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EU ministers in search for united front on arming Iraq

August 15, 2014

EU ministers in search for united front on arming Iraq Conference of European foreign ministers in Brussels also to include discussion of situation in the Gaza Strip

By Alex Pigman August 15, 2014, 2:08 pm

via EU ministers in search for united front on arming Iraq | The Times of Israel.

 

Flags outside the European Union in Brussels (photo credit: Flickr/BY 2.0/motiqua )
 

russels (AFP) — EU ministers convened in Brussels on Friday in a rare summertime meeting to seek unanimous approval for the shipment of arms to Iraqi Kurds fighting Islamic State jihadists.

France and Britain have already moved ahead with plans to provide weapons to beleaguered Iraqi forces, but French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius pushed for the talks to mobilize an EU-wide response to the crisis in Iraq.

“I asked for this meeting so that all of Europe mobilizes and helps the Iraqis and Kurds,” Fabius said as he arrived for the talks.

Italy, which currently holds the EU’s rotating leadership and whose foreign minister Federica Mogherini is shortlisted to become the next EU foreign affairs chief, also called for talks.

“The Kurds need our support,” she said as she arrived at the meeting.

“It is important for us that there be a European agreement,” she added.

Defense matters are strictly the purview of member states and the push for an EU stance to send arms to a conflict zone is a rare one.

But alarming images of Iraqi minorities, including Christians, under siege by jihadists have struck chords in European capitals.

EU governments are also alarmed by the Islamic State’s ability to attract radicals from Europe who then return home to the West battle-hardened.

Ahead of Friday’s meeting, support for a strong message on arming Iraq was growing, even from member states historically less inclined to back military adventures abroad.

Usually cautious Germany this week pledged to work “full-speed” on the supply of “non-lethal” equipment such as armored vehicles, helmets and flak jackets to Iraq.

Germany is a major arms manufacturer and going into the meeting, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier seemed ready to boost German action, despite national restrictions limiting arms exports to raging conflicts.

“Europeans must not limit themselves to praising the courageous fight of the Kurdish security forces. We also need to do something first of all to meet basic needs,” he said.

Sweden, which is usually reluctant to participate in military missions, stressed, however, that the EU’s “great power is in its humanitarian response.”

“Other countries have power to do other things,” said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.

Current EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who officially convened the meeting, had been criticized earlier in the week for the bloc’s slow response to the unfurling crisis in Iraq.

But a senior European official, speaking in the run-up to the talks on Thursday, deplored the “distorted” view of a shut-down EU in August.

This was “at best unfair,” he said. The European Union “is not on holiday.”

Earlier this week, the European Commission announced it would boost humanitarian aid to Iraq to 17 million euros ($22 million), and gave the green light for special emergency measures to meet the crisis.

But Humanitarian Affairs Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, who is also attending the meeting, said the real challenge in helping civilians was access, not funding.

Also on the agenda will be the crises in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip and a request by Spain to address the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

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UN to vote on measure to combat al-Qaeda-linked fighters

August 15, 2014

UN to vote on measure to combat al-Qaeda-linked fighters

Security Council calls to disarm and disband Islamic State, al-Nusra Front and other such groups

By Edith M. Lederer August 15, 2014, 2:38 am

via UN to vote on measure to combat al-Qaeda-linked fighters | The Times of Israel.

 

Fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)
marching in Raqqa, Syria, June 2014. (photo credit: AP/Militant Website, File)
 

NITED NATIONS (AP) — UN Security Council members have reached agreement on a draft resolution that would punish the recruitment and financing of foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria and demand that all al-Qaeda-linked groups disarm and disband immediately, diplomats said Thursday.

Britain’s UN Mission, which currently holds the council presidency, said the resolution will be put to a vote at 3 p.m. EDT (19:00 GMT) on Friday. Diplomats expect it to be approved unanimously.

The resolution was drafted in response to the recent offensive by the Islamic State extremist group, which has taken control of a large swath of eastern Syria and northern and western Iraq, brutalizing civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee, as well as increasing terrorist activity in Syria including by al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra.

It demands that the Islamic State group, Jabhat al-Nusra, “and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with al-Qaeda cease all violence and terrorist acts, and disarm and disband with immediate effect.”

It also demands that “all foreign terrorist fighters” associated with the Islamic State group, which is a splinter group of al-Qaeda, and other terrorist groups “withdraw immediately.”

The draft resolution expresses the council’s readiness to impose sanctions on those recruiting, supporting and fighting for terrorist groups.

It names six people to be added to the sanctions blacklist and encourages the council committee monitoring sanctions “to urgently consider additional designations” of individuals and entities supporting the Islamic State group or Jabhat al-Nusra.

The Security Council adopted a wide-ranging resolution immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States to tackle terrorism, demanding that countries adopt national laws to combat terrorism and cooperate in bringing the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of terrorist acts to justice. The council also extended sanctions against the Taliban in Afghanistan, which were imposed in 1999 to cover al-Qaeda and later its far-flung affiliates.

The draft resolution urges all countries to meet their obligations under the 2001 resolution and reaffirms its requirement that all countries prevent the financing and active or passive support for terrorist acts.

It notes “with concern” that oil fields controlled by the Islamic State group, Jabhat al-Nusra and other al-Qaeda-linked groups are generating income that is supporting their recruitment efforts and ability to carry out terrorist operations. It warns that any involvement in financing terrorism may lead to sanctions.

The draft resolution calls on all countries to take measures to suppress the flow of their citizens and residents to fight for terrorist groups and bring those who do to justice. It also encourages governments to engage with communities and individuals who are “at risk of recruitment and violent radicalization to discourage travel to Syria and Iraq” to fight for the Islamic State group, Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist groups.

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Islamic Jihad official: There will be a cease-fire, even without an agreement

August 15, 2014

Islamic Jihad official: There will be a cease-fire, even without an agreement

By JPOST.COM STAFFLAST UPDATED: 08/15/2014 12:35

Ziad al-Nakhaleh says Palestinians have put aside Gaza airport and seaport discussions;

Israeli delegation to return to Cairo Saturday night; Amir Peretz: We’re in the most important phase now.

via Islamic Jihad official: There will be a cease-fire, even without an agreement | JPost | Israel News.

 

Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu at weekly cabinet meeting
Photo: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM
 

he Palestinian delegation indicated Friday that a lasting cease-fire could be imminent.

“From our point of view, we’re heading toward a cease-fire, even if there isn’t an agreement,” Islamic Jihad’s Ziad al-Nakhaleh said. In media reports, he confirmed that Palestinian groups have agreed to delay negotiations over the airport and seaport, signifying what could be a step towards both sides coming to a compromise.

Senior Hamas official Izzat a-Rishak said that the next steps in the negotiation process are still up in the air, in terms of a decision in Cairo. “Talks are ongoing between Hamas officials in Qatar, in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank,” he said.

Israel’s security cabinet convened in Tel Aviv on Friday morning to discuss the cease-fire agreement and negotiations taking place between Israel and the Palestinians in Cairo.

The meeting is the second of its kind in 24 hours, as the cabinet also discussed matters on Thursday night.

The Israeli delegation is currently not in Cairo and is set to return on Saturday night.

Also on Friday morning, Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz said on Israel Radio that the country is “in the midst of the final stages of the negotiations, the most important stages.”

He also said that the results of Operation Protective Edge remain to be seen and will only be visible once the negotiations conclude.

On Thursday, the prime minster convened the eight-member security cabinet to brief it on the talks in Egypt and what seems to be an emerging agreement that will be based on the accord reached after 2012’s Operation Pillar of Defense, which called for an end to the rocket fire, the opening of border crossings under Egyptian and Israeli supervisions, and the funneling of money into Gaza through Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, to ensure that it does not go into Hamas’s coffers.

Khaled Abu Toameh and Yasser Okbi contributed to this report.

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Terror finance trial plaintiffs: Arab Bank records show funds were transferred to Hamas

August 15, 2014

Terror finance trial plaintiffs: Arab Bank records show funds were transferred to Hamas

By YONAH JEREMY BOB, FRANK G. RUNYEON 08/15/2014 01:57

One of the lead plaintiffs’ lawyers said evidence would show that the bank required “all employees to donate 5 percent of their salaries” to the second intifada.

via Terror finance trial plaintiffs: Arab Bank records show funds were transferred to Hamas | JPost | Israel News.

 

Peace flags are reflected on the Arab Bank window during anti-wardemonstration in Rome. Photo: REUTERS
 

Plaintiffs told the jury in the Arab Bank terror financing trial on Thursday that “you will see bank records in black and white that say ‘Hamas’” as proof the bank knew it was being used to fund terrorism.

One of the lead plaintiffs’ lawyers, Mark Werbner said that evidence would show that the bank required “all their employees to donate 5 percent of their salaries” to the second intifada.

The plaintiffs allege that Arab Bank, Jordan’s sovereign bank with branches in 30 countries, facilitated massive transfer of funds to Hamas leaders and institutions, as well as to the families of imprisoned Hamas members and suicide bombers, via Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah’s al-Shahid Foundation.

It is alleged that Arab Bank knew the transfered funds were not solely related to terrorists and terrorist groups, but used in attacks – a charge that the Jordanian institution denies.

Werbner added that the funds that passed through the bank “is the oxygen that feeds these kinds of organizations.”

Tab Turner, another plaintiff’s lawyer, said that the evidence would show “millions, literally millions” of dollars “flowed right down the middle of Madison Avenue.”

Turner also said that the applicable US anti-terrorism financing law on the issue says, “thou shalt not provide financial services to foreign terrorist organizations.”

He accused the bank of serving “as the paymaster” for an alleged terror-funding Saudi Arabia-related committee.

Aside from the accusations, the plaintiffs displayed photographs, bank records, bank letters and internal memoranda to prove their case while opening with a description of a March 28, 2001, terrorist attack connected to the case, and allegedly to the bank.

Werbner said that the bank had not made a mistake but that “it was a choice.”

He added that the bank assisted with terror financing because it was “the ideology of the bank,” which made public statements characterizing Israel as the enemy.

The plaintiffs outlined payments from the bank to 24 suicide bombers’ families, 145 operatives families and 11 living operatives, 92.5% of which were paid in cash.

They mentioned advertisements in newspapers asking for martyrs’ families to come to the bank to collect payment.

Shand Stephens, representing the bank, said, “our hearts go out to the victims,” but that “we’re not here with Hamas as a defendant,” distinguishing the bank as having no knowledge that funds were being wired through it to terrorists.

He added that the plaintiffs unfairly argued that “every neighbor knew every neighbor” and that the bank, which conducts millions of transactions a year, genuinely did not know that terrorists were the recipients of the funds.

Stephens, in trying to humanize the bank, noted that the brother of bank chairman Sabih al-Masri was killed in a terrorist attack – without making a direct link to the case.

Rather than the emotional underpinnings of the case, the defense lawyers highlighted that the technical workings of the bank’s compliance systems checked watch-lists for electronic fund transfers.

The case has massive diplomatic implications.

A critical issue, which brought the US State Department, Justice Department and Treasury Department to loggerheads over what official US policy should be, is an April 2013 sanctions order imposed by a New York federal court which significantly penalized the bank for refusing to disclose key documents that the plaintiffs said they need to prove their case.

The bank had refused to turn over certain documents, saying it could incur criminal sanctions from Jordan and Lebanon for violating bank secrecy laws, but a lower US court rejected this rationale.

Arab Bank maintained its claim that the transfers were made with no knowledge of wrongdoing at the time – despite the terrorism-connected persons the transfers were made to, including Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, arch-terrorist commanders (now deceased) Salah Shehada and Ahmed Jabari, and Hamas founder Ibrahim al-Muqadama.

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No change in policy on weapons deliveries to Israel, US says

August 14, 2014

No change in policy on weapons deliveries to Israel,US says

By MICHAEL WILNER, HERB KEINON 08/14/2014 21:46

Without issuing full denial of report that White House ordered halt of delivery of Hellfire missiles, administration officials say claims were a mischaracterization of inter-agency procedure, unchanged policy.

via No change in policy on weapons deliveries to Israel, US says | JPost | Israel News.

 

US President Barack Obama.
Photo: REUTERSWASHINGTON — The Obama administration denied on Thursday that it was surprised by the processing of a munitions delivery by the Pentagon to Israel during its operation in Gaza last month.
 

Without issuing a full-throated denial of a report that the White House issued a halt on the delivery of Hellfire missiles, administration officials said the claims, first surfacing in the Wall Street Journal, were a mischaracterization of inter-agency procedure, and of a policy unchanged.
Related:

Report: US halted weapons transfer to Israel during Gaza offensive
Politicians weigh in on ‘crisis in US-Israel relations’

“Let me be clear: there has been no change in policy, period,” State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said. “Given the crisis in Gaza, it is natural that agencies take additional care with deliveries as part of an inter-agency process.”

During Operation Protective Edge, the Pentagon said that the delivery was standard, and part of the United States’ commitment to Israel’s qualitative military edge, both through their maintaining broad defensive and offensive capabilities.

Harf said that the “additional care” taken by the administration does not represent a “permanent change in process.”

At the initial revelation of the July sales, media outlets in the Middle East slammed the administration for the timing of the deliveries, in the heat of the crisis.

But Harf also pushed back strongly at the notion that the US reviewed its process due to media pressures. “This has nothing to do with publicity,” she said.

Earlier Thursday, Israeli officials reaffirmed the oft-repeated mantra Thursday that under the Obama administration US-Israel security ties have never been better, even as the Wall Street Journal reported that the White House is holding up the sale of precision Hellfire missiles to Jerusalem.

According to the piece, the Obama administration has tightened its control of arms transfers to Israel, requiring White House and State Department approval for even routine munitions requests by Israel.

“Instead of being handled as a military-to-military matter, each case is now subject to review—slowing the approval process and signaling to Israel that military assistance once taken for granted is now under closer scrutiny,” the story said.

The report came out on the same day that the Hurriyet Daily News reported that the US cleared a potential $320 million advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles (AMRAAM) sale to Turkey “amid increasing security risks in the region.”

The decision for White House and State Department oversight over arms requests by Israel is the seeming culmination of a series of very public disagreements between the two allies over the Gaza conflict, with Israel unhappy with the way the US tried to bring Qatar and Turkey into cease-fire negotiations last month, and Washington upset at what it considered the often “heavy-handed” way Israel fought the war and caused civilian casualties.

The Wall Street Journal piece was just the latest in a series of stories over the last few weeks reporting of a “new low” in relations between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama.

Other incidents in recent weeks that added fuel to the sense of a crisis in the ties were the following

* Netanyahu allegedly telling US envoy Dan Shapiro earlier in the month, after Hamas violated a cease-fire and killed three IDF soldiers in Rafah, that the US should never “second guess” him on Hamas.

* The leak of an alleged transcript of an Obama-Netanyahu conversation where an angry Obama demanded that Israel agree to a cease-fire

* The White House calling the shelling of a UN facility that lead to innocent deaths as “disgraceful.”

* Israeli anger at a US cease-fire proposal that would have given an enhanced Turkish and Qatari role, followed by US anger that Israel allegedly leaked the draft proposal and was disrespectful in its criticism of US Secretary of State John Kerry.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the phone conversation between Netanyahu and Obama on Wednesday was also “combative,” a characterization denied in Jerusalem.

The paper said that the Gaza conflict has convinced many administration officials that Netanyahu and his national security team were “both reckless and untrustworthy.” Israeli officials were quoted as saying that the Obama administration was weak and naive, and that they were trying to bypass the White House in favor of allies in Congress and elsewhere in the administration.

A senior Obama administration official was quoted as saying “We have many, many friends around the world. The United States is their strongest friend. The notion that they are playing the United States, or that they’re manipulating us publicly, completely miscalculates their place in the world.”

Israeli officials denied the allegations that it was going around the White House to secure arms deliveries. Regarding the Hellfires, the officials said that “we’ve made a request, and we believe the request will be fulfilled.”

At a press conference earlier this month with the foreign press, Netanyahu said that the US has been “terrific” during the current crisis.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s office, meanwhile, would not commenting on the report, saying only that there was a conversation on Wednesday between Ya’alon and US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel that went well.

In a statement released on Thursday, Ya’alon’s office quoted him as saying “we very much appreciate our relations with the United States. The relations between our security establishments are very good.”

He said that relationships like that between the US and Israel are made even more important because of the challenges posed by extremists in the region, which he listed as Hamas, ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah and Iran.

Obama and Netanayhu have worked together – some say have had to “deal with each other” – longer than any other US president and Israeli prime minister in history. Charges that the Netanyahu’s famously rocky relationship with Obama is harming the vital Israel-US relationship has been a common theme of his opponents and critics both in Israel and the US over the last six years.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid responded to the Wall Street Journal report by saying it represented a “worrisome trend, and we cannot let it continue.

“The relationship with the US,,” he said, was a “strategic asset that must not be harmed. Sometimes we simply have to know how to say thank you.”

Former president Shimon Peres, during a meeting with visiting New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, also related to the report, saying that he was “full of thanks and appreciation to the US, as are all Israel’s citizens, for firmly standing beside Israel for the 66 years of its existence.”

Meanwhile, a Fox News poll on Wednesday found that 38% of the American public does not think Obama has been supportive enough of Israel. Another 33% think his support has been “about right,” and 18% believe he has been “too supportive.” Eleven percent said they did not know.

Ben Hartman contributed to this report

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History of Cease-Fires Shows Israel as the Big Loser

August 14, 2014

A course in Israeli cease-fire 101: Agree to UN and US promises and hold the bag when they are broken.

By: Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu

Published: August 14th, 2014

via The Jewish Press » » History of Cease-Fires Shows Israel as the Big Loser.

 

Obama to the rescue – of himself.
Photo Credit: White House Photo/Pete Sousa
 

President Barack Obama’s direct contact with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to devise a long-term cease-fire plan follows a long history of American and U.N. ventures that have flopped, all of them at Israel’s expense.

Egypt has been the power broker in trying to maintain a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, and Obama is trying to put his foot in the Middle East door to reclaim American influence based by whittling down the popularity of Netanyahu.

His “poll numbers are a lot higher than mine” and “were greatly boosted by the war in Gaza,” Obama told Thomas Friedman of The New York Times last week. . “And so if he doesn’t feel some internal pressure, then it’s hard to see him being able to make some very difficult compromises, including taking on the settler movement.”

It’s always the fault of the settlers. If it rains on the picnic, it is because of the settlers. If Obama’s popularity drops, it is because of the settlers who are an obstacle to his illusions.

The war against terror n Gaza has made Netanyahu even more popular. A Knesset Channel poll released this week shows that the Likud party that he heads would win almost 50 percent more seats than it now has in the Knesset if elections were held today. That translated into 28 mandates compared with 19.

Obama must be politically jealous of Netanyahu, considering the president’s dismal ratings.

Jealous or not, Obama has the habit of most previous presidents to pressure Israel, often by blocking or threatening to block military aid. That is what happened during the war, when Obama stopped the United States from shipping missiles to Israel, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Obama’s phone conversation with Netanyahu was reported as “combative,” nothing new for the two leaders who have distrusted each other during the president’s two terms of office.

The American government’s one-track mind for the “peace process” blocks out all reality, which is a lot different in the Middle East than in the United States. The Jewish Home party’s Housing Minister Ur Ariel said it in a matter of fact way on Thursday – “Americans don’t understand what is happening in the region.”

But that doesn’t stop Obama from throwing his weight around and bullying himself into Iraq, Syria and Egypt only to look like a fish out of water.

Like Carter, Clinton and even Regan, Obama has the freedom to exploit Israel’s democracy and run roughshod over the government to “make peace” with cease-fires that make war.

That is what happened in 2012 to conclude the Pillar of Cloud campaign against Hamas terror, and that is what happened in 2009 to conclude the Operation Cast Lead campaign against terror.

That is what happened in 2006, when the United Nations and the United States brokered a cease-fire that ended the Second Lebanese War and promised the moon, whose location has not moved since. Hezbollah was supposed to be dis-armed under United Nations supervision, which is like Hamas agreeing to dis-arm under Mahmoud Abbas’ supervision.

“For proxies such as the Palestinian Sunni faction Hamas and the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, the centuries old Islamic jurisprudence of Hudna (tactical truce) and Tahadiya (temporary calm) serve as a plausibly regrouping tactic that is continuously reshaped amid the changing face of modern warfare in the Middle East,” Israel Defense noted during the war.

Enter U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, whose “peace process” and ceasefires self-destruct.

He and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon orchestrated a humanitarian cease-fire last month. It lasted for 90 minutes. At least five other cease-fires failed.

Israel Defense reported, “Following the inability to transmute any ceasefire, Hudna or Tahadiya over the last decade into encompassing political progress, the tone is that ceasefires only exasperate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the medium-to long-term. Paradoxically, it is the achievement of these bitesize ceasefires as a short term benefit that has trampled on the utility of ceasefire.”

And that is one of the reasons Netanyahu cannot stomach Obama, who in his words knows what is best for Israel, more than Israel knows, just as he and his foreign policy advisers knew what is best for Egypt, Syria and Iraq.

“How can you create a State of Israel that maintains its democratic and civic traditions.” He rhetorically asked Friedman in last week’s interview.

“How can you preserve a Jewish state that is also reflective of the best values of those who founded Israel? And, in order to do that, it has consistently been my belief that you have to find a way to live side by side in peace with Palestinians. … You have to recognize that they have legitimate claims, and this is their land and neighborhood as well.”

That is why Obama wants a cease-fire. He is not concerned about Hamas, he is not concerned about Israel

He is concerned about the “peace process,” which for years has proven to be the “war process.”

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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.

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Hamas Breaches New Ceasefire With Rocket Attack

August 14, 2014

Hamas Breaches New Ceasefire With Rocket Attack

New five-day extension doesn’t even make it past a day, as Hamas renews rocket fire Thursday after missiles night before.

By Ari YasharFirst Publish: 8/14/2014, 10:03 AM

via Hamas Breaches New Ceasefire With Rocket Attack – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva.

 

Rocket fire from Gaza (file) Flash 90

Hamas already breached the last 72-hour ceasefire three hours ahead of its conclusion Wednesday at midnight; on Thursday morning it proved that it does not intend to honor the newly achieved five-day ceasefire either.

Rocket warning sirens were sounded just after 10 a.m. on Thursday in the Eshkol Regional Council and Hof Ashkelon region, as well in the Kerem Shalom area.

Shortly afterwards it was reported that a rocket fell in open ground in the Eshkol Regional Council, causing no injuries or damage.

The attack comes after Hamas fired at least one rocket at the Hof Ashkelon region on Wednesday night around 9 p.m., hitting open ground.

The terrorist organization then continued firing into the night until 1 a.m., even after the ceasefire extension was announced, with the Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepting one rocket over the city of Netivot. Two other rockets exploded in the Sdot Negev region.

No injuries were reported in either of the rounds of rocket attacks Wednesday night. The IDF responded by launching several airstrikes on terror targets in the Hamas enclave of Gaza.

Israeli MKs on Wednesday night called for a strong response to the renewed rocket attacks, with Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) saying “Israel cannot be a prisoner of Hamas. Operation Protective Edge must end with a mortal blow to Hamas’s capabilities, eliminating the leaders of Hamas and achieving deterrence.”

Likewise, MK Miri Regev (Likud) commented “all attempts to reach an agreement with Hamas have ended and are doomed to fail because it is a dangerous terrorist organization which aims to destroy Israel. We have seen that all the diplomatic elements cannot influence a terrorist organization.”

US President Barack Obama called Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday night ahead of the ceasefire extension, pressing him to achieve a “sustainable” ceasefire with Hamas.

Wall Street Journal reports late Wednesday night reveal Obama’s administration recently cancelled a shipment of Hellfire missiles to Israel due to Operation Protective Edge, and ordered all future arms requests to be closely scrutinized.

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Bi-Partisan Senate Trio Demand Answers From Kerry on UNRWA Conduct in Gaza

August 14, 2014

Senators use harsh language to call UNRWA on its outrageous ties to Hamas and its one-sided condemnations of Israel

By: Lori Lowenthal Marcus

Published: August 14th, 2014

via The Jewish Press » » Bi-Partisan Senate Trio Demand Answers From Kerry on UNRWA Conduct in Gaza.

 

Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD)(pictured), Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) issued a harsh denunciation of UNRWA’s role in the Gaza conflict and demanded an investigation.
Photo Credit: cspanvideo.org

At least some members of the U.S. congress finally realized that if weapons belonging to Hamas were found in UNRWA facilities, questions need to be asked of UNRWA employees as to how those weapons got there, who put them there, who observed them, what – if anything – was done to remove them (or to keep them there), along with other pertinent and essential lines of inquiry.

U.S. senators Mark Kirk (R-IL), Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), sent a letter last week to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, demanding an investigation into the actions of the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency (UNRWA) during the fighting in Gaza.

The senators used very strong language to condemn the agency on several different bases.

First, the discovery, on three different occasions, of Hamas weapons in UNRWA facilities, whereupon the weapons were returned to the terrorist organization, Hamas.

Second, UNRWA has repeatedly issued statements condemning Israel and ignoring the wrongdoing of Hamas.

And third, the senators pointed out the very troubling close affiliation between Hamas and UNRWA, the irrefutable proof of which was the election of 25 Hamas candidates were voted onto the 27 member UNRWA ‘s workers’ union board in 2012.

Next, the senators explained why they are convinced it is appropriate for them to demand such an investigation into UNRWA: we pay for it! The United States contributed $294 million in 2013. It is the single largest donor to UNRWA. Since 1950, more than $5 billion U.S. taxpayers’ dollars were funneled into UNRWA.

Senator Mark Kirk is a member of the Senate Appropriations sub-committee which has jurisdiction over the Department of State, as well as U.S. contributions to U.N. activities. Kirk said in a statement posted on his website:

I am demanding a credible and independent assessment of UNRWA’s actions during this crisis. Given UNRWA’s ties to terrorism in the past, U.S. taxpayers deserve immediate answers and full transparency regarding their intentions and actions. The State Department must make clear to the U.N. that it need to take all necessary steps to prevent Hamas from using taxpayer-funded property to launch attacks against our allies.

Senator Cardin, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, added:

When leaders and organizations of the United Nations blur the clear distinction between a nation-state defending itself and a terrorist organization attempting to murder civilians, Americans take note. When an organization funded in part by the U.S. suggests that the two are morally equivalent, U.S. taxpayers take note. Israel is undertaking extraordinary efforts to avoid civilian casualties while Hamas cynically uses other Palestinians as human shields and deliberately attempts to kill Israeli civilians. U.N. resources and personnel cannot be complicit in Hamas’ violent terrorist actions.

Senator Marco Rubio is also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Rubio had the following to say:

As the U.N.’s leading source of funding, American taxpayers will not tolerate the use of U.N. facilities by terrorists to stage attacks against our allies. We know Hamas has been using civilians as human shields and stores its weapons and fighters in civilian buildings, but for the U.N. to stand idly by while Hamas attacks Israel from its facilities is an outrage. This is the latest example of why the U.S. needs to bring greater transparency and accountability to the U.N. by pursuing reform of its programs and institutions.

The text of the letter the senators sent to Secretary of State Kerry:

Dear Secretary Kerry,

We write to express our profound concern with the troubling role the United Nations Refugee and Work Agency (UNRWA) has played during the ongoing crisis in Gaza, including multiple instances of weapons found at UNRWA schools as well as one-sided statements from UNRWA leadership that unjustly condemn Israel. For instance, on July 14, UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl stated that Israeli security forces are acting “contrary to international humanitarian law” and also called Israel’s Gaza blockade “illegal.”

As you know, UNRWA admitted on July 17, July 22nd, and July 30th that it found rockets belonging to Hamas on its property. We commend UNRWA’s quick condemnation of these incidents, but are concerned with the ultimate fate of these rockets, which UNRWA claimed to have turned over to the “local authorities” or have gone missing. We fear that this means these rockets may have found their way back into Hamas’ hands.

We urge the State Department to launch an independent investigation into these incidents and to call on the United Nations leadership to hold UNRWA accountable, including by reprimanding or dismissing the UNRWA staff responsible as appropriate, as well as asking the U.N. to ensure that these incidents never take place again.

In the course of your investigation, we ask you to examine the fate of these rockets, what measures the U.N. took to secure UNRWA property, and how the U.S. intends to work with the U.N. to make sure incidents like these are never repeated.

As you know, the United States is the largest donor to UNRWA and has contributed almost $5 billion to the organization since 1950. The United States taxpayers deserve to know if UNRWA is fulfilling its mission or taking sides in this tragic conflict.

We look forward to your reply,

Sincerely,

Now that the strong statements have been made and a letter from three members of senate committees with jurisdiction over the State Department and the U.N. has been sent to the secretary of state, it behooves Israel’s supporters to demand follow-through.

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MKs Call for Strong Response to Rocket Attacks

August 14, 2014

MKs Call for Strong Response to Rocket Attacks

Nationalist MKs call for a strong Israeli reaction after Hamas violates a ceasefire and fires rocket toward Israel.

By Hezki EzraFirst Publish: 8/14/2014, 2:15 AM

via MKs Call for Strong Response to Rocket Attacks – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva.

 

Gaza Flash 90
 

Nationalist MKs on Wednesday night called for a strong Israeli reaction in the wake of Hamas’s latest rocket attacks on Israel.

Hamas violated a 72-hour ceasefire hours before it was set to expire at midnight, then continued firing rockets even after an extension was announced.

Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) said that as long as the residents of southern Israel continue to feel afraid, the military operation in Gaza was not completed.

“Israel cannot be a prisoner of Hamas. Operation Protective Edge must end with a mortal blow to Hamas’s capabilities, eliminating the leaders of Hamas and achieving deterrence,” she said.

MK Miri Regev (Likud), formerly the IDF Spokeswoman, called on the government to instruct the IDF to operate in Gaza until the Hamas terrorist infrastructure completely collapses.

“It is time that the Israeli government keep its promises to the public, bring back the security to the citizens of Israel and stop the rocket fire into Israel in general and communities in the south in particular,” she said.

“It seems there is no other way,” emphasized Regev. “All attempts to reach an agreement with Hamas have ended and are doomed to fail because it is a dangerous terrorist organization which aims to destroy Israel. We have seen that all the diplomatic elements cannot influence a terrorist organization.”

MK Orit Strook (Jewish Home) said, “Everything now depends on the strength of Israel’s response. The government must order the IDF to respond to any fire from Gaza with painful force. Hamas needs to understand the hard way that the rules of the game have changed: Israel will no longer restrain itself more when the security of its citizens is harmed.”

Israel launched several airstrikes on Gaza targets on Wednesday night, after Gaza terrorists fired rockets at southern Israel despite the ceasefire.

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