National Security Council; Yahya Rahim Safavi, the former commander of the Guards and current adviser to the supreme leader; and Ghasem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Forces (in charge of terrorist activities outside of Iran).

The regime has been awarded $2.8 billion in sanctions relief by the Obama administration in return for an agreement on a four-month extension to the Geneva talks in finding a peaceful solution to its illegitimate nuclear program. The Islamic regime had received $7 billion in sanctions relief after the negotiated agreement last November with a six-month deadline to finalize the agreement, but it has so far refused to back down from its demand to continue developing its nuclear program. It has also succeeded in excluding from the talks its ballistic missile program, which is under U.N. sanctions.

The Revolutionary Guards announced last week its first anti-radar ballistic missile, named “Hormouz 1,” and claims it can penetrate and destroy missile defense systems and could now destroy Israel’s famed Iron Dome missile defense system, as well as any Patriot missile defense system. The announcement said the missile could be used to attack the radar systems of U.S. warships and aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf.

Reza Kahlili is a pseudonym for a former CIA operative in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and author of the award winning book “A Time to Betray” (Simon & Schuster, 2010). He serves on the Task Force on National and Homeland Security and the advisory board of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran (FDI)

Iran: We’ll send arms for West Bank war
By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
LAST UPDATED: 07/30/2014 11:41

Once a snake, always a snake.-LS

Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister: During the recent crisis, we were in direct contact and held consultations with Hamas.

Tehran is going to provide missiles to Palestinians in the West Bank, Amir Mousavi, a former adviser to the Iranian defense minister, says.

“A new front must be opened from the West Bank, after it has been armed – especially with missiles, because we know very well that the distance between the West Bank and Tel Aviv, Haifa and other areas is much shorter than the distance from Gaza,” Mousavi said on Lebanese Al-Mayadeen TV on Friday, MEMRI (the Middle East Media Research Institute) reported.

“Therefore, simple means are required. There is no need for long-range missiles.”

Mousavi said that the “resistance camp,” made up of Iran, Hezbollah, Iraq and Syria, has “established very important channels via Jordan, the Golan Heights, and other areas.”

“Everybody will see that new and significant fronts will be opened all of a sudden to support the Palestinian cause in the West Bank and in Gaza,” he asserted.

The “arming of Gaza will be stepped up and strategic weapons will be introduced into the West Bank,” he added. “We hope the PA will not hinder us.”

In another interview on Sunday reported by MEMRI, this time on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV station, Iran’s Deputy Minister for Arab and Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian said his country has been in constant contact with Hamas throughout the current crisis.

“Even under the worst conditions, Iran maintained good ties with Hamas. During the recent crisis, we were in direct contact and held consultations with Hamas, with [leader] Ismail Haniyeh, and with Hamas political bureau head Khaled Mashaal,” said Abdollahian.

He claimed that “85 percent” of Hamas’s rockets “hit their targets” despite reports that Israel’s Iron Dome system has shot down nearly every rocket headed for a built-up area.

“Two days ago, the Iranian foreign minister called Khaled Mashaal and talked with him for 20 minutes. This was a very important conversation,” Abdollahian said. “We regularly support Hamas and Islamic Jihad and all factions of the Palestinian resistance.”

Iran Sends Boatload Of Fajr-5 Missiles To Gaza To Launch At Tel Aviv
NTEB News Desk | November 19, 2012 (Yes, 2012)

Meanwhile, the Israelis were dragged through yet another endless round of peace talks. You can’t say no one knew about the Fajr’s. The snake struck again.-LS)

Iran sends hundreds of Fajr-5 Missiles To Gaza

An Iranian 150-ton freighter departed Bandar Abbas port Sunday, Nov. 18, with a cargo of 220 short-range missiles and 50 improved long-range Fajr-5 rockets for the Gaza Strip, DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources report. The ship turned toward the Bab al-Mandeb Straits and the Red Sea.

The new Fajr-5′s have a 200-kilo warhead, which packs a bigger punch than the 175 kilos of explosives delivered by the rockets in current use with the Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip. To extend their range to cover the 85 kilometers from Gaza to Tel Aviv, Hamas removed a part of their payloads to make them lighter.

Tehran is sending the fresh supply of disassembled rockets to replenish the stocks its allies, the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Islami, depleted in their round-the-clock attacks on Israel since Nov. 10.

To throw Israeli surveillance off the trail, the ship started its voyage called Vali-e Asr owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, and was quickly renamed Cargo Star and hoisted the flag of Tuvalu. This South Pacific island nation, which lies between Hawaii and Australia, has a tiny population of 11,000, most of them Polynesians. Iran provides most of its revenue since earlier this year when Prime Minister Willy Telavi agreed to register Iran’s entire tanker fleet of 22 vessels to Tuvalu, to help Tehran dodge the US-EU oil embargo.

Our intelligence sources have learned that four big Sudanese shipping boats sailed out of Port Sudan early Monday and are waiting to rendezvous with the Cargo Star and offload its missile cargo in mid-sea.

The Sudanese will then be told by Tehran whether put into Port Sudan with the missiles, or turn north and sail up the Red Sea to the Straits of Tiran to link up with Egyptian fishing boats which regularly ply this waterway in the service of Palestinian-Iranian smuggling networks. They would unload the missile cargo in a quiet inlet on the Sinai coast. From there, it would be carried to the smuggling tunnels running from Sinai under the border into the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian teams assisted by Iranian and Hizballah technicians in the Gaza Strip would then assemble the new rockets and make them operational.

Through most of the voyage, two Iranian warships, the Khark heliicopter carrier and Shahid Naqdi destroyer, which are posted permanently in the Red Sea, escorted the arms ship until the cargo changed hands.

DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources also disclose that the Jihad Islami leader Ramadan Abdullah Shelah was sharply remanded by Tehran for meeting Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo Sunday to discuss terms for halting Israel’s counter-missile operation in Gaza now in its sixth day.

Iran bankrolls these Palestinian extremists and has no intention of letting Shelah bow to Cairo’s wishes which run counter to Tehran’s plans and interests.

While Egypt’s new Islamist leaders are intent on carving out for themselves a responsible role in the region by restoring order, solving crises and restraining radicals, radical Iran has its own fish to fry and is bent on escalating war tensions in the Middle East.

U.N. experts trace recent seized arms to Iran, violating embargo
By Louis Charbonneau June (Yes, June) 28, 2014

Old story but relevant. The snake must have known in advance about the events we see unfolding today.-LS

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A U.N. expert panel has concluded that a shipment of rockets and other weapons that was seized by Israel came from Iran and represents a violation of the U.N. arms embargo on Tehran, according to a confidential report obtained by Reuters on Friday.

The finding comes just days ahead of the next round of negotiations in Vienna between Iran and six world powers aimed at securing a deal that would gradually lift international sanctions on Tehran — including the arms embargo — in exchange for curbs on the controversial Iranian nuclear program.

Despite Israel’s public statements that the seized arms were destined for Gaza — an allegation that Gaza’s governing Islamist militant group Hamas dismissed as a fabrication — the experts said the weapons were being sent to Sudan.

The experts do not speculate in the report about why the arms were being sent to Sudan, a country which Western diplomatic and intelligence sources have told Reuters has in the past been a conduit for Iranian arms shipments to other locations in Africa, as well as the Gaza Strip.

The experts said the Israeli U.N. mission wrote to the U.N. Iran Sanctions Committee on March 13 about “the transfer of rockets, mortars and related materiel from Iran to Sudan.”

The 14-page report on the incident by the U.N. Security Council’s Panel of Experts on Iran makes no mention of the Gaza Strip as a possible destination for the arms, which were concealed in 20 containers on the Panamanian-flagged vessel Klos C. The weaponry was seized by Israeli authorities in March.

The U.N. experts reached their conclusion after investigating the case and inspecting the seized cargo and documentation related to the shipment, which travelled from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas to the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, and from there in the direction of Port Sudan.

The vessel was intercepted by the Israeli navy in the Red Sea before it reached Sudan.

“The Panel finds that the manner of concealment in this case is consistent with several other cases reported to the (Security Council’s Iran Sanctions) Committee and investigated by the Panel,” the experts said.

“The Panel concludes that the shipment of arms and related materiel found aboard the Klos C is a violation of Iran’s obligations under paragraph 5 of resolution 1747,” they added, referring to the U.N. arms embargo on Tehran.

Despite Iranian denials, the experts said official seals from Iranian customs authorities on containers that held some of the arms “substantiates the Iranian origin of those containers.” Further evidence on the Iranian origin came from the Iranian bill of lading, cargo manifest and the container stowage plan.

Iran’s U.N. mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

NO PROOF OF SYRIAN ORIGIN

The report includes details on the arms, which were concealed in a shipment of cement: 40 M302 rockets and fuses, including four different variations of the rockets; 181 120 mm mortar shells; roughly 400,000 pieces of 7.62 caliber ammunition.

The experts could not confirm the Israeli allegation that some of the weapons were made in Syria.

“According to Israeli officials, the rockets were produced in Syria by the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC),” they said. “No markings were identified on the rockets during the Panel’s inspection that would have allowed confirmation of the Syrian origin of the rockets.”

“One expert notes that the Syrian origin of the rockets cannot be independently established and neither can the movement of the rockets from Syria to Iran,” the report added.

It was not clear from the report what, if any, role Iraq could have played in the smuggling of weaponry. The 20 containers that held the illicit arms were part of the 100-container shipment loaded onto the Klos C at Bandar Abbas, Iran.

The 50 containers of cement loaded onto the ship at Umm Qasr in Iraq did not contain weapons, the report said, citing information the experts had received from Israeli authorities.

The experts said the concealment techniques were similar to other cases of alleged sanctions violations by Iran they have investigated — in Nigeria, arms were shipped amid crates of marble; in other cases reported by Israel arms were hidden in containers with polyethylene pellets, lentils and cotton.

In another case of reported by Italy, Iran allegedly shipped dried explosives among bags of powdered milk, the report said.

At the time that the arms were seized, Israel said the case showed Iran was not negotiating in good faith with the six powers – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.

“At the same time that it is talking to world powers, at the same time that Iran is smiling and saying all kinds of honeyed words, that same Iran is sending lethal weaponry to terrorist organizations and it is doing so in a complex web of covert, worldwide operations,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

The circulation of the Panel of Experts’ report to the Iran Sanctions Committee just ahead of a deadline for Iran and the six powers to reach an agreement in the Vienna nuclear talks clearly irritated Russia.

Earlier this week Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, complained that “any information not backed up by concrete facts … could have a negative impact on the conduct of negotiations of the group of six and Iran.”

But Russia was in the minority in its complaints. Other Security Council members, including the chair of the Iran sanctions committee, Australian Ambassador Gary Quinlan, praised the investigative work of the Panel of Experts.

France’s deputy U.N. envoy Alexis Lamek said the experts annual report submitted to the sanctions committee last month was a “precise source of information on Iran’s illicit programs and its methods of circumventing sanctions.”

The panel’s annual report said that Tehran’s illicit procurement appeared to have slowed during its negotiations with the six powers, though Iranians continued to attempt to bypass sanctions on a regular basis.

Hamas must be defeated the old-fashioned way, beginning with a demand for unconditional surrender
By Zev Chafets Published July 28, 2014

Has anyone considered this form of ceasefire?-LS

On Monday morning, the Jerusalem Post published the results of a poll on Israel’s next steps. About 10 percent of the public said that enough was enough and it was time for a cease-fire. Another 3 percent weren’t sure.

But 86.5% of Jewish Israelis said that they want to keep fighting.

Nobody asked me, but I’m with the majority.

Twice before, in 2008 and 2012, Israel attempted to end Hamas infiltration and rocket fire with limited military actions. Both of those efforts ended in a cease-fire accompanied by Israeli government threats to Hamas of the “don’t make me come back here again” variety.

When Hamas opened fire three weeks ago, many Israelis hoped that this time would be different. Instead, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his cabinet adopted a limited set of war aims: destroying Hamas tunnels into Israel, weakening its rocket capacity and improving the conditions of the next cease fire.

Since then, Israel has blown up a lot of tunnels. It has shot down a lot of missiles and rockets. And it has agreed to four or five temporary cease fires. And still, it has yet to achieve any of these limited goals. Hamas is still firing missiles (it killed five inside Israel Monday), infiltrating commando units via the supposedly destroyed tunnels (another team struck Monday), and violating every “humanitarian ceasefire” (as it did Monday). In short, Hamas is fighting for real. It sees this as a real war, a life and death struggle.

On this, I’m with Hamas.

This is a real war. And the goal of a real war is victory.

Hamas will not be defeated by blowing up its tunnels. If Israel withdraws after the next temporary cease fire, it will dig deeper, better tunnels. Hamas will not be defeated by depleting its arsenal of rockets. If Israel lets Hamas stand, it will get more from Iran (which freely admits supplying them) or build them from smuggled parts. If it can, it will fill these new rockets with chemicals, which will make it impossibly dangerous for Israel to shoot them down over civilian areas, which is what Hamas aims at.

No, Hamas has to be defeated the old-fashioned way. That begins with a new demand — unconditional surrender — and the willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve it.

Will the TV footage be bad for Israel’s image? That depends on who’s watching. The anti-Israel European left and anti-Jewish European Muslims will be incensed, but they already are. Some blushing liberal rabbis and Jewish celebrities will echo Michael Corleone (“It’s my family, Kay, it’s not me”). Op-ed columnists and editorial writers may decry the loss of Israel’s “moral high ground.” Experts who insist that it is settled political science that terror can’t be defeated militarily will refuse to believe their eyes.

How do I know this? I’ve seen this show before.

But television land is a big place. The rulers of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which consider Hamas a terrorist enemy, will probably enjoy the show. So will the leaders of Russia, China, India, Nigeria and other countries currently engaged in efforts to defeat Islamic fundamentalist insurrections.

For Israel, Jihadis are a key demographic. They may not like seeing Gaza in flames and Hamas defeated, but these are scenes that will concentrate their minds. Will the Iranian Ayatollahs, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, the Kaliphate Killer Kids of ISIL and other modern-day Saladins come away hating Israel even more than they do now? Maybe so. But they will also have a more realistic view of what they can do about it.

As always, the most important audience of all is right here at home. Over the years, Israelis have become habituated to a certain level of Hamas violence. Missiles? Hey, they don’t kill that many people. Kidnapping? Give up a thousand terrorists and you get your guy back. Replace Hamas? What comes next could be worse! Can’t we just make a better deal this time, get a few more years of relative quiet before the next round?

The answer is, no. There is no deal to make with Hamas, and no successor Israel should fear more. Hamas is the devil it knows but it is also the demon it has to slay. How much slaying depends on how fast the Hamasniks surrender or — here’s a long shot — the people of Gaza decide they’ve had enough and turn on them.

Does Bibi Netanyahu have the stomach to bring this about? Does he even want to? I don’t know. But I do know who wants him to try — 86.5% of the Jewish Israeli public.

Turkish PM Erdogan returning Jewish American award
Published: 07.29.14, 16:01 / Israel News

Now if we could only get that Nobel prize back from Barack.-LS

After American Jewish Congress demands Turkish PM return prize after saying Israel ‘surpassed Hitler in barbarism,’ Erdogan gladly agrees.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is returning an award given to him by a Jewish American group in 2004, after the group asked for it back because of comments he made regarding the conflict in Gaza.

Turkey’s US ambassador wrote to Jack Rosen, president of the American Jewish Congress, on Erdogan’s behalf saying that because of Israel’s actions in Gaza and “the regrettable stance” of the American Jewish Congress, Erdogan “will be glad to return the award.” The letter, dated July 27, was made available Tuesday.

Last week, Rosen described Erdogan as “arguably the most virulent anti-Israel leader in the world.” He said Erdogan was given the Profile of Courage award for working for a peaceful solution in the Middle East his commitment to protecting Turkey’s Jewish citizens.

Rosen’s open letter to Erdogan had cited the Turkish leader’s recent comments that Israel had “surpassed Hitler in barbarism” through its attacks on Gaza.

Erdogan’s office released a copy of the response letter to the media, describing it as Turkey’s official response.

“The absence of this award will not prevent Prime Minister Erdogan from resolutely fighting against terrorism, working towards the peaceful solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and upholding the safety and well-being of the Jewish community in Turkey,” the letter continued.

The US State Department called Erdogan’s earlier remarks, in which he likened an Israeli MP to Hitler and said the Jewish state was terrorising the region, “offensive and wrong”.

Relations between Turkey and Israel have hit their “lowest level” amid the Jewish state’s assault on the Gaza Strip, and may not be able to improve for some time, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said.

Arinc, one of the founding members of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist-influenced AKP party, said Turkey had always calibrated its relations with Israel according to Israel’s behavior towards the Palestinians.

“Our relations have always been reduced to a minimum whenever Israel continued occupation, dropped bombs in Palestine and carried out massacres,” he told AFP in an interview in Ankara on Thursday.

Israel has withdrawn most of its diplomatic staff from Turkey after violent protests against its missions while Erdogan has enraged Israeli leaders by describing the Gaza assault as a genocide.

“The lowest level (in relations) right now will maybe continue for a while,” said Arinc.

A Turkish daily affiliated with Erdogan sparked a furor after it called on the country’s Jewish community to apologize for the Palestinian casualties of the Israeli operation in Gaza.

“You came here after being banished from Spain,” Yeni Akit correspondent Faruk Köse wrote Wednesday in an open letter to Hakham Bashi, the chief rabbi of Turkey’s Jewish community. “You have lived comfortably among us for 500 years and gotten rich at our expense. Is this your gratitude – killing Muslims? Erdogan, demand that the community leader apologize!”

Iran’s Proxy War Against Israel
July 29, 2014 by Majid Rafizadeh

The proverbial snake in the wood pile.-LS)

While the mainstream media has focused solely on Hamas and Israel in the current ongoing war, there has been less attention given to the major role that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been playing in ratcheting up the conflict with its military assistance to Hamas fighters, including Iranian-built Fajr 5 and M-75 with ranges of approximately 75 kilometers.

These are missiles and rockets that can target cities like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

It is worth noting that the export of arms as well as military and weaponry assistance by the Islamic Republic to Hamas is legally prohibited by the United Nations Security Council, written in UN Resolution 1747.

Although Iranian leaders often deny that they are supporting Hamas militarily, some, including former Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, admitted that the Islamic Republic has been supplying military aid and technology to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. On the Iranian parliament’s website, Larijani stated, “We are honored to provide the Palestinian people with military aid, while all Arabic countries do is hold meetings. Palestinian people do not need lectures and meetings.”

In addition, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Mohammad, Ali Jafari, admitted that Iran is supplying weapons to Hamas and other groups: “Iran provides technical assistance to all Muslims who fight against world arrogance.”

What is Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s stance? Is he truly a moderate? Rouhani’s stance on arming Hamas and standing against Israel is no different from his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Iranian president recently projected Iran’s leadership by calling Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and pointing out that tthe Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, and the international community, ought to take immediate and serious steps to assist Hamas and the Palestinians.

After all, Iranian presidents are all loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In fact, across Iran’s political spectrum, there is no difference with regard to their position towards arming Hamas and fighting Israel. They all share anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinians views. In addition, whenever the international community or the United States has attempted to broker a peace, Iranian leaders have attempted to scuttle it. Their view is the same as what Ahmadinejad previously conveyed: “Who gave them [Mahmoud Abbas’ negotiating team] the right to sell a piece of Palestinian land? The people of Palestine and the people of the region will not allow them to sell even an inch of Palestinian soil to the enemy. The negotiations are stillborn and doomed.”

The Iranian leaders hypocritically and frequently point out that the reasons they support the Palestinians and Hamas are humanitarian. Nevertheless, the main reason is advancing Iran’s regional hegemonic ambitions and its strategic, geopolitical and ideological goals.

In addition, the Islamic Republic has been seeking to project its regional hegemonic supremacy by supporting not only Shiite groups such as Hezbollah (Lebanon), Bashar Al Assad (Syria), and Nori Al Maliki (Iraq), but also penetrating the Sunni communities and supporting groups such as Hamas.

Since the Islamic revolution in Iran, the main foreign policy objectives of the Islamic Republic have been rivalry and antagonism towards the United Sates and its ally Israel.

The Islamic Republic attempted to find or create any group possible to stand against US foreign policy in the region (as well as those of Israel), in order to advance Tehran’s ideological, strategic and geopolitical objectives in the region.

The major force in Iran supporting Hamas are the Quds forces, an elite branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps which fight abroad, under the leadership of Khamenei and headed by Qasem Suleimani.

Another admission from the Islamic Republic on arming Hamas came from its own press, surprisingly. Last week, Javan newspaper, an Iranian state newspaper, stated, “The Islamic Republic of Iran is the only country in which a consensus on the Palestinian issue exists between the regime and its people. Together with popular support for the Palestinian fighters, the [Iranian] regime also provides important aid to the Palestinian fighters, including military weaponry… This measure by the Islamic Republic – arming the Palestinian groups – is carried out publicly, and not in secret, and has even been publicly emphasized by the leader [Khamenei],” according to Algemeiner and MEMRI’s translation of the Persian text.

Accordingly, the Islamic Republic has also provided Hamas with Fajr 5 missiles and Abadil drones before the war.

Across Iran’s political spectrum, Iranian leaders follow the words of the founder of this theocratic regime, Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah and Ali Khomeini, who repeatedly attempted to rally people against Israel and the United States, “To liberate Qods [Jerusalem], Muslims should use faith-dependent machine guns and the power of Islam and keep away from political games which reek of compromise… Muslim nations, especially the Palestinian and Lebanese nations, should punish those who waste time indulging in political maneuvers.”

Under the presidency of Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s foreign policy has not shifted and it is crucial to draw attention to Iran’s intervention and military assistance as the Islamic Republic is major player in ratcheting up the ongoing war.

A Cartoon About Israel That Even A Lib Can Understand
by Shifra on July 22, 2014

It is usually during a time of crisis that we get to see who our true friends really are.

Israel is now in a time of crisis.

And if you take a quick glance at Twitter, it is immediately obvious that Conservatives, and especially Christian Conservatives, “have Israel’s back.”

Libs? Not so much.

The ones on the extreme Left?

As they say in Brooklyn, “fuhgeddaboudit.”

Nothing will change their minds, and they will continue to spew their hateful venom. (The tweets about Hitler, Jews and ovens are particularly classy. Not)

Other Libs are just Low Information People. (Remember, they all voted for the Gum-Chewer-in Chief.)

Kudos to Tammy for engaging with one of ‘em: Mia Farrow. You can follow the entire exchange here: Via Twitchy: Mia Farrow: ‘Why are they bombing homes in Gaza City?’ Tammy Bruce answers

The following Youtube was sent to me by a friend, yesterday. Not sure of the original source.

But since it is in cartoon form, maybe some of the Low Information peeps will “get” it.

Congress to UN: Hamas’ Arsenal Must Be Removed
BY: Adam Kredo July 29, 2014 9:00 am

There are a lot of good folks in the US government. Problem is, the bad ones make too much damn noise.-LS

Nearly 100 House lawmakers will petition the United Nations this week to formally designate Hamas’ rocket arsenal as “an impenetrable barrier to regional peace” and to make their removal from the Gaza Strip a “top priority,” according to a copy of the unsent letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

A bipartisan coalition of House lawmakers have already signed on to the letter, which will be sent later this week to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The letter comes as Hamas ignores all recent ceasefire agreements and continues to fire rockets at Israeli civilians, who have been seeking shelter from these attacks for weeks since Hamas launched its latest war on Israel.

As the Israeli military continues its campaign to dismantle Hamas’ network of underground tunnels and clear the strip of missiles, House lawmakers led by Reps. Doug Lamborn (R., Colo.) and Brad Schneider (D., Ill.) are pushing the U.N. to take a more active stance against Hamas.

“We, the elected representatives of the American people, call on the United Nations to formally recognize Gaza’s rockets as an impenetrable barrier to regional peace, and to make their immediate removal a top priority,” write the lawmakers, who are joined on the letter by 10 leading pro-Israel organizations.

“We urge the United Nations to take the steps necessary to make the removal of Hamas’ rockets a top priority,” states the letter, which is signed by lawmakers who, in a somewhat surprising show of bipartisan support, are both extremely liberal and extremely conservative.

“Doing so will bring much needed stability to a region that has been plagued by terror and suffering for too long and is imperative to any effort to bring a lasting peace to the people of Israel and Gaza,” they write.

The U.N. has done little to censure Hamas for engaging in a litany of war crimes in recent weeks, including using civilians as human shields and intentionally targeting civilians with rockets.

However, the United Nations, led by Arab member states, has sought to condemn Israel’s defensive maneuvers and force Israel to make concessions to Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror organization.

U.S. efforts to broker a ceasefire have also favored Hamas’ demands on Israel, which has forced the Jewish state to flatly reject these proposals, according to reports.

Lawmakers petition the U.N. to take Hamas’ rocket supply—some of which is supplied by Iran and its affiliates—as a serious threat to international safety.

“More than 9,000 rockets have been fired out of Gaza since 2001,” the letter states. “Once considered to be short-range threats with minimal payloads, Hamas has continuously improved the range and lethality of these rockets to ensure a maximum threat to Israel.”

“Hamas can now reach virtually every major population center in Israel, with deadly effect,” they write. “Today, every rocket fired puts the long-sought peace between Israel and the Palestinians further out of reach.”

While U.S. lawmakers are coming together to express their support for Israel and disdain for Hamas, many leaders across the world have focused solely on Israel’s military campaign, chastising the Jewish state for its efforts to destroy Hamas’ terror network.

“In its rush to secure a ceasefire, the international community is ignoring the most important factor,” said Aaron Menenberg, a fellow at the Israel Allies Foundation (IAF), one of the many Jewish groups supporting the House letter to the U.N.

Like the lawmakers who signed on, a diverse mix of interest groups back the letter, including: The Jewish Federation of North America (JFNA), the Republican Jewish Coalition, the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC), the Zionist Organization of America, and even the liberal fringe group J Street, among others.

“For Hamas this war is about fundraising and credibility-boosting,” said IAF’s Menenberg. “For Israel, it’s about restoring calm and preserving life. Both are fighting for survival, but only one is worth preserving. If the world wants to end the fighting, it needs to end Hamas, and that starts with getting rid of its rockets.”

Hamas’ use of sophisticated Iranian-made rockets that can reach deep into Israel has been a game changer this time around, Menenberg said.

“It was always unacceptable to fire rockets on civilian populations. But now, Hamas has the capacity to reach nearly all of Israel’s population,” he said. “It takes the threat to a whole new level. Without removing the rockets, this will only continue and become deadlier in the months and years ahead.”