Dahlan wants 'Palestinians' in Arab countries to be granted citizenship?
In an interview with the 'Palestinian' publication Maan, Fatah's former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan hints that 'Palestinians' in Arab countries should receive citizenship in the countries in which they reside.
Dahlan also criticized the PA and Fatah in particular for neglecting
Palestinian refugee camps in the Middle East, especially in Syria and
Lebanon.
"Why are we treating our people in those refugee
camps just as neglectfully as we treat our people in Jerusalem and the
Gaza Strip?" he asked."The PA spends only 0.003 percent of
its budget on the Palestinian refugees in Syria and Lebanon, and we are
talking about 600,000 Palestinian refugees living dire conditions and
deprived of the right to work, movement, education and medical
treatment, not to mention what Palestinian refugees in Syria have been
suffering as a result of the war," Dahlan alleged.
“I challenge whomever
to prove the opposite.”
Of course, the reason why 'Palestinians' are deprived of the right to work, movement, education and medical treatment is because they are not citizens of the countries in which they have lived for nearly 70 years. Here's one example:
Lebanon
Around half of the 400,000 refugees live in camps, deprived of many
rights. Refugees don't have any property rights, no access to the
Lebanese healthcare system and there are certain restrictions on jobs we
are allowed to do. We are issued handwritten [travel documents](www.passport-collector.com/2011/08/10/lebanon-refugee-passport-for-palestine/)
of appalling quality (large size, cheap paper). The travel documents
don't even have a full date of birth, just the birth year. You probably
know about the Sabra and Chatila massacre (from the movie Waltz with
Bashir, perhaps my favorite animated movie) were 3000 Palestinian
civilians were killed in cold blood. These are at the top of my head,
I'm sure there's more. This is what a British MP Gerald Kaufman said in
2011 when he visited the camps:
When I went to Gaza in 2010 I thought I had seen the worst that could
be seen of the appalling predicament of Palestinians living in
conditions which no human being should be expected to endure. But what I
saw in the camps in Lebanon is far worse and far more hopeless. The
conditions are unspeakable, but for over 400,000 of our fellow human
beings this is their life: today, tomorrow and for a future that cannot
even be foreseen. At least in Gaza, frightful though the situation is,
the people are free within the confines of their blockaded prison. In
the camps of Lebanon they are not free.
UPDATE1: Since many here are blaming the PLO and its
involvement in the civil war. That's definitely true to a large extent,
however you're missing a few points. Most Palestinians refugees were
placed in camps in south Lebanon when they arrived. These camps were
gradually militarized and became the grounds for operations against
Israel and because the PLO had so much power back then, they started
making trouble and trying to control part of the country. So had the
Lebanon absorbed it's Palestinian population properly, this wouldn't
have happened.
But the reason that the Arab countries never absorbed their 'Palestinians' and made them citizens (except in Jordan - the article goes on to describe Syria, but they're not citizens there either) is because doing so would have meant giving up on holding them hostage to the Arab dream of destroying Israel - a dream that most of the Arab countries have themselves given up at this point, and that would no longer exist but for the Oslo Accords.
Even Dahlan himself admits that were it not for the 'Palestinian street,' the 'Palestinians' could live in peace in Israel.
The failures of PA leadership, in addition to repressive Israeli
policies in the occupied Palestinian territory, could have dire
consequences, Dahlan said.
"If this situation continues, we
will either yield to the occupation's conditions and rules -- which is
impossible at the popular level -- or have a popular uprising, which
will be very dangerous," he said, adding that the status quo could no
longer be sustained.
Because after seventy years of living the lie that they would one day return to their 'homes' in 'Palestine,' you can't quite tell these people in one day that the lie was a dream that's not going to come true. Of course, if you never start, you'll never be able to tell them either....
Dahlan strikes me as much more of a realist (although he is also a brutal murderer with the blood of Israelis and Americans on his hands) than most of the 'Palestinian leadership.' But he still has a long way to go, and he's not very popular anyway, having been disgraced by Hamas when they took over Gaza.
The Jewish Press:Israel recently concluded
its war against Hizbullah in what many consider to be a stalemated
position. How do you see things right now?
Sen. Clinton: First, I don’t think we should have
pushed for an election in the Palestinian territories. I think that was a
big mistake. If we were going to push for an election, we should have
made sure we did something to determine who was going to win instead of
signing off on an electoral system that advantaged Hamas.
That, to me, was a first step that led Hizbullah to take the actions
that it took [killing and kidnapping Israeli soldiers and firing
missiles into Israeli population centers]. What has concerned me is that
I don’t think our or Israel’s intelligence was very good at uncovering
what Hizbullah had developed in the last six years.
Frankly, the American intelligence didn’t know how dug in Hizbullah
was, how many rockets they had, where they were going to be launched
from and what the range was.
I think, based on what I know, that a lot of damage was inflicted on
Hizbullah’s capacity. But that capacity is not destroyed and has not
disappeared. Thus, Hizbullah, the Syrians and the Iranians have been
emboldened.
This was a problem of situational awareness and about what we were up
against. This is a longer-term issue for us and for Israel as we try to
figure out how we’re going to get a better grasp of what we’re up
against.
The question relating to Gilad Shalit where Clinton equated Israel and Hamas (see previous post) didn't even appear in the 2006 story.
The Clinton Tapes: 'We should have made sure that we did something to determine who was going to win'
From an Israeli perspective, what is perhaps the most interesting leak comes not from Wikileaks, but rather from the release of an old-fashioned audio cassette with a 2006 interview with Hillary Clinton.
The tape is 45 minutes and contains much that is no longer relevant,
such as analysis of the re-election battle that Sen. Joe Lieberman was
then facing in Connecticut. But a seemingly throwaway remark about
elections in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority has taken on
new relevance amid persistent accusations in the presidential campaign
by Clinton’s Republican opponent Donald Trump that the current election is “rigged.”
Speaking to the Jewish Press about the January 25, 2006, election for
the second Palestinian Legislative Council (the legislature of
the Palestinian National Authority), Clinton weighed in about the
result, which was a resounding victory for Hamas (74 seats) over the
U.S.-preferred Fatah (45 seats).
“I do not think we should have pushed for an election in the
Palestinian territories. I think that was a big mistake,” said Sen.
Clinton. “And if we were going to push for an election, then we should
have made sure that we did something to determine who was going to win.”
The sentiment is not surprising. In 2011, former Bush National Security aide Elliott Abrams told the Jerusalem Post that the 'Palestinian Authority' sought to call off the 2006 'Palestinian' elections, and the reason it didn't happen was that they insisted on blaming Israel.
According to Abrams, the Palestinians seized on the voting in Jerusalem
as a possible pretext to cancel the elections, since this issue has been
debated amid questions of how and where Palestinians would vote.
“The
Palestinians said to Sharon, ‘Why don’t you say no voting in Jerusalem.
Zero. Not in the post offices [where voting was allowed in 1995]. Zero.
And this will be a reason to call off the election.’”
Sharon,
according to Abrams, “said he was not going to take the blame for this.
He said, ‘If you want to call off the elections, call off the election, I
don’t care. If you want to have an election, great; if you want to call
off the election, great. But you do it – I’m not taking the blame for
it.’” The Palestinians, Abrams said, then came to the Americans with a
request that they call off the elections.
The American reaction
was that the US doesn’t call off elections just a few days before they
are scheduled, “because it looks like you’re not going to win anymore.
That’s ridiculous.
Your job is to win the election, go out and
work, and get your people to the polls and win the damn election. So the
election was held, and Hamas won.”
Of course, it was 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen who insisted that Hamas participate in that election in the first place.... And by the way, after the election, there were discussions over the possibility of Hamas being expelled from the 'Palestinian Authority.' So Hillary's statement about making sure that Fatah won the election was practically mainstream thought back then.
But there's something else on that audio tape that's even more significant.
Regarding capturing combatants in war—the June capture of IDF soldier
Gilad Shalit by Hamas militants who came across the Gaza border via an
underground tunnel was very much front of mind—Clinton can be heard on
the tape saying, “And then, when, you know, Hamas, you know, sent the
terrorists, you know, through the tunnel into Israel that killed and
captured, you know, kidnapped the young Israeli soldier, you know,
there’s a sense of like, one-upsmanship, and in these cultures of, you
know, well, if they captured a soldier, we’ve got to capture a soldier.”
Equating Hamas, which to this day remains on the State Department’s official list
of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, with the armed forces of a close
American ally was not what many expected to hear in the Jewish Press
editorial offices, which were then at Third Avenue and Third Street in
Brooklyn. (The paper’s office has since moved to the Boro Park section
of Brooklyn.) The use of the phrase “these cultures” is also a bit of a
head-scratcher.
In other words, Hillary equates Israel with Hamas. That ought to bother you all a lot more than whether she thought the 'Palestinian election' should be rigged.
Video: Israel's UNESCO Ambassasdor trashes resolution denying Jewish connection to Temple Mount
Israel's Ambassador to UNESCO, Carmel Shama-HaCohen, reacts to Wednesday's UNESCO resolution denying the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
Let's go to the videotape.
Ambassador Shama-HaCohen has been recalled from UNESCO for 'consultations.'
UNESCO's World Heritage Committee is meeting now, and despite insistence by Lebanon and Cuba that its resolution denying the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount be adopted by 'consensus,' there is going to be a secret ballot due to the insistence of Tanzania and Croatia.
Developing....
UPDATE 11:32 AM
Voting has just concluded @UNESCO World Heritage Committee on Palestinian-Jordanian Jerusalem resolution. Now counting the secret ballots. pic.twitter.com/aOXyeqX8kz
'Palestinians' threaten members of UNESCO World Heritage Committee over Jerusalem vote
It's not the first time that the 'Palestinians' have threatened seemingly stronger countries to kotow them to do their bidding. But it's certainly one of the most blatant instances. There's a vote of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee coming up tomorrow that would once again deny the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount. And in light of comments about last week's vote made by Mexico, Brazil and Italy (none of which have a vote tomorrow), the 'Palestinian Authority' is making sure with threats that UNESCO's World Heritage Committee toes the line.
The resolution, which refers to the Temple Mount solely by its Muslim
name of Al-Haram Al Sharif, is expected to be approved by the committee
at its 40th session.
But in light of public statements on such resolutions made last
week by Italy, Mexico and Brazil, the Palestinians want the resolution
to pass by consensus, with the full support of all 21 member states of
the World Heritage Committee (WHC).
On Monday, they sent a letter to committee members asking them to submit their positions on the resolution by noon Tuesday.
“Otherwise,
the delegation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the delegation of
Palestine would and according to the rules of procedure be obliged to
consider other options,” they stated.
Without pledges of a
consensus approval, the Palestinians and Jordanians plan to resubmit a
text with language that was even more problematic to Israel, explained
Israel’s Ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama-Hacohen.
Wednesday’s
vote, had initially been scheduled to take place in Istanbul in July,
but the failed coup in Turkey cut that session short.
At the
time, the Palestinians and the Jordanians had worked out a consensus
text which they understood had the support of the European Union and the
WHC.
In their letter, they reminded WHC members of this
agreement and said, “At the beginning of the current WHC40 session, we
learned that a few member states are still hesitant whether they can
commit to our agreement in Istanbul or not.”
The Jordanians and the Palestinians said that they understood this “hesitance as a retreat from the consensual language.”
Shama-Hacohen said in response that “the Palestinians and the Arab states understand that after Mexico and Italy there might be more unpleasant surprises."
“They
are broadcasting a message that says don’t abandon us or we’ll burn the
house down with extremist anti-Israel resolutions,” said Shama-Hacohen.
He added that such resolutions would only cause tremendous damage to
UNESCO, under whose umbrella the WHC operates.
Just so totally shocked to hear UNESCO approves living a lie.
Yuge increase in US citizens registering to vote from Israel in US elections
The number of US citizens who have registered to vote from Israel in the upcoming US Presidential election is now approximately 120,000, as compared with 75,000 in 2012. Republicans are pleased, because most Americans in Israel tend to vote Republican - meaning for Donald Trump.
Republicans see this as a net success, since they estimate that the
vast majority of US citizens living in Israel would prefer Donald Trump
to Hillary Clinton.
Senior trump campaign staffers arrived in Israel in recent days to
meet the party's strategic team in the Holy Land. They will help them
prepare for the presidential campaign's final stretch, which will
include events in Israel.
Video: Muslims use Ben Gurion Airport synagogue as mosque, prayer shawls as prayer rugs
This disturbing video was shot in the Ben Gurion Airport synagogue, apparently on Sunday night or Monday morning. I first saw it on Facebook last night when the holiday ended.
Let's go to the videotape. More after the video.
To me, the question is why the airport synagogue was open at all on a day when it was clear that there were not going to be any Orthodox Jews passing through. Chabad is in charge of the synagogue, and someone ought to make sure that they see this video if they have not already.
According to the Facebook post, the Muslims in the video are Turkish and wandered into the synagogue by 'accident.' There are several night flights to Istanbul from Ben Gurion on Turkish Airlines....
A message just received from my cellular telephone provider (no, that's not what my phone looks like):
Shalom, winter day light savings in Israel will go into effect on
October 30th, 2016 at 02:00 and the clock will be set back one hour. In
order to avoid disruptions in setting the the time on this date it is
recommended to set your handset's clock immediately and no later than
October 30th, 2016 Manual Mode and to adjust it to the Athens-Greece
time zone. Following the change to winter daylight savings you should
reset the clock's settings of your handset to automatic mode and to the
Jerusalem time zone. For more information call the customers service
center at *0058. Sincerely, Golan Telecom.
On
the surface, the latest message to the Palestinian Authority from the
Obama administration is no different from the past two decades of
American policy: the U.S. will veto any resolution attacking Israel or
demanding Palestinian independence without them first making peace with
the Jewish state. But, as Haaretz reported, there
was one significant caveat to the warning. They were told not to push
for any such resolution until after the presidential election next
month.
The “senior Palestinian official” who spoke of this message to Haaretz
said PA leader Mahmoud Abbas had “no illusions and no expectations”
that the U.S. wouldn’t veto any resolution they put forward. They also
thought Washington might not have any plan of its own ready. “All we
know is that there are ideas.” But the significance of those “ideas” is a
function of the time frame enunciated by the administration.
If
President Obama had no plans to use his last two months in office to
launch some kind of a diplomatic initiative on the Middle East or to
stick it to the Israelis and his longtime antagonist Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, then why would he even mention the election? Were
the U.S. to keep faith with the Israelis, the Palestinians would just be
told that there would be no change in American policy. Period. Abbas
and the PA would be put on notice that, if they actually had any desire
for peace or hope of future independence, they should do what they
promised to do in the Oslo Accords: head back into direct negotiations
with the Israelis.
...
Yet nothing the
Palestinians have done has been enough to cause Obama to rethink the
mistaken assumption he brought with him into the White House in January
2009. He still thinks creating more daylight between the U.S. and Israel
is the best path to peace, or, at least, is the stance that reflects
his personal inclinations. That’s why he’s still flirting with the idea
of using the lame duck period between the presidential election and the
inauguration of his successor to put forward some kind of plan to
pressure Israel, or even going as far as betraying the Jewish state at
the UN by allowing a pro-Palestinian resolution to pass without an
American veto. Earlier this month, Secretary of State Kerry told Netanyahu that the administration was still thinking about it. Now they’ve told the Palestinians to hold their fire until November 9th.
You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to connect the dots and
realize that there is an excellent chance that Obama will finally make
good on this threat. The president may make a gesture before leaving
office that will damage the U.S.-Israel alliance in a way that even a
less hostile president won’t be able to completely undo.
Asking
the Palestinians to wait until after the election is a reflection of the
fact that Obama knows any move against Israel would hurt Hillary
Clinton. But with only 18 days to go until the election, friends of
Israel–both Republicans and especially Democrats–need to use this time
to speak up against any last minute betrayal of Israel.
Which Democrats will speak out against any last minute betrayal of Israel? Surely not Hillary Clinton.
3 'Palestinians' arrested for visiting Israeli Sukkah... by 'Palestinian Authority'
Moadim l'simcha - a happy holiday, and pithka tava - a good note - to all of you as it's Hoshana Rabba night.
On Thursday evening, three 'Palestinians' were arrested for visiting an Israeli Sukkah.
Let's go to the videotape.
Sorry, but no, that was not the 'Palestinian' arrested for visiting an Israeli Sukkah. Here's the real story.
The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) security forces arrested three
Palestinian Arabs from the Gush Etzion area who “dared” to visit the sukkah of Oded Revivi, mayor of the town of Efrat.
Channel 2 News reported on Thursday evening that the Arabs
who were arrested were questioned over allegations they met with
"baby-killers", an apparent reference to General Nitzan Alon, the head
of the IDF's Operations Directorate, and the Shai District Police
Commander, who were also guests in the same sukkah.
Revivi said on Thursday evening, “Yesterday we sat in the sukkah -
Jews and Muslims. We ate, drank and talked about common themes and our
hope for a better neighborhood and for peace. Today the PA summoned some
of the Muslim guests for questioning.
“All those who pressure the Israeli government to enter a peace
process with the Palestinian Authority should be reminded that they
behave in a way that does the opposite of encouraging peace with their
Jewish neighbors,” continued Revivi. “An authority which names squares
after suicide bombers and summons for questioning citizens who drink
coffee and talk about peace with their Jewish neighbors is not one that
promotes peace.
“I salute my neighbors who were not afraid to come to our sukkah
yesterday, to talk about peace, who asked to be photographed and to show
the world that they are brave enough to stand up for peace,” he
stressed.
Indeed. But none of that will stop President Hussein Obama from trying to give them their 'state' before he leaves office. Post on that coming soon.
Here is Rabbi Mendel Kessin talking about how he thinks Jews should vote in the upcoming US election and why. Caveat: This was apparently recorded before the release of the Donald Trump 'talkin' dirty' tape, but I doubt that would change Rabbi Kessin's mine (anyone with evidence to the contrary is invited to put it in the comments).
Let's go to the videotape.
By the way, Rabbi Kessin's biography may be found here.
Trump and Pence to speak out at Jerusalem rally against #UNESCO_Lies, but not at Aish HaTorah
The Republican party is looking for a new location for a Jerusalem rally at which candidates Donald Trump and Mike Pence will speak via satellite, after Aish HaTorah backed out of hosting it.
Aish HaTorah rejected a request by the
Republican Party to host a rally with speeches by Republican
presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate Mike Pence next
Wednesday after The Jerusalem Post reported exclusively that the event would be held on the organization's rooftop over-looking the Western Wall.
Trump
and Pence agreed to speak via satellite at the rally which was billed
as an event calling for the strengthening of Jerusalem following
UNESCO's controversial decision about the city.
"We decided not to do the event, because Aish is a non-profit
that doesn't get involved in partisan politics," Aish director general
Rabbi Steven Burg told the Post.
Burg said Aish would
do its own event in response to UNESCO "because the real issue is an
unjust decision trying to erase the Jewish connection to the Temple
Mount." Burg posted The Jerusalem Post article about the rally on Facebook explaining that Aish has decided not to host the event.
He said that he had received protest letters. There was also an outcry on Twitter.
Maybe Trump should just come here and visit the Kotel (Western Wall). That's what Romney did.
#UNESCO_lies avoids revote, finalizes resolution denying Jewish connection to Temple Mount, director general receives death threats
After last week's UNESCO vote denying the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, Mexico, which had voted in favor, fired its (Jewish) ambassador to UNESCO who walked out in protest, and then announced that it was demanding a revote in which it would abstain on the resolution. Brazil, which had also voted in favor, decided that it too could no longer support the resolution.
But it was all for naught. UNESCO's Executive Board decided a short while ago that the resolution 'was adopted.' There will be no revote.
Meanwhile, UNESCO's Director General, Irina Bukova, has received death threats for comments she made opposing the resolution.
Bokova said following the drafted resolutions "nowhere more than in
Jerusalem do Jewish, Christian and Muslim heritage and traditions share
space".
“To deny, conceal or erase any of the Jewish, Christian
or Muslim traditions undermines the integrity of the site, and runs
counter to the reasons that justified its inscription on the UNESCO
World Heritage list [in 1981],” she stated on Friday.
I'm sure UNESCO would call her murder an 'honor killing.'
Israel's Education Ministry said on Friday that it is suspending all cooperation with UNESCO, a step that goes further than Israel's (and the United States') previous decisions to suspend their contributions to the agency, a decision President Obama has unsuccessfully attempted to reverse on several occasions.
#Sukkot at that place where #UNESCO_lies and says Jews have no connection
Picture taken around 7:00 am this morning at the Western Wall (base of the Temple Mount, and as close as yours truly will get for now), a place #UNESCO_lies has tried to disconnect from the Jewish people.
Hillary Clinton campaign manager: Don't mention Israel at public events
Here's another gem from the latest release of John Podesta emails. Clinton campaign manager Robbie Mook said that Clinton should not mention Israel at public campaign events.
Here's the conversation:
Re: REVISE HOME BASE TALKING POINTS FOR HRC
From:jbenenson@bsgco.com
To:
re47@hillaryclinton.com
Date: 2015-05-17 17:50
Subject: Re: REVISE HOME BASE TALKING POINTS FOR HRC
Good.
Sent from my iPad
On May 17, 2015, at 3:23 PM,
Robby Mook > wrote:
I'm fine w that
On May 17, 2015, at 3:20 PM,
Dan Schwerin > wrote:
What about this as a base, and then she can drop in Israel when she's with donors:
• Fourth and finally, we have to protect our country from the global threats that we see, from terrorists to dictators to diseases – and the ones that are still over the horizon. We have to assert confident American leadership to shape global events rather than be shaped by them. That includes taking on global warming and those who continue to deny that it exists. And it means always standing up for our allies and our values, especially our fellow democracies.
On Sun, May 17, 2015 at 3:09 PM,
Jake Sullivan > wrote:
I won't fall on sword over Israel but we need more than climate in that paragraph.
On May 17, 2015, at 3:04 PM, Robby Mook > wrote:
I'm w Joel. We shouldn't have Israel at public events. Especially dem activists.
On May 17, 2015, at 2:48 PM, Jake Sullivan > wrote:
She was Secretary of State.
On May 17, 2015, at 2:39 PM, Joel Benenson > wrote:
Why would we call out Israel in public events now?
The only voters elevating FP at all are Republican primary voters.
To me we deal with this in stride when an if we are asked about FP
Sent from my iPhone
On May 17, 2015, at 2:21 PM, Jake Sullivan > wrote:
We def need the etc. I think good to have Israel too.
On May 17, 2015, at 1:13 PM, Mandy Grunwald > wrote:
I though this was largely for her TP with public events not fundraisers. Do we need Israel etc for that?
Mandy Grunwald
Grunwald Communications
202 973-9400
On May 17, 2015, at 1:00 PM, Jake Sullivan > wrote:
Would add a sentence on standing up for our allies and our values, including Israel and other fellow democracies, and confronting terrorists and dictators with strength and cunning.
On May 17, 2015, at 12:12 PM, John Podesta > wrote:
3 small suggestions:
1) if we are going to talk about building the economy for tomorrow, we should work in the the words innovation and sustainable someplace. Both are dog whistle words.
2) more people are working more jobs is ambiguous and subject to different meaning. Do we mean more people are working two or more jobs?
3) I've tried this one before but in the democracy fight, I still think it's stronger to say "I'll appoint Supreme Court Justices who will protect the the right to vote and not the right of a few billionaires to buy elections." Bernie has now linked Citizens United to Court appointments which may make this more or less desirable.
On Sunday, May 17, 2015, Dan Schwerin > wrote:
I think it's very nice
On May 17, 2015, at 11:32 AM, Mandyt Grunwald wrote:
Attached is a draft of the Home Base intro talking points, using some of HRC's new language.
This reflects Joel's edits too.
Please let me know what you think.
If people are happy with this, please get to HRC.
thx
Mandy Grunwald
Grunwald Communications
202 973-9400
-----Original Message-----
From: Robby Mook
To: Mandy Grunwald
Cc: Huma Abedin ; Kristina Schake ; Dan Schwerin ; Joel Benenson ; Margolis, Jim ; John Anzalone ; David Binder ; Jennifer Palmieri ; Jake Sullivan ; John Podesta ; Jon Favreau ; Lissa Muscatine
Sent: Sat, May 16, 2015 5:15 pm
Subject: Re: Launch speech draft
Yes--that's my understanding.
On Sat, May 16, 2015 at 5:14 PM, Mandy Grunwald wrote:
And just to be clear -- she is looking for a tighter version of the opening she has been doing at events/fundraisers -- that is still Four Fights -- but reflects some of her favorite new additions (like mental health)-- without being a laundry list.
Is that correct?
Mandy Grunwald
Grunwald Communications
202 973-9400
-----Original Message-----
From: Huma Abedin
To: Robby Mook
Cc: Mandy Grunwald ; Kristina Schake ; Dan Schwerin ; Joel Benenson ; Jim ; John Anzalone ; David Binder ; Jennifer Palmieri ; Jake Sullivan ; John Podesta ; Jon Favreau ; Lissa Muscatine
Sent: Sat, May 16, 2015 5:10 pm
Subject: Re: Launch speech draft
Yes that would be ideal. This way she will have tomorrow afternoon/evening to review and can give feedback by Monday am.
Sent from my iPhone
On May 16, 2015, at 4:30 PM, Robby Mook < re47@hillaryclinton.com> wrote:
Since it sounds like we won't have the paragraphs until later today and since we need the new home base by mid day tomorrow, I think we should just move forward with a revised home base using what we have right now--essentially refining the core message and four fights. I appreciate trying to start to pivot to where we want to go with the speech, but my larger concern is that she have sufficient time with the material.
On Sat, May 16, 2015 at 1:27 PM, Mandy Grunwald wrote:
I was hoping to see new speech paragraphs, so we could align the home base language with new announce language.
Mandy Grunwald
Grunwald Communications
202 973-9400
>
On May 16, 2015, at 1:05 PM, Kristina Schake < kschake@hillaryclinton.com> wrote:
>
> Huma, you mean the home base language for her message events and
> fundraisers until the launch? Basically the topper for every event
> that hits our core message before adding the issue of that day. Mandy
> is helping us write that. Mandy I know we asked you for a lot this
> weekend. Possible to do by noon tomorrow?
>
>
>
Sent from my iPhone
>
>>
On May 16, 2015, at 12:42 PM, Huma Abedin < ha16@hillaryclinton.com> wrote:
>>
>> Where are you guys on home base language? Can we get by 12pm tomorrow?
>>
>>
Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On May 14, 2015, at 4:35 PM, Dan Schwerin < dschwerin@hillaryclinton.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
Team, here is a first draft of the Launch Speech. Thanks to Lissa Muscatine and Jon Favreau for great work on this, and to Joel for his advice.
>>>
>>> This rough draft is very much a work in progress and there are a number of questions to consider as you read.
>>>
>>> -- At this stage, we're most concerned with structure and themes. In general, it would be great if you could focus for now on those issues rather than specific language.
>>> -- You'll see that "It's Your Time" is not in here yet. Jon and Lissa, with fresh eyes, both raised concerns that this wouldn't work well here, if at all. Joel also has concerns. So that's worth discussing.
>>> -- "The Vision Thing." This remains a challenge. As you read, does it feel like a vision for the future comes through? If not, that's a place we really need to focus.
>>> -- The Four Fights. I think nobody really loves the Four Fights but we haven't come up with a better frame for her policy agenda. If there's a great alternative, we should sell her on it. If not, we should try to make sure the Four Fights feels coherent and big enough to carry the agenda and stand up to the echo of Roosevelt's Four Freedoms.
>>> -- This is too long, so suggested cuts would be very welcome.
>>>
>>> We have committed to give HRC a draft to read over the weekend, but then we have several weeks to get this right. So it would be great for folks to send me thoughts and reactions via email tonight or tomorrow morning. And then we can look forward to more in depth conversations down the road.
>>>
>>> Thanks very much.
>>> Dan
>>> <2015-05-14 -="" 4pm.docx="" launch="" speech="">
Is Hillary pro-Israel? Or does pandering to the Democratic base preclude that? (My answers: No and Yes).
Hillary Clinton's 'facade of a peace process' would require releasing real terrorists
Shavua tov, a good week to everyone.
The latest Wikileaks email dump discloses that Hillary Clinton believes that a 'facade of a peace process' would be better than no peace process at all.
Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton wrote to her senior advisors, a few days after the Israeli elections, that she believes that a "Potemkin" peace process between Israel and the Palestinians (meaning a peace process that was only for show) was better than no peace process at all, a Clinton campaign email posted on WikiLeaks shows.
On March 23, 2016 at 8:56 P.M. Clinton's senior foreign policy advisor Jake Sullivan emailed Clinton and John Podesta, chairman of her presidential campaign. If Clinton is elected, Sullivan is likely to be appointed White House National Security Advisor. The email sent by Sullivan included a link to a New York Times article discussing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's apology for his Election Day statement that “Arab voters are coming in droves to the ballot boxes." By the link to the article, Sullivan wrote Clinton and Podesta "Unsurprisingly, Pragmatic Bibi makes an appearance."
Seven minutes later Clinton responded positively to Netanyahu's comments quoted in the article. She wrote that Netanyahu's apology was "an opening that should be exploited," and tied it to the promoting of the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. "A Potemkin process is better than nothing," and referred her advisors to another New York Times article published a few days earlier in which Netanyahu's next moves as prime minister were described.
A 'Potemkin' peace process would not come without cost. Without a price in Jewish blood, the 'Palestinians' won't show up.
We had one of those during the Obama administration. We released 78 terrorists with Jewish blood on their hands to pay for it. It ended badly, with our Defense Minister under attack (and apologizing) for calling US Secretary of State John Kerry a messianic (a fair description especially if you consider this). Thanks, but no thanks.
The Palestinian-drafted resolution, which
passed 24-6 with 26 abstentions, claims that the site of the two Jewish
Temples is sacred solely to Muslims. It refers to the area only by its
Islamic names: Haram al-Sharif and Al-Aqsa Mosque (the shrine situated
on the site). This is essentially the equivalent of passing a resolution
airbrushing Muslim ties to Mecca, a move which would rightly be deemed
Islamophobic. (Incidentally, in 1925, the Islamic Waqf overseeing the
Temple Mount published
a pamphlet stating that “the identity of the site with Solomon’s Temple
is beyond dispute.” Obviously, the Waqf did not anticipate the
ingenuity of the United Nations.)
Unsurprisingly, the United States, Britain, Germany, Estonia,
Lithuania, and the Netherlands voted against the resolution. Shamefully,
the other three European countries on the UNESCO executive
board—France, Sweden, and Spain—could only bring themselves to abstain
in the face of textbook anti-Jewish bigotry. (They had each previously
voted for a previous incarnation of the same resolution, before realizing how bad it made their countries look.)
Adding to the bitter irony of UNESCO’s anti-Jewish turn is the fact
that yesterday was Yom Kippur. Predictably, the liturgy of Judaism’s
holiest day makes repeated reference to Judaism’s holiest site. One of
the most frequently cited verses in the day’s lengthy prayers is Isaiah 56:7, in which the prophet imagines an interfaith utopia on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount:
וַהֲבִיאוֹתִים אֶל־הַר קָדְשִׁי וְשִׂמַּחְתִּים בְּבֵית
תְּפִלָּתִי עוֹלֹתֵיהֶם וְזִבְחֵיהֶם לְרָצוֹן עַל־מִזְבְּחִי כִּי בֵיתִי
בֵּית־תְּפִלָּה יִקָּרֵא לְכָל־הָעַמִּים׃
I will bring them to my sacred mount and let them rejoice in my house of
prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices shall be welcome on my
altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
The UNESCO resolution is perfectly in keeping with Isaiah’s ecumenical sentiment, as long as one adds in “except the Jews.”
To be fair, perhaps the resolution’s supporters—which included such
noted experts on Judaism as Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and Qatar—were not
familiar with this particular verse of Isaiah, nor the myriad of other references to the Temple Mount in Judaism, nor the extensive archaeological and other evidence
for the Jewish Temples that stood there. But one would think they’d be
familiar with the famous prophecy of Isaiah carved into the wall outside
the United Nations in New York.
And
the many peoples shall go and say: “Come, Let us go up to the Mount of
the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in
his ways, and that we may walk in his paths.” For instruction shall come
forth from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Thus he will judge among the nations and arbitrate for the many peoples. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war.
Gmar Chatima Tova - May you all be sealed in the books of life, health and happiness for the coming year
As our entire country shuts down for Yom Kippur, I'd like to wish all of you a Gmar Chatima Tova.
May you all be sealed in the books of life, health and happiness for the coming year.
Israeli airspace is now closed for Yom Kippur, which starts in three hours. There is not a single plane in the skies over Israel. pic.twitter.com/0p0nc2MAKx
Former European Parliament MP Fiamma Nirenstein believes that President Obama is planning a nasty November surprise (or maybe not such a surprise) for Israel.
But like Ariadne’s thread, a number of clues lead us to believe that,
after the November 8thvote and before the inauguration on January 20th,
Obama is planning a very strong move against Israel during a period in
which he can no longer influence the presidential election’s outcome or
damage Hillary.
In other words, facing a U.N. Security Council
resolution during the “lame duck” period, he’ll ignore the need for
negotiations between the two parties, impose borders, as well as set up
the parameters for the birth of a Palestinian State, reneging the
long-standing American veto. He would allow the resolution supported by
the French initiative for a peace conference to win.In practice, the
consequences would only be those of disrepute and, possibly, of
sanctions against Israel. In times of BDS, this discrediting,this
backing into a corner seems to drive more or less consciously America’s
policy toward Israel.
Astonishingly, the White House erased a
reference to the fact that at Peres’ funeral Obama had spoken in
“Jerusalem, in Israel” from a previously released statement on the
President’s speech. That is to say, the revered Peres would no longer be
buried in Israel, but rather, in some no man’s land. Later, using the
funeral as a bludgeon, while the world burns, the U.S. State Department
issued a violently worded statement regarding the construction of some
apartment units in Shiloh, in the West Bank (to relocate the displaced
settlers from Amona, a dismantled illegal settlement). The statement
basically says that the memory of the deceased leader had been betrayed
thus “cementing a one-state reality of perpetual occupation that is
fundamentally inconsistent with Israel’s future as a Jewish and
democratic state." Oh, really! The housing units, repeated the
government, will be built in an old settlement for refugees of another
destroyed settlement, without bringing one man more. Therefore, this
disproportionate criticism leads us to think two things: the first is
that they are creating an atmosphere for a political attack and
secondly, that Obama wants to leave his mark on the Middle East with
what he considers a boost to the peace process. But it is difficult to
think that he’s right: the real contribution that he could have given is
that of devising a new plan of territorial distribution (his
predecessors all did the same thing); to finally push the parties toward
talks; to ask Abu Mazen to renounce his support for terrorism; and to
favor Israel’s integration within the Middle East. However, he didn’t do
it.
Obama - if he insists - will be remembered as the president
whose pacifism(as has already happened in the past) has fueled conflict
throughout the Middle East and beyond. He will be perceived as the
anti-proliferation president who let the pact with Russia fall to
pieces, as the point of reference for Islamic moderation that favored
Iran and Hezbollah’s Shiite extremism, and who failed to stop Sunni
extremism while upsetting his more moderate allies. This legacy of
failures will only be worsened by sanctions upon the only pro-American
democracy in the Middle East.
I doubt anyone here would be surprised by this kind of nastiness from the self-proclaimed 'most pro-Israel administration evah.'
'Palestinian' terrorist a Hamas member blessed by Hamas, mourned by Abbas' Fatah, and an Israeli citizen to boot
Two victims of this morning's Jerusalem terror attack - apparently a woman in her 60's and a police officer who gave chase - have been pronounced dead. Six other people were wounded, three of them seriously. The terrorist opened fire from a vehicle at the Ammunition Hill tram station, and then tried to escape into the nearby Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
According to an initial police investigation, a terrorist driving in a
car came to a nearby junction, opened fire and hit a civilian. The
suspect fled the scene, driving in the direction of the Sheikh Jarrah
neighborhood. Police motorcycle forces chased after the suspect's
vehicle, stopping him in Sheikh Jarrah. When the terrorist saw the
officers, he opened fire in their direction. The officers shot back at
the suspect, successfully neutralizing him.
Three others were in
moderate condition following the attack. One was taken to Hadassah
University Medical Center on Mount Scopus, the second was taken to
Hadassah University Medical Center in Ein Kerem while a third was taken
to Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
An additional three people were
lightly wounded, with two of them going to Shaare Zedek and one going
to Hadassah's campus on Mount Scopus.
The terrorist is Misab Abu Sbeih, a resident of the Silwan neighborhood just outside Jerusalem's Old City, and a Hamas 'activist.' The picture below is from Hamas' social media.
In a notice posted to its Facebook and Twitter pages, the 'moderate' Fatah terrorist organization, headed by 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen has called for a general strike in Jerusalem as a sign of mourning for the terrorist (link in Hebrew). And you thought they were 'rivals'....
The terrorist was indicted last year on 14 counts of incitement to terror and eight counts of supporting a terror organization, although according to Maan, the prison sentence he was to serve stemmed from his assaulting a police officer in 2013.
Given his long arrest record, the investigation will focus on how the terrorist was able to obtain/buy an M-16 rifle.
Unfortunately, terrorism is not dead here in Israel. We live with it daily.
And oh yeah, Abu Sbeih was an Israeli citizen. That's how he got into 'west' Jerusalem in the first place. (The tram station where the attack took place is within 100 meters or so of the site of one of the biggest battles of the Six Day War.
'Senior Israeli official' told Clinton campaign they fear Clinton Presidency would be '4-year Saban forum'
Shavua tov, a good week to everyone.
Wikileaks dumped another 2,000+ Hillary Clinton emails on Friday night, one of which contains what might be the Netanyahu government's view of a possible Clinton administration. The email is based on a discussion with a 'senior Israeli official,' who may be Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer. The email was written by Stuart Eizenstadt on December 7, 2015 to Dan Schwerin.
This is from the first link.
Dear Dan, Jake and Laura,
I had a breakfast meeting with a senior Israeli official who is very
close to the Prime Minister, and knows his thinking. He had the
following insights:
1. The Prime Minister always had a “surprising good relationship” with
Hillary; she is “easy to work with”, and that she is more instinctively
sympathetic to Israel than the White House. Even during their “famous 43 minute phone call, when he felt like slamming down the phone, he felt
she was simply heavily scripted and reading from points prepared by the
White House.
2. While the Prime Minister favors a two state solution, neither a
majority of the Likud Party nor Bennett’s party does. Indeed, a two
state solution has never been in the government guidelines in any
Likud-led government.
3. The Prime Minister hoped during his most recent meeting with the
President that the new MOU would be announced, but the White House only
wanted to announce the intention to negotiate it. He hopes it will be
concluded in the next few months. When I asked if Bunker Busting Bombs
or the new deep ordinance bomb was on the Israeli request list, he only
indicated that “there is no dispute on platforms” between the
Administration and Israel. He said the biggest issue is the amount of
money, in a lean budget situation. The Israeli Embassy is not going
around the Administration to lobby for a higher figure, although they
could probably get it. But if the figure is too low, they will wait
until the next President.
4. Missile defense funds are also critical, but they come out of the
Pentagon budget, while many of the items on the MOU list are in the
FMF/Foreign Ops budget.
5. He attended part of the Saban Forum and felt that most of the
emphasis was on the Palestinian issue, and wonders if a Clinton
Administration “will be a Saban Forum for four years”, due to “the
people around her, but not her”. Her own speech was “95% good, although
there was some moral equivalence language.”
6. We discussed possible economic initiatives to help the Palestinians,
like more Palestinian investment in Zone C, and/or an agreement to limit
settlement expansion to the established blocs that under the Clinton
parameters would be in Israel after any negotiation. He said the Prime
Minister is genuinely interested in doing positive things on the ground.
He said that they know it would have to be unilateral, and that they
can expect nothing from the Palestinian Authority. But, he said there
are the following complications:
(1) It is difficult to do while the knifings are occurring, and while
Abu Mazan is fomenting violence;
(2) So that it does not appear they are bending to violence they need
the “support” of the USG. This could include:
(a) Opposition to a new UN Resolution, which Secretary Kerry continues
to seek;
(b) Support for settlement activity in the established blocs. But the
Obama Administration will not agree to any settlement activity, even in
areas like Gilo.
(c ) It is little appreciated that despite great pressure to stop any
Palestinians from the West Bank from coming into Israel to work, the
Prime Minister had kept the flow of tens of thousands coming in every
day, recognizing how important this is to the economy of the West Bank
and to stability.
(d) The Prime Minister has also kept the VAT refund money flowing to the
PA, despite the provocative statements.
But he reiterated there is a deal to be made with the next
Administration, looking for positive steps at the outset; “it would be
easy to do”.
7. American Jews are focused on issues like BDS and Israeli legitimacy,
while Israelis are focused only on security, with the stabbings.
8. There are some in the Israeli coalition that want to dismantle the
Palestinian Authority and take over full control. But the Prime Minister
and the Defense Minster, and “certainly the military and intelligence
community”, want to keep the PA. There is still intelligence sharing on
radicals, but when Israel asks them to arrest the radicals they
identify, they refuse, and ask the Israelis to do it, and then protest
the arrests. But this is all part of a scenario of cooperation. However,
if the PA takes Israel to the International Criminal Court, this would
be a “huge problem” and a potential game changer in terms of their
relationship with the PA.
9. Abu Mazan continues to talk about retiring, as he has done for years,
but seems more serious now. There is no obvious successor if he leaves,
“other than the guy in jail” [Barghouti. CiJ].
10. Only about 2% to 4% of Israeli civilians have guns, and certainly
not the kind of assault rifles used in the US.
11. Israel Arabs are a “real problem.” The government had to dismantle
the northern branch of the Islamic Association because they were
radicalizing the Israeli Arabs, who are 20% of the population.
Best wishes,
Stu Eizenstat
I am not able to access the Haaretz columns by Barak Ravid analyzing this story (usually you can access his columns through his Twitter feed even if - like me - you refuse to pay for access to Haaretz), however the Hebrew version has a more detailed summary than the English one. That summary claims that Israel 'fears' that a Clinton administration will adopt the spirit of the Saban Forum and blame Israel for the frozen 'peace process.'
I don't quite see that in item 5 above (and yes, I'm #NeverHillary and therefore voting for Trump), although I have little doubt that Clinton will push the 'Palestinian' issue.
Priorities! State Department ignores Syria, blasts Israel for giving Jews in Samaria a place to live
The self-proclaimed 'most pro-Israel administration evah' has blasted the Government of Israel for attempting to resettle the Jews of Amona, a neighborhood in Ofra (Samaria), in an alternate location in Samaria.
The statement, signed by Mark Toner, deputy spokesman for the State Department, drew an unusual linkage between the signing of the defense aid agreement with Israel and criticism of settlement building.
Toner stressed that the U.S. views advancement of the plan as a violation of a commitment by Netanyahu's government not to establish any new settlements in the West Bank.
The White House later further escalated the criticism, as Josh Ernest said that the decision constitutes a violation of a commitment undertaken by the Israeli government to the U.S. administration, adding that this isn't how friends behave.
"We had public assurances from the Israeli government that contradict this new announcement – so when you talk about how friends treat each other – this is also a source of concern. There is a lot of disappointment and great concern here at the White House," he said.
The criticism comes against the backdrop of the Civil Administration Planning Commission's decision last Wednesday to approve a plan for the construction of 98 housing units in the new settlement to be established next to the Shvut Rachel settlement.
According to the plan, it will be possible to build up to 300 housing units and an industrial zone. The NRG web site and Channel 2 were the first to publish the decision. The new settlement, which settlers say is only a neighborhood of the existing settlement of Shvut Rachel, can provide housing for residents of the illegal outposts of Amona, who are expected to be evicted by the end of December.
A senior U.S. official said that the White House boiled with anger at the advancement of the plan and even more at the timing of the decision – just a week after the signing of the military aid agreement by which the U.S. will give Israel $38 billion for a decade, and the day of the death of former president Shimon Peres, whose funeral was attended by President Barack Obama.
A large part of American anger was due to the administration seeing the step as a violation of a commitment Netanyahu gave Obama in 2009 that Israel would not build any new settlements. In his speech at Bar-Ilan that year, Netanyahu said he agreed to the establishment of a Palestinian state and added: "The territorial issues will be discussed in a permanent agreement. Till then we have no intention to build new settlements or set aside land for new settlements."
And in the seven years since the Bar Ilan speech, there have effectively been NO negotiations. At some point, life has to move on.
Ironically, the best thing that could happen for the 'peace process' would be for the 'Palestinians' to actually feel they are losing something by not coming to the table. Nothing else has even a remote chance of bringing them to the table.
The statement was unusual both in its length of more than 300 words, and in content, using strong language to express U.S. objections to advancement of the plan.
"We strongly condemn the Israeli government's recent decision to advance a plan that would create a significant new settlement deep in the West Bank, State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said.
Still waiting to hear Obama 'strongly condemn' Assad, let alone do something about him. But priorities man, priorities.
And then the State Department dug deeper.
One of the statement's clauses referred to the defense aid agreement. Its wording was most extraordinary, for through the years the U.S. has avoided creating any linkage between defense aid to Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the settlement construction issue.
"It is deeply troubling, in the wake of Israel and the U.S. concluding an unprecedented agreement on military assistance designed to further strengthen Israel's security, that Israel would take a decision so contrary to its long term security interest in a peaceful resolution of its conflict with the Palestinians," Toner added.
The State Department's statement also referred to the timing of the decision – the day of former President Shimon Peres' death, saying:
"Furthermore, it is disheartening that while Israel and the world mourned the passing of President Shimon Peres, and leaders from the U.S. and other nations prepared to honor one of the great champions of peace, plans were advanced that would seriously undermine the prospects for the two state solution that he so passionately supported."
So we owe it to Peres' 'legacy' to create his virtual state on an island and jump into the sea? How absurd!
Obama put Iran's ballistic missile program back in business
The Washington Free Beacon reports that the Obama administration put Iran's ballistic missile program back in business by removing sanctions on its primary bank, and then lied to Congress about it for nine months.
The Obama administration misled journalists and lawmakers for more
than nine months about a secret agreement to lift international
sanctions on a critical funding node of Iran’s ballistic missile
program, as part of a broader “ransom” package earlier this year that
involved Iran freeing several U.S. hostages, according to U.S. officials
and congressional sources apprised of the situation.
The administration agreed to immediately lift global restrictions on Iran’s Bank Sepah—a bank the Treasury Department described
in 2007 as the “linchpin of Iran’s missile procurement”–eight years
before they were to be lifted under last summer’s comprehensive nuclear
agreement. U.S. officials initially described the move as a “goodwill
gesture” to Iran.
The United States also agreed to provide Iran $1.7 billion in cash to
release or drop charges against 21 Iranians indicted for illegally
assisting Tehran. Full details of this secret agreement were kept hidden
from Congress and journalists for more than nine months, multiple
sources told the Washington Free Beacon.
State Department officials who spoke to the Free Beacon now
say the United States “already made” the decision to drop U.S.
sanctions, but declined to address multiple questions aimed at
clarifying the discrepancy between past and current explanations for
dropping international sanctions.
...
Senior Iranian officials said in January that the $1.7 billion
payment and delisting of Bank Sepah were part of the agreement to free
U.S. hostages, a charge the Obama administration denied at the time.
“The annulment of sanctions against Iran’s Bank Sepah and reclaiming
of $1.7mln of Iran’s frozen assets after 36 years showed that the U.S.
doesn’t understand anything but the language of force,” Mohammad Reza
Naqdi, commander of Iran’s Basij Volunteer Force, told Iran’s state-controlled press in early February.
Senior congressional sources apprised of the matter told the Free Beacon
that these latest revelations provide further proof of the
administration’s intentional bid to deceive the public about its
dealings with Iran.
“Facts are facts, no matter how much the administration tries to hide
them,” said one senior congressional aide involved in investigating the
matter. “Journalists and Members of Congress are on the trail and have
already uncovered so much, including the cash payment of almost $2
billion to the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism as a ransom
for four American hostages. The truth, no matter how disturbing it is,
will continue to come out.”
“This should eliminate any remaining doubt that the administration
paid a ransom to Iran,” said another source familiar with the issue.
“Why else would they keep Congress and the American people in the dark
about this unprecedented concession? President Obama’s continued
capitulation to the Iranian regime is a hazard to our national
security.”
Another source who serves as a senior adviser to Congress and is familiar with the administration’s thinking told the Free Beacon
that the Obama administration misled the public to avoid sparking
outrage over its decision to drop sanctions on the top funder of Iran’s
ballistic missile program.
“The Obama administration couldn’t tell the American public that it
had just unleashed Iran’s ballistic missile program as one part of an
enormous ransom extracted by Iran,” the source said. “So instead they
ran to friendly reporters to misleadingly boast about how successful
their diplomacy was, while they were bribing Iran with billions of
dollars and military concessions to stay at the table.”
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington, D.C.-based
think tank, described the administration’s move as putting Iran’s
ballistic missile program “back in business.”
“It represents a unilateral dismantling of the international ballistic missile embargo against the Islamic Republic,” FDD wrote in a recent policy analysis. “Iran’s preferred missile-financing bank is back in business.”
Can't wait to see what comes out after the elections. Maybe they'll even find that missing Obama video.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
