Obama gives Jordan's Abdullah the Israel treatment
Just last night, I reported on how President Hussein Obama has been giving 'our friends, the Saudis' the Israel treatment. Now, he's giving it to Jordan's King Abdullah II.
The White House on Monday said President Barack Obama
would not meet with close ally King Abdullah of Jordan -- who is
currently in Washington -- because of scheduling problems.
"The president regrets that he is unable to meet with
him personally on this visit due to scheduling conflicts, including the
State of the Union address," a White House spokesperson said.
On Tuesday, Obama will deliver his final annual address
to a joint session of Congress, a set piece of the U.S. political
calendar.
The White House and Jordanian officials said Abdullah would instead meet with Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday.
He met with Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday.
Kerry and Abdullah discussed the fight against the
Islamic State and "efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace
negotiations," a diplomat said.
Abdullah also met with Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who
expressed his "deep appreciation... for Jordan's continued
contributions to regional counter-ISIL efforts," Pentagon spokesman
Peter Cook said.
He was referring to the self-proclaimed Islamic State
group, which has seized large chunks of territory in Iraq and Syria and
declared a caliphate ruled in accordance with Islamic law, or sharia.
Obama "looks forward to the opportunity to meet with His Majesty in the near future," the White House official said.
Obama and Abdullah last met in Washington almost a year ago.
On Twitter, The Israel Project's Omri Ceren has assured me that the White House knows exactly what's going on in 'Southern Syria' (i.e. Jordan).
Why Europe won't learn the lesson of Charlie Hebdo
Melanie Phillips (writing before Friday's attack on the Kosher supermarket in Paris) explains why last week's Charlie Hebdo attack will not awaken the West.
The fact is that Islamic terrorism and intimidation against the West
have been going on for decades, matched by displays of Western weakness
which merely encourage an enemy it refuses properly to identify.
Over
and over again, the West denies that these attacks have anything to do
with Islam. First it blamed poverty and exclusion among Muslims. Then
it blamed grievances around the world – Bosnia, Chechnya, Kashmir,
Palestine.
Then it blamed isolated madmen whose Muslim identity was irrelevant.
In
France before Christmas, attacks in which cars were used as battering
rams against crowds amid shouts of “Allahu akbar” were said by French
authorities to be unconnected with each other.
Yet Muslim
violence in France has clearly been out of control for years. Just look
at the repeated Islamic pogroms against French Jews, which have driven
thousands of them to emigrate. Yet none of those attacks provoked the
kind of outrage that followed this week’s atrocity. Is free speech more
important than the lives of French Jews? But the West refuses to join
up the dots. The Charlie Hebdo attackers shouted “Allahu akbar” and “We
are avenging the Prophet Muhammad.”
Yet Obama, Cameron, and
Hollande condemned the attack as merely “terrorism,” carefully omitting
to say what kind of terrorism this was.
This follows their
absurd statements that the Islamic State terrorist group has “nothing
to do with Islam” and that “no religion” condones that kind of
barbarism.
Really? What links Islamic State, al-Qaida, Hamas,
and Boko Haram? It’s a religion beginning with the letter I and ending
with M.
A very senior British civil servant once told me that
Islamist terrorism couldn’t be about Islam, because that would
“demonize” all Muslims. This absurd non-sequitur was like saying the
Inquisition had nothing to do with Catholicism, in order not to
demonize Catholics.
For sure, many Muslims are not only opposed
to Islamist terrorism but are its principal victims. But to pretend
that it is not rooted in a legitimate interpretation of the religion,
backed up by the historical evidence of centuries of aggressive and
violent Islamic conquest, is ridiculous.
If the West cannot even bring itself to acknowledge what it is up against, then it will surely be defeated by it.
Kurdish fighters in Kobani, Syria are accusing Turkey of allowing a suicide bomber to operate against them from its territory.
The assault began when a suicide bomber driving an armored vehicle
detonated his explosives on the border crossing between Kobani and
Turkey, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and
Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for Syria's powerful Kurdish Democratic Union Party.
The Islamic State group "used to attack the town from three sides," Khalil said. "Today, they are attacking from four sides."
...
A Turkish government statement on Saturday confirmed that one of the
suicide attacks involved a bomb-loaded vehicle that detonated on the
Syrian side of the border. But it denied that the vehicle had crossed
into Kobani through Turkey, which would be a first for the extremist
fighters.
"Claims that the vehicle reached the border gate by
crossing through Turkish soil are a lie," read the statement released
from the government press office at the border town of Suruc. "Contrary
to certain claims, no Turkish official has made any statement claiming
that the bomb-loaded vehicle had crossed in from Turkey."
...
Mustafa Bali,
a Kobani-based activist, said by telephone that Islamic State group
fighters have taken positions in the grain silos on the Turkish side of
the border and from there are launching attacks toward the border
crossing point. He added that the U.S.-led coalition launched an airstrike Saturday morning on the eastern side of the town.
"It
is now clear that Turkey is openly cooperating with Daesh," Bali said,
using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. Later in the day, he
said the situation was relatively calm on the border after a day of
heavy clashes.
Someone needs to tell Erdogan that Islamic State will not appoint him as the Caliph.
The 'Palestinian Authority' fears the Islamists too
Here's a 'Palestinian Authority' television interview with Israeli Islamist leader Kamal Khatib. When Khatib says that Jerusalem will be the capital of the Caliphate, 'Palestinian Authority' television cuts him off!
Are the Islamists fighting the world the same way Arafat fought Israel? Here's an interesting theory.
In fact, it looks as though the global Islamist movement has adopted Yasser Arafat's strategy for destroying Israel. He said,
"Since we cannot defeat Israel in war we do this in stages. We take
any and every territory that we can of Palestine, and establish
sovereignty there, and we use it as a springboard to take more. When
the time comes, we can get the Arab nations to join us for the final
blow against Israel." (Yasser Arafat speaking on Jordanian television,
September 13, 1993-the same day the Oslo Peace Accord ceremony was held
in Washington D.C.) That's
exactly what Islamists are doing. Substitute "the world" for Israel,
"the global caliphate" for Palestine, and "Islamist powers" for Arab
nations and you will see what I mean. Arafat also said,
"Peace for us means the destruction of Israel. We are preparing for an
all-out war, a war which will last for generations. Since January
1965, when Fatah was born, we have become the most dangerous enemy that
Israel has....We shall not rest until the day when we return to our
home, and until we destroy Israel." (El Mundo, Caracas, Venezuela,
February 11, 1980) Applying
the same substitutions to this quote lends additional credence to the
hypothesis that Arafat is the originator of the global Islamist
movement's strategy. Whatever the case may be, though, this much is
certain: peaceful coexistence with radical Islamists is impossible.
Based on all of the available evidence, any other conclusion is a manic
delusion.
In fact, it looks as though the global Islamist movement has adopted Yasser Arafat's strategy for destroying Israel. He said,
"Since we cannot defeat Israel in war we do this in stages. We take
any and every territory that we can of Palestine, and establish
sovereignty there, and we use it as a springboard to take more. When
the time comes, we can get the Arab nations to join us for the final
blow against Israel." (Yasser Arafat speaking on Jordanian television,
September 13, 1993-the same day the Oslo Peace Accord ceremony was held
in Washington D.C.)
That's
exactly what Islamists are doing. Substitute "the world" for Israel,
"the global caliphate" for Palestine, and "Islamist powers" for Arab
nations and you will see what I mean.
Arafat also said,
"Peace for us means the destruction of Israel. We are preparing for an
all-out war, a war which will last for generations. Since January
1965, when Fatah was born, we have become the most dangerous enemy that
Israel has....We shall not rest until the day when we return to our
home, and until we destroy Israel." (El Mundo, Caracas, Venezuela,
February 11, 1980)
Applying
the same substitutions to this quote lends additional credence to the
hypothesis that Arafat is the originator of the global Islamist
movement's strategy. Whatever the case may be, though, this much is
certain: peaceful coexistence with radical Islamists is impossible.
Based on all of the available evidence, any other conclusion is a manic
delusion.
Dean of Koranic studies at Islamic University of Gaza hopes to conquer Spain and the Vatican
Maybe they plan to buy Spain out of its current financial crisis.... Nah.... Only Jews would be smart enough to try that.
Here's the dean of Koranic Studies at the Islamic University of Gaza expressing his hope that one day the Islamic Caliphate will conquer Andalusia (Spain) and raise the flag of the Caliphate over the Vatican.
Most 'moderate' Arab state wants to be a Caliphate
This will make you feel all warm and fuzzy about the 'Arab spring.' The translation is rather poor, but here's what the newly elected Prime Minister of Tunisia has to say about his plans (Hat Tip: Atlas Shrugs).
In a popular meeting in Sousse today, Hamadi Jebali of Enahdha party, certainly tunisian [sic] next prime minister in Tunisia, has announced that he and his party will be "the 6 th islamic Rightly Guided Caliphs", promising also that this tunisian [sic] Caliphate will, enlighten the worrld [sic], as did the Jasmine revolution!
The term Caliphate refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah (community). Its head is the Caliph, a monarch, usually chosen among pious imams.
He also promised that Jerusalem will be freed from jewish [sic] occupation. The liberation process will start from the tunisian [sic] Caliphate! pointing [sic] to a palestenian [sic] guest woman present in the meeting: "our sister's presence is a divine sign from God. The liberation of jerusalem starts here. I will be the 6th Rightous [sic] Caliph"...
Instead of pro-Western dictators, the 'Arab spring' is yielding Islamic states in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya - and probably in Syria eventually as well. Are we really better off?
Remember Niall Ferguson, who burst onto the scene with a surprising Newsweek column ripping Barack Obama?
Here he is again talking to London's Daily Telegraph. He makes six key points in this interview:
* China will be the largest economy in the world by 2021 * No guarantees the euro will still exist * The U.S. could europeanize itself, or it could revitalize itself * Tiny possibility we get western-style democracies in the Middle East * More alarming to think about a "restored caliphate" * Germany's love of European integration under threat
At the Islamic Awakening Conference last month in Britain, here's Salafist Abu Mounisa calling for revolt. In the good old days, he would have been arrested for sedition.
Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: Cheryl H).
Anyone still want to pretend they're not trying to make the West into a Caliphate?
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
