Israel's Channel 1 (government-owned television) disclosed on Wednesday night that 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen is a longtime KGB spy. He was recruited while doing a PhD in Holocaust Denial in Moscow in the early 1980's.
Here are some of the details that make this story so compelling: The
Channel 1 report is based on a new study by two research fellows at
Hebrew University’s Truman Institute, Isabela Ginor and Gideon Remez.
(Ginor, a Russian native, and Remez, a veteran Israeli journalist, are
married.)
They obtained documents from a collection kept by former KGB chief
archivist Vasili Mitrokhin, who defected to the West in 1992 and lived
in London. Mitrokhin kept mementos from his spook days, and part of his
collection was recently opened up, allowing researchers to study it.
That’s where the Israeli couple found files that mentioned Abbas, code-name “Krotov” (“mole”).
“They could have called him ‘friend,’ or ‘our man,’ or whatever, but
in the documents he’s referred to as an agent,” Remez says.
Specifically, Abbas was described in a 1983 document as a KGB agent in
Damascus. (It isn’t clear if the spy agency used Abbas’ services after
that date.)
Moscow is where Abbas wrote his infamous Ph.D. thesis that included
some choice Holocaust denial. But the researchers say these new
revelations don’t change the facts on the ground. Abbas can’t be ignored
just because we now know his anti-Western bona fides were more robust
than previously thought.
But Remez conditions that with a warning.
“Look, Abbas now heads the Palestinian Authority, and as such he’s
the man to talk to,” Remez told me. Yet, he added, “the Americans should
know that the Kremlin may well still have stuff on him, and Washington
must take that into account.”
Especially now, as President Vladimir Putin is trying to arrange an
Israeli-Palestinian peace conference in Moscow, perhaps in the next few
weeks.
If successful, even as a photo-op, such a powwow could help Putin add
yet another Mideast corner to his collection of spots once dominated —
or at least mostly influenced — by America.
But Israel cannot be complacent either.
Remez told me he doesn’t know whether Putin, the ex-KGB man, knew of
the recruitment of the future Palestinian leader in the early 1980s. But
Abbas’ direct KGB handler at the time was Nikolai Bogdanov, and that’s
just as crucial.
After all, Bogdanov, a top Mideast hand at the Kremlin, is now one of
Putin’s closest aides, serving as special envoy to the
Israeli-Palestinian dispute. He is the main player in orchestrating the
Moscow peace parlay. “As we speak, Bogdanov is working with the Israelis
and Palestinians,” trying to coax them to come to Moscow, Remez says.
So Abbas is an old, ahem, acquaintance. But Israelis should also
worry about how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu increasingly
consults with Putin, Remez says: “It’s a mistake to see the Russians as
our allies.”
But let’s remember: The main reason Putin’s influence is growing is
that for nearly a decade America has decided to watch from the sidelines
one of the most transformative periods in the modern history of the
Mideast. The vacuum America has left has driven some of our closest
allies and friends to the arms of the former spymaster.
And now, in addition to that loss of influence, we’re placing a
diplomatic bet on a leader who has been exposed as a former Kremlin
agent.
There are no friends in international relations. Only interests.
What difference does it make? Hamas lauds terror attack, Abu Mazen calls it 'natural response' to Israeli 'crimes'
Hamas lauded and - as you can see from the picture above - Gazans celebrated Wednesday night's terror attack in Tel Aviv in which four Israelis were murdered.
The world still doesn't get it. Or doesn't want to get it. Russian Nikolay Mladenov is the UN Special Coordinator for the 'peace process.' He condemned the attack:
I condemn the #terror attack in #TelAviv, all must reject violence & say #NO2terror. Our prayers are with the families of those killed
And Gaza was not the only place they celebrated. Here's a picture from a NATO country of a celebration of the Tel Aviv terror attack. Can you guess in which country this took place?
Okay, it says Istanbul. Yes, Turkey. You know, the country that's supposed to be 'reconciling' with us any day now. Don't hold your breaths.
And finally, for those who have not seen it yet, here's a harrowing video of last night's terror attack.
Mrs. Carl and I went out to dinner here in Jerusalem shortly before the attack happened. The place where we ate had actually had a suicide bombing very close by during the intifada in the early 2000's, and I was surprised to see that there was no security guard outside. My guess is that you go back tonight, there will be one there.
The 'Palestinians' continue to look for opportunities to murder us. Occasionally, they succeed. Fortunately, it's far less often than it was 15 years ago.
By the way, the United States and Hillary Clinton have condemned last night's terror attack. I have not yet seen any condemnation issued by President Obama or Donald Trump. If you see one, please give me a holler. I've been too busy working to post much recently....
Hamas and Islamic Jihad praised the bloodbath, with a Hamas spokesperson saying it was a "response" to the suicide of an Arab bus driver Monday, which Islamists have nevertheless been blaming on "Israeli settlers" in order to stoke further tension.
An official statement from Abbas’ office said ”The presidency condemns
the attack on Jewish worshipers in their place of prayer and condemns
the killing of civilians.” However as is their practice of saying one
thing to the world community and something else to their own people, the
Palestinian Authority's official TV channel showed images of Bethlehem
residents handing out candy in the streets, in support of the attack.
Following the Palestinian Authority's condemnation of this morning's terror attack in which 4 Jews were murdered while praying in a Jerusalem synagogue, Abbas' Fatah showed on its official Facebook page that Abbas' condemnation is not sincere.
Fatah explained Abbas' condemnation of the murders by using Palestinian Media Watch documentation showing Arafat's bodyguard explaining that Arafat would lie and condemn terror attacks due to international pressure to do so, but that "it wasn't true."
...
Fatah posted this text with the video: "For those who argue with Fatah: Why the PA condemns self-sacrifice operations!" [Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page", Nov. 18, 2014]
This shows that Fatah needed to justify the fact that Abbas, heading both the PA and Fatah, issued a condemnation in the name of the PA. Arguing that the reason Abbas issued the condemnation is the same reason Arafat condemned the killing of civilians - namely international pressure - Fatah states that Abbas' condemnation is not sincere.
Shortly after this post appeared on the Fatah Facebook page the content became unavailable.
I'm sure the US State Department and the European Union will have a talk with 'Abbas' and tell him not to make silly statements like that again....
PA President Mahmoud Abbas expressed
gratitude to his Iranian counterpart for his support of the unilateral
Palestinian statehood bid at the UN. The leaders also discussed the
peace process, the PA's financial crisis, and reconciliation with Hamas,
according to WAFA.
The discussion was to be followed by a meeting between Fatah and Hamas
officials in Cairo to discuss reconciliation agreements, Palestinian
news agency Ma'an quoted a Fatah offiial as saying on Wednesday.
The 'Palestinians' are always saying how they want to be 'martyrs,' and if God forbid Ahmadinejad nukes us, they'll likely get their chance.
Dumb Hakim did not make Aaron David Miller's dumb idea hall of fame. But Mahmoud Abbas did, and so did Barack Hussein Obama.
Dumb Idea No. 1: Palestinian statehood at the U.N.
The most woolly-headed and inconsequential idea goes to the Palestinians for pretending (they actually may not really believe it themselves) that action at the United Nations might help their cause for statehood. Having tried this idea once last September with predictable results -- a big, fat nothingburger -- the PLO may be gearing up again for another run.
One can only wonder why. The Palestinians are desperate, to be sure, and the U.N. statehood gambit (like faux unity talks with Hamas) plays well on the street. But their lack of strategy and penchant for bad timing are breathtaking. So far, the U.N. initiative has produced implacable American opposition, U.S. congressional constraints on funding for the Palestinians, and America's withdrawal from UNESCO.
The last thing a U.S. president is going to do in an election year is support such an initiative. And it gives the Israeli government, already uninterested in real negotiations, just another reason to blame the impasse on the Palestinians. But hey, the Palestinians are going to do what they're going to do whether it makes sense or not. The best thing that can be said about the U.N. gambit is that it really doesn't matter.
...
Dumb Idea No. 4: Obama's push for a settlement freeze
Rarely has any U.S. president committed more of a stumble during his first year than when Barack Obama decided to make Israeli settlements the focus of his approach to Arab-Israeli peacemaking.
In one fell swoop, the president set himself up for failure, turned his relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a macho contest of who had bigger cojones (Obama lost), and alienated the Palestinians and the Arabs because he backed down. And for all this, the United States succeeded in getting no real freeze, no deal, and no negotiations. The president's tough rhetoric on settlements only made the problem worse as the gap between words and deeds swallowed his credibility whole.
Fighting with the Israelis is an occupational reality for any president or secretary of state who wants to do serious peacemaking. The fight, however, needs to be at the right time and on the right issue. If done correctly (i.e., with a strategy), it can actually be productive and benefit not only the United States, but the Israelis and Palestinians too.
The fight worth having, with both sides, is over the actual substance of an agreement. But given the gaps that separate the two sides and Obama's own indecision about what he wants, that fight isn't worth having. Yet.
I wonder if Miller aspires to return to peacemaking.
Here’s the thread: No three men were closer to the United States during the years of negotiations under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush than Fayyad, Abed Rabbo, and Dahlan. Developments in Palestinian politics appear to be reducing, not enhancing, their influence. Dahlan has been pushed to the sidelines, and it seems that Abed Rabbo will be next. Fayyad is, for now, protected by his reputation among donors: “Donor countries have warned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas against trying to replace Prime Minister Salam Fayyad or confiscate his control over the PA Finance Ministry,” the Jerusalem Post reported last week. But over time, it is likely that politics with the PLO and the Fatah party will turn against Fayyad, who is an official of neither organization. And it is unlikely that the successors to officials like Fayyad and Abed Rabbo will have ties to the United States like they do now or the respect among American officials that they have earned over the years.
After explaining that 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen has no mandate to make peace with Israel, Egyptian journalist Abdul Karim Shalabi makes an important point that one does not often hear outside of the Israeli Right.
Just as Arafat dismissed the generous offer he received from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak during the failed Camp David summit in 2000, Abbas rejected Olmert's plan because it did not offer all of the Palestinian leader's demands. Perhaps one of the biggest problems is also what happened during Israel's negotiations with us in Egypt: Egypt got from Israel 100% of what it asked for; how, after that, can any Arab leader ever settle for anything less?
Shalabi is correct. And if anything, the mistake has been compounded: Rabin and Clinton gave Jordan's King Hussein every last inch of former Jordanian land not located in Judea or Samaria as part of that treaty in 1994, plus extra water to boot (in case you're wondering why the 'Palestinians' complain so much about water, that's part of it too).
But giving the 'Palestinians' everything they demand is in a whole different category, and every Israeli leader realizes that cannot be done.
Lieberman sends letter to foreign embassies slamming Abu Bluff; Netanyahu silent
Before you jump to conclusions about this story, please keep this in mind. Avigdor Lieberman was once director general of the Prime Minister's Office. The Prime Minister was Binyamin Netanyahu during his first term in office. Avigdor Lieberman was his most trusted adviser.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has sent a letter in English to every foreign embassy in Israel saying that the best thing that could happen to the 'peace process' would be for 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen to resign. I happen to agree with Lieberman, and I think that once you read his letter and consider that Abu Mazen's term in office expired three years ago, and that he never was a charismatic or popular figure among the 'Palestinians,' you too will realize that Abu Mazen is completely incapable of making peace with Israel on any terms. Remember how the Americans would tell us that we have to make gestures to Abu Mazen to strengthen him long before Hamas took power in Gaza.
Abu Mazen has three goals right now, which are, in order of importance, to die a natural death, to get credit for the establishment of a 'Palestinian' reichlet, and to reconcile Fatah with Hamas.
In the letter, entitled "Israel and the Palestinian Authority: Current Assessment," Lieberman reached the "inescapable " conclusion that "no agreement will ever be possible as long as Mahmoud Abbas leads the Palestinian Authority, given his preference for sacrificing key Palestinian interests in favor of his historical legacy and personal future."
Lieberman's letter echoed comments he made at a press conference on Monday that it would be a "blessing" if Abbas carried out his oft-repeated threat and resigned.
...
Lieberman's letter to foreign delegations here – itself a very rare move – was written in English and, according to foreign ministry officials, reflected his views, and not necessarily those of the ministry. The ministry, one official said, was not involved in drawing it up.
Israel, Lieberman's letter read, "has gone to great lengths to build confidence and create an atmosphere conducive" to resuming negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. "In stark contrast," the letter continued, the Abbas-led PA has "adamantly refused to engage in direct negotiations, pursuing an increasingly hostile, confrontational and unilateral approach. This conduct has effectively blocked any possibility for political progress and, if left unchecked, could endanger the vital economic and security cooperation which exists on the ground between the sides."
The letter charged that Abbas was motivated primarily by concerns for his historical legacy and personal welfare, "apparently seeking a dignified exit from the political scene. In this regard, his energies are focused on ensuring that he be seen as the Palestinian leader who led to the establishment of a Palestinian state and achieved internal unity between Fatah and Hamas."
But what's somewhat of a mystery here is whether Netanyahu agrees with Lieberman.
The Prime Minister's Office neither endorsed nor disassociated itself from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's scathing criticism of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas appearing in a letter he sent to foreign embassies in Israel on Wednesday.
...
While a source in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Office refused to comment on Lieberman's criticism of Abbas, one government source said that if the Palestinians "want to prove Lieberman wrong, they can do one simple thing – they can agree to a return to the peace talks without preconditions."
The official said that "the fact that the Palestinian Authority continues to raise new obstacles to direct talks would seem to reinforce the foreign minister's point."
I'd bet that Netanyahu endorses every word that Lieberman says but cannot say so himself because of what it would do to his relationship with Obama. And I believe that it's at least possible that Netanyahu okayed or even told Lieberman to write the letter. Heh.
In a move that will no doubt please the 'international community,' Hamas has officially said no to a unity government headed by Salam Fayyad.
Appointing Fayyad for the new government "is unacceptable and it cannot theoretically or practically lead to achieving reconciliation," said Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy chief of Hamas ' politburo.
Abu Marzouk said the unity government should replace Hamas' Gaza government and Fayyad's government in the West Bank. "We cannot talk about dissolving Haneya's government while keeping Fayyad as a prime minister," he added, referring to Hamas' Prime Minister Ismail Haneya.
It is the first time that Hamas announces openly its rejection to Fayyad to lead the government. Abbas wants Fayyad to be the upcoming premier due to his acceptance by the West to avoid international isolation of the government.
Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, Hamas' main rival, condemned Hamas' attempts to impose its stances prior to next week's meeting in Cairo to discuss the formation of the government.
A Fatah leader criticized Abu Marzouk's statements, adding that he should not talk this way in the media. "The positions should have been better announced on the table of dialogue, not through the media," said Hussien al-Sheikh of Fatah.
He noted that this issue would be discussed thoroughly when Hamas and Fatah meet on Tuesday.
First, let me make clear what the makers of this video have done. They have taken the music from the Jerusalem Post's English updates (and possibly have gotten the announcers to play along), they have spliced in Prime Minister Netanyahu's words - some from his speech in Congress, some from his 2009 Bar Ilan speech, and some from other speeches - and they have the Prime Minister making peace. Many of the words are taken out of context, but there are two key points to remember here.
1. Netanyahu has offered peace to the 'Palestinians' and the 'Palestinians' have not accepted it. If you put together Netanyahu's words over the last three years that's the bottom line. In fact, not only have the 'Palestinians' not accepted it, they have not even agreed to come to the table and negotiate.
2. They have totally left the 'Palestinian' side alone. They have Netanyahu accepting a 'Palestinian state,' but there's no word on whether Abu Bluff will accept a Jewish state (he won't and it would be irrelevant if he did, because the overwhelming majority of 'Palestinians' do not and will not).
They have very cleverly tried to put the ball solely in Israel's court when the reality is that it ought to be in the 'Palestinians' court.
By the way, when he talks about the '1967 lines,' in the Hebrew subtitles it says "1967 lines with adjustments." That's because they know that the '1967 lines' are anathema to nearly all Israeli Jews. By raising the '1967 lines,' President Obama did the same thing he did by calling for a building freeze in Jerusalem: He managed to turn the entire Israeli consensus against him.
When will he ever learn? (Answer: He won't because he doesn't want to learn).
One other thing: This is the only video ever posted to this YouTube account. Do any of you want to bet to whom it belongs? I would bet on someone at J Street.
“It’s more vital than ever that both Israelis and Palestinians find a way to get back to the table,” Obama declared after a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Tuesday. Senior European diplomats who have recently phoned or met with Netanyahu have made clear what that means: Unless he can engage Abbas in negotiations before September, their governments will probably vote for the U.N. declaration of statehood.
Embedded in these demands is what might be called the soft bigotry of wishful thinking about Arab strongmen. U.S. and European leaders indulgently swallow the private assurances they receive from suit-wearing, English-speaking men like Abbas, rather than judging them by their actual behavior. Until this week Western governments have clung to the idea that Syria’s Bashar al-Assad is secretly a “reformer,” even as he guns down his own people. Similarly, Obama persists in telling Jewish leaders and members of Congress that “Abbas is ready to make peace”; it follows that Netanyahu is the problem.
The record of the past several years suggests something very different. In 2008, Abbas refused to accept a far-reaching peace offer from Netanyahu’s predecessor, Ehud Olmert, even as a basis for discussion; nor would he make a counteroffer. “The gaps were wide,” he later told me in an interview. For two years he has stoutly resisted peace talks with Netanyahu, even while conceding that the nominal reason for his intransigence — Israel’s refusal to freeze settlements — was forced on him by Obama.
Now Abbas is trying to transform the Arab Spring into a mass movement against Israel. It’s a maneuver that he knows will not bring peace, but it spares him, at age 76, from bearing the responsibility for making the concessions — on refugees, for example — necessary for a deal with Israel. If he succeeds, he could trigger not just another intifada but another Middle East war. Preventing this requires urgent and concerted U.S. action — and not just another scrape with Bibi Netanyahu.
I'm glad Jackson Diehl noticed. But while he is a widely-read columnist, he holds the power of no branch of government in Washington or Europe. It's time for members of the US Congress and (if there are any who are willing to do so) the European parliament to speak up and hold Abu Mazen's feet to the fire. Unfortunately, it's long past time and may even be too late.
Abu Mazen seems to sense that such pressure might be coming. Unfortunately, he is still posing the same conditions to even resuming negotiations that he set up before. That's just not going to happen.
It's being reported this morning that Prime Minister Netanyahu intends to ask President Obama to shift the focus to Iran. That's also nothing new. Netanyahu may succeed in raising the profile of the Iranian issue. But he also has to succeed in getting Obama to lean on the Europeans to vote against a 'Palestinian state' in September. Otherwise, there just might be a war here.
Sixty three years ago, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy left his home in the Galilean city of Safed. His was a family of means. He studied in elementary school, and then came the naqba [calamity, namely, the founding of the State of Israel - ed.]. At night, his family left by foot from Tzfat, to the Jordan River, where they remained for a month. Then they went to Damascus, and then to their relatives in Jordan, and then they settled in Damascus. That child's story, like that of so many other Palestinians, is mine.
Great news: Hamas and Fatah to coordinate violence
Another great result of last week's reconciliation summit in Cairo.
Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal said that his organization will determine the nature of the struggle against Israel, including the use of violence, in coordination with the Western-backed Fatah movement.
"How to manage the resistance, what's the best way to achieve our goals, when to escalate and when to cease fire, now we have to agree on all those decisions as Palestinians," Mashaal said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
Fatah on Bin Laden: One message in Arabic and another in English
You will recall that I reported on Tuesday evening that the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the 'military wing' of the 'Palestinian Authority's ruling Fatah party, had issued a statement calling the death of Osama Bin Laden a 'naqba' - a catastrophe.
Around the same time that statement was issued, State Department spokesman Mark Toner slammed Hamas for its statement condemning the liquidation of Bin Laden.
Ismael Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, said in response to the U.S. operation against bin Laden "we regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood."
Toner said Haniyeh's comments were "outrageous."
"It goes without saying bin Laden was a murderer and a terrorist. He ordered the killings of thousands of innocent men, women and children, and many of whom were Muslim," Toner said.
Okay, let's forget for a minute the 'many of whom were Muslim,' because it's irrelevant and it's outrageous for the State Department to issue a statement that implies that if none of them were Muslim there would have been nothing wrong with Haniyeh's statement. Let's go back to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Abu Bluff's dilemma.
The email I got with the translation of the Maan statement in Arabic came in at 5:18 pm. Tuesday's State Department briefing by Mark Toner started at 8:55 pm Israel time and finished at 9:30 pm Israel time. The questions about the 'Palestinians' are about two thirds of the way down, so let's call it 9:20. What's a 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President to do?
Well at 8:12 pm, Fatah published in the English media a denial from al-Aqsa that they ever made a statement about Bin Laden's death. There are two problems with that statement. First, by that time, Palestinian Media Watch has already translated and published the original Arabic statement. And second, Abu Bluff is in Cairo on Wednesday to sign an agreement with Hamas, which is not denying its statement.
The following is the statement as it appears in Ma'an's Arabic and English websites. The bold sections indicate the part that Ma'an misrepresented:
Ma'an in Arabic on the concluding statement of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades:
"We say to the American and Israeli occupier: The [Islamic] nation which produced leaders who changed the course of history through their Jihad and their endurance is a nation that is capable of supplying an abundance of new blood into the arteries of the resistance and is capable of restoring the glory of Islam and the flag of Allah's oneness, Allah willing.'"
[Ma'an Arabic, May 3, 2011]
Ma'an in English on the concluding statement of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades:
"We tell the Israeli and the American occupiers that we have leaders who have changed history with their Jihad and their steadfastness. We are ready to sacrifice our lives to bring back peace."
[Ma'an English, May 3, 2011]
The following is the full release by Ma'an in English:
Al-Aqsa Brigades: Jihad to continue without bin Laden
(Ma'an) -- The Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Brigades mourned Tuesday the death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, following his assassination Sunday by American troops in Pakistan.
His death, a statement said, "won't stop our Jihad mission against injustice and occupation," adding doubt over the veracity of claims that the fundamentalist had indeed been killed.
In a statement received by Ma'an the brigades said: "The Islamic nation was shocked with the news that bin Laden had been killed by the non-believers."
He left a generation who follows the education he gave in Jihad, the statement continued."The fighters in Palestine and around the world who have lost their leaders did not stop their mission and will continue in the tutelage of their masters."
Concluding, the statement said "we tell the Israeli and the American occupiers that we have leaders who have changed history with their Jihad and their steadfastness. We are ready to sacrifice our lives to bring back peace."
Palestinian reactions to the announcement that the Al-Qaeda leader had been assassinated were mixed.
Palestinian Authority caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad called the event one that increased the chance for peace in the world, while Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh condemned the assassination, calling it an extension of an American foreign policy based on killing.
Before I give my prescription for what we have to do about this, please allow me to add that the Israeli government is turning a blind eye to the al-Aqsa statement. For example, in the 7:00 am hour on Israel Radio on Wednesday, there was an interview with Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai (Labor) who pointed to their positions on Bin Laden as one of the 'differences' between Fatah and Hamas that 'proves' that the reconciliation between the two is a sham. Vilnai is trying to promote the notion that Fatah is still a partner for peace. Sadly, it is not. The reconciliation is less of a sham than the notion that there is any difference between Hamas and Fatah's stances on Bin Laden.
What do we need to do? As usual, the mainstream media is ignoring this story and the Israeli government is burying its head in the sand if it even noticed what happened on Tuesday. This post should be sent to anyone in the Israeli government with whom any of you have contact. (I am sure that nearly every one of you who follows me on Twitter follows and is followed by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon - he should get hundreds of copies of this story). It should be sent to your Representatives and Senators if you are an American, so that the Congress is not taken in. It should be sent to the US State Department so that they know that Mark Toner should have issued another condemnation on Tuesday (anyone going to Wednesday's press briefing?). It should be sent to the Israeli embassy in Washington. Quite simply, we must get the word out and expose Fatah's double dealing. Because no one else will.
Just 13 days before the anniversary of their 'naqba' (catastrophe - the way the 'Palestinian Authority' refers to the founding of the State of Israel), the 'military branch' of the Fatah terror group has discovered a new 'naqba.' Can you guess what it is?
The following is the text of the statement by Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades:
"The [military wing of Fatah] Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades announced the death of Sheikh Osama bin Laden (Abu Abdallah), and said that if bin Laden had indeed died as a Shahid (Martyr), this would not deter the resistance fighters from the path of Jihad against injustice, oppression and occupation in the world.
In their announcement, a copy of which reached MAAN [private Palestinian news agency], the [Al-Aqsa Martyrs'] Brigades said: 'The Islamic nation awoke to a catastrophe the reports of the Shahid - (Martyr-) death of the Sheikh, Jihad-fighter Osama bin Laden, in a treacherous manner, by the gangs of the heretics and those who stray.'
They continued: 'The path irrigated with the blood of its leaders is the path of victory, Allah willing. If Abu Abdallah [Bin Laden] was killed, then he merited the Shahada (Death for Allah) which he had sought, and inscribed with his blood the landmarks of Jihad, leaving behind an entire generation that follows the path of Sheikh Osama.'
They said: 'The military wings of the Jihad fighters in Palestine and outside of it, who have in the past lost many of their commanders and their men, will not stop. This has only strengthened their determination, their resolve and their loyalty to their Shahids (Martyrs), who have turned their words into a reality testifying to their honesty, and which in fact bolsters the drive and the strength of their brothers on the path to victory or Shahdada (Death for Allah)'.
The announcement continued: 'We say to the American and Israeli occupier: the [Islamic] nation which produced leaders who changed the course of history through their Jihad and their endurance, is a nation that is capable of supplying an abundance of new blood into the arteries of the resistance and is capable of restoring the glory of Islam and the flag of Allahs oneness, Allah willing.'" [MAAN, May 3, 2011]
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is the chairman of the Fatah movement, whose military wing released this statement.
But keep throwing money at them Barack. Maybe they'll come around eventually.
In an earlier post, I linked to a tweet in which it was reported that Hamas had condemned the 'murder' of Osama Bin Laden by US Navy Seals. Most of you probably missed it, but it's important, so let's come back to it and expand on it a bit. Jackson Diehl has the full quote from Hamas 'Prime Minister' Ismail Haniyeh.
And then there is the Palestinian Hamas, whose top leader in the Gaza Strip mourned bin laden on Monday as an”Arab holy warrior.” Ismail Haniyeh, who is Hamas’s prime minister, told reporters that “we regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood.”
“We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior,” said the man who has assured former president Jimmy Carter, among other envoys, of Hamas’s peaceful intentions toward Israel and the United States. “We ask God to offer him mercy with the true believers and the martyrs.”
Haniyeh's words are making it impossible for anyone to allow Hamas to be a partner in the 'peace process.' Not even the Obama administration.
Haniyeh’s comments will be even more concerning, as they come days before a planned meeting in Cairo at which Hamas and the secular Fatah movement are to agree on a reconciliation. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas long ago renounced violence against Israel, and his West Bank security forces are funded and trained by the United States.
Now Abbas will find himself agreeing to form a joint Palestinian government with a man who has just condemned the U.S. killing of “Arab holy warrior” bin Laden. The broker of the deal, Egypt, has been pressing the Obama administration to accept the accord and to put forward a plan for Palestinian statehood in response.
Should the mourner of bin Laden be recognized as a worthy partner for peace with Israel, or a potential leader of a new Arab state? Haniyeh’s comments won’t leave the White House -- which has been weighing how to respond to the Palestinian unity deal -- with much of a choice.
I'm sure 'Abbas' isn't too bothered by that. But Obama ought to be.
New insights on the 'Palestine Papers' (also known as Palileaks)
The attached is an interesting new study of the Palestine Papers. It shows conclusively that the 'Palestinians' never responded to Olmert's offer, and that they never agreed to surrender the "right of return" -- running counter to the spin that's been all over the media. It's an interesting document that's worth perusing. This is the first I've seen it. For reasons unknown to me, it is being circulated by Saeb Erekat.
While I don't agree with his potshot at Netanyahu at the end of this article, much of what historian Benny Morris writes here is spot-on.
Palestinian strategy is rather simple (and not particularly clever, though it does manage to take in a surprising number of Westerners): Because of the demographic threat (an Arab majority in a Jewish state) and because of international pressure for self-determination for the Palestinians and an end to Israel's military occupation, Israelis will eventually accept, however reluctantly, a Palestinian state encompassing the Palestinian-majority territories of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Israel will eventually unilaterally withdraw (as it has already done from the Gaza Strip). So why offer or give the Israelis recognition and peace in exchange?
Rather, once this mini-state is achieved, unfettered by any international obligations like a peace treaty—and having promised nothing in exchange for their statehood—the Palestinians will be free to continue their struggle against Israel, its complete demise being their ultimate target. Inevitably, the armed struggle—call it guerrilla warfare, call it terrorism—will then be resumed. And, alongside it, so will the political warfare—the delegitimization of the Jewish state and, most centrally, the demand for the refugees of 1948/1967 to be allowed to return to their homes and lands (what the Palestinians define as the "Right of Return"). The refugee issue plays well with public opinion in the West, which somehow fails to notice that such a return will mean that Israel proper will become an Arab-majority territory, i.e., no more Jewish state. In democracies, what publics accept or support eventually becomes what leaders advocate.
And, on the military and political levels, no one will be able to fault the Palestinians. They will have broken no treaty and violated no solemn agreement. They won't have signed a "no further claims" clause or a "no more war" commitment, as Barak, Clinton and Olmert had demanded as essential components of a two-state peace settlement. They will have received their mini-state, a launching pad for further assault on Israel, without giving anything in return.
Abu Bluff's PhD dissertation widely taught in 'Palestinian Authority'
The 'Palestinians' are among the World's leaders in Holocaust denial. Now, the Center for Near East Policy Research Center has found that the 'Palestinian' curriculum includes a Holocaust denying star: 'Moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen, whose PhD 'dissertation' is a bevy of Holocaust denial. The Center for Near East Policy Research Center has urged Education Minister to insist that the thesis be removed from the 'Palestinian' curriculum.
The Center’s Director, David Bedein, has asked Education Minister Gideon Saar and the government of Israel to demand that the PA remove the work from its school and from its curricula.
Bedein wrote that the Center is engaged in preparing a movie on the PA educational system, in the course of which it tracks that which is taught in PA classrooms. “Throughout the educational system of the PA,” he wrote to Saar, “we have found that the doctorate of Mahmoud Abbas stars, and forms the basis of PA Holocaust studies.”
'Palestinians': 'Peace talks' possible but Fayyad out
Contradicting an earlier statement by Hamas 'foreign minister' Mahmoud al-Zahar, 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen said that 'negotiations' between the 'big tent' 'Palestinian Authority' and Israel are possible.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signaled on Thursday that peace talks with Israel would still be possible during the term of a new interim government formed as part of a unity deal with Hamas.
Abbas said the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which he heads and to which Hamas does not belong, would still be responsible for "handling politics, negotiations."
Even if this is correct, Israel ought to be refusing to negotiate knowing that the 'interim government' could be replaced by one headed by Hamas.
In the meantime, there's more good news for the 'international community.' Hamas and Fatah have agreed to relieve 'Palestinian Prime Minister' Salam Fayyad of his duties. Fayyad, a former employee of the World Bank, was the only 'Palestinian' many of the 'donor countries' trusted to handle their donations. Now, he will be gone.
The deal brings with it the risk of alienating the Western support that the Palestinian Authority has enjoyed. Azzam al-Ahmad, the Fatah negotiator, said that Salam Fayyad, the prime minister in the West Bank who is despised by Hamas, would not be part of the interim government. It is partly because of Mr. Fayyad, and the trust he inspires in Washington, that hundreds of millions of dollars are provided annually to the Palestinian Authority by Congress. Without that aid, the Palestinian Authority would face great difficulties.
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
