Posted tagged ‘Abbas’

The Obama Intifada

October 16, 2015

The Obama Intifada, Washington Free Beacon

Palestinians improvise a barricade during clashes with Israeli troops near Ramallah, West Bank, Saturday, Oct. 10 / AP

Obama won’t hold the Palestinians accountable because that might jeopardize his policy of daylight between America and Israel. A policy that was intended to improve U.S. credibility in the Muslim world and thereby denuclearize Iran, disarm and remove Bashar al-Assad, and establish a peaceful Palestinian state. A policy that has instead destabilized the region, formalized the Russian-Iranian-Syrian axis, enriched and empowered the Shiite theocracy, rattled our allies, and done nothing to curtail Palestinian intransigence.

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

More than 30 dead in Israel as Palestinians armed with knives attack innocents. What’s responsible? A campaign of incitement, which slanderously accuses Jews of intruding on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and murdering Arab children in cold blood.

And who is legitimizing this campaign? None other than Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, whom President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have long held up as a peacemaker. “I think nobody would dispute that whatever disagreements you may have with him, he has proven himself to be somebody who has committed to nonviolence and diplomatic efforts to resolve this issue,” Obama told writer Jeffrey Goldberg in 2014.

That’s a strange view of commitment. This is the same Abbas, remember, who rejected then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s absurdly generous 2008 peace offer. The same Abbas who resisted negotiations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the 10-month settlement freeze in 2010, which Obama demanded explicitly on the grounds that it would give Abbas the cover he needed to begin talks. Abbas finally relented to Saudi pressure, and attended a few meetings with Netanyahu that September. But under no definition of what the word “negotiation” actually means were these meetings for real: The freeze was about to expire, the get togethers were perfunctory, and nothing of significance was discussed. The farce ended soon after.

It is a lie to say that Mahmoud Abbas is committed to a diplomatic resolution. Just as it was a lie when, the other day at Harvard, Secretary Kerry attributed the bloodshed to “a frustration that is growing” because of the “massive increase in settlements over the course of the last years.” As Elliott Abrams points out, there has been an increase in the population of the settlements, but not in their size. As if the settlements have any connection to what’s happening in the first place: The terror gripping Israel is the result of a Palestinian leadership so adrift and corrupt, so aggrieved and conspiratorial, that it encourages the radicalization of its youth and promotes an atmosphere of hatred and murder.

David Horovitz of the Times of Israel recounts the history. Not only did Abbas reject Olmert and Obama. He insisted in 2013 that the Palestinian “right of return,” which would irrevocably transform Israel into a bi-national state, be part of any deal. Declared in 2014 that Israel was committing “genocide” in Gaza. Announced in 2015 that the Palestinian Authority would no longer uphold previous agreements. Charged Israel, falsely, with infiltrating and violating Muslim sites. Encouraged Palestinians to lionize the knife-wielding assailants as martyrs, victims of Israeli “execution.” Spread the myth that 13-year-old Ahmad Mansara, recovering in an Israeli hospital from wounds he incurred in a botched terrorist attack—in which he critically wounded a Jewish teen—had been killed by an Israeli vigilante.

Concludes Horovitz: “The fact is that Abbas has quite deliberately fueled the flames of this latest Al-Aqsa-centered terror wave.”

And what has the United States done to stop him? Nothing. Not during this presidency. Obama’s focus has been laser-like when it comes to Israel’s missteps, Israel’s weaknesses, Israel’s moral code, and what he sees as Israel’s true interests. Abbas, on the other hand, is someone Obama has been content to puff up, placate, excuse, humor, ignore.

“I have to commend President Abbas,” Obama said during a bilateral meeting at the White House last year. “He has been somebody who has consistently renounced violence, has consistently sought a diplomatic and peaceful solution that allows for two states, side by side, in peace and security.”

In his interview with Goldberg, conducted around the same time, Obama added, “I believe that President Abbas is sincere about his willingness to recognize Israel and its right to exist, to recognize Israel’s legitimate security needs, to shun violence, to resolve these issues in a diplomatic fashion that meets the concerns of the people of Israel.”

But at that White House meeting, according to reports, Abbas explicitly rejected three key elements of any agreement: recognition of Israel as a Jewish State; renunciation of the right of return; and commitment to “end of conflict” language that would foreclose future Palestinian demands. As he has done with so many dictators, theocrats, and goons, the president offered an open hand—and was rebuked with a closed fist.

This rebuke was not met with forceful rhetoric, countermeasures, or a shift in policy to strengthen Palestinian institutions, develop Palestinian civil society, broaden and liberalize the Palestinian leadership. It was met with silence. The White House just looked the other way.

“My concern about Obama is that he never asks anything about the Palestinians. He gives them a complete pass,”says Ambassador Dennis Ross, a former Obama official whose new book Doomed to Succeed tells the story of the beleaguered U.S.-Israel alliance. “It makes it worse for the Palestinians. For the Palestinians, you have a political culture that is driven so much by this profound sense of victimhood and grievance—the idea that they should do anything towards the Israelis, they should make any accommodation towards the Israelis, is completely illegitimate.”

Why the pass? Jeffrey Goldberg says it’s because the Palestinians “have less power.” That’s no excuse. Another possibility: The president is occupied with Cuba, ISIS, Syria, Ukraine, and Iran. He doesn’t have the bandwidth to hold Mahmoud Abbas to the same standard as Benjamin Netanyahu.

But we know that’s not the case, either. The president has been more than happy to castigate Netanyahu all along. Can’t he say a few tough things about Abbas?

Obama won’t hold the Palestinians accountable because that might jeopardize his policy of daylight between America and Israel. A policy that was intended to improve U.S. credibility in the Muslim world and thereby denuclearize Iran, disarm and remove Bashar al-Assad, and establish a peaceful Palestinian state. A policy that has instead destabilized the region, formalized the Russian-Iranian-Syrian axis, enriched and empowered the Shiite theocracy, rattled our allies, and done nothing to curtail Palestinian intransigence.

Even the carrot Obama offered Israel as part of the Iran deal—interdiction of Iranian weapons to Hezbollah—has been exposed as an illusion. Russia has a no-fly zone in Syria and is arming Syrian regulars and presumably Hezbollah, too. How else to explain Netanyahu’s sudden visit to Moscow last month? Hezbollah with a nuclear umbrella was something the Iran deal was supposed to prevent. Now Hassan Nasrallah benefits from the Russian nuclear umbrella, in addition to the Iranian one that will be unfurled a decade hence. Great job Obama.

So here we are: Palestinians no closer to statehood, Israel terrorized, Jewish and Arab lives being lost, and an atmosphere so rife with revisionism and paranoia that the New York Times is questioning the history of Jews on the Temple Mount. All because President Obama forgot that daylight ends in darkness.

Don’t let facts confuse you

October 16, 2015

Don’t let facts confuse you, Israel Hayom, Judith Bergman, October 16, 2015

When it comes to Israel and terrorism, there is a standard one-size-fits-all default formula that works whatever the facts on the ground here are. This is fortunate for the multitudes of self-declared “Middle East experts” out there, because it means that they can explain the situation here without having to resort to reality — in other words what is actually happening here — and without having to preoccupy themselves with understanding that reality.

As the Jewish radical and anti-Semite, Ilan Pappe, told the Belgian newspaper “Le Soir” in 1999: “Indeed the struggle is about ideology, not about facts. Who knows what facts are? We try to convince as many people as we can that our interpretation of the facts is the correct one, and we do it because of ideological reasons, not because we are truthseekers.”

Despite being outrageous and counter-intuitive to anything that the once truth-seeking Western civilization stood for, this quote and the worldview it represents — disturbingly similar to that of the former Soviet Union — has become the mantra, whether they are aware of it or not, of hordes of journalists, opinion makers, and politicians. You should keep that in mind, when listening to statements such as this one:

“And there’s been a massive increase in settlements over the course of the last years. Now you have this violence because there’s a frustration that is growing.”

In other words, it is “the occupation” — part one of the one-size-fits-all default formula. And no, the statement did not come from an obscure source in the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement, but from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Once the almost ritualistic “explanation,” completely removed from reality (since new settlement construction has been the lowest under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu than under any of his predecessors, according to data from Construction Ministry), of why Israeli cities and roads are made unsafe by Palestinian terrorists on the prowl to kill Jews had been established by Kerry, he proceeded to part two of the formula: “I am not going to point fingers [at the culprits] from afar. This is a revolving cycle that damages the future for everybody.”

The mysteriously self-igniting “cycle” of violence. No mention of the situation in Israel seems possible without “the cycle.” It has been in the formula — just like the settlements — for decades. And why shouldn’t it be? After all, it frees you from attaching any weight to the current reality of unprovoked Palestinians killing Jews just because they are Jews. In fact, the inherent bias implicit in this “cycle” concept is that it is all really the Jews’ own fault.

Coming from Kerry, the statements are naturally much more disturbing than when the identical analysis — or rather lack of analysis — comes from most other politicians and opinion makers, since the U.S. is still supposed to be our biggest ally.

In stark contrast, Canadian National Defense Minister Jason Kenney posted the following message on his Facebook page on October 14: “Canada condemns in the strongest terms possible the recent wave of terror attacks against Israeli civilians that has resulted in a number of tragic deaths and injuries. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the victims. We are deeply concerned by escalating incitement and violence that does nothing to advance the interests of peace, stability, and security in the region. There can be no justification for these attacks, and we will continue to oppose efforts undermine Israel’s legitimacy or right to defend herself in the face of terror.”

It is a rare thing for the analysis of international affairs to be subjected to such reductionist and indeed static extremes, as is the case with Israel. The one-size-fits-all default formula is recycled in all situations, regardless of facts on the ground and regardless of Israel’s actions.

There are no signs of this trend changing in the near future. In fact, the willingness of the general international public to shut eyes and ears to reality and not let it interfere with the ideology inherent in this formula has indeed become comparable to a natural reflex. That is what will happen, when you repeat a lie long enough. There is indeed now, a whole generation of Western youth literally brought up with that lie, which explains the prevalence of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activity on university campuses.

As a consequence, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas believes he can get away with openly lying about anything. This includes claiming the child terrorist Ahmed Manasra had been “executed” by Israel, when in fact Abbas was perfectly aware that the very same terrorist is being treated with excellent care at an Israeli hospital by the very people that he was brainwashed to kill, and at the expense of the Israeli taxpayer.

Abbas knows the default formula better than anyone and he is relying on it to accomplish his goals. He knows fully well that his lies work the moment they hit the airwaves or the internet and that no amount of proof to the contrary will change that fact. The world loves a blood libel and Abbas knows that. After all, he has a Ph.D. advocating Holocaust denial and years of experience telling him that lies about Israel — the “Jenin massacre” and the Muhammad al-Dura case, just to mention a few — gain a life of their own, once they are out there, regardless of how much proof is presented to the contrary.

The workings of this kind of logic would have made the old Soviets proud. This is no coincidence, of course, since so many of the old PLO terrorists learned their trade in the communist bloc. Abbas himself earned his Ph.D. at a university in Moscow.

The Cold War ended a long time ago, but the legacy of the Soviet ideological mindset is alive and well.

The State Department clown car makes things worse in the Middle East

October 16, 2015

The State Department clown car makes things worse in the Middle East, Power LineJohn Hinderaker, October 15, 2015

(Kirby: Israel has changed the status at Temple Mount. Whoops. I didn’t mean to suggest that. — DM)

This violence, while of great concern to Israelis, pales in comparison with the human catastrophes in Syria and elsewhere in the region. But as always, Israel and its tormentors occupy a disproportionate share of the world’s attention, including–unfortunately–that of the U.S. State Department.

Initially, John Kerry sparked outrage by suggesting that the Palestinian attacks were caused by Jews building homes in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem:

“There’s been a massive increase in settlements over the course of the last years,” Kerry said during a question-and-answer session, “and there’s an increase in the violence because there’s this frustration that’s growing.”

That makes perfect sense–the natural reaction to Jews moving into their ancestral homeland is to try to kill them, evidently.

Yesterday, State Department spokesman John Kirby made matters worse during his press briefing by maintaining an exquisite neutrality as between would-be murderers and their victims. The colloquy is too long to reproduce here, but it is helpful to read the whole thing to get a full understanding of the tone. I will reproduce some highlights, and comment on them:

QUESTION: Let’s start with the Middle East and some comments that Secretary Kerry made yesterday and also that the White House just made. … There’s been quite a bit of, I don’t know, uproar maybe is the right word about his comments about settlements contributing to – massive increase in settlements over the course of the last years being responsible for the current upsurge in violence. Recognizing that the settlement issue is one that is of serious concern to the Palestinians, is it the Administration’s view that settlement activity is, in fact, to blame for or is responsible for the current surge in attacks that we’re all seeing?

MR KIRBY: I think the Secretary was very consistent yesterday and has been over time in not trying to affix blame for the recent violence too particularly, and he was unequivocal yesterday, as you saw, in condemning the terrorist attacks against Israelis. What he has talked about is the challenges that are posed on both sides by this absence of progress towards a two-state solution. So – and he’s also highlighted our concern that current trends on the ground, including this violence, as well as ongoing settlement activity are imperiling the viability of eventually getting to a two-state solution.

QUESTION: So it is not, then, the Administration’s view that a massive increase in settlement activity in the last years is directly responsible?

MR KIRBY: I think the Secretary well understands that there’s a lot of nuance and context behind the violence that’s occurring recently. And as I said, he was careful not to affix blame in either direction on this in terms of past practices. What he did talk about – and you might have seen it if you saw him at Harvard last night – is that he understands there’s disenfranchisement, there’s disgruntlement, there is – there’s frustration on both sides that has led to this.

So, when dozens of murderous attacks are launched, it is important not to place blame on either the perpetrators or the victims.

n898961State Department spokesman John Kirby

Now and then, the fog does lift and the administration’s position is clear. That was true with regard to an incident in Dimona, where an Israeli stabbed several Arabs in retaliation against the many attacks that had been carried out against Jews:

QUESTION: All right, this will be very brief. I understand that you have decided now how to qualify the stabbing attack on the Palestinians in Dimona?

MR KIRBY: Yes, we’ve had a chance to look at that attack more deeply, and I think you’re going to ask me what – do we consider it an act of terrorism. And we do.

QUESTION: You do consider it an act of terrorism. Okay, so that would suggest then that you believe that this is – that both sides are, in fact, committing these —

MR KIRBY: Well, I would say certainly individuals on both sides of this divide are – have proven capable of and in our view guilty of acts of terror.

There are terrorists on both sides, so neutrality is appropriate.

Kirby also ventured the opinion that the Israelis have been guilty of using excessive force. It wasn’t clear what he had in mind here; shooting terrorists who were in the midst of stabbing Israelis, apparently:

QUESTION: [I]n response to Michael’s question, you said you’d seen reports of what many would consider to be excessive use of force. And I presume that you were talking about from the Israeli side. Is that correct?

MR KIRBY: Yes.

QUESTION: You said what many would consider. So is the Administration among those who would consider what the Israeli actions have been to be excessive?

MR KIRBY: I think, again, without qualifying each and every one of them, we’ve certainly seen some reports of security activity that could indicate the potential excessive use of force. And again, we don’t want to see that anywhere. We don’t want to see that here in our own country. So yeah, we’re concerned about that.

QUESTION: So the – so you have raised this issue with Israelis? You’ve said that —

MR KIRBY: We – we’re always concerned about credible reports of excessive use of force against civilians [Ed.: I.e., terrorists armed with knives], and we routinely raise our concerns about that.

QUESTION: Okay. Now, that’s just a little bit different than what you said before. So you believe that these are credible reports of excessive use of force by the Israeli security forces on Palestinian citizens?

MR KIRBY: We’ve seen reports. We’re always concerned about those kinds of reports.

The Arabs have frequently used rumors of changes in the administration of Temple Mount as a pretext for violence, and apparently are doing so again. The Obama administration gave them aid and comfort:

QUESTION: All right. And then the visit to Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif by Israelis, is that – does the Administration consider that to be visits to there – does the Administration consider that to be incitement?

MR KIRBY: I’m not going to be able to characterize every single act with terminology. What the Secretary has said and stands by is that we want to see the status quo restored, the status quo arrangement there on Haram al-Sharif and the Temple Mount, and for both sides to take actions to de-escalate the tensions. …

QUESTION: Is it the Administration’s position that the status quo at the Temple Mount has been broken?

MR KIRBY: Well, certainly, the status quo has not been observed, which has led to a lot of the violence.

The topic was revisited later, and Kirby reinforced his point:

QUESTION: So I just have two extremely brief ones, so we can move on after that. You said in answer to my question on the status quo whether – at the Temple Mount whether it’s been broken or not, you said that it has not been observed and that is what has led to – I think. I’ll go back and look at the transcript, but I think you said it had not been – it was not – has not been observed and that is what has led to a great deal of the violence. That certainly sounds like you’re affixing some kind of blame to Israel if this is, in fact, what the Administration believes has led to the violence – the visits by – visit by Israelis to —

MR KIRBY: Well, it’s not about believing it, Matt. I mean, you just looked at what’s been happening in that – on Haram al-Sharif and the Temple Mount recently. I mean, just if we’re looking at this in acute – through an acute lens, I mean, the activity there, the status quo not being observed, has led to violence. There’s – that’s indisputable. That’s not a belief; that’s a fact.

It is not a fact, however, and shortly thereafter Kirby took to Twitter to recant:

Clarification from today’s briefing: I did not intend to suggest that status quo at Temple Mount/Haram Al-Sharif has been broken.

Emphasis added. The result of the State Department’s oafish diplomacy was to enrage our ally Israel:

Jerusalem reacted furiously Thursday to State Department spokesman John Kirby’s statement that Jerusalem was not maintaining the status quo on the Temple Mount and accused it of using disproportionate force to stop the wave of stabbing attacks.

“The comments by the US State Department spokesman are so crazy, deceitful and baseless, that I expect President [Barack] Obama and US Secretary of State [John] Kerry to distance themselves from them, and to clarify the US position today,” said Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan.

John Kerry’s State Department is a clown show, and Kerry drives the clown car.

‘Abbas: We Will Continue The Popular Resistance; Israel Is Plotting To Change Status Quo In Jerusalem; Israel Uses Terror, Executes Children

October 16, 2015

‘Abbas: We Will Continue The Popular Resistance; Israel Is Plotting To Change Status Quo In Jerusalem; Israel Uses Terror, Executes Children, Middle East Media Research Institute, C. Jacob, October 16, 2015

Like the first and second intifadas, the current wave of terrorism is being exploited by Palestinian organizations  and leaders, including by Palestinian President Mahmoud ‘Abbas, who attack Israel and accuse it of terror and crimes while making false claims and allegations. Some Palestinian organizations and leaders praised the perpetrators of the attacks, stating that they acted in self-defense. Fatah’s military wing, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, even called to escalate the attacks.

In his recent statements and speeches, ‘Abbas did not mention any violent Palestinian actions, but spoke only of “popular resistance,” which he advocates. This term is highly misleading, since it evokes nonviolent action such as peaceful protests and marches, whereas the recent wave of Palestinian terror has included mostly knifings, many of which resulted in grave injuries and deaths, as well as the throwing of stones and firebombs and the slinging of metal balls, which have also resulted in injuries and deaths.

PA and its head, Mahmoud ‘Abbas, have not only refrained from condemning the terror of the recent month, but are encouraging it to continue and are presenting the perpetrators not as attackers who deliberately set out to stab Israelis but as innocent Palestinians whom Israel executed under false pretenses. They call the injuring or killing of terrorists “war crimes” and even state that they mean to sue Israel in the International Criminal Court. The language used by ‘Abbas – such as “the terror of the Israeli government and the settler herds”, “execution in cold blood,” and “Israel’s hostile attack” – is obviously not conducive to calming the atmosphere, and in fact incites violence.

Granted, ‘Abbas and his security apparatuses are currently working to prevent the spread of the conflicts in the PA territories, and they have indeed arrested Hamas activists. Furthermore, ‘Abbas met with Fatah leaders in the various districts, apparently to instruct them to take measures to quell the violence. However, these measures seem to be motivated by the fear of losing control of the situation and by the desire to avoid giving Israel an excuse to retake the PA territories.

25297Mahmoud ‘Abbas (image: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, October 14, 2014)

The Libel Of A Changed Status Quo At Al-Aqsa

In his October 14, 2015 speech on Palestinian television, ‘Abbas reiterated the libel that was the main catalyst for the current terror incidents, namely that Israel plans to alter the status quo in Jerusalem, despite repeated declarations by Israeli officials that Israel has no intention of doing so. ‘Abbas also declared that Israel’s actions were sparking a religious conflict. He said: “These days Israel’s hostile attack on our Palestinian people, its soil and its holy sites is intensifying, and the savage racism in its ugly form adds hideousness and repulsiveness to the occupation. These pose a threat to peace and stability and herald the lighting of the fuse of a religious conflict that will spark an all-consuming conflagration not only in the [Middle East] region but in the entire world. This is a warning bell for the international community to immediately intervene in a positive manner, before it will be too late.

“We say explicitly and unequivocally that we will not agree to a change in the status quo in the blessed Al-Aqsa and we will not allow Israel to carry out any plot intended to damage its sanctity and its purely Islamic [character]. The right [over Al-Qasa] is our exclusive right – Palestinians and Muslims everywhere. We seek rights, justice and peace. We have attacked nobody and we will not agree to attacks on our people, our homeland and our holy sites.”[1]

It should be mentioned that, one month ago, in a meeting with East Jerusalem residents, ‘Abbas urged them to continue opposing the “invasions” of Al-Aqsa and to prevent the Israelis from dividing it:

“The Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher are ours. They are all ours, and they [the Israelis] have no right to defile them with their filthy feet. We shall not allow them to do so, and we shall do whatever we can to protect Jerusalem. We are in Jerusalem and will remain there. We will defend the places sacred to Christianity and Islam and will not abandon our city. We will continue to cleave to every inch of its soil and do everything to make its voice heard. I am confident that no harm will come to Jerusalem, even though Israel is waging a war of extermination against it. We will continue defending it under any circumstance. We are talking with everyone, and everyone is asking what we are doing to make [Jerusalem’s] voice heard.”[2]

‘Abbas: Israel Is Executing Palestinians, Including Children, In Cold Blood

Another false accusation invoked by ‘Abbas in his speech, and which has recently become a prominent part of the Palestinian narrative, is that Israel is executing Palestinians, including children, on the pretext that they attempted to stab Jews. As an example he cited the case of Ahmad Manasra, the 13-year-old boy who, on October 12, stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli boy his own age in the Pisgat Zeev neighborhood of Jerusalem, although Manasra is only moderately wounded and is hospitalized in Israel. ‘Abbas said: “We have told the entire world from the U.N. stage that in no way will we accept the existing situation in occupied Palestine, nor will we surrender to the logic of oppressive force and to the policy of occupation and aggression adopted by the Israeli government and its settler herds, who are using terror against our people, our holy places, our homes and  our trees and are executing our children in cold blood, just as they did to the boy Ahmad Manasra and to other children in Jerusalem and elsewhere.”

Abbas stated further that the PA would sue Israel for the executions at the International Criminal Court: “We will file new suits over the execution of our sons, daughters and grandchildren. Whoever fears international law and its penalties should desist from committing crimes against our people.”[3]

The claim about the Israeli executions was echoed by Palestinian chief negotiator and PLO Executive Committee secretary Saeb Erekat, who said at a press conference that Israel was executing Palestinians, while ignoring the fact that they were killed while stabbing or attempting to stab Israelis. He said: “We demand that  the [U.N.] special rapporteur on human rights Christof Heyns arrive immediately and investigate the field executions… According to the directive of President [‘Abbas], we decided to collect information in order to submit three lawsuits, against Prime Minister Netanyahu, his defense minister and the heads of the Israeli security forces.”[4]

‘Abbas: The Martyrs’ Blood Is The Price Of Freedom; The Palestinian Struggle Has Gained Attention, Earned Respect Of The Entire World

In his speech ‘Abbas called to continue the “popular resistance” and congratulated Jerusalem and the martyrs, stating that the events are the result of Israel’s rejection of the hand extended in peace and the continued construction in the settlements: “O heroic Palestinians, in your struggle and steadfastness you have gained considerable victories and political achievements, and thanks to this wondrous steadfastness the Palestinian cause has gained the attention and earned the respect of the entire world. True, we have paid for it in the blood of our martyrs and wounded, in the tears of our mothers and the torment of our prisoners, but that is the price of freedom, which is now very close.

“[I] congratulate you, our glorious people, as well as proud Jerusalem and its residents who stand on the front line; [I] congratulate Gaza, the West Bank and our people in the diaspora. Victory will come, with Allah’s help… We will persist in our legitimate national struggle, which focuses on our right to defend ourselves, the nonviolent popular resistance and the diplomatic and legal struggle, and we will act with the required patience, wisdom and valor to defend our people and its diplomatic and national achievements, which were attained following decades of struggle and persistence and via the long road of the martyrs, wounded and prisoners.

“The instability and insecurity result from the Israeli government’s rejection of our hand that is extended in [a bid for] a just peace that will guarantee the rights of our people, its freedom and its national honor. [They result from Israel’s] stubborn persistence in building in the settlements and imposing dictates [upon the Palestinians]. Peace, security and stability will only be achieved if the Israeli occupation ends and an independent Palestinian state is established, with holy Jerusalem as its capital, in the June 4, 1967 boundaries.

“Members of the glorious Palestinian people, wherever you are, I call upon you to rally together and unite, and be alert to the occupation’s schemes that are designed to torpedo our national enterprise. We will never be deterred from defending our people and protecting them. That is our right. [I] congratulate the martyrs, the wounded and the prisoners.”[5]

Senior Fatah Officials Praise The Terrorists, Encourage Continued “Popular Resistance”

Saeb Erekat praised Fadi ‘Aloun, who carried out an October 4, 2015 stabbing in Jerusalem, as well as  Muhannad Al-Halabi, who stabbed two Israelis to death in Jerusalem’s old city the same day. He also listed the names of “martyrs,” most of whom perpetrated terror attacks, while emphasizing their young age. He added: “The Israeli method vis-a-vis the Palestinian people is [carrying out] field executions… Israel kills civilians and children and imposes collective punishments.”[6]

Other senior Fatah officials justified the violence and/or encouraged its continuation. In an interview with the Amad press agency, Fatah Central Committee member and former West Bank General Intelligence head Tawfiq Al-Tirawi said that the Palestinian people had the right to defend itself and to resist in order to secure its future, for popular resistance was one of the methods of resistance.[7]

Fatah Central Committee member ‘Azzam Al-Ahmad said: “We must continue the national awakening, for diplomatic activity without popular resistance is valueless. The time has arrived to expand the circle of [those] joining the popular resistance, and all of us have to participate in the struggle, each according to his ability.”[8]

Fatah Central Committee member ‘Abbas Zaki told the Turkish news agency Anadolu: “Armed struggle against the occupation is a legitimate right that we will not relinquish. However, this [activity] requires unity among all the Palestinian factions and establishing a central war room and formulating plans so that the armed struggle exacts a steep price from the enemy while [also] benefiting the Palestinian people. We reserve the right to [engage in] armed struggle, which is an option we will not give up, but we must consider how and when to carry it out, and whether the climate is right to use it to our benefit. At present we support [waging] a popular intifada that will confound the enemy and paralyze his security and economy, and prompt the world to address the question of how to end the world’s last remaining occupation.

“Deciding on an armed struggle now will [only] serve the enemy, who has the military power to kill [us] on a daily basis. Today we are defending ourselves, and we will continue to do so. We do not want escalation, but the enemy is attacking and destroying our cities and villages. [The means] of self-defense differ from one Palestinian to the other, some of us use stones and others knives.”[9]

Overt And Covert Threats To Escalate The Violence

In addition to congratulating the perpetrators of the stabbings and calling to continue the violence, members of the Fatah Central Committee even called to intensify it. ‘Azzam Al-Ahmad stated that, if Israel continued its “crimes” against the Palestinians, events would spiral out of control, and added: “There is a resemblance between the Israeli forces and the ISIS terror organization.”[10]

An October 13 announcement issued by the Al-Aqsa Brigades welcomed the attacks and called to “escalate them on the ground against the Israeli occupation that has made everything permitted, including killing women, children and the elderly in cold blood… The response will be painful and shocking, and we will act to light a fire under the filthy feet of the Zionists.”[11]

25298Image on Al-Aqsa Brigades website shows knife cleaving a Star of David, with the caption: “Palestinian, stand up and resist, and never relinquish your right” (3asfa.com, October 13, 2015)

Endnotes:

[1] Al-Ayyam (PA), October 15, 2015.

[2] See MEMRI TV Clip No. 5080, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas: Jews “Have No Right to Defile the Al-Aqsa Mosque with Their Filthy Feet”, September 16, 2015.

[3] Al-Ayyam (PA), October 15, 2015.

[4] Amad.ps, October 13, 2015.

[5] Al-Ayyam (PA), October 15, 2015.

[6] Amad.ps, October 13, 2015.

[7] Amad.ps, October 13, 2015.

[8] Amad.ps, October 13, 2015.

[9] Amad.ps, October 9, 2015.

[10] Amad.ps, October 13, 2015.

[11] 3asfa.com, October 13, 2015.

PLO issues revised English version of Abbas’ ‘execution’ speech

October 15, 2015

PLO issues revised English version of Abbas’ ‘execution’ speech

Source: PLO issues revised English version of Abbas’ ‘execution’ speech – Arab-Israeli Conflict – Jerusalem Post

http://bcove.me/xwxqsq0w

http://MyPlayer.swf

The Palestine Liberation Organization on Thursday released a different version of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech, which was broadcast on Palestine TV on Wednesday night.

The new English version quotes Abbas as talking about the “shooting of our children in cold blood as they did with the child Ahmed Manasrah and other children from Jerusalem.”

The modified English version was released by the PLO’s Negotiations Affairs Department, which said this was a “full translation” of Abbas’s speech.

http://bcove.me/jymcr02u

However, the Arabic version of Abbas’s speech does not talk about “shooting.” Instead, Abbas is quoted as talking about the “execution of our children in cold blood, as they did with the boy Ahmed Manasrah and other children in Jerusalem and other places.”

PLO officials did not offer any explanation as to why they chose to change Abbas’s statement about Manasrah.

The English “translation” was published in response to accusations made by Israel against Abbas following his speech.

Israel accused Abbas of lying and incitement, especially with regards to his claim that Manasra, who took part in the stabbing attack at Pisgat Ze’ev in Jerusalem last Monday, had been “executed.”

A senior PA official in Ramallah accused the Israeli government of incitement against Abbas.

A statement released by Abbas’s office did not refer to the case of Manasrah. However, the statement called for an “end to Israeli incitement” – a reference to Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked’s call for closing Palestine TV.

“We call on the Israeli government to work towards ending all what aggravates violence and incitement,” the statement said.

Mahmoud Khalifa, PA Deputy Minister of Information, accused the Israeli media of serving as a mouthpiece for the Israeli government’s propaganda machine. He claimed that Israeli journalists were “reserve soldiers” in the IDF who were promoting their government’s version regarding “field executions” of Palestinians.

 

Jack Abramoff – Jihad in Israel!

October 14, 2015

Jack Abramoff – Jihad in Israel! The United West via You Tube, October 14, 2015

 

Three Israelis killed in two Jerusalem terror attacks within minutes

October 13, 2015

Three Israelis killed in two Jerusalem terror attacks within minutes, DEBKAfile, October 13, 2015

Armon_Hanatziv_13.10.15Body of terrorist victim evacuated from stricken bus

By noon, Tuesday, Oct. 13, three Israelis were killed, 27 injured in Jerusalem by three terrorists from the same Palestinian Jebel Mukaber city neighborhood, which has a long history of terror. Armed with a gun and a knife, two terrorists tried to commandeer a bus a bus in the Armon Hanatziv district of Jerusalem, killing one Israeli and injuring 16, at least six seriously. One of the pair was shot dead, the second injured.

This was the first terrorist shooting attack in the current wave of violence. One of the killers was on the payroll of Bezek, Israel’s biggest telecom company.

In downtown Jerusalem, within minutes, a Palestinian ran down a group of pedestrians waiting at the Malchei Israel bus stop. He then jumped out of the car and struck his victims with a cleaver – continuing to strike even after he was shot by a local security guard. He killed 60-year old Rabbi Yeshayahu and injured three injured victims before he was shot dead.

Earlier, five Israelis were injured in two stabbing attacks carried out by a single terrorist in the town of Raanana north of Tel Aviv. He was overpowered by a civilian with a pepper gun and a selfie stick before police shot him dead.

After the Jerusalem attacks, police spokesmen admitted for the first time that they must have been synchronized and deliberately set up, finally abandoning the “lone wolf” theory attributed hitherto by Israeli officials to the current wave of terror.

Jerusalem’s two highway links – Rtes 1 and 443 – were meanwhile briefly shut to traffic in both directions as security forces swept for terrorist cars suspected of mingling with the intercity traffic.

DEBKAfile reported Monday.

The Palestinian knifing spree in Jerusalem Monday, Oct. 12, the day after an Israeli Arab from Umm al-Fham mowed down, then knifed, four Israelis in central Israel, puts the Palestinians on the same bloody course as Israeli Arabs, who launched an anti-Israel general strike Tuesday.

The day began at the Lions Gate, Border Guards police stopped a Palestinian who acted suspiciously. He pulled out a knife and stabbed one of the police men. The blade glanced off his body armor and the terrorist was shot dead.

At noon, a female terrorist inflicted moderate injuries on another two Border Guards officers opposite National Police Headquarters in northern Jerusalem. She was stopped by gun shots and seriously hurt.

A short time later, further north at Pisgat Zeev, two terrorists worked a street in tandem. They knocked a 13-year old Israeli boy off his bike and stabbed him. He is fighting for his life at Hadassah hospital on Mt. Scopus. The terrorist’s partner attacked a second Israeli, inflicting major knife wounds. Police at the scene stopped the rampage by shooting. One was killed.

The Umm al-Fahm assailant, Ali Riyadh Ahmed Ziwad, 20, who had to be restrained by police and passersby, Sunday night, assumed an air of surprised innocence after his arrest. “It was just a traffic accident,” he said, after running over, then critically injuring a 19-year old Israeli girl with a knife and stabbing three others.

He went into an act that is typical of the Palestinian tactic of assuming the role of victim after committing terrorist outrages.

Leaders of the Israeli Arab community (roughly one-tenth of Israel’s population) including its elected members of parliament embark on a general strike Tuesday, Oct. 13, followed Wednesday by a grandstand performance by Arab MKs at Al Aqsa, accompanied by a flock of Israeli and international camera crews.

They will have plenty of microphones to proclaim how badly they are treated and, above all, to continue to spread totally unproven falsehoods about Israeli desecrations of the Muslim Mosque of Al Aqsa, which has provided the Palestinians with their most evocative and unifying emblem for most of the past century.

Seventy-nine years ago, on April 19, 1936 – when Facebook, television and an Israel state were far in the future – the Arab High Command of Palestine declared a general strike which swiftly escalated into terrorist attacks against Jews and the British and evolved into the Great Arab Revolt.

Then, too, the rallying cry was “the Mosque is in danger!” for triggering the order to “burn a thousand buildings in Tel Aviv.” By the time it was over in 1939, 600 Jews, 200 British officials and 5,000 Arabs were dead. Many of the last group died in internecine tribal feuds.

The same rallying cry has ever since fired Palestinian campaigns of terror. The “Al Aqsa Intidafa” called by Yasser Arafat on Oct. 1, 2000, which saw the first intensive use of suicide attacks for terror, cost the lives of 1,178 Israelis and 50 foreigners, injured 8,022 civilians.

The Palestinians lost 3,333 dead and 30,000 injured – many self-inflicted.

No one can tell how the latest Israeli Arab strike will develop. Their leaders are doing their utmost to inflame passions and have already incited the first Israeli Arab stabbing attack in tune with Palestinian terrorists.

Israeli Arab leaders looks as though they have the bit between their teeth and are trying to use the weakness of the Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to set the pace of events for the Palestinians as well.
The Israeli government is trying to pour oil on these turbulent waters, turning to the slow-moving legislative process as a means of fighting terror, while beefing up police forces, who are barely able to keep pace with the slashing knives.

Officials and reporters still insist on the absence of a controlling hand behind the violence, despite the evidence of an unfolding stage-by-scale escalation. The policeman injured at Lions Gate Monday told reporters from his hospital bed that, while on duty at various sectors, he had traced systematic organization behind the stabbings; the knife terrorists kept on coming out at a steady, controlled pace, he said.

Israeli strategists are not moving swiftly or unhesitatingly enough to correctly evaluate this enemy and pounce strongly on his weaknesses.

More forces in the field

October 13, 2015

More forces in the field, Israel Hayom, Boaz Bismuth, October 13, 2015

Only in our sick Middle Eastern reality could there exist a scene as horrific as the one that took place in the Pisgat Zeev neighborhood of Jerusalem on Monday: a 13-year-old Arab boy and his 15-year-old relative, both armed with knives, on a spree to kill Jews. Fate decreed that the victim, who was riding his bike, was also 13. One 13-year-old — the Arab one — wanted to kill, even if that meant he himself would die. The other — the Jewish victim — wanted to live, even if life is hard sometimes.

Thirteen-year-olds are old enough to know that life is more important than anything, that death can wait. At least that’s supposed to be what they hear from us adults at home. But the wave of stabbing attacks against Israelis, which on Monday marked its 12th day, is showing us that not everyone in our Middle East shares the same values. The knife attacks are bringing us face to face with a psychotic reality in which young Palestinian boys and girls are not afraid to die as long as they die killing Jews.

If only it were the result of desperation. Then it would be easier to understand. And there is desperation in our region: in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen, and in Libya. Ask the Muslims living under the control of the Islamic State group.

But there is no desperation here. Not among Jews, and not among Arabs. Can anyone explain why a 19-year-old Arab woman studying history at college, supposedly the daughter of concerned parents, should despair? Why should a 29-year-old mother, studying for her M.A., feel compelled to whip out a knife at the Afula Central Bus Station?

Why, with all the choices they had, did these two woman — just like the 13-year-old boy on Monday — opt for death? It’s not desperation — it’s something else. Something very, very depraved. We are seeing a new phenomenon: a kind of infectious disease of terrorism that is passed from one zombie to another. A kind of mental illness that is legitimized from holy places.

Because the Arabian Nights stories about Jews who want to build their Temple and demolish Al-Aqsa mosque is spreading online. Because Israeli MKs from the Joint Arab List think that they were elected to serve as pyromaniacs, even if in the media they present themselves as trying to quell the flames. All of a sudden, young people are being given Allah-sanctioned legitimacy to commit murder, and get killed in the attempt. These are nihilist youth, but it’s not the nihilism of Camus. The nihilism we’re facing doesn’t reject religious faith, it operates in its name. And that’s the last thing we needed.

We’ve been through tough battles, and should keep things in perspective. We can assume that after making it through the wars of 1948 and 1973, not to mention two difficult intifadas, we’ll survive this battle, in which the doomsday weapon can be a pair of ninja turtle-style nunchucks.

But in crazy times like these, we need forces in the field. A 13-year-old Jewish boy riding his bike should see uniforms around him. Not terrorists. This still isn’t an intifada, and let’s hope it doesn’t become one, but we’ve entered a war of raw nerves. Increased deployment of police and soldiers will help calm the civilian population.

Israel hasn’t been defeated fighting for its existence. Obviously, it will survive the current zombie plague, too.

Why now?

October 12, 2015

Why now? Israel Hayom, Judith Bergman, October 12, 2015

Among the several unanswered questions about the ongoing terror onslaught against Israelis, one of the most pertinent is why this is happening now, entirely unprovoked and spurred on by the incendiary incitement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his ilk.

Relying on brainwashed youths to perpetrate the terrorist attacks, Abbas instigated the onslaught now simply because he had to do something to take back the world stage.

Abbas and his flock are used to the spotlight on the international stage, but in recent months, the influx of migrants and refugees from the Middle East and North Africa into Europe has completely swallowed the headlines there, and Abbas saw himself being marginalized to the point of being entirely forgotten. Abbas had to do something, so he unleashed terror on Israel, and he knew from years of experience with the so-called international community, as represented by the U.N., the Obama administration and the international media that he would be able to do so with impunity. In fact, the choreography of his little dance with the international media is so well-rehearsed and so perfectly tuned to his interests that Abbas knows he can rely on it to achieve his goals.

And that is exactly what is happening now. Abbas knew he could count on the major news outlets not to question why the terrorism is occurring now. Instead, the ragged old cliches of the mysteriously self-igniting “cycle of violence” are being re-hashed, while Israel’s legitimate self-defense against the stabbings, shootings and rock throwings is being increasingly reported in negative terms.

True to form, Israel has been unable thus far to counter the media dynamic that has worked so well for Abbas in the past. It appeared to be too little and too late when Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely several days ago announced a media campaign, as well as the formation of an inter-ministerial team to prepare a series of informational videos on the subject of Palestinian incitement. We have had 20 years to prepare those videos. Do not wait for the international media to hold its breath.

In his next move, truly Orwellian in a way that only the old Soviet cadres could have trumped, Abbas is now asking the U.N. Human Rights Council to quickly dispatch a commission of inquiry to the region “to investigate all crimes perpetrated by Israel against our people.” While this may sound outlandish to right-minded people, Abbas is not entirely wrong in his calculations that the U.N. will respond to his exhortations. Abbas knows that the dance he performs for the benefit of the U.N. is usually met with applause, and is just as predictably choreographed as his dance with the international media. All is possible when it comes to the U.N., particularly the U.N. Human Rights Council, where Saudi Arabia is currently chairing the U.N. Human Rights Council panel in charge of appointing independent experts.

While Abbas is craving the attention, other Middle East players are stoking the fire to deflect attention from them. Iran’s puppet, Hamas, has not only been sending rockets into Israel, aiming to add tension to the situation, but has also been sending Gazans to riot on the border with Israel, knowing fully well that confrontations and the likelihood of Palestinian casualties will further stoke the headlines against Israel and deflect attention from Iran’s own murky business in the region. The brutal murder of the Henkin couple in front of their four children was committed by a Hamas terror cell.

The Soviet-style inversion of truth and lies and the incredible willingness of the mainstream media not only to play along with it, but to exacerbate it with uncritical and bigoted reporting, is of course maddening. The answer, however, is not bitter resignation or long deliberations over future strategies, but to present the truth, as it happens and when it happens. The truth needs to be put out there, because the media create its own truth according to a pre-rehearsed template that we have seen ad nauseam, most damagingly during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014. The time to speak out is now.

Curfews and Internet restrictions can’t be avoided for reining in Palestinian street terror

October 10, 2015

Curfews and Internet restrictions can’t be avoided for reining in Palestinian street terror, DEBKAfile, October 10, 2015

Nablus_Gate10.10.15Holding the line at Nablus Gate, Jerusalem

After nearly a month of rampant Palestinian violence and murder, Israel’s leaders and its forces of law and order were Saturday, Oct. 10, fast approaching an unavoidable decision to impose a curfew on the Old City of Jerusalem – both to bring the stabbing attacks at every corner under control, and to isolate this source of contagion from the disorders spreading in the West Bank and across Israeli Arab coummunities.

Once a curfew is in place, the security authorities – whose forces are stretched to the limit by the multiple outbreaks proliferating across the country – will be able to deal quietly and systematically with the disorders.

A major hindrance until now has the refusal of the heads of government, especially Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, to realistically appreciate the dynamic of the wave of terror, and their insistence on playing down its eruption in one place after another as random and uncontrolled.

They keep on harping on the incitement and lies spread by Mahmoud Abbas and radical Israeli Muslim leaders, although the street has since taken over.

Friday night, Ya’alon commented in a television interview that terrorists had committed “only” four fatal stabbings out of a population of four million.

This challenge was taken up with a vengeance. That night, Israeli Arabs staged riotous disturbances from northern Israel to the south, attacking security forces and blocking highway traffic on Routes 6, 444 and 65, with rocks and burning tires.

The following morning, the focus of violence switched back to Jerusalem and the Palestinians: A 16-year old Palestinian stabbed and badly injured two elderly religious Jews wrapped in prayer shawls.

He was shot dead when he brandished the knife against approaching police officers. A second Palestinian was killed after stabbing three police officers at Damascus Gate.

This sequence of events indicates that, while there is no single controlling hand behind them, they are nonetheless orchestrated in a way that keeps every Israeli constantly looking over his or her shoulder for fear of being taken off guard by the next attack – whether on an Israeli highway or town like Afula or Petach Tikva, or in Judea and Samaria. But Jerusalem remains the constant focal point because it is a powerful unifier.

Official Israeli spokesmen have tried relaying messages to Abbas and putting out reports that he has responded favorably to appeals. Saturday, Netanyahu asked US Secretary of State John Kerry to intercede with the Palestinian leader for help to quieten things down. However, none of the three, any more than Jordan’s Abdullah, holds the levers for controlling current events.

That is because they are being orchestrated to a large extent through messages of incitement and false inflammatory information which bounce back and forth between the cell phones and social media networks of young Palestinian and Israeli Arabs hungry for trouble.

In the latest example, the networks were flooded all day with calls to torpedo the international soccer match between Israel and Cyprus taking place Saturday night at the Teddy stadium in Jerusalem – even to setting the arena on fire.

This move had two objects: to dilute police strength in the Old City in order to reinforce security at the stadium and to terrify the public into staying away from the game.

Israel’s security authorities are finding they can no longer avoid stepped up measures, such as a curfew on the Old City of Jerusalem and blocking selected Palestinian cell phone networks and Internet connections and IPs of known inciters. This method was used by Turkish President Erdogan to stem the rising tide of opposition against him in 2014.

These measures are far from pleasant and will be frowned on by many people including Israelis. But they may possibly calm the turbulence and save Israeli and Palestinian lives.

Time is running out. Wednesday, Oct. 14, members of the Middle East Quartet are due to arrive in Israel. The Netanyahu government can’t afford to be found at a loss in the face of a major threat to its authority in Jerusalem. The ineffectual measures applied till now no longer serve.