With friends like this... Tony Blair negotiating end to Gaza 'blockade' with Hamas
Recently departed 'quartet' (remember them?) envoy Tony Blair has been
negotiating an end to the Gaza 'blockade' with Hamas' Khaled Meshaal.
Tony Blair met Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal twice in Doha to discuss ways to end the Gaza siege, the Middle East Eye website has reported, citing unnamed sources.
The website reported on Monday that the pair last met prior to Blair stepping down from his post as the representative of the Quartet of Middle East power brokers in May.
It was reported that they discussed ways to end the Gaza siege,
including the possibility of a rolling ceasefire, and that Blair's
negotiations were being supported by the UK, the United States and the
European Union. Two Arab states and Israel were also reportedly aware of
the discussions.
Though Blair has stepped down from his post with the Quartet, the discussions are reportedly continuing.
Neither the recognition of Israel, nor the decommissioning of Hamas'
arsenal, would be a requirement for any potential deal, the website
reported.
Wonder which two Arab states? I'd bet on Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Gaza blockade, Hamas, IDF, Middle East quartet, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tony Blair, weapons smuggling
Qatar to be stripped of 2022 World Cup?
A whistle blower who is living in the United States under FBI protection believes that FIFA President Sepp Blatter will attempt to save his position by
stripping Qatar of the 2022 World Cup.
Phaedra Almajid says the weight of evidence of wrongdoing from her and others will be so overwhelming that FIFA will be left with no option but to find another host.
Almajid has been under protective custody of the FBI and she fears her safety will be compromised further if the tournament is taken away from the tiny oil-rich state, who shocked the world by winning the right to stage the 2022 event in 2010.
While hoping justice is done, Almajid admits that the prospect ‘scares me a lot’ because some ‘extremists’ may feel she played a role in that happening.
She said: ‘There are people who are p***** off with me [for speaking out], and what really p***** them off is that I’m a female, Muslim whistleblower.’
Another consequence of recent events, Almajid believes, is that outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter may try to take 2022 from Qatar as part of a radical reform agenda designed to win him praise ‘and save his skin.’
...
Almajid, an Arab-American now based in the US, worked for Qatar’s 2022 bid team until early 2010.
She told the Mail on Sunday last year that a subsequent retraction of her allegations was coerced. In fear of her safety for herself and her family - she has two children, one of them severely disabled - she was taken into the protective custody of the FBI.
The FBI are leading the investigation which has led to 14 arrests, with even more expected. ‘The FBI have everything,’ she said.
Almajid also co-operated fully with a FIFA-funded probe led by Michael Garcia, a former US attorney for New York.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: corruption, FIFA, Qatar, World Cup
'Palestinians' withdraw bid to have Israel suspended from FIFA
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Labels: anti-Semitism, epic fail, FIFA, Gaza, Jibril Rajoub, Qatar, Russia, soccer
Will Israel be suspended from FIFA?
I'm going to guess that many of my US readers never heard of FIFA, the international soccer federation several of whose officials were
indicted on bribery charges in the US earlier this week. Here in Israel, we are
all too familiar with them.
'Palestinian'
terrorist and
soccer federation chairman
Jibril Rajoub is seeking to have Israel
expelled from FIFA, which would bar the world's only Jewish state from international soccer competitions like the World Cup. As you can see from the tweet above, the Israeli government believes it's on the verge of a 'compromise' (can't wait to hear what that would entail) that would avert the expulsion.
But not everyone believes that a compromise is in the offing.
If it comes to a vote, it probably goes without saying that Israel
will not get a fair hearing.
Former FIFA vice president Jack Warner, arrested in Trinidad and Tobago
on Wednesday on bribery charges as part of a massive bust of top soccer
officials, previously blamed “Zionism” for a bribery scandal which saw
him forced from the world soccer body in 2011.
Warner surrendered to authorities late
Wednesday in his native Trinidad and Tobago after his name appeared on a
list of nine current or former FIFA officials and five business
executives who “abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of
dollars in bribes and kickbacks,” according to US Attorney General
Loretta Lynch.
Warner resigned from FIFA in 2011 after the
organization opened an ethics investigation into the vice president for
receiving cash “gifts” from former Asian Football Confederation chief
Mohammed Bin Hammam, ahead of the organization’s elections for
president.
After FIFA handed Qatar’s Bin Hammam a
lifetime ban from the soccer governing body for his role in the affair,
Warner lashed out at the soccer body for what he said were various
shortcomings, and vowed to bring down FIFA head Sepp Blatter.
“I will talk about the racism that is within
FIFA. I will talk about the levels of religious discrimination which I
sought to correct. I will talk about the Zionism, which probably is the
most important reason why this acrid attack on Bin Hammam and me was
mounted,” Warner wrote at the time in a 1,400 word letter to the
Trinidad Guardian.
And if you followed the links above, you already know that Blatter isn't exactly fair to Israel either.
Meanwhile, FIFA and the media continue to ignore the real story to which they ought to be paying attention: The 'Palestinian Authority's use of sports to
promote terrorism rather than peace.
And the saga continues:
Labels: anti-Semitism, FIFA, Gaza, Jibril Rajoub, Qatar, Russia, soccer
Obama administration ensures there won't be a 'peace process'
Having failed to convince Israel to commit suicide this past year, the Obama administration seems determined to ensure that there will be no 'peace process' during its remaining two years in office. There is simply no other explanation for
this.
The Obama administration will maintain its close ties with Qatar and
push for it to have a key role in the tenuous peace process, despite
protestations from lawmakers on Capitol Hill who say that the country
cannot be trusted due to its close ties to Hamas, according to the
letter sent by State Department officials late last month to Rep. Peter
Roskam (R., Ill.).
Although Qatar has pledged
in past years to give Hamas at least $400 million in aid, it has
assured the United States that the next $150 sent to the Palestinians
will not make its way to the terror group.
“Qatar has pledged financial support that would be directed to the
Palestinian people in Gaza,” Julia Frifield, an assistant secretary for
legislative affairs at the State Department, informed Roskam in a Nov. 21 letter.
“Qatar assured us that its assistance would not go to Hamas. We
continue to interact closely with the government of Qatar and will
reinforce that such assistance should not go to Hamas.”
The Obama administration will continue to rely on Qatar to serve a
role in the peace process and to engage with Hamas, according to the
letter.
“Qatar has said it wants to help bring about a cease fire to the
ongoing hostilities in Israel and Gaza,” the letter states. “The Qatari
government has engaged with Hamas to this end.”
While the United States still regards Hamas as a terrorist
organization, “We need countries that have leverage over the leaders of
Hamas to help put a ceasefire in place,” Frifield wrote. “Qatar may be
able to play that role as it has done in the past.”
Lawmakers and experts remain dubious that Qatar can be taken at its word given its robust support for Hamas in the past.
Forget - if it's possible - Qatar's support for Hamas. There are other reasons why Qatar can never be an honest broker. Consider this reaction to the Har Nof terror attack from
Qatari government-funded al-Jazeera.
Referring to the attack by two Muslim terrorists armed with guns and
axes who attacked, among other people, a 59-year-old Rabbi at prayer
from behind, the op-ed calls it a “daring operation carried out by two
Palestinians in a Jewish synagogue in Jerusalem”, and threatens that
“The operation carried symbolic importance in targeting the synagogue,
in a clear message to the settlers and extremists of all varieties and
types that the attack on the Arab holy sites would lead to attacks on
synagogues and their holy places.”
“The operation also was clear in terms of courage and bravery,” the
Al Jazeera op-ed by Professor Abdel Sattar Qassem states. “this
operation was the most daring because it was done with primitive
weapons. The media picked up that the Palestinians used the gun, but the
most important weapons were knives and hatchets.”
Normal non-Muslims don’t consider axing a Rabbi from behind to be
courageous and brave, but that’s the difference between the human
worldview and the one represented by Al Jazeera and its state sponsor of
terror.
Al Jazeera is only running this murderous racist screed in Arabic for
obvious reasons, but it needs to be spread around because this is what
Al Jazeera really is. It’s not a media organization. It’s the press
bureau for terrorists operated by Qatar, a state sponsor of terrorism.
Qatar is not and cannot ever be a trustworthy, honest broker for peace between Israel and the 'Palestinians.' Insisting that it play a role in the 'peace process' is a deliberate attempt to ensure that there will be no 'peace process.'
There are no two ways about it.
Labels: al-Jazeera, Barack Hussein Obama, Jerusalem, John Kerry, Middle East peace process, Palestinian terrorism, Qatar
The real chickensh*t
The real chickensh*t is not Binyamin Netanyahu according to Arab scholar Bassam Tawil.
It's the Arab leaders and their enablers in the West (Hat Tip:
Bad Blue).
Judging by their actions, most Arab leaders have no desire to see the
Palestinian issue resolved. They seem to prefer preserving the status
quo. They blame Israel for refusing to make concessions to the
Palestinians and hope that this refusal will weaken Israel, even though
Israel is their strategic defense against Iran.
Most Arab leaders do not want to create what is bound soon to
become yet another terrorist Islamist state, dedicated to the Muslim
Brotherhood's ideology and to toppling their regimes.
The Arab leaders
already have to contend with ISIS, Al-Qaeda and the Al-Nusra Front in
Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen, which are enough for them, to say nothing
of Africa from Nigeria to Somalia and everything in between.
But if Israel can be blamed for another of world's ills, with Kerry's blessing, why waste the opportunity?
...
In response to the colossal threat of radical Islam, the whimpering
voice of the West can barely be heard. The U.S. administration targeted
Israel for condemnation. A "senior official," most likely the current
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, called Israel's Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "chickenshit," for being afraid to make
peace with the Palestinians.
According to the "Arab street," including the Palestinian street, it
is the Americans and Europeans who are cowards, afraid to take
significant steps against Iran, and terrified of the Islamic ghettoes in
their cities, which have been exporting terrorists to fight for the
Islamic State, and providing housing to the seasoned fighters who
return.
The Sunni states under Shi'ite threat cannot even reach an agreement
among themselves about what is to be done; and the Palestinians, in
their folly, have chosen the worst possible moment to ignite violence in
Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa mosque. The Palestinians seem not to
understand that the Arab regimes that might support them are currently
busy fighting for their own survival, and have no desire to fall prey to
Palestinian provocations about what they realize all too well are
fictional threats to Jerusalem.
Given the current situation, Turkey's regional political actions are
dangerous, underhanded and hypocritical. To achieve their ends, Turkey's
leaders seem to have no qualms about sacrificing their minorities, such
as Christians and the Kurds (most of whom are Sunni). Turkey's leaders
were the first to cry "humanitarian crisis" when Israel imposed a
closure on the Gaza Strip to prevent Iran from sending Hamas arms.
Turkey sent the Mavi Marmara flotilla to protect the Gazans, who
were never in any danger in the first place. Turkey's leaders then
weakened Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who, at least at
that time, showed himself willing to reach a peace agreement with the
Israelis. But when Syria's Kurds are being killed in Kobani on a daily
basis, the Turks are silent, perhaps secretly comfortable seeing a group
that wants a state of its own apart from Turkey, being attacked.
Thus, when John Kerry claimed that it was the unresolved Palestinian
issue that caused a ripple effect that created ISIS, he simply inspired
the Palestinians to use Al-Aqsa mosque as a religious trigger for future
bloodshed. The idea is not new; it was used in 1929 by the Grand Mufti
of Jerusalem and led to anti-Jewish riots and the massacre of the Jews
in Hebron. It was used again by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat in 2000, to
incite the Palestinians to the second intifada, which killed untold
numbers of Jews and Arabs. Today, Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas's Khaled
Mashaal are doing the same thing to incite a jihad that this time will
truly be religious and not based on real estate.
The more Kerry accuses Israel of having had a hand in creating ISIS,
the more the Palestinians will use Al-Aqsa mosque to stir the fire
burning under the bubbling cauldron of the Middle East.
...
Somehow, John Kerry has managed to link to Israel the Shi'ite-Sunni
civil wars, radical Islam's Muslim Brotherhood-inspired global plot and
the creation of ISIS. Then he linked the failure of the Palestinian
issue to have been resolved to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu.
The unpopular and inconvenient truth is: if there is to be peace,
Hamas has to be disarmed, the Palestinian Authority and the Gaza Strip
have to be demilitarized, Mahmoud Abbas has to recognize the State of
Israel as the homeland of the Jews, and Netanyahu has to recognize the
Palestinians state. Israel will then compensate the Palestinians with
land in return for the land on which the three large blocks of
settlements stand, as has already been agreed.
It is not Israel but the Palestinians who are trying to avoid
negotiating a final agreement. They see themselves, with the backing of
the UN and Secretary Kerry -- and in a final breakdown of any trust in
future international agreements -- as able to achieve their desired
result without having to make any concessions.
Read it all. Ironically, JPost reports today that the European Union has appointed a new foreign policy chief.
Guess what her goal is....
The EU’s new foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told the European
media on Monday that she would like to see a Palestinian state by the
time her five-year term is up.
“The important thing for me,”
Mogherini said, “is not whether other states, European or not,
recognize Palestine. What would make me happy, is if a Palestinian state
existed at the end of my term.”
She issued her statement to the French daily newspaper Le Monde in advance of her visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Friday and Saturday.
One thing that's sure to make the 'Palestinians' want to 'negotiate' is more European chickensh*t....
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, European Union, Federica Mogherini, Hamas, Iranian nuclear threat, Islamic State, John Kerry, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Turkey, United States
Hamas supporter Qatar elected to 'human rights council'
Hamas' main backer in the Arab world,
Qatar, was elected to the United Nations 'human rights council' this past week.
In one round of secret balloting at UN Headquarters in New York, the
Assembly elected Albania, Bangladesh, El Salvador, Ghana, Latvia,
Netherlands, Nigeria, Paraguay, Portugal and Qatar.
Bolivia, Botswana, Congo, India and Indonesia, whose terms were due to expire at the end of this year, were re-elected today.
...
Those elected today will be joining in the following States who will
remain on the Council: Algeria (2016); Argentina (2015); Brazil (2015);
China (2016); Côte d’Ivoire (2015); Cuba (2016); Estonia (2015);
Ethiopia (2015); France (2016); Gabon (2015); Germany (2015); Ireland
(2015); Japan (2015); Kazakhstan (2015); Kenya (2015): Maldives (2016):
Mexico (2016): Montenegro (2015); Morocco (2016); Namibia (2016);
Pakistan (2015); Republic of Korea (2015); Russia (2016); Saud Arabia
(2016); Sierra Leone (2015); South Africa (2016); the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia (2016); United Arab Emirates (2015); United
Kingdom (2016); United States (2015); Venezuela (2015); and Viet Nam
(2016).
What could go wrong?
Labels: anti-Semitism, Qatar, United Nations General Assembly, United Nations Human Rights Council
Qatar auction: buy the Ferrari and you will help Gaza
Fiamma Nirenstein - a former EU legislator who lives in Israel - emailed me this English translation of her Tuesday column in Italy's
Il Giornale.
One may think that the situation in the Middle East is no laughing matter. Yesterday, in his speech to the UN, Netanyahu gave a concerned list: there is ISIS, which wants to achieve a worldwide caliphate by chopping people’s heads off; there is Iran, which is trying to do the same thing by building the atomic bomb; and there are other terrorist groups as well, which are thriving also among us, despite the international effort... Not an amusing picture at all.
But, as it seems, there still is a humorist around, and it is Qatar, the same old tightrope walker, house of thousands oil wells (eighty thousand barrels per day), financial backer of all the Arab springs, but also of FIFA, father of Al Jazeera, sympathizer and host of the Muslim Brotherhood and of Hamas, until it kicked both of them off in order to join Obama’s coalition.
But as Qatar is so nice, it organized a lovely initiative to help the poor residents of Gaza after the war: the “Red Crescent Movement” held a fundraising event, selling what princes and their buddies had to spare, namely a Lamborghini 2013 (pretty aged, isn’t it?), two Ferraris, one MacLaren and some other modest trifles. Three million dollars, but don’t mention it, it’s peanuts...all in the line of duty, sir.
Qatar is truly amazing: some say it financially supported ISIS too, and now it fights it. Also, it threw the Muslim Brotherhood out, but let its leader, Yusuf Al Qaradawi, speak at that charity car auction.
It is kicking Khaled Mashaal out too (so they say), while sending its luxury leftovers to the Palestinian children. Maybe, in this respect, it could have economized before, when it was providing money for Hamas’ weapons. This is too funny. If we can say so.
If Meshaal is kicked out of Qatar, it will be for not being radical enough.
Labels: financing terror, Gaza, Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar
The Qatar Awareness Campaign Coalition
Pamela Geller is trying to make everyone aware of the role Qatar plays in financing and supporting terror.
Here's an example. It's a letter sent to CNN President Jeffrey Zucker.
This letter is being sent to you on behalf of the Qatar Awareness Campaign Coalition.
The purpose is to inform you and the public of the activities of the
state of Qatar. CNN regularly solicits the opinion of policy experts and
fellows from Brookings Doha, which receives millions of dollars in
funding from Qatar. CNN.com also featured a prominent ad for the Qatar
Foundation.
We urge to you read the information below, which includes evidence that
Qatar is arguably the preeminent sponsor of terror in the world today.
It is a benefactor of the genocidal armies of ISIS, al Qaeda, and Boko
Haram; it is involved in Taliban narcotics trafficking through a
relationship with the Pakistani National Logistics Cell; and profits
from operating a virtual slave state. Qatar is involved in terror operations from Nigeria to Gaza to India to Syria to Iraq.
So the public understands why this letter is addressed to you, the
president of CNN, here are some facts pertaining to CNN’s involvement
with Qatar.
- Following the overthrow of the pro-Muslim Brotherhood government of
Mohamed Morsi, who simultaneously backed and supported Qatar, the CNN Global Public Square blog featured an interview with Gregory Gause III,
professor of political science at the University of Vermont and
non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Doha Center. Prof. Gause
expressed disapproval of the ouster of the government of Morsi, a close ally of Qatar.
- In August 2014, during the Israel-Gaza war, the CNN Global Public Square blog featured an op-ed by Sultan Barakat,
Director of Research at Brookings Doha. Barakat was especially critical
of Israel, which he accused of “disregard for basic civilian
infrastructure” in Gaza, and stated that Israel “clearly prefers an
underdeveloped ghetto to a viable foreign country [in Gaza].”
- [CNN.]com featured a special advertising page
for the Qatar Foundation. This ad linked to “a 30-minute monthly
feature program … that seeks to capture the dynamism and broad range of
cultural diversity in … the Middle East.” The Qatar Foundation, with the
Emir of Qatar, established
the Al-Qaradawi Research Center. Yusuf al-Qaradawi is the spiritual
leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and a vocal supporter of violent jihad.
In light of Qatar’s consistent and vocal support for the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, we ask that you consider the attached sourced report
on Qatar’s activities. The links cited are vetted and credible sources.
We hope you take the time to verify the truth of the statements for
yourself.
After doing so, the Coalition of the Qatar Awareness Campaign calls on you to exert
due influence on the Qatari government to cease any type of involvement
in all forms of Islamic terrorism, slavery, and drug trafficking!
Read the whole thing.
Labels: Brookings Institution, CNN, Emir of Qatar, Qatar
'If we were serious about fighting Islamic terror, we wouldn't have Turkey as a partner'
Jonathan Schanzer has a devastating expose on Turkey's role in
supporting and 'combating' Islamic terror - both at the same time.
Turkey's lax border policies have enabled ISIS to finance and arm its
fighters in Syria; ISIS cells are now operating throughout Turkey.
And Turkey also helped Iran, a state sponsor of terror, evade
sanctions to the tune of billions of dollars in 2012 and 2013. Yet this
week, Turkey chaired the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum in New York.
It could be an item from The Onion — except it's not satire.
Launched in 2011 after the failure of previous multilateral groups to
tackle terrorism, the 30-country GCTF has itself become a farce — not
least because Turkey is the co-chair, along with the United States.
Turkey holds this honor because of its rare qualities: It is a Muslim country that is a trusted US and NATO ally.
But it has also become a hub for terrorist recruiting and support —
most definitely including ISIS recruiting and support, as The New York
Times has reported.
Yet the GCTF promotes Turkey as part of the solution, rather than a core part of the problem.
Nor are the problems new. In 2012, Turkey blocked Israel from joining
the GCTF, though the Jewish state has vast anti-terrorist experience and
intelligence.
Equally absurd, GCTF members include Qatar, Saudi Arabia and
Pakistan, all three of which help fund or otherwise sponsor terrorism.
What's amazing about this is not the positions that Turkey has taken (they're actually quite consistent), but rather the fact that both the US Congress and the media have mostly been silent about it.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, counterterrorism, Islamic terrorism, Pakistan, Qatar, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey
It's come to this: Obama-Kerry 'peace talks' envoy paid by Qatar (and Norway)
The New York Times reported at length on Sunday on the
financing of US think tanks by foreign governments (see also
Memeorandum). Among the US think tanks who receive significant financing from foreign governments is the Brookings Institute.
The arrangements involve Washington’s most influential think tanks, including the Brookings Institution, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Atlantic Council.
Each is a major recipient of overseas funds, producing policy papers,
hosting forums and organizing private briefings for senior United States
government officials that typically align with the foreign governments’
agendas.
Most
of the money comes from countries in Europe, the Middle East and
elsewhere in Asia, particularly the oil-producing nations of the United
Arab Emirates, Qatar
and Norway, and takes many forms. The United Arab Emirates, a major
supporter of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, quietly
provided a donation of more than $1 million to help build the center’s
gleaming new glass and steel headquarters not far from the White House.
Qatar, the small but wealthy Middle East nation, agreed last year to
make a $14.8 million, four-year donation to Brookings, which has helped
fund a Brookings affiliate in Qatar and a project on United States
relations with the Islamic world.
Some
scholars say the donations have led to implicit agreements that the
research groups would refrain from criticizing the donor governments.
“If
a member of Congress is using the Brookings reports, they should be
aware — they are not getting the full story,” said Saleem Ali, who
served as a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center
in Qatar and who said he had been told during his job interview that he
could not take positions critical of the Qatari government in papers.
“They may not be getting a false story, but they are not getting the
full story.”
The directors of the institutions claim that all that money doesn't blind them and doesn't make them execute the donors' wishes.
In interviews, top executives at the think tanks strongly defended the
arrangements, saying the money never compromised the integrity of their
organizations’ research. Where their scholars’ views overlapped with
those of donors, they said, was coincidence.
Here's the reaction of one director whose name should be familiar to those who follow the goings on in Israel.
“Our business is to influence policy with scholarly, independent
research, based on objective criteria, and to be policy-relevant, we
need to engage policy makers,” said Martin S. Indyk, vice president and
director of the Foreign Policy Program at Brookings, one of the oldest
and most prestigious think tanks in Washington.
Do any of you think Indyk is telling the truth? If yes, consider this:
In
their contracts and internal documents, however, foreign governments
are often explicit about what they expect from the research groups they
finance.
“In Washington, it is difficult for a small country to gain access to powerful politicians, bureaucrats and experts,” states an internal report
commissioned by the Norwegian Foreign Affairs Ministry assessing its
grant making. “Funding powerful think tanks is one way to gain such
access, and some think tanks in Washington are openly conveying that
they can service only those foreign governments that provide funding.”
...
The Brookings Institution,
which also accepted grants from Norway, has sought to help the country
gain access to American officials, documents show. One Brookings senior
fellow, Bruce Jones, offered in 2010 to reach out to State Department
officials to help arrange a meeting with a senior Norway official,
according to a government email. The Norway official wished to discuss his country’s role as a “middle power” and vital partner of the United States.
Brookings organized another event in April 2013,
in which one of Norway’s top officials on Arctic issues was seated next
to the State Department’s senior official on the topic and reiterated
the country’s priorities for expanding oil exploration in the Arctic.
William
J. Antholis, the managing director at Brookings, said that if his
scholars help Norway pursue its foreign policy agenda in Washington, it
is only because their rigorous, independent research led them to this
position. “The scholars are their own agents,” he said. “They are not
agents of these foreign governments.”
But
three lawyers who specialize in the law governing Americans’ activities
on behalf of foreign governments said that the Center for Global
Development and Brookings, in particular, appeared to have taken actions
that merited registration as foreign agents of Norway. The activities
by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Atlantic
Council, they added, at least raised questions.
“The Department of Justice needs to be looking at this,” said Joshua Rosenstein, a lawyer at Sandler Reiff.
Ona
Dosunmu, Brookings’s general counsel, examining the same documents,
said she remained convinced that was a misreading of the law.
Norway,
at least, is grateful for the work Brookings has done. During a speech
at Brookings in June, Norway’s foreign minister, Borge Brende, noted
that his country’s relationship with the think tank “has been mutually
beneficial for moving a lot of important topics.” Just before the
speech, in fact, Norway signed an agreement to contribute an additional
$4 million to the group.
Norway's ruling party is not exactly a
friend of
Israel either....
Read the whole thing.
Here in Israel, the government now believes it knows why the latest 'peace talks' were so biased against Israel. His name is
Martin Indyk and he's the director of Brookings and, as noted above, on the payroll (indirectly) of Qatar and Norway (and other countries).
“Qatar has been a major bankroller for Hamas and other terrorist organizations,” one government official said. “The fact that the same Qatari government is also a major provider of funds for a respectable Washington think tank raises a whole series of questions about that think tank’s relationships and impartiality.”
Among the questions this has raised in Jerusalem is the degree to which the institute can impartially draw up papers relating to Qatar, such as its role in the Middle East and the financing of terror organizations.
Qatar is Hamas’s main financial backer.
...
Indyk, who took leave from Brookings to serve as the US special Middle East envoy during the nine months of unsuccessful Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that ended in April, returned to the think tank after the negotiations failed and is currently its vice president and director of the Foreign Policy Program.
...
In a recent interview with Foreign Policy magazine about the Gaza conflict, Indyk said US President Barack Obama became “enraged” with Israeli criticism of US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Indyk said Gaza has had a “very negative” impact on the US-Israel relationship.
“There’s a lot of strain in the relationship now. The personal relationship between the president and the prime minister has been fraught for some time and it’s become more complicated by recent events.”
The Qatar connection might also explain why US Secretary of State John
FN Kerry was so anxious to do Qatar's (and Turkey's) bidding during
Operation Protective Edge.
Arutz Sheva
adds:
Indyk, who served as US negotiator in the failed peace talks, has had his impartiality put into question before due
to his position on the executive board of the radical-left New Israel
Fund, which funds numerous anti-Israel NGOs. In May, Indyk was accused of engaging in a "nasty" anti-Israel tirade at a bar following an address to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Qatar has not only funded Hamas, but according to reports pushed the group to reject
a ceasefire in the recent Operation Protective Edge and return to its
terror war on Israeli citizens, threatening to expel Hamas politburo
chief Khaled Mashaal if it didn't do so.
The position of Qatar led Israel's Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor in August to label the oil-state "a Club Med for terrorists,"
adding that the "hundreds of millions of dollars" Qatar gave Hamas
meant "every one of Hamas's tunnels and rockets might as well have had a
sign that said 'Made possible through a kind donation of the emir of
Qatar.'"
A few more take-aways from this story:
1. Maybe you all now understand why Israel has tried to control or stop foreign government funding of NGO's.
2. The Obama administration touted itself as the 'most transparent administration evah.' Is this what they had in mind?
3. With all the bellyaching by the likes of Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer about a supposed 'Israel lobby,' Israel does not appear on the list of countries that have donated money to US think tanks. But nine Arab countries do appear on the list. I'm sure you're all shocked.
Kudos to the New York Times (for a change) for actually letting this story come out.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Brookings Institution, Hamas, John Kerry, Martin Indyk, Middle East peace process, NGO funding, Norway, Qatar, Think Tanks
Egypt and UAE attack Islamist rebels in Tripoli
If you happen to own a commercial jetliner, I sure hope you didn't park it in Tripoli.
In yet another indication that the Arab world understands the implications of an Islamist takeover, while much of the West does not, the New York Times reports that Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have taken matters into their own hands,
'secretly' carrying out airstrikes in Libya (Hat Tip:
Memeorandum).
The
United States, the officials said, was caught by surprise: Egypt and
the Emirates, both close allies and military partners, acted without
informing Washington or seeking its consent, leaving the Obama
administration on the sidelines. Egyptian officials explicitly denied
the operation to American diplomats, the officials said.
The
strikes are another high-risk and destabilizing salvo unleashed in a
struggle for power that has broken out across the region in the
aftermath of the Arab Spring revolts, pitting old-line Arab autocrats
against Islamists.
Since the military ouster of the Islamist president in Egypt one year
ago, the new Egyptian government, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates have formed a bloc exerting influence in countries around the
region to roll back what they see as a competing threat from Islamists.
Arrayed against them are the Islamist movements, including the Muslim
Brotherhood, backed by friendly governments in Turkey and Qatar, that
sprang forward amid the Arab Spring revolts.
Libya
is the latest, and hottest, battleground. Several officials said that
United States diplomats were fuming about the airstrikes, believing they
could further inflame the Libyan conflict at a time when the United
Nations and Western powers are seeking a peaceful resolution.
“We don’t see this as constructive at all,” said one senior American official.
The Obama administration is so enamored with political Islam that they don't get (or don't want to get) that for most people in this region, political Islam is a death sentence. It's being thrown back to the 8th century with no chance of escape. It's going back to an agrarian economy that doesn't produce enough of anything, and to a brutal 'justice' system. And if you're not Muslim, it's even worse....
By the way, what do these 'American officials' think? That these countries are going to come and beg them for permission to act? This is their territory! Since when do they have to ask the Lord King Hussein Obama for permission to act in their territory? They at least understand that they have to protect their populations (Egypt shares a border with Libya).
Officials said that the government of Qatar has already provided weapons
and support to the Islamist aligned forces inside Libya, so the new
strikes represent a shift from proxy wars —where regional powers playout
their agendas through local allies —to direct involvement.
The only complaint I have is that the strikes were not successful - the Islamists have taken control of the airport. But the old line Arab countries have decided that it's better to go down fighting than passively. And they're right. If the Islamists take over this region, no one will be happy except for Obama.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Egypt, Islamist, Libya, Qatar, Turkey, United Arab Emirates
'Club Med for terrorists'
In the New York Times, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, refers to Doha, Qatar as '
Club Med for terrorists.'
Since Israel disengaged from Gaza in 2005, Hamas has dragged us into
three rounds of major assaults, and more than 14,800 rockets have been
fired into Israel by the group or its proxies. The discovery of dozens
of tunnels packed with explosives, tranquilizers and handcuffs that end
at the doorsteps of Israeli communities should be enough to convince
anyone that Hamas has no interest in bringing quiet to Gaza or residing
alongside Israel in peace.
It says a great deal that Hamas’s
former Arab backers, which historically have included Egypt, Syria and
Saudi Arabia, long ago abandoned the terrorist group. Only a few nations
still stand by Hamas. Among the most prominent is the tiny Persian Gulf
emirate Qatar.
In recent years, the sheikhs of Doha, Qatar’s capital, have
funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to Gaza. Every one of Hamas’s
tunnels and rockets might as well have had a sign that read “Made
possible through a kind donation from the emir of Qatar.”
...
This hasn’t stopped the Persian Gulf monarchy from serving
as a Club Med for terrorists. It harbors leading Islamist radicals like
the spiritual leader of the global Muslim Brotherhood, Sheikh Yusuf
al-Qaradawi, who issued a religious fatwa endorsing suicide attacks, and the Doha-based history professor Abdul Rahman Omeir al-Naimi, whom the United States Department of Treasury has named as a “terrorist financier” for Al Qaeda. Qatar also funds a life of luxury for Khaled Meshal, the fugitive leader of Hamas.
Mr.
Meshal’s uncompromising stance — he has vowed never to recognize Israel
— has long been an obstacle to reaching a peace deal. But behind Hamas,
Qatar is pulling the strings. According to a report last week in the
pan-Arab daily newspaper Al Hayat, Qatar even threatened to expel Mr.
Meshal if Hamas accepted Egyptian proposals for a long-term cease-fire
in Gaza. All because Doha wants a starring role in any cease-fire
agreement between Hamas and Israel.
It is time for the
world to wake up and smell the gas fumes. Qatar has spared no cost to
dress up its country as a liberal, progressive society, yet at its core,
the micro monarchy is aggressively financing radical Islamist
movements. In light of the emirate’s unabashed support for terrorism,
one has to question FIFA’s decision to reward Qatar with the 2022 World
Cup.
Qatar’s continued sponsorship of Hamas all but guarantees that, whatever
happens in this round of hostilities, the terrorist group will rearm
and renew hostilities with Israel. The only way forward is to isolate
Hamas’s last major backer. Given Qatar’s considerable affluence and
influence, this is an uncomfortable prospect for many Western nations,
yet they must recognize that Qatar is not a part of the solution but a
significant part of the problem. To bring about a sustained calm, the
message to Qatar should be clear: Stop financing Hamas.
Indeed.
Labels: Emir of Qatar, FIFA, Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, Qatar, Ron Prosor, World Cup
Hey Lionel Messi: Do you stand for Hamas?
In June, I
posted the picture above, which although a photo shop, has garnered 34,397 hits as of this writing - one of the most popular posts ever on this blog.
It turns out, however, that Messi, who has many fans in this country, is far less sympathetic to Israel than he is to the 'Palestinians.' As a result of the murder of a
four-year old fan of Messi's on Friday,
Daniel Tragerman HY"D (May God Avenge his blood), Israelis are
trying to get Messi's attention like never before.
Last photos of Daniel show him sporting Messi's number 10 jersey, in Argentinian national colors.
Messi wrote two weeks ago that as a father and a UNICEF Goodwill
Ambassador, he is “terribly saddened by the images coming from the
conflict between Israel and Palestine, where violence has already
claimed so many young lives and to injure countless children.” The post
featured a photo of an injured Palestinian child.
The international star plays for FC Barcelona, a soccer team
funded by the Qatari government, which also serves as Hamas’ chief
financier.
“Hey Leo Messi, take a look at that boy, Daniel Tregerman, wearing
the national jersey of the best player in the world,” Liran Cohen, an
Israeli citizen, wrote in a Facebook post that tagged Messi.
“As you can see, you were Daniel’s hero. He was killed today, by a
mortar which was fired by Hamas, the terror organization that your
team’s #1 sponsors is [sic] sponsoring,” Cohen wrote. “Is this what you
stand for? FC Barcelona—is this what you stand for? I guess money can
buy everything.”
The post went viral on Facebook and also on Twitter, but has yet to prompt a response from Messi.
Let's make this one go viral too.
Labels: Gaza, Hamas, Qatar, soccer, terror victims
Idiocy: Lapid issues veiled threat to Meshaal, Marzouk
In 1997, during Prime Minister Netanyahu's first term in office, the Mossad attempted to poison Khaled Meshaal, Hamas' politburo chief. Unfortunately, because the operation was carried out in Jordan, with which Israel had a treaty, and because the agents who attempted to kill Meshaal were caught, Netanyahu was forced to send an antidote to Jordan and to release Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Hamas' spiritual leader. Yassin was killed in an Israeli airstrike seven years later.
On Sunday, Finance Minister Yair Lapid issued a veiled threat against Meshaal's life. Meshaal is now in Qatar, a country with which Israel has no relations, so the situation is very different from 1997.
But....
Security Cabinet member and Finance Minister Yair Lapid has warned
that Hamas's political leadership - including those based abroad - are
not "immune" from bearing the consequences of continued rocket and
mortar fire against Israeli civilians.
Speaking just before a Security Cabinet meeting Sunday morning, Lapid
referred to the murder of four-year Daniel Turgeman in a mortar attack
on southern Israel, saying Israel "would not tolerate" the targeting of
its children by Islamist terrorists.
...
"Those responsible for his death will pay the price," Lapid vowed. "Hamas's
leaders need to know that we will pursue them, and we will cause them
to pay the price for what is happening in the south of the State of
Israel."
"No one is immune - not the political leadership, and not the leadership abroad," he said.
Until now Israel has largely avoided targeting Hamas's
"political" leadership, focusing on commanders and personnel from its
"military wing", the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. On Thursday, Israel succeeded in killing three of its "most wanted" Hamas terrorists in a strike targeting senior al-Qassam Brigades commanders.
A previous strike targeted the Brigades' commander, Mohammed Deif,
but Hamas claimed this elusive terrorist mastermind had survived -
though it gave no word on his precise condition.
Hamas's most senior political leader is Khaled Meshaal, currently
based in Doha, Qatar. Other senior Hamas leaders are also based abroad -
including one of the suspected masterminds of the kidnap and murder of
three Israeli teens in June, Salah al-Aruri.
Lapid is a moron. Everyone knows that Israel is
capable of striking Hamas terrorists
abroad. Keep your mouth shut and just do it.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Dubai, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Jordan, Khaled Meshaal, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Operation Protective Edge, Qatar, targeted killings
Why the world supports the 'Palestinians'
Evelyn Gordon writes about a topic I hope to write about more in the next few weeks -
why Israel is seen as Goliath when it is really David.
One of the enduring myths of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is that
much of the West supports the Palestinians out of natural sympathy for
the underdog. Victor Davis Hanson of Stanford’s Hoover Institution
effectively demolished
that myth last week, pointing out that if sympathy for the underdog
were really driving the massive pro-Palestinian demonstrations sweeping
the West, one would expect to see equally massive demonstrations in
support of occupied Tibet, the undoubted underdog against superpower
China, or embattled Ukraine, the equally undoubted underdog against
superpower Russia. In reality, he argued, anti-Israel sentiment
flourishes not because Israel is Goliath, but because it is David:
Israel is inordinately
condemned for what it supposedly does because its friends are few, its
population is tiny, and its adversaries beyond Gaza numerous, dangerous
and often powerful.
Or to put it more bluntly, condemning Israel entails no costs and
frequently provides benefits, whereas supporting it could invite
retaliation from its numerous enemies.
...
[I]t’s no exaggeration to say that without the support Hamas receives
from Turkey and Qatar, it could never have built the war machine that
enabled it to start this summer’s war, and thus the death and
destruction the world is now decrying in Gaza would never have happened.
Since both America and the European Union have designated Hamas as a
terrorist organization, one might expect this flagrant support for Hamas
to prompt sanctions on Qatar and Turkey as state sponsors of terrorism.
But Qatar is the world’s largest natural gas exporter and richest
country, as well as home to the main U.S. air force base in the Middle
East, while Turkey is a NATO member and major emerging economy. So in
fact, far from sanctioning Qatar and Turkey, both America and Europe
consider them key partners. In short, it’s simply easier for the West to
condemn Israel’s response to Hamas attacks and pressure it to accede to
Hamas demands than it would be to condemn and penalize Turkish and
Qatari support for Hamas.
Clearly, Israel has many strengths, including a thriving economy, a
relatively powerful army, and strong American support. But as Hanson
noted, it’s still a tiny country with few friends and many enemies, and
anti-Israel protesters intuitively sense this. So don’t be fooled by
their pretensions to “moral indignation” against Israel’s “oppression of
the underdog.” They’re just doing what mobs have done since time
immemorial: targeting a victim they see as fundamentally vulnerable.
Read the whole thing.
I am in the process of reading Joshua Muravchik's new book
From David to Goliath, which looks at how the World's sympathies shifted away from Israel since 1967. Among the factors he lists are terrorism, oil, the strength of the 'non-aligned' nations at the United Nations, and the perception of the 'Palestinians' as being 'progressive' (perhaps the most ridiculous idea of all).
I also understand - but have not yet seen - that there was a column written by Eytan Kobre in
Mishpacha over the summer in which he showed how the rabbis of the 1930's and 1940's predicted with stunning accuracy how this would be the exact result of the creation of a Jewish state. If anyone has access to an electronic version of that article, I'd appreciate if you could email the article or a link to me.
Clearly, classical anti-Semitism is also a factor here, particularly with respect to the world's obsession with Israel.
Labels: anti-Semitism, Non-Aligned Movement, oil, Palestinian terrorism, Palestinians, Qatar, Turkey, United Nations
Meshaal exposed Deif?
A phone call from Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal to top military commander Mohammed Deif may have
exposed Deif's hideout on Tuesday night, allowing the IDF to take a shot at him.
The reports say that the phone conversation took place shortly after a
meeting in Doha, Qatar, between Mashaal and Palestinian Authority (PA)
head Mahmoud Abbas. A senior Palestinian source said that Mashaal was
under pressure to accept the Egyptian ceasefire proposal and wanted to
consult with Deif.
Possibly due to the pressure he was under, Mashaal broke the rules of
secrecy that help keep Deif's location secret and called him, thus
making it possible for Israeli intelligence to pinpoint Deif's
whereabouts and bomb the building he was in.
...
Hard hit by the IDF, Hamas's military wing in Gaza has reportedly
been pressing the political leadership to accept a ceasefire, but
Mashaal, who operates from Qatar, has been refusing to do so.
A senior member of Palestnian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's
Fatah faction said Wednesday Hamas's choice to forego the Egyptian
truce proposal and return to its rocket war on Israel was due to Qatari
pressure.
We're lucky to have such enemies. The Emir of Qatar is so self-centered that he will not agree to a deal just because Egypt negotiated it.
The Fatah source, quoted in the Arabic Al-Hayat and cited by Yedioth Aharonoth, noted that Egypt
refused to allow Qatar to play a role in the Cairo ceasefire talks,
stipulating that Qatar apologize for its policies towards the Nile State
since Muslim Brotherhood member and former Egyptian President Mohammed
Morsi was deposed last July 3. Qatar is the leading sponsor of the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is the Palestinian offshoot.
Meshaal is willing to fight to the last Gazan to maintain his own standing in Qatar. And Deif cannot even take basic precautions like not answering the phone.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
P.S. It's still not 100% clear whether or not we got Deif on Tuesday night.
Labels: Egypt, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Khaled Meshaal, Mohammed Deif, Operation Protective Edge, Qatar, targeted killings
One-Man Demonstration in Gaza: Instead of Going to Qatar, Hamas Leaders Should Come to Die Here
I wonder if Khaled Meshaal has seen this. If he has, I wonder how long this guy has to live. Note that for the first minute he pretty much parrots the party line, but after that his frustration at being made into cannon fodder while the Hamas 'leadership' protects itself just boils over.
Let's go to the videotape.
Labels: civilian casualties, Gaza, Hamas, human shields, IDF, Khaled Meshaal, Lebanon, Operation Protective Edge, Qatar
Report: Kerry's friends in Qatar threatened to expel Meshaal if he accepted the cease fire
If we didn't have enough reasons to bar US Secretary John FN Kerry from interfering with our affairs until now, we may have a huge one. As you might recall, Kerry pushed to
replace Egypt with Qatar and Turkey as the intermediaries between Israel and Hamas. Now, it turns out that Qatar may have brought about the resumption of Hamas rocket fire on Israel by
threatening Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal with expulsion from the country if he agreed to Egypt's cease fire proposal.
The Fatah source added that Qatar threatened to expel
Qatar-based Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal, saying it would "force
him to leave," if Hamas agreed to the Egyptian truce proposal in its current structure.
Indeed Hamas rejected the proposal last week, with Mashaal saying "we want serious negotiations that lead to an end of the aggression on Gaza and granting the Palestinian demands."
The new revelation would appear to lend credence to reports
Tuesday that the breach of the ceasefire was in fact orchestrated by
none other than Mashaal.
An unnamed security source told Walla! the initial rocket
salvo on Be'er Sheva was ordered directly by Mashaal, who reportedly
bypassed Hamas's "military wing", the Al-Qassam Brigades, and ordered a
specially-assigned unit of Hamas operatives answerable directly to him
to launch the attack.
The source claimed Mashaal was aiming to sabotage negotiations for a long-term truce in Cairo, which were not going his way.
A senior Hamas source last week urged a different nation to replace Egypt as intermediary in the talks, labeling Egypt "the basic delaying source preventing an agreement."
Hamas may have envisioned Qatar as the replacement, given that
the source called for a new third-party that would help achieve the
terror group's demands, including terrorists releases and a Gaza sea and
airport.
This also puts a very different - and harsher - light on
last week's visit to Qatar by three MK's from the Balad party.
It is worth noting that three Arab-nationalist Balad MKs recently traveled to Qatar,
where they reportedly met the traitor ex-MK Azmi Bishara, who founded
their party before fleeing Israel after passing information to direct
Hezbollah rockets on Israeli citizens.
Kerry, Zoabi and Zahalka should all be exiled together to a desert island. Maybe Bishara would like to join them.
Labels: Azmi Bishara, Balad, Gaza, Hamas, Hamas rockets, Hanin Zoabi, IDF, Jamal Zahalka, John Kerry, Khaled Meshaal, Operation Protective Edge, Qatar
Coup? What coup?
'
Moderate' '
Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen may be taking reports of an attempted Hamas coup
seriously, but that's not stopping him from going to Doha on Wednesday to pay homage to Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal and to Meshaal's patron,
the Emir of Qatar.
Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will travel to Doha on Wednesday and hold talks the next day with the emir of Qatar and Hamas exiled leader Khaled Meshaal, the Palestinian ambassador in Qatar told AFP Tuesday.
Abbas's visit to Qatar was initially announced for Monday by Palestinian officials who are in Cairo for indirect talks with Israel on a lasting truce in Gaza.
Abbas will on Thursday discuss separately with Meshaal and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani latest developments in the negotiations in Cairo and "aid and reconstruction" in Gaza, Palestinian ambassador Monir Ghannam told AFP.
From Doha, Ghannam said Tuesday, Abbas will travel on to Cairo as part of contacts the Palestinian leadership is staging "with all the parties concerned" in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The meeting follows both the last-minute extension of a 5-day
ceasefire between Israel and Hamas - and rumors of Israel agreeing to
some of Hamas's unprecedented demands for a lasting truce - and the
revelation that Hamas recently staged a coup in Judea-Samaria.
This sounds like Abu Bluff's self-preservation instinct kicking in. Otherwise, it makes no sense for him to meet with these people. Abu Bluff was among those who was
furious at John Kerry for bringing Qatar into the negotiations last month.
Or is Kerry perhaps responsible for the necessity for holding this meeting. Has Kerry made Qatar indispensable for the 'Palestinian Authority'? If yes, great job America! /sarc
Labels: Abu Mazen, cease fire, Emir of Qatar, Gaza, Hamas, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Khaled Meshaal, Operation Protective Edge, Palestinian Authority, Qatar
