'Palestinians' threaten violence if US moves embassy to Jerusalem
One of the first things Donald Trump did after he was elected President was to promise to move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Now that they realize that Trump is serious (and has named my college classmate Dave Friedman his ambassador to prove it), the 'Palestinians' are responding in the only way they know how. They are threatening violence.
The Trump team has said that the US president-elect considers moving the embassy a "very big priority."
Throughout
his campaign for the presidency, Trump repeatedly said he would move
the US Embassy if elected – a political promise past US presidents have
frequently made, yet has never been held.
Longstanding US policy
is to treat the status of Jerusalem as an issue to be settled in
final-status negotiations with the Palestinians.
Longstanding US policy has also been to veto all anti-Israel resolutions in the Security Council, and not to let them pass, let alone orchestrate their passage. This is the best response of all to Obama's and Kerry's betrayal of Israel.
And if the 'Palestinians' kill each other in response, מה טוב.
Israel was not reported by UNESCO, but in 2011 a non-UNESCO report had our overall illiteracy rate at 2.2%.
Conclusion: 'Palestine's illiteracy rate is comparable with Israel and the Gulf countries, i.e. with the relatively wealthier countries of the region. Israel isn't holding them down and they are not exactly 'suffering.' Shocking conclusion. (NOT!).
Bonus - the classrooms pictured in those tweets are MUCH nicer classrooms than those that my two youngest children (now 7th and 9th grades) study in. Because the 'international community' is obsessed with the 'Palestinians.'
'Palestinian' terrorists getting younger every day
Good evening from Boston, where my new computer is up and running, but has some kinks to be worked out. For starters, the mouse apparently thinks I'm a lefty but of course I'm a righty. Anyone who can help me fix that will be greatly appreciated.
There were three terror attacks in Israel today, highlighted by this one on the Jerusalem trolley system in Pisgat Zev. As in the attack a couple of weeks ago, this one was perpetrated by two children - this time ages 11 and 12.
Let's go to the videotape.
SHOCKING VIDEO: Moments of 2 Arab terrorist children stabbing attack, on Jerusalem light rail, wounding Israeli man. pic.twitter.com/TPvl0WiOhx
2. These kids were caught. Why have they not been removed from their parents' custody as juvenile delinquents as would happen in any other civilized country in the world?
3. Since this is the second terror attack in the last month carried out by 'youths' in Pisgat Zev, maybe it's time to look at which Arabs are living in this Jewish neighborhood and consider sending some of them back over the fence.
Kerry admits al-Aqsa threats a lie but won't say 'Palestinians' are trying to change status quo
US Secretary of State John Kerry has admitted that 'Palestinian' claims of a threat to the al-Aqsa mosque, which are fueling the current violence, are a lie.
After more than a week of studied neutrality about the surge of terrorism against Israel, Secretary of State John Kerry finally said something useful
to the cause of restoring calm. Though he and other administration
officials have at times blamed the Israelis for provoking the spate of
bloody terror attacks by building homes or by shooting terrorists, Kerry
got to the core of the problem when he noted that the alleged threats
to the al-Aqsa mosque are not real. By noting that Israel was opposed to
changing the status quo on the Temple Mount, Kerry implicitly backed
the Netanyahu government’s assertion that the violence was the result of
incitement by Palestinian leaders who have circulated that false
charge.
But what Kerry won't do is to take the next step and admit that the 'Palestinians' are trying to change the status quo:
But the notion that what Palestinians want on the Temple Mount or
anywhere else is the status quo is a misnomer. As has been the case with
each stage of fighting during the recent history of the region, both
the Palestinians and much of the American foreign policy establishment
hopes the growing pile of corpses will serve to increase the pressure on
Israel to give up more territory.
While I don't agree with everything in this analysis, Udi Segal raises much cause for concern regarding the current situation involving the 'Palestinians.'
Another reason that Islamism has for the most part been halted in Judea
and Samaria can be traced to the fact that the Fatah movement is in a
fight for its very survival. It knows that failure would spell the end
for it, and Hamas would show it no mercy. When it comes to religious
fanaticism, the formula of “bad is good” applies.
This formula
is what guides the spread of radical Islamism. It is the source of
horror and shock that is generated by the specter of Shi’ite Islam as
represented by Iran and the Revolutionary Guards. The Islamic Republic
has spent a great deal of money financing terrorism as well as a costly
nuclear program.
The extremist Sunni organization, Islamic
State, took things a step further. Its actions dwarf the brutality of
the Al Quds Force. Even al-Qaida looks like a cute, cuddly teddy bear in
comparison. Have the people who have come under ISIS rule seen their
lives improve? The answer is no. Bad is good.
If we were to take a
peek at what is going on with our neighbors to the northeast, we are
left to wonder - is there anyone enjoying the situation in Syria now?
No. There is a brutal civil war there in which a quarter million people
have been butchered. As a country, Syria is in ruins. Its infrastructure
is crumbling. Its economy is in shambles. Its citizens are being
slaughtered, and those who survived are witnesses to acts that will stay
with them as personal and national traumas for generations to come.
Millions
have become refugees who have streamed into Jordan and Turkey. Now,
wretched and without any possessions, they knock on the doors of Europe.
Is this Arab pride? Is this Syrian courage? Hezbollah has lost 1,400
guerillas, more than one-tenth of its fighting force. ISIS is conquering
territory and losing some as well, bombing and being bombarded. Things
are bad, for everyone involved.
And this is precisely the goal.
For extremist Islam, bad is good. Only the destruction of the
foundations of contemporary Western culture and a return to the stone
age - in its simplest and historic meaning - will usher in the rule of
sharia, the austere form of Islam that was in effect 500 years ago. That
will pave the way for the establishment of the Islamic caliphate.
It
is quite an ambitious goal - taking apart the artificial entities
imposed by the West, including statehood, institutions of law and order,
economic structure, and norms of morality and regulations. The goal is
to destroy everything and wash it over with Islamism, some of whose
adherents believe is engaged in a war of armageddon.
This toxic
mix could easily merge with the rising tide of terror and rebellion
percolating in the Palestinian territories. With despair the dominant
theme, the Palestinians could decide to take everything apart. Even
Abbas, the serial threatener, is planning a provocation of his own by
announcing at the United Nations that he is handing back the keys to the
Palestinian Authority.
Read the whole thing. My own view is that this is the time to rule with an iron fist. That's why (as those who follow me on Twitter already know) I am all in favor of the new rules of engagement that allow the police and the IDF to shoot at stone throwers. The stone throwers are attempted murderers, and showing them mercy is a mistake. They are a deadly force and the law of proportionality requires responding to them with deadly force. Fortunately, the IDF has been able to shut much of the weapons flow to Judea and Samaria that led to the 'second intifada' 15 years ago, and there is no reason to let up now.
They're passing the popcorn - 'Palestinians' being ethnically cleansed
Khaled Abu Toameh reports that the 'Palestinians' are being ethnically cleansed, and instead of howling in protest, the 'international community' is passing the popcorn and watching.
The Palestinians in Iraq are now also paying a heavy price. Since
2003, the number of Palestinians there has dropped from 25,000 to 6,000.
Palestinian activists say the Iraqis are waging a campaign of ethnic
cleansing against the country's Palestinian population.
The activists say that since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime,
Shiite militias in Iraq have been systematically attacking and
intimidating the Palestinian population over the past decade, prompting
many to flee.
The Shiites, they say, are opposed to the presence of non-Iraqi
Sunnis, including the Palestinians, in their country -- especially in
the capital, Baghdad.
In addition, they say, many Sunnis in Iraq who had opposed Saddam
Hussein have also been waging war on the Palestinians, in retaliation
for their support for him.
Thamer Meshainesh, head of the League for Palestinians in Iraq, was quoted
a few days ago as saying that Palestinians were facing "unprecedented
violations" and "increasing assaults." He warned that Palestinians in
Iraq were being targeted by various militias as part of a systematic
policy to expel them from the country.
...
The Palestinians in Iraq are paying the price for meddling in the
internal affairs of the country. This is what also happened to
Palestinians in Syria, Lebanon and Libya. Palestinians often find
themselves involved, both directly and indirectly, in the rivalries that
take place inside Arab countries. And when the fire reaches them, they
start screaming for help, as is the case today in Iraq.
Is that why the 'international community' doesn't care - because the 'Palestinians' interfered in Iraqi affairs and therefore have it coming to them? Umm... no....
But what is most interesting is the complete indifference displayed
by international human rights organizations, the media and the
Palestinian Authority toward the mistreatment of Palestinians in Arab
countries.
The PA, whose leaders are busy inciting against Israel on a daily
basis, does not have time to care about its people in the Arab world. PA
leaders say they want to press "war crimes" charges against Israel with
the International Criminal Court because of last year's war with Hamas
and continued construction in West Bank settlements.
However, when it comes to ethnic cleansing and torture of
Palestinians in Arab countries such as Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, the
Palestinian Authority leadership chooses to look the other way.
Similarly, the international media seems to have forgotten that there
are tens of thousands of Palestinians living in various Arab countries.
The only Palestinians that Western journalists know and care about are
those living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
International journalists do not care about the Palestinians in the
Arab world because this is not a story that can be blamed on Israel. An
Arab killing or torturing an Arab is not an item worth publishing in a
major newspaper in the U.S., Canada or Britain. But when a Palestinian
in the West Bank complains against the Israeli authorities or Jewish
settlers, many Western journalists waste no time rushing to the scene to
cover this "major" development.
Some might call the differing attitude toward alleged 'Palestinian suffering' in Israel v. the Arab countries anti-Semitism.
For those who don't get the connection, Sa'ad Dawabsha was the father of the 18-month old who was burned to death in last week's terror attack in Duma. (KhaledAbuToameh confirmed that to me in a return tweet).
Although there have been claims that the Dawabsha family home was burnt down by 'Jewish terrorists,' to date, no Jew has been arrested in connection with the attack, and there are rumors that the family was involved in a feud between clans for the last 18 years.
And now this. You don't think that the Dawabsha family home was burned down by Fatah supporters because the Dawabsha's were Hamas supporters, do you?
The father of the Arab child who died in a firebomb attack on his home in Duma died himself this morning. Israel has made a lot of noise about arresting 'Jewish terrorists' and yet to date, no one has been charged with the attack in Duma, and rumors continue to swirl about the victimized family being involved in a long-standing feud within the local community.
This is from the second link.
The ZOA issued a statement that says in effect, don't be so fast to blame the Jews. They note several very strong points:
1. The victims' family have been involved in a blood-feud with an opposing clan for the last 18 years;
2. The two homes set on fire were in the center of a hostile Arab
village – an unlikely choice for Israelis entering from outside the
village. It would have been extremely difficult for Israeli Jews to
reach and then to depart from the center of a hostile Arab village
without being detected.
3. Similar graffiti has never been found in radical Jewish "price-tag" attacks.
And, in adding my own doubts, what hit-man has the time to stand
around and compose graffiti on the walls, complete with drawing crowns
and Stars of David? In fact, the Star of David in the above photo looks
very much like the type you'd see in Arab anti-Semitic cartoons.
Israel's secret services are very capable. A professional
graphologist can discern quite a bit from the above two writings on the
walls. Even a novice like me can tell you that the crooked kuf in nekama [above] is indicative of a person with extremely violent
tendencies, one who has probably harmed people before. Without a doubt, a
professional could shed much light on the perpetrator's profile; that
is, if the Israeli Government really wants the truth.
The first two points were both discussed at great length here.
'Settler' goes along on Leftist condolence visit to Arab village
A revenant in his 20's named Yonadav Tapuchi went along on a Leftist-sponsored visit to the site of the two arson attacks in the village of Duma last week. (You can see a post about a similar visit here). Tapuchi said that he went along on the trip to show that not everyone on the Right agrees with last week's actions (which are still presumed to have been carried out by a Jew from the Right), and that although he is a supporter of Jewish settlement of the entire land in Israel, some actions are simply beyond the pale.
For those of you who read Hebrew, you can find his original thoughts here (it's accessible). For those who do not, Hillel Fendel has translated most of them into English.
"I had difficult feelings after my trip," Yonadav wrote, "which can
be divided into three groups. First, there is no doubt that this was
a shocking crime. It is simply terrible to wake up in the middle of the
night to find your house and family going up in flames, to escape by the
skin of your teeth, and then to find that you have lost a son.
...My condolences to the family; may they know no more pain."
"The second area concerns the anthropological experience I had on the
bus filled with veteran left-wing activists from Tel Aviv – a
horrific scene of hatred-filled talk: hatred of settlers, hatred of the
religious, and especially of haredim; hatred of the State of
Israel; and explanations why it was a moral imperative to leave and move
to another country.
"When we arrived at the village, we were surrounded by Arab
photographers. We were informed that the original plan had been
changed, and that before visiting the actual mourning family, we would
first see the burnt houses. Thus, a bunch of Jews with their heads held
low were photographed near and in the burnt houses and the Hebrew
graffiti there. A representative of the family and the village then gave
a short speech ('the settlers should expect the worst!,' he warned). We
were then told that actually, the village is quite up in arms, and that
it would not be convenient for us to actually comfort the mourning
family, and that we had better leave fast.
"I and others felt that this whole thing was a media trick to get the
'Yahud' [Arabic for 'the Jews' – ed.] to take part in humiliating set
of photos near the buildings, and that they had never planned to allow
us to come in actual contact with the family."
The third set of impressions that Yonadav Tapuchi came away with
concerned the suspicious nature of the alleged arson. He did not
mention that there have been reports of an ongoing, 18-year feud between
two clans in Duma that might be related to the murderous arson. In
addition, one of the two graffiti messages – the single word nekamah,
meaning "revenge" – has calligraphic elements that raise the suspicion
that it was actually sprayed by an Arab.
There was actually a report up in Hebrew on rotter.net yesterday that claimed that suspects had been arrested in connection with the arson, and that they were Arabs. But when I clicked on the link from Twitter, the post had been removed. It is not unheard of in this country for a report like that to be censored by the military censor for some period of time. In other words, the report could still be true.
And that's not the only thing that's suspicious.
"According to the Duma version, the attackers burnt one house, then
saw that it was empty, and so they went to set fire to the next
house. The second house is enclosed by a fence, and the windows are
covered by a dense lattice; a firebomb cannot be hurled through the
windows, and in any event it is very hard to reach the windows behind
the fence. The arsonists had to go around the house, enter the yard, and
place the firebombs through the lattice. According to the Duma version,
the attackers entered the house, stood over the parents and did not let
them leave until the flames engulfed the house. Only then did the
arsonists run away from the village.
"I can only say that when the arsonists are ultimately caught, we
will get to hear a fascinating story of why they chose to navigate their
way all the way into the middle of the village, and how they had time
to set a house on fire, wait to find that it was empty, then walk
around and enter another house and set it on fire, wait with the
parents, spray graffiti in two places – including with a little design
of a crown! – and then run away through the middle of the village with
all the townspeople surely already up and on their feet seeing
the flames and hearing the family's cries. Something here is very
fishy…"
But there are other reasons the Palestine issue has lost much of its
luster for many Arabs. One reason was cited the other evening by a
Jordanian businessman, Abu Furas, at a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner in
London. “Today, no Arab feels safe in his country,” he said.
“Ironically, the sole exceptions are Palestinians in the West Bank
because they know Israel will defend them if ISIS attacks. Even in Gaza,
most people secretly believe that Israel is their ultimate protection
against ISIS fighters trying to strike roots in the Sinai.”
Though the idea of Arabs being saved by Israel from massacre by their
own brethren sounds fantastic, events on the ground lend it some
weight.
Palestinians living in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria have been
massacred both by Bashar al-Assad’s troops and throat-cutting mujahideen
from ISIS. The massacre of Christians, Yazidis and Druze minorities by Islamist groups in Syria and Iraq contrasts with the safety those groups enjoy in Israel.
For weeks, Jordan has been bracing itself for an attack by ISIS on
Zarqa, a Palestinian-majority city near Syria. Such a move would bring
ISIS close to the West Bank and Israel proper, in which case, some
Jordanians believe, the Jewish state would stop its spread.
“Today, Arabs see that their own house is on fire,” says a Dubai
businessman. “In such a situation one could hardly think of burning
someone else’s house.”
There is no one else to save the Arabs. The United States? Couldn't care less. Europe? Will run away faster than you can say 'Yazidi.' The Gulf Countries? Don't know how to operate most of their toys. Only Israel will save its Arab population from ISIS.
Video: Heartbroken mother of terror victim talks about her dead son
Many of you probably remember Rasmieh Odeh, the 'Palestinian' terrorist who lied about not having a criminal conviction when she applied for US citizenship and was caught and convicted (sentencing in about a month).
My friend Professor Jacobson has just uncovered this 2009 video interview with Roslyn Joffe, the mother of Edward Joffe, HY"D (May God Avenge his blood), who died in the bombing carried out by Odeh. Mrs. Joffe was dying at the time. You never forget losing a loved one to terrorism, God Forbid.
Our view has not changed. Terror attack at Paris Kosher market was motivated by anti-Semitism. POTUS didn't intend to suggest otherwise.
— Josh Earnest (@PressSec) February 10, 2015
So now Obama is trying to walk back his foolish statement that the Paris Kosher supermarket terror attack was a 'random' attack.
Does he really mean it?
Or was the outrage over such an obviously anti-Semitic and wrong statement too much for the Obama PR machine to leave it out there?
I am sure that many of you have heard about the 'selfie' above, which was taken at the Miss World pageant, and includes Miss Israel (left) and Miss Lebanon (second from left). I am sure many of you have also heard that the image caused a scandal in Lebanon, leading Miss Lebanon to accuse Miss Israel of 'photobombing' her, and to release a revised image in which Miss Israel is cropped out.
Jonathan Tobin is spot-on in arguing that the entire spat over this image is a 'Middle East for Dummies' moment, and shows why despite all of the efforts of hundreds of diplomats over tens of years, there is no peace in our region.
The exchange encapsulated the essence of why peace in the Middle East has eluded generations of diplomats.
The problem between Israel and Lebanon, which is a more cosmopolitan
place than many other Arab countries, isn’t a matter of borders or
disputes over settlements. Many Lebanese may hold grudges about Israel’s
intervention in their civil war and its occupation of a portion of that
country that ended in 2000. But any umbrage about that must be tempered
by the knowledge that the dispute was caused by the willingness of the
Lebanese to let the southern portion of their country be used as a
terrorist base of attack by the Palestinians, who operated a state
within a state in the south, for many years. The same is true now of
Hezbollah, which embroiled all of Lebanon in a pointless and bloody war
against Israel in 2006 because of their cross-border terror raids.
Nor are the Lebanese particularly exercised about Israeli settlement
policies or the plight of Palestinians in Hamas-run Gaza. Indeed, the
Lebanese are, as a result of their own experiences with armed
Palestinian militias and terror cadres during the civil war, even less
sympathetic to the Palestinians than Israelis.
The problem is a spirit of intolerance and rejection for the idea of a
Jewish state no matter where its borders might be drawn. That is a
hatred so deep that it can’t be bridged by creative diplomacy or
gestures of goodwill, such as those that infuse international events
like the Miss Universe contest.
It is a cliché for contestants at such competitions to say they wish
for world peace when asked for their opinions about the issues of the
day. But what happened to Miss Lebanon illustrates that the divisions of
the Middle East run so deep and are so primal that no amount of global
hooey like a beauty contest is enough to make the Arab and Muslim world
forget about their antipathy for Israelis.
They should have regrets. But they won't. Because this is the soft bias of diminished expectations. They expect the 'Palestinians' to be ungrateful savages. And they will continue to serve them anyway.
It's come to this: US 'east' Jerusalem consulate hiring 'Palestinian' militia to replace Israeli security guards
Yet another agreement with the United States is proving not to be worth the paper on which it is written according to a report in the Hebrew edition of Yediot Acharonot (not out yet in English). In 2011, the United States consulate in 'east' Jerusalem (the one to which we all must go to register our children's births and to obtain passports unless you want to travel to Tel Aviv) signed an agreement with the Israeli government that said that it would only hire security guards who had served in IDF combat units. But there's a new security coordinator at the consulate, and according to former guards at the consulate (some of whom were fired and some of whom resigned), the new coordinator regards Israeli law as 'solely a recommendation.' The coordinator is training 35 'east' Jerusalem 'Palestinians' - some of whom have criminal records to act as guards for the consulate. This is being done so that the next time the consulate decides to go 'investigate' alleged vandalism by 'settlers,' they will have guards along who will be willing to open fire. This is from the first link.
Three Israeli security guards who worked at the US consulate resigned
in the wake of a plan to hire 35 Palestinians from East Jerusalem as
armed security guards who are currently undergoing training
in Yericho (Jericho). One of them has gone so far as to accuse the
consulate of creating "an armed Palestinian militia."
According to the report in Yediot Aharonot, the plan is to employ the Palestinians mainly to escort convoys of American diplomats in Judea-Samaria.
...
The report said that the change in the consulate Israelis began
months ago, with the appointment of consulate security officer Dan
Cronin. Employees say that since they started working there seven
Israeli security guards were fired, compared with one Palestinian guard.
The three Israeli guards who recently resigned in protest at his
behavior, say he is training the Palestinian security guards at the
American facility in Jericho, where Palestinian security forces are
training. Some of the guards were even flown to the US for training.
...
"The law in Israel is only a recommendation for him," one employee fired. "Cronin does whatever he wants."
According to them, some of the Palestinian security guards employed
at the consulate were arrested in the past for throwing rocks or have
relatives who were convicted of hostile terrorist activities.
"The Consulate head's behavior tends toward the Palestinians, and
Cronin actually established a Palestinian armed militia for the
Consulate," an employee said. "He is training them with weapons, combat
and tactical exercises. There is a lack of responsibility here - who
ensures that such weapons, once given over to Palestinian guards, won't
make their way to terror groups?"
...
The anti-Israeli character of the consulate today is clear, according
to the report: the most senior adviser is a Palestinian Arab, Ibrahim
Delalsh, who sat in Israeli prison for belonging to Fatah-linked terror
groups. Another advisor is a relative of one of the leaders of Hamas in
Jerusalem, Muhammad Hassan Abu Tir, who has been in and out of Israeli
prisons many times.
While diplomats at the Consulate live in Jewish areas of western
Jerusalem, they consider themselves "American Ambassadors in Palestine,"
according to the report. Its armored vehicles often move to and from
Judea and Samaria, its people have contacts with the Palestinian
Authority and it takes part in surveillance over construction of Jewish
communities in the region.
There is nothing new in the 'east' Jerusalem consulate diplomats regarding themselves as 'ambassadors to 'Palestine.''
By the way, among other things, the report indicates that the consulate has an illegal weapons stash on the premises that includes machine guns, rifles and shotguns. Funny they didn't have any of that in Benghazi....
Since
2000, there have been three serious negotiations that culminated in
offers to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Bill Clinton’s
parameters in 2000, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s offer in
2008, and Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts last year. In each
case, a proposal on all the core issues was made to Palestinian leaders
and the answer was either “no” or no response. They determined that the
cost of saying “yes,” or even of making a counteroffer that required
concessions, was too high.
Palestinian
political culture is rooted in a narrative of injustice; its
anticolonialist bent and its deep sense of grievance treats concessions
to Israel as illegitimate. Compromise is portrayed as betrayal, and
negotiations — which are by definition about mutual concessions — will
inevitably force any Palestinian leader to challenge his people by
making a politically costly decision.
But going to the United Nations
does no such thing. It puts pressure on Israel and requires nothing of
the Palestinians. Resolutions are typically about what Israel must do
and what Palestinians should get. If saying yes is costly and doing
nothing isn’t, why should we expect the Palestinians to change course?
That’s
why European leaders who fervently support Palestinian statehood must
focus on how to raise the cost of saying no or not acting at all when
there is an offer on the table.
...
Why
not wait? If a new Israeli government after the elections is prepared
to take a peace initiative and build settlements only on land that is
likely to be part of Israel and not part of Palestine, there will be no
need for a United Nations resolution.
If
not, and the Europeans decide to pursue one, it must be balanced. It
cannot simply address Palestinian needs by offering borders based on the
1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps and a capital in Arab East
Jerusalem without offering something equally specific to Israel —
namely, security arrangements that leave Israel able to defend itself by
itself, phased withdrawal tied to the Palestinian Authority’s
performance on security and governance, and a resolution of the
Palestinian refugee issue that allows Israel to retain its Jewish
character.
In
all likelihood the Palestinians would reject such a resolution.
Accepting it would require compromises that they refused in 2000, 2008
and 2014. There is, of course, no guarantee that the next Israeli
government would accept such a resolution. But the Israelis are not the
ones pushing for United Nations involvement. The Palestinians are. And
if their approach is neither about two states nor peace, there ought to
be a price for that.
Peace
requires accountability on both sides. It’s fair to ask the Israelis to
accept the basic elements that make peace possible — 1967 lines as well
as land swaps and settlement building limited to the blocks. But isn’t
it time to demand the equivalent from the Palestinians on two states for
two peoples, and on Israeli security? Isn’t it time to ask the
Palestinians to respond to proposals and accept resolutions that address
Israeli needs and not just their own?
And if the 'Palestinians' won't compromise, Dennis, what should happen? Do we sit frozen in time? Much more from my friend David Gerstman here.
Brutal IDF troops give 'Palestinian' kids.. their lunches
IDF troops caught two 'Palestinian' children rummaging through garbage on Sunday... and gave them their lunches.
"After talking to our
friends, it was clear to us we couldn't let those kids keep looking
through dumpsters for food, while we had extra food," the corporal said.
Normally, IDF soldiers
meet Palestinian children when they riot, throwing stones and Molotov
cocktails at the troops. But after hearing the kids' plea: "We're
hungry, we have no food at home and we're looking in dumpsters for
something to eat," the paratroopers decided to give them a loaf of
bread, meatballs, fruit, vegetables, hummus and snacks they had bought
for themselves.
"One of the children told me he already searched through all of
the dumpsters around. I told them to wait a few minutes until I got
back," the soldier said. "We went out to them and sent them on their way
with food and drink."
Before meeting the children, Corporal Oren wrote on his Facebook
page that the pillbox he was stationed at was pelted with stones. "We
were preparing to disperse the crowd, which was continuing the massive
stones onslaught against us. I was preparing one of the crowd dispersal
measures we had," he wrote. "At that moment, my sergeant noticed a
little girl standing outside her house, between us and the rioters. He
told me to cease fire and that I wasn't to fire until we made sure the
girl is safe inside her home. During that time we were exposed to the
stone throwers and were hit a lot and hard, but at no point did we even
think to do anything while innocent children could get hurt."
He went on to say: "I hope the two stories I told you - as
someone who is out on the field experiencing things without mediation -
helped paint a certain picture of what soldiers deal with every day.
Next time you hear someone in Israel or abroad slamming the IDF, saying
we're not a moral army, you're welcome to send them my way."
This is not exactly a safe thing to do. In the past, the 'Palestinians' have used children to hide adults and even occasionally as suicide bombers.
On November 10, 2014, a
federal jury in Detroit found
Rasmieh (Rasmea) Yousef Odeh guilty of illegally procuring naturalization by
falsely answering questions whether she "EVER" had been convicted or
imprisoned. Odeh murdered two Israelis
in a Jerusalem supermarket bombing in 1969. She was convicted in Israel
and imprisoned for life, before being released in a 'prisoner
exchange.' The Americans - despite urging (and more) Israel to release
'Palestinian' terrorists - are smart enough not to want them living among them even 45 years after their crimes took place. Professor William Jacobson explains why you shouldn't feel sorry for her.
The pro-Odeh narrative runs something like this: Odeh was just a
political activist prior to Israeli arrest, picked up as part of a mass
arrest of 500 or more people with no evidence of involvement in terror.
Odeh gave a false confession after 25 days of horrific sexual torture,
including gang rape, being forced to watch another prisoner tortured to
death, and failed attempts to coerce her father into raping her. Odeh
was denied the ability to defend herself, was denied access to counsel
in the Israeli military court, and did not receive a fair trial.
That narrative does not hold up based on the record.
The demonstrable facts show that:
■
Prior to her arrest in Israel, Odeh was a military participant in and
organizer for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
■
Odeh confessed in a highly detailed account just one day after arrest.
The timetable of her confession is inconsistent with the multi-week
torture narrative. Other co-conspirators also quickly confessed; one of
whom directly implicated Odeh as the mastermind in a 2004 film
documentary.
■
After arrest Odeh was allowed to and did defend herself in the Israeli
military court, where she was represented by counsel. Israel called
witnesses to rebut the torture allegations.
■
An observer from the International Red Cross was present for the entire
six-month Israeli trial, and stated afterward that the Israeli military
court "had given the accused every chance of defending themselves, and
the trial was – in his opinion – a fair trial."
...
The only victims in the Rasmea Odeh story are the two Hebrew University students killed in the 1969 supermarket bombing.
Read the whole thing. Then ask yourself how much hypocrisy the Obama administration is showing by asking us to release these people.
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
