Posted tagged ‘Arabs’

The Final Death of Western Civilization

August 18, 2014

The Final Death of Western Civilization

via The Final Death of Western Civilization | Gates of Vienna.

 

Last week in the Austrian daily Die Presse Michael Ley about the new anti-Semitism and the role of the Left in the Islamization of Europe. JLH, who has kindly translated the piece, includes this note:

The Muslims’ faithful reprise of Mohammed’s original temper tantrum at the Jews makes Sicilian vendettas and Appalachian feuds look like cocktail party spats. Modern leftist Jew-hatred, on the other hand, is an echo of the age-old search for a scapegoat — any scapegoat — guided by the Alinskyite technique of identify, isolate, destroy, but older than socialism and its acolytes. Just think Fiddler on the Roof.

This is a very effective picture of how and why Islam and Leftism suit each other so well, and how they are bound by anti-Semitism. The example of wheat happened to the Left after Khomeini at least offers some ironic feeling of poetic justice.

 

The translated article:

Who Owns the World?

Criticism of Islam is often denounced as “the new racism.” Hostility to Jews, on the other hand, is as old as Islam itself.

Taking aim at the new anti-Semitism.

by Michael Ley

Anti-Semites like to compare Jews, Zionists and Israelis to Adolf Hitler. Recently, Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey certified that the Israelis are worse than Hitler. “What Israel is doing to Palestine and Gaza is beyond what Hitler did to the Jews.” In the Arab world, this equivalence has the status of legend. It was not only Yasser Arafat who made use of this smear. It is a part of Arab identity. This extreme hatred of Jews has long since spilled over into European societies and spread quickly through the Muslim parallel societies. The image of the radical rightist anti-Semite is overdue to be augmented by the Muslim Jew-hater. The French political scientist Pierre-André Taguieff determined years ago: “The originators of violence against Jews are no longer mostly from the extreme right. They are recruiting above all among young immigrants, especially from the Maghreb*.” Hatred of Jews is a part of their cultural identity.

For several years sociologists have been confirming a “new anti-Semitism” which is above all else a Muslim anti-Judaism. The contemporary violent excesses and Jew-hostile slogans of the Muslim mob are energetically supported by many from the Left and are also sympathetically received by leftist media personnel. In the leftist daily taz the editor Stefan Reinicke recently wrote: “In a free country, it must be possible to question Israel’s right to exist.” From there to questioning the right of Jews in general to exist is a shorter step.

Hostility to Jews is nothing new among Muslims or leftists — it is as old as socialism or Islam.

Islam exhibits an extreme anti-Judaism. The Koran is permeated by Jew-hostile stereotypes overlapping with those of Christians. The Jews have the hardened hearts of the uncircumcised; they have broken the bond with God and killed the prophets; they lie and have falsified God’s word; they do not honor treaties; they are usurers; they steal money; they do not believe in the afterlife. The Jews appear in the Koran as evil characters. Thus the battle cry: “Fight against them until they are humiliated and pay the tax.” (9:29) The Koran portrays Jews as not only warmongers guilty of every misdeed on earth, but also curses them as “apes and pigs” and assigns them the lowest, subhuman rank: “And you have surely known those among you who broke the Sabbath. Then we said to them: ‘Be outcast pigs and apes!’’ (Surah 2:56) Because the Jews did not recognize Allah, they were dehumanized and became as animals: “Say this: ‘Shall I teach you of those whose penalty from Allah is even worse than that? They are those who have cursed Allah and whom he has scorned and made into apes, pigs and idolaters. They are in an even worse situation and have wandered still further from the right path.’” (Surah 5:60) This motif occurs again and again.

Islam’s end-times prophecy sees the annihilation of the Jews. The pertinent Hadith says: “In the final hour, Muslims will fight against Jews. Since Jews belong to the army of Satan and Muslims are the soldiers of the Prophet Jesus, they will fight against each other, and the Muslims will be victorious until every stone and tree will say: ‘Come here, Muslim. A Jew is hiding behind me. Kill him.” But Islamic anti-Judaism is only the tip of the iceberg in the battle against the infidels.

Jihad is the highest duty in Islam and no Muslim may evade it. Martyrs of jihad go directly to paradise, while Muslims who refuse jihad are threatened with “the torments of Hell.” So long as Muslims are a minority in a non-Muslim country, there can be no offensive, militant jihad. If Muslims expand to an appropriate percentage of the population, they must arm for the forthcoming battle: “And arm yourselves against them with men and horses a much as possible, in order to menace Allah’s enemy.” (Surah 8:60) If Muslims have enough power and influence, then they must pursue jihad. Every Muslim is duty-bound to kill infidels who refuse to convert. “Kill the idolaters wherever you find them, and seize them and besiege them and lie in ambush for them in every nook and cranny.” (Surah 9:5) The only alternative to conversion is subjection as a dhimmi and payment for “protection.”

From the Islamic point of view, the world belongs to Allah. Theologically, jihad is simply re-conquest of Islamic territories. Jihad signifies permanent war against infidels and precludes any peace with them. The battle against non-Muslims may only be interrupted by a “truce” and this may not last longer than ten years. Truce based on treaties may be rescinded by Muslims at any time. The holy war knows no lasting peace. However, jihad can also be prosecuted peacefully: by conversion, propaganda and bribery.

Class war was the secular left’s jihad, through which the original, perfect world was to be restored. Many anarchists, socialists and communists saw in the Jew the spear-point of the class enemy. In his diatribe “On the Jewish Question,” Karl Marx wrote: “Let us not seek the secret of the Jew in his religion, but the secret of the religion in the real Jew. What is the worldly basis of Jewry? Practical need, self interest. What is the worldly cult of Jews? Usury. What is their worldly god? Money. The ultimate meaning of Jewish emancipation is emancipation of humanity from the Jews.” Marx is in the tradition of an older, leftist hatred of Jews. Early French socialists at the beginning of the 19th century dreamed of a worldly redemption of humanity, and proclaimed a political religion whose flip-side was anti-Semitism. They secularized, so to speak, Christian anti-Judaism to modern, political anti-Semitism.

Charles Fourier preached a utopian socialism and saw himself as the new prophet, claiming to recognize the Jews as the bane of humanity. His students, Pierre Leroux and Alphonse Toussenei, likewise saw absolute evil in the Jews. Toussenei warned of Jewish world domination. The philosopher, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, proclaimed: “The Jew is the enemy of humanity. This race must either be sent back to Asia or annihilated.” His anti-Semitism became the model for modern Jew hatred, which the left has to this day not been able to discard.

In the postmodern era, proletarians are no longer the subject of human salvation. They have been replaced by immigrants, who are the new stylites** of the leftist utopia for an old, doomed society, still bourgeois in places. Millions of immigrants will dissolve old Europe to make way for a new culture of multiculturalism. It will be national identities making way for diversity in ethnicities, religions and identities.

Western apologists for Islam and those who represent the interests of Islamic organizations never tire of denouncing any criticism of Islam as “new racism.” The new definition of racism is: Anyone who seeks the causes of Islamic terrorism and the lack of desire to integrate on the part of many Muslims in the religion of Islam, and does not overwhelmingly hold the Crusades, colonialism, imperialism and European xenophobia responsible for it, is displaying a racist attitude toward Islam and Muslims.

Every criticism of Islam must be denounced as “racism” or “Islamophobia” and this is preparatory to eliminating all religious, cultural and social criticism of Islam. Consequently, doubt is cast on all the positive cultural and political achievements of the modern West in favor of a multi-ethnic state whose basis is relativistic values. A society that gives up its own obligatory norms and values is preparing for its own disposal. Exclusive social self-criticism and compulsive xenophilia are the expression of a serious collective neurosis and testify to an incomparable political foolishness.

The political goal of the mainstream Left — transforming society with massive immigration — will be reached in the foreseeable future. But the result will shock the most naïve of do-gooders. The goal of orthodox Islam and its organizations is the Islamization of European society, and in this context, the Left plays the role of the useful idiot who believes it has found in orthodox Islam an ally in the struggle to overcome the despised bourgeois society.

Islam’s representatives, however, are not in the least interested in the utopia of a new human being in the sense of multiculturalism or diversity. They want to overcome any life form that is not Islamic. If Islam should succeed in several decades, the leftists would be the first victims of this most dangerous political religion of the 21st century. The Left did not learn this lesson in its fight alongside Ayatollah Khomeini against the hated Shah. After the takeover, they were ruthlessly persecuted and liquidated.

The goal of orthodox Islam and the Islamists is Islamic theocracy, which has no place for decadent Western society. Therefore, all radical organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafists, the Wahhabis, and/or groups infiltrated by them, as well as the foreign representatives of the Turkish religious authorities must be banned.

Radical imams and their mosques must have no place in an open, pluralistic society. Islam’s jihad is the greatest threat to the freedom of Europe and signifies no more nor less than a new descent into slavery, the final death of Western civilization.

Report: US exerting pressure on ICC not to open war crimes probe against Israel

August 18, 2014

Report: US exerting pressure on ICC not to open war crimes probe against Israel

By JPOST.COM STAFF08/18/2014 15:09

The Guardian’ quotes lawyers and former court officials as saying that western pressure has influenced decision not to open probe;

ICC probe reportedly among issues being discussed at Cairo cease-fire talks.

via Report: US exerting pressure on ICC not to open war crimes probe against Israel | JPost | Israel News.

 

International criminal court Photo: REUTERS
 

The US and other western powers have exerted pressure on the International Criminal Court at the Hague to prevent a war crimes probe of Israel’s operation in the Gaza Strip, The Guardian reported on Monday, quoting former court officials.

During Operation Protective Edge, the Palestinian Authority has threatened to request that the court look into allegations that the civilian deaths in Gaza during the IDF’s operation constitute a war crime.

According to the report, the issue is among the matters being discussed at cease-fire talks in Cairo.

Palestinians requested that the court probe Israel for war crimes in 2009 , following Operation Cast Lead, however that request came before the Palestinians were recognized as a non-member observer state at the United Nations in 2012.

The ICC itself is divided on whether or not it has jurisdiction to probe the matter based on the 2009 request, or whether a new request would have to be submitted, according to The Guardian. The Palestinian factions would have to agree on submitting a new request, a difficult task, as Hamas would also be opening itself up to a war crimes inquiry.

The Guardian reported that western pressure has prevented the ICC from taking the view that the 2009 request gives the court jurisdiction to open a war crimes investigation into Israel’s actions.

Both current ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, and Luis Moreno Ocampo, who was prosecutor at the time of the 2009 Palestinian declaration, argue that a new Palestinian request would have to be made to allow the court to open an investigation. However, The Guardian quoted another former official of the court as saying, “They are trying to hide behind legal jargon to disguise what is a political decision, to rule out competence and not get involved.”

The French lawyer representing the Palestinians, Gilles Devers, was quoted by The Guardian as saying that “there is enormous pressure not to proceed with an investigation. This pressure has been exerted on Fatah and Hamas, but also on the office of the prosecutor.

“In both cases, it takes the form of threats to the financial subsidies, to Palestine and to the International Criminal Court,” he added.

‘Fifth Column’ Arab MKs Visit Qatar and Meet with Former MK-Traitor

August 18, 2014

The good news that Zoabi and two of her Knesset pals left the country. The bad news is that they are coming back.

By: Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu

Published: August 18th, 2014

via The Jewish Press » » ‘Fifth Column’ Arab MKs Visit Qatar and Meet with Former MK-Traitor.

 

Picture of Arab MK Hanin Zoabi superimposed on an Iranian passport.
 

Knesset Members Hanin Zoabi, arguably Israel’s most hated MK, Jamal Zahalka and Basel Ghattas Hamas’ benefactor Qatar last week and reportedly met with former colleague Azmi Bashar, who fled the country seven years ago after being indicted for spying on behalf of Hezbollah in the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

The Balad party MKs appeared on Al Jazeera, where they espoused their criticism of the Israeli government.

Al Jazeera is financed b and based in Qatar, which also has financed Hamas terror and has provided technology for Hamas to launch rockets from underground in Gaza by pressing on a computer button in Qatar.

Knesset Members from Yesh Atid and Likud asked Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to investigate the connection between the three Arab MKs and Bashara as well as Qatar.

Weinstein previously has shown himself to be feeble when it comes to investigating incitement and alleged terrorist connections among Arab Mks, particularly Zoabi, who was on the IHH flotilla when terrorists brutally beat IDF navy commandos before the soldiers were able to overcome the Mavi Mamara ship trying to break the maritime embargo on Gaza.

The Knesset Ethics Committee got tough with Zoabi this year by suspending her for a period of time from the Knesset for hateful speech, including epithets at Arab security guards who escorted her out of the legislature after inciting remarks.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who heads the Yisrael Beitenu party, said he will continue to whatever has to be done to prevent the Balad party’s fifth column from representing a terrorist organization in the Knesset.”

Hamas to Israel: Accept our terms or brace for war of attrition

August 16, 2014

Hamas to Israel: Accept our terms or brace for war of attrition

While Cairo ceasefire talks expected to resume tomorrow, Hamas official says that if demands of Palestinian delegation are not met, Israel should prepare itself for a prolonged war.

YnetnewsPublished: 08.16.14, 10:34 / Israel News

via Hamas to Israel: Accept our terms or brace for war of attrition – Israel News, Ynetnews.

 

Senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad members say that the proposals that Palestinians received during the negotiations in Cairo, including those detailed in the latest Egyptian draft, do not meet their demands, Israel Radio reported. Hamas’ foreign affairs spokesman Osama Hamdan said during a visit to Sudan that Israel has a choice: accept the terms of the Palestinian people or prepare for a prolonged war of attrition.

According to the report, a senior Islamic Jihad operative in Gaza said that the Palestinian delegation will not sign a degrading agreement and would prefer to return to the Strip without any agreement. However, he added that his organization would give Egypt enough time to conduct successful negotiations on a permanent ceasefire.

 

Palestinian delegation to Cairo talks
 

Speaking ahead of the renewal of the talks in Cairo on Sunday, Khaled al-Batesh, member of the Palestinian envoy in Cairo and leader of the Islamic Jihad Movement stressed that “the Palestinian factions have put forward reasonable and limited aims for the current campaign, and didn’t ask for the release of the city of Ramla.” Al-Batesh also criticized the Egyptian efforts, saying the country “could have done more for the Palestinians.”

Meanwhile, Bassam Salhi, a Palestinian delegation member, said that progress is being made in the talks but that the chances of reaching an agreement in the upcoming round of talks are no greater than 50% due to differences of opinion on several issues, the report added. According to Salhi, the Palestinians are prepared to postpone the discussion of operating a seaport and airport in Gaza, but only by several weeks.

Two-pronged formula

On Friday, a report from an Egyptian news source published additional details of the current ceasefire draft from talks in Cairo, saying that the document stipulates that organizations in Gaza will concede to cease the construction of new smuggling tunnels in and out of the Strip.

Palestinian officials expressed optimism regarding the proposal currently on the table, meant to reach a long-term ceasefire in Gaza, as Israel’s Cabinet convened, presumably to discuss the looming deal.

Palestinian source close to the talks spoke with Ynet and said the current ceasefire deal was based on two simple formulas which together formed the agreement: (1) A ceasefire deal in return for Gaza’s rehabilitation, and (2) redevelopment of Gaza in return for demilitarization of the Strip.

The two pronged deal will be gradually implemented, the sources said.

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett seemed to hint a deal existed, but said that Israel should make unilateral concessions to Palestinians in Gaza without actually reaching an agreement with Hamas, which he claimed would empower the terror group.

Speaking at the end of Cabinet meeting Friday morning, Bennett said Israel should open Gaza’s border crossings and expand the Strip’s fishing zone unilaterally, without reaching a deal with Hamas, which he said “harms our right to target (terror) tunnels.”

Palestinian officials: War behind us, Gaza ceasefire deal imminent

August 15, 2014

Palestinian officials: War behind us, Gaza ceasefire deal imminent

Deal reportedly reached to see calm in Gaza extended based on two-pronged formula: Ceasefire in return for rehabilitation of Gaza and redevelopment in return for demilitarization; meanwhile, Israeli Cabinet convenes, Islamic Jihad says: War has ended.

Elior Levy, Roi Kais

Published: 08.15.14, 14:50 / Israel News

via Palestinian officials: War behind us, Gaza ceasefire deal imminent – Israel News, Ynetnews.

 

A Ceasefire , a redevelopment, a demilitarization ,  BUT NO PEACE TREATY , who can believe this ?

It is just impossible for them to sign peace with Jews and unbelievers, it is a religious thing ! The Islaam !

A ceasefire can be broken any time as proven in the past, a peace treaty NOT , according islamic laws .

Just to fool Israel and the rest of the world, they have a word for it .

Taqiyya and Kitman

 

Palestinian officials expressed optimism Friday regarding current diplomatic attempts to reach a long-term ceasefire in Gaza, as Israel’s Cabinet convened, presumably to discuss the looming deal.

Palestinian source close to the talks spoke with Ynet and said the current ceasefire deal was based on two simple formulas which together formed the agreement: (1) A ceasefire deal in return for Gaza’s rehabilitation, and (2) redevelopment of Gaza in return for demilitarization of the Strip.

The two pronged deal will be gradually implemented, the sources said.

 

Palestinian delegation to Cairo talks (Photo: AFP)
 

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett seemed to hint a deal existed, but said that Israel should make unilateral concessions to Palestinians in Gaza without actually reaching an agreement with Hamas, which he claimed would empower the terror group.

Speaking at the end of Cabinet meeting Friday morning, Bennett said Israel should open Gaza’s border crossings and expand the Strip’s fishing zone unilaterally, without reaching a deal with Hamas, which he said “harms our right to target (terror) tunnels.”

Speaking to Israel Radio, Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz said Friday before the meeting that that Israel “in the midst of the final stages of negotiations.”

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s second-in-command, Ziad Nahala, said Friday that the “war was over.”

 

Ziad Nahala (Photo: Reuters)

Speaking to Al Hayat, Nahala said that “at this point we have no choice but to reach a truce. That stands at the head of our priorities. I believe that we are approaching an agreement.”

“The great destruction caused by the war obligates us,” he said, adding that though the majority of the Palestinian delegation’s demands were not met, “Our achievements are acceptable.”

Photo: AP

Two-pronged deal: From ceasefire to demilitarization

The ‘ceasefire for rehabilitation’ and ‘redevelopment for demilitarization’ formula will be gradually implemented, and each will be conditioned on the other.

In the first stage, a deal will be signed promising a calm period during which time Gaza will go massive rehabilitation efforts, and stipulates a number of international projects for rebuilding the Strip.

In the second stage, in return for a demilitarization of Gaza, larger infrastructure development projects will begin, also under international oversight.

Nonetheless, it is far from certain a Palestinian commitment to a demilitarization of Gaza will include a complete disarming of all of the terror factions in Gaza.

Moreover, the relative level demilitarization will influence the level of redevelopment, and therefore, as Hamas will retain some of its arms and military capabilities, there will not be a sea or air port in Gaza; however, movement from sea and land will be permitted under international oversight.

Israel’s goal in such a deal is to block potential rearming by terror factions, first and foremost by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.

Egypt for its part wants to create a situation in which Hamas cannot create its own arms and rockets through materials smuggled Rafah tunnels, diverting these materials to international forces working on reconstructing the Strip. Thus Egypt, with the support of Israel, is de facto tightening its hold over Hamas.

Palestinians claim that the current five day lull is not a sign of progress, but only a sign that the sides believe that a deal can be reached given more time. They further claim that the discussion regarding sea and air ports – one of the Palestinians central demands – have been postponed to next month.

A Palestinian involved in talks told Asharq Al Awast that the chances of reaching a deal were more than 50 percent, but noted that “a number of issue remains.” According to him the chances of reaching a deal were contingent on “Israel’s desire to reach a long term accord.”

Speaking to the paper, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamadallah reuitered that the Palestinian delegation is unified, after initial talks exposed anger at Hamas by more moderate Palestinian factions.

“These are not Hamas’s conditions, Hamadallah said, “they are Palestinian demands. There is a unified delegation in Cairo which represents all political factions, even of those in the diaspora.

“The demands are the lifting of the blockade and the opening of the crossings, among others. And these are not the requirements of a particular faction but the Palestinian people and leadership.”

FRIEDMAN: As The Middle East Burns, The UN Simply Blames Jews

August 14, 2014

FRIEDMAN: As The Middle East Burns, The UN Simply Blames JewsBoth the media and the United Nations are willing to legitimize Hamas while reprimanding Israel for defending herself against an existential threat

.8.14.2014 Israel Revolt Truth Revolt

via FRIEDMAN: As The Middle East Burns, The UN Simply Blames Jews | Truth Revolt.

 

Yesterday, Hamas broke yet another cease-fire, only hours after Israel had agreed to extend the lull in the fighting. On Monday, the United Nations announced the creation of a special three-person Human Rights Council panel that will review allegations of human rights and international law violations occurring in the current Israel-Gaza conflict. One of the members of this panel has openly stated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be his favorite person to have tried in the International Criminal Court. This council is supposed to be unbiased and impartial. While the United Nations was busy focusing all its energy on these allegations, they forgot to discuss a few other crises occurring in the Middle East.

In Iraq:

Over the last year and a half, the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, an Al-Qaeda splinter cell, has taken control of large swaths of territory via violent means. At a glance:

Over 13,300: is the number of civilians killed by ISIS since the beginning of 2013

6,000: is the number of Iraqi civilians butchered by ISIS this year

500: is the number of Yazidis (a Kurdish Iraqi minority) killed by ISIS, some of which were buried alive

0: is the number of practicing Christians left in Mosul, a city that is now controlled by ISIS; ISIS has made Christianity punishable by death, thus forcing all Christians to either convert or flee.

As ISIS is carrying out targeted killings against minority groups and Iraqi Christians, it is safe to say that they are successfully carrying out genocide in Iraq. Unlike the Israel-Gaza conflict, this crisis has gone almost unmentioned for the last year and a half, even though scores of more people have been killed in Iraq than in the current Israel-Gaza conflict.

In Syria:

More than 170,000: is the number of people killed since start of the civil war

More than 54,000: is a conservative estimate of the number of civilians killed in the Syrian Civil War

More than 14,100: is the number of women and children killed in the Syrian Civil War

More than 1800: is the number of Palestinian-Arabs killed in the Syrian Civil War

The media scarcely reports on the ongoing civil war that is still raging in Syria; this past July was one of the deadliest months of the conflict thus far. It is of note that the United Nations has stopped updating its count of the Syrian death toll; it claims it cannot verify the sources behind the numbers. Essentially, they refuse to take the time to verify the sources and keep track of the death toll.

Last but not least, for the sake of comparison, Israel:

Approximately 87,000: is the number of Palestinian-Arabs killed in the Israeli-Arab conflict since 1948. More people have died in the last three years alone in the Syrian Civil War, but these victims have largely been forgotten by the international community.

More than 3500: is the number of rockets launched at Israel since the start of Protective Edge, each one of which constitutes an attempt to murder Israeli civilians. This is a war crime.

Approximately 1900: is the number of Palestinian Arabs killed since the start of Protective Edge.

Approximately 900-1300: is the estimated number of Palestinian-Arabs civilians killed amongst the 1900 total. The lower number is that estimated by the IDF, while the higher number is that estimated by Palestinian sources, many of which are run by Hamas. There are varying other estimates that fall between these numbers.

Recently, reports have surfaced that disprove the claim that the majority of the people killed in this conflict have been Palestinian civilians. In fact, research done by both the BBC as well as an Israeli research group indicates that the numbers of civilians and militants killed may be closer to equal. This is not a means to justify the number of civilians killed, because loss of innocent life is terrible. However, it is unfair and unjust to inflate figures merely to claim that one party’s response is disproportionate to the other’s actions. If the validity of war were judged based on the number of casualties on each side, then the Allies would bear the blame for World War II.

As for the allegations Israel of committing war crimes, indiscriminately ordering strikes within Gaza and violating human rights:

4,762: is the number of terror targets the IDF struck between July 8 and August 5. Again, without trying to justify loss of civilian life and using the larger estimates for the number of civilian casualties, this works out to one civilian killed for every 3.6 strikes. If Israel were truly indiscriminately targeting Palestinian civilians, the number of civilians killed in each strike would be much higher.

Additionally, the mainstream media often states that the Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas on Earth, and Hamas only fires from civilian areas because of this fact. This is a distortion of the truth.

Here is the salient point:

Information recently released by the Gatestone Institute indicates that while the city centers of Gaza are very densely populated, there are many emptier areas of Gaza. Mainstream media outlets never show these areas because there is scarcely fighting there. Additionally, maps that show the origin of rocket attacks show that almost none of the attacks originate in these empty areas. This begs the question, if Hamas were concerned with Gaza’s civilians, why not fire rockets from these emptier areas? Why fire them from some of the most populated areas in the world? The answer is that as a terrorist organization, Hamas has no regard for civilians of any kind.

Up to this point I have refrained from addressing the claim that Hamas uses the civilians of Gaza as human shields. There is real and jarring evidence to support this claim. Hamas hides behind the civilians of Gaza by choosing to launch rocket attacks from densely populated areas and leaves the IDF no choice but to carry out strikes in these areas. Hamas does this knowing that images of deceased civilians will flood TV screens throughout the world, and that the international community will cry out in rage against Israel. Hamas has the option to set up their headquarters in empty areas of Gaza instead of in hospitals and homes, but has repeatedly choose the latter. By making this choice, Hamas bears the blame for the loss of civilian life and is committing war crimes.

Lastly, during Operation Protective Edge, Israel provided the following supplies to Gaza:

40,550: is the number of tons of supplies transferred to Gaza

37,178: is the number of tons of food transferred to Gaza

1,694: is the number of tons of humanitarian goods transferred to Gaza

1,029: is the number of tons of medicine and medical supplies transferred to Gaza

1,856: is the number of trucks needed to carry these supplies

Many of these supplies were delivered via the Kerem Shalom crossing, which has been repeatedly attacked with barrages of Hamas rockets in order to prevent these aid shipments from entering the Gaza Strip. So even though Israel has been more than willing to give assistance to the people of Gaza, Hamas will not allow them to have it.

Given the force with which the United States carried out its strikes against terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq, there is no doubt that they would have responded in the same manner to a barrage of rockets raining down on the United States homeland. Additionally, the United States has renewed airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and is being credited not only with further securing the homeland, but with saving the lives of civilians in Northern Iraq. These airstrikes serve the same purpose to the people of the Iraq as Operation Protective Edge does to the people of Israel: to protect the lives of civilians against terrorist attacks. Throughout history, there have been numerous cases of countries striking back at terrorists in order to secure the safety of their people. In the larger majority of these instances, civilians have died, as war is mayhem. No other country in the world is forced to live under the constant fear that Israel lives with day in and day out, and yet no other country in the world has faced the amount of backlash that Israel continues to receive in the name of self-defense.

When the mainstream media reports on ISIS, they waste no time calling them a dangerous terrorist organization that must be stopped. ISIS and Hamas are incredibly similar; they are both extremist groups perverting the beliefs of a peace-loving religion to further their cause. It is truly mind-boggling that the mainstream media is willing to ignore this fact, as is the United Nations. Both the media and the United Nations are willing to legitimize Hamas while reprimanding Israel for defending herself against an existential threat. At the end of the day, all Israel wants is to live in peace with her neighbors; this operation must continue so that Israel is able to do just that.

Ashley Friedman is a 2014 graduate of the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She is a proud Zionist and dual Israeli-American citizen.

US Readies More Advisers for Iraq, Steps Up Air Strikes

August 13, 2014

US Sends More Advisers to Iraq, Steps Up Air Strikes

Tuesday, 12 Aug 2014 07:23 PM

via US Readies More Advisers for Iraq, Steps Up Air Strikes.

 

(AP)

Breaking:

The Obama administration has sent about 130 additional military personnel to Iraq, U.S Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Tuesday, as Washington seeks to help Iraq contain the threat posed by hardline militants from the Islamic State.

Hagel, speaking to troops in California, said the soldiers had arrived in the area around Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital, Arbil, earlier in the day on Tuesday.

A U.S. defense official, in a statement issued as Hagel was speaking, said the soldiers sent to northern Iraq would “assess the scope of the humanitarian mission and develop additional humanitarian assistance options beyond the current airdrop effort in support of displaced Iraqi civilians trapped on Sinjar Mountain by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.”
Earlier Story:

Iraq’s new prime minister-designate won swift endorsements from uneasy mutual allies the United States and Iran on Tuesday as he called on political leaders to end crippling feuds that have let jihadists seize a third of the country.

Haider al-Abadi still faces opposition closer to home, where his Shi’ite party colleague Nuri al-Maliki has refused to step aside after eight years as premier that have alienated Iraq’s once dominant Sunni minority and irked Washington and Tehran.

However, Shi’ite militia and army commanders long loyal to Maliki signaled their backing for the change, as did many people on the streets of Baghdad, eager for an end to fears of a further descent into sectarian and ethnic bloodletting.

Sunni neighbors Turkey and Saudi Arabia also welcomed Abadi’s appointment.

A statement from Maliki’s office said he met senior security officials and army and police commanders to urge them “not to interfere in the political crisis”. At least 17 people were killed in two car bombings in Shi’ite areas of Baghdad – a kind of attack that has become increasingly routine in recent months.

As Western powers and international aid agencies considered further help for tens of thousands of people driven from their homes and under threat from the Sunni militants of the Islamic State near the Syrian border, Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would consider requests for military and other assistance once Abadi forms a government to unite the country.

However, U.S. officials said the Obama administration was already considering sending more military advisers to Iraq. Speaking on condition of anonymity, several said a decision to send at least 70 extra military personnel was likely later on Tuesday, although a final decision had not yet been made.

Underscoring the convergence of interest in Iraq that marks the normally hostile relationship between Washington and Iran, senior Iranian officials congratulated Abadi on his nomination, three months after a parliamentary election left Maliki’s bloc as the biggest in the legislature. Like Western powers, Shi’ite Iran is alarmed by Sunni militants’ hold in Syria and Iraq.

“Iran supports the legal process that has taken its course with respect to choosing Iraq’s new prime minister,” the representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the Supreme National Security Council was quoted as saying.

“Iran favors a cohesive, integrated and secure Iraq,” he said, adding an apparent appeal to Maliki to concede.

Abadi himself, long exiled in Britain, is seen as a far less polarizing, sectarian figure than Maliki, who is also from the Shi’ite Islamic Dawa party. Abadi appears to have the blessing of Iraq’s powerful Shi’ite clergy, a major force since U.S. troops toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Iraqi state television said Abadi “called on all political powers who believe in the constitution and democracy to unite efforts and close ranks to respond to Iraq’s great challenges”.

One politician close to Abadi told Reuters that the prime minister-designate had begun contacting leaders of major groups to sound them out on forming a new cabinet. The president said on Monday he hoped he would succeed within the next month.

A statement from a major Shi’ite militia group, Asaib Ahl Haq, which has backed Maliki and reinforced the Iraqi army as it fell back from the north in June, called for an end to the legalistic arguments of the kind used by Maliki to justify his retaining power and urged “self-restraint by all sides”.

It said leaders should “give priority to the public interest over the private” and respect clerical guidance – a clear reference to indications that Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani favors the removal of Maliki to address the national crisis.

While U.S. officials have been at pains not to appear to be imposing a new leadership on Iraq, three years after U.S. troops left the country, President Barack Obama was quick to welcome the appointment. Wrangling over a new government since Iraqis elected the new parliament in April has been exploited by the Islamic State to seize much of the north and west.

Obama has sent hundreds of U.S. military advisers and last week launched air strikes on the militants after they made dramatic gains against the Peshmerga forces of Iraq’s autonomous ethnic Kurdish region, an ally of the Baghdad authorities.

Kurdish president Masoud Barzani told U.S. Vice President Joe Biden that he would work with Abadi, the White House said.

U.S. officials have said the Kurds are also receiving direct military aid, and U.S. and British aircraft have dropped food and other supplies to terrified civilians, including from the Yazidi religious minority, who have taken refuge in remote mountains. The United Nations said on Tuesday that 20,000 to 30,000 Yazidis may still be sheltering on the arid Mount Sinjar.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the Yazidis’ plight on the mountain as dire. “I urge the international community to do even more to provide the protection they need,” he told reporters.

Kerry, who on Monday had warned Maliki not to resort to force to hold on to power, said on Tuesday that Abadi could win more U.S. military and economic assistance.

“We are prepared to consider additional political, economic and security options as Iraq’s government starts to build a new government,” he told a news conference in Australia, where he also reaffirmed that Washington would not send combat troops.

“The best thing for stability in Iraq is for an inclusive government to bring the disaffected parties to the table and work with them in order to make sure there is the kind of sharing of power and decision-making that people feel confident the government represents all of their interests,” Kerry added.

It remains unclear how much support Maliki, who remains acting premier, has to obstruct the formation of a new administration. One senior government official told Reuters that his fears of a military standoff in the capital had eased as police and troops had reduced their presence on the streets.

“Yesterday Baghdad was very tense,” he said. “But key military commanders have since contacted the president and said they would support him and not Maliki.”

In both Shi’ite and Sunni districts of the capital, many spoke of a sense of relief and cautious hope for change.

“I’m very happy Maliki will not be prime minister again. I hate him; he killed my sons and broke my heart,” said 68-year-old Um Aqeel as she walked in the Karrada shopping district.

Saying two of her sons had died in violence in the past year – one while serving as a soldier in the north in May – she said: “Maliki knows only the language of war and never believes in peace, just like Saddam. Yesterday when I heard he was out I felt justice has been done by God, and my two beloved sons who were killed because of him will rest in peace.”

But as Um Aqeel offered sweets to passers-by in the mainly Shi’ite area to share her satisfaction, one man, Murtadha al-Waeli, warned her angrily that she was wrong to celebrate.

“Soon you will all regret Maliki’s going,” he said. “It was he who built a strong army. Iraq will fall apart after Maliki, and we will lose the battle with the terrorists. Shi’ites will pay a high price for losing Maliki. Just wait and see.”

In the mainly Sunni district of Adhamiya, where many people have long resented what they saw as Maliki’s determination to keep Sunnis out of positions of influence, cafe owner Khalid Saad said he hoped Abadi would learn a lesson from the past by keeping his distance from Iran and leaving Sunnis in peace.

“Maliki treated us Sunni like aliens,” he said. “We hope Abadi will learn from Maliki’s fatal mistakes and pull the country back from its sea of troubles.

Has ISIS reached the Gaza Strip?

August 13, 2014

By: Anav Silverman, Tazpit News Agency

Published: August 13th, 2014

via The Jewish Press » » Has ISIS reached the Gaza Strip?.

 

“I would rather die than accept Israeli blood.” A Gazan terrorist wrapped in an ISIS flag at his funeral.
 

According to a recent Gatestone Institute publication, the presence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has begun to grow in the Gaza Strip, with both the PA and Israel convinced that followers of ISIS in Gaza have been responsible for some of the rocket attacks on Israel.

Last month, the Israel Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reported that Salafist-jihadi operatives in the Gaza Strip uploaded a video clip to YouTube on July 8, documenting several instances of rockets being launched at Israel. The video clip, entitled “The Salafist-jihadi [movement[ in the Gaza Strip – lovers of the Islamic state [i.e. ISIS] launches rockets at the Jews.” The video showed at least 10 rockets being launched at Israel.

In addition, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported in late June that Egyptian security forces arrested 15 ISIS terrorists (known as ‘Daash’ in Arabic) who tried to infiltrate Sinai from the Gaza Strip. According to the report, the 15 who were arrested were instructed to begin the formation of an ISIS branch in Egypt among terrorist groups in the Sinai.

However, the Hamas Interior Ministry refuted the report, with Maan News Agency reporting that the ministry stated it was a lie and that “all tunnels between Gaza and Egypt have been closed completely after the Egyptian army destroyed them.” Iyad Al Bezem, a Hamas interior spokesman, stated that “there is no presence of the ISIS in the Gaza Strip.”

Hamas has dealt with expressions of ISIS support in the Strip strongly. Gatestone reports that ISIS followers organized a rally on June 12 to celebrate the military victories of the ISIS in Iraq, with Hamas policemen dispersing the Rafah rally in response. In addition, Hamas prevented local journalists from reporting the event “as part of its attempt to deny the existence of ISIS in the Gaza Strip.”

At the rally, dozens of Islamists were reported chanting, “Khaybar, Khaybar, Ya Yahud, Jaish Mohamed Saya’ud!” (O Jews, Mohamed’s army will return) in reference to the story of the 629 CE battle by the Prophet Mohamed against the Jews of Khaybar in northwestern Arabia, where many Jews were killed and Jewish women and children taken as slaves.

Additionally, at a funeral for two terrorists that Israel killed for firing rockets at Israeli communities, on Sunday, June 29, the black ISIS flags were seen flying, and the terrorists’ coffins were reportedly draped in ISIS flags according to a World Net Daily report.

The radical jihadi ISIS, which recently changed its name to The Islamic State, proclaimed itself an Islamic caliphate on June 29, claiming religious authority over all Muslims in the world, and having ushered in “a new era of international jihad.” The group has exterminated at least 500 people of Iraq’s Yazidi Kurdish ethnic minority, while burying some of its victims alive. Some 300 Yazidi women were kidnapped as slaves and around 150,000 Yazidi Kurds, who have been entrapped by ISIS on Iraq’s Sinjar mountains, are currently homeless and starving.

Government May Have to Decide if Money Buys Peace or War with Hamas

August 12, 2014

Money can’t buy love from Hamas. It can by a short cease-fire. It can buy war. It can’t buy peace.

By: Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu Published: August 12th, 2014

via The Jewish Press » » Government May Have to Decide if Money Buys Peace or War with Hamas.

 

Naftali Bennett does not buy “money for calm.” Photo Credit: Flash 90

An idea on the negotiating table in Cairo that tax money collected by Israel for the Palestinian Authority would end up in the pockets of Hamas in exchange in exchange for a supposed truce was debunked Tuesday by key coalition government partner Naftali Bennett, who said the scheme is nothing short of extortion.

The Minister of the Economy and chairman of the Jewish Home Party, the third largest in the coalition, said the idea is one of “Pay us – we’ll shoot at your later; don’t pay us – we’ll shoot at you now.”

Israel previously has insisted that all money it transfers to the Palestinian Authority cannot reach Hamas, which is a fiction because the Palestinian Authority ends up paying for salaries of Hamas government “workers,” which includes “civil servants” with machine guns.

The government in the past also has used the tax money to pay off a huge debt owed to Israel Electric Corp.(IEC) by the electric company in the Palestinian Authority.

Most of the “news” on negotiations in Cairo between Hamas and Israel, mediated by Egypt in order to maintain the illusion that Israel and Hamas do not recognize each other, is based on the usual Hamas hyperbole and threats, and on more substantiated reports.

The guts of a proposed agreement reportedly would extend the 72-hour ceasefire due to expire on midnight Wednesday.

Israel would perform a very poor trick of magic by handing over the money to Hamas through a third party to fool itself that it is not paying Hamas directly.

That idea sent Bennett through the ceiling. “Extortion” and “dangerous” were only two of the unflattering adjectives he expressed. He warned that the money will be used by terrorists “who are digging under our feet… It’s a ‘calm for money to terrorists formula.’ You don’t pay Hamas, you defeat them.”

Bennett said he will fight the proposal if it comes to the Cabinet for a vote.

Israel reportedly is willing to ease the blockade without removing it completely, and Egypt would do the same at the border in the divided city of Rafah. Israel also is seriously considering extending the permitted fishing zone to six nautical miles and to allow, once again, construction materials to move into Gaza under supervision.

As with previous ceasefire agreements and concessions on the blockade, supervisory measures are questionable.

Hamas exploited Israel’s previous agreement to allow cement and other “dual-use” materials into Gaza and used them to build tunnels for terrorists, among other activities that were at the expense of building houses and schools. Even then, Hamas has used schools and homes, as well as mosques and hospitals, as rocket launching pads, so all “dual purpose” materials ultimately had only one purpose – terror.

Officially, “no progress” has been made in the talks. This is expected because Hamas always likes to keep everyone in suspense until the last minute, or even after the last minute.

For good measure, it has publicly threatened that any extended ceasefire would simply be a temporary measure until the next war. That can be dismissed as rhetoric in the short-term, but in the long-term, Hamas means what it says. Its existence depends on attacking Israel. If it does not, it risks losing its power to rival terrorist groups who would be happy to take over the task.

One of the most dangerous elements of a possible longer-term agreement for a truce is allowing security forces from the Palestinian Authority, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, to supervise the “Philadlphi” smuggling route at and near Rafah.

Abbas and Hamas have accepted each other as peace partners in a new unity government, which has carefully placed “technocrats” in the government, a camouflage for the grip over Gaza by Hamas and its full-fledged army.

Allowing the Palestinian Authority to supervise the border is the opening to giving Hamas the keys to the slaughterhouse.

Hamas Says Truce Would Only Be to Plan Next War

August 12, 2014

Hamas Clarifies Truce Would Only Be to Plan Next War

Hamas leadership in Gaza and Qatar reportedly divided over continuing terror war or stopping to ‘plan next campaign.

‘By Ari YasharFirst Publish: 8/12/2014, 3:55 PM

via Hamas Says Truce Would Only Be to Plan Next War – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva.

 

Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades terrorist Reuters
 

Even as Israeli representatives are in Cairo to discuss a truce with Hamas on Tuesday, the terrorist group is taking pains to clarify it has no intentions of desisting from trying to wipe Israel off the map.

Hamas’s “military wing,” the Al-Qassam Brigades, released a statement presenting its position on the ongoing talks in Egypt.

“The warriors in Gaza are waiting with Allah’s help to renew the fighting, or to return to planning the next campaign. There’s no escape. Either jihad or planning (for the next jihad),” declared the statement.

The remarks leave no doubts that even in the case of a truce, from Hamas’s perspective the lull in fighting would only be an opportunity to rearm for the next terror war on the Jewish state. This facet is particularly concerning in light of reports of Israel agreeing to finance Hamas’s officials in Gaza as part of an agreement.

Slamming this proposal, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) stated Monday “this is political protection money: you pay us, then we’ll shoot you later; you don’t pay us, then we’ll shoot you right now. …It is impossible to fight our enemy with one hand and to fund it with the other.”

Further demonstrating how Hamas appears to view the talks as a chance for financial gains and to prepare for the next round of fighting is analysis suggesting that Hamas agreed to the current 72-hour ceasefire, which began on Sunday night at 12 a.m., as a means to gain Saudi and UAE funds.

Hamas divided over ending or continuing the war

Azzam al-Ahmed, the head of the Palestinian Authority (PA) delegation in Cairo for the truce talks, told Walla! on Tuesday that the talks are advancing, but “the gaps are still wide.”

The PA official, who represented Fatah in the Hamas unity deal in April and led negotiations in forming the unity government, insisted that Hamas’s period of controlling Gaza is over, and called for Israel to concede to Hamas demands for a sea and airport while supporting the PA in taking control of the Hamas enclave.

Another senior official from the PA delegation told Walla! that there are estimations that the current ceasefire may be extended by an additional 72-hour period.

Revealing Hamas’s position on the talks, the official commented “I’m still not sure that there’s a decision by Hamas to end this war.”

“There’s a great disagreement now between the Hamas leadership in Qatar headed by Khaled Mashaal, and between the senior members of the organization in Gaza. Doha (Qatar’s capital – ed.) is urging Mashaal all the time not to agree to Egypt as an intermediary,” disclosed the official.

The Gaza branch of Hamas also seems to hold enmity towards Egypt; just this week a senior Hamas leader, Mustafa Sawaf, urged the Palestinian Arab negotiating team to reject Egypt as an intermediary and find another third-party country to help Hamas realize its demands.