Wednesday, September 03, 2014
Murdered US Journalist Was Actually Israeli
Heroically maintaining Judaism under captivitySteven Sotloff, killed by Islamic State, had deep roots in Israel
Sotloff reportedly made sure to fast in secret during Yom Kippur and even prayed in the direction of Jerusalem, as is customary in Jewish prayers, despite the risk he faced if his Islamist captors never found out he was Jewish.
One of Sotloff's fellow captives, who was subsequently released, told the paper that he feigned illness in order to escape his captors' suspicions.
"He told them he was ill and didn't want to eat, even though they brought us eggs that day," the witness told Yediot Aharonoth, "It looked like he was praying in a hidden way towards Jerusalem. He noted what way the Muslims were praying in and changed his direction slightly."
Steven Sotloff, the American journalist whose gruesome beheading was confirmed in a video released Tuesday night by Islamic State terrorists in Syria, first came to know Israel as an optimistic government student at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. On Wednesday afternoon, the Foreign Ministry cleared for publication the fact that he held Israeli citizenship.Khaled Abu Toameh: Big Media Ignores Hamas's "Ugliest Crimes"
Sotloff, a Jewish native of Miami and the grandson of Holocaust survivors, came to Israel in 2008 to pursue his undergraduate degree at the IDC. He wasn’t starry-eyed about the Jewish state, a former classmate said last week. In fact, while he clearly loved Israel, his views on the country were as complicated as the region itself.
“Like most of us, he came here and he became very critical of the government,” said Hillary Lynne Glaser, who studied conflict resolution, international relations and counter-terrorism alongside Sotloff.
“I’m not so sure it was about the Israeli-Arab conflict, I think it was more how they treat their own people. But he still came back to visit,” she said, noting that Sotloff was in Israel as recently as last year to celebrate the wedding of a former IDC roommate.
Armed Hamas militias committed the ugliest crimes. It was the Palestinians who made this charge.Israel Intelligence Minister Says Middle East Armies Created by U.S. ‘Failed’
Hamas militiamen confiscated food and medicine sent to the Gaza Strip from the West Bank and some "friendly countries," the Fatah leaders disclosed. "Hamas distributed some of the aid among their men through the mosques or sold it on the black market," they said.
It is hard to believe that the journalists did not hear about the Hamas crimes. But it is still not clear why journalists and human rights advocates continue to ignore the story. Is it because such stories are lacking an anti-Israel angle?
Steinitz, speaking just prior to the implementation of Operation Protective Edge, and the metastasis of ISIS/ISIL – the so-called Islamic State – throughout much of Syria and Iraq, contended that “in the Gaza Strip, too, the Palestinian police forces were beaten by Hamas in 2007, and now the same thing is happening in Iraq.
“The substantial military forces the USA had established there are being defeated by Islamist forces, who use the exact same methods Hamas had used – including mass executions.
“It is equally clear that no future Palestinian policing force operating in the Judea and Samaria region (West Bank) may be relied upon, even if it were trained and equipped by the USA.
“If Israel does not control that area, the Islamist forces will be able to dominate the territory there, too,” said Steinitz, who, in previous years chaired the influential Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and held the Finance Ministry portfolio. In his current role he supervises the Mossad, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and the Israel Atomic Energy Commission.
We underestimated Hamas tenacity, top IDF source admits
“If you’d asked me two months ago, I wouldn’t assess that it’s going to take us 50 days,” the official told journalists in English at a briefing in Tel Aviv late Tuesday.NGO asks ICC to indict Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on war crimes charges
“We thought it’s going to take them a shorter time to understand what happened, and we are mistaken here. It’s a tactical assessment mistake, but it’s a mistake,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He said the training of some Hamas militants had impressed him, but that there were no “surprises” for Israeli forces.
“They were in pretty good shape and pretty well trained,” he said of amphibious commando-style raids by Hamas militants on Israeli shores.
“You can see for sure they were trained outside of the Gaza Strip,” the official said, but added “we haven’t seen anything that has surprised us” militarily.
But the official said Hamas, the main power in Gaza, and Islamic Jihad, the next biggest terror group, were soundly beaten.
The Shurat Hadin civil rights group announced on Wednesday that it has formally requested that the International Criminal Court prosecutor open an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal during Operation Protective Edge.Hamas’ Military Wing Boasts of its Units and Weaponry
The original basis of the request, filed late Tuesday, was using Mashaal's Jordanian citizenship against him since Jordan, unlike Israel and "Palestine," has been a member of the ICC since April 11, 2002 and recognizes its jurisdiction over its citizens.
Shurat Hadin – Legal Action Center's complaint, or communication, to the ICC prosecutor alleges that Mashaal is "criminally liable for Hamas’s war crime of execution without due process" because he "formulated, directs and approves the executions and oversees Hamas’s governance of Gaza."
The NGO bases this accusation on Mashaal's own reported statements that he has had absolute power over Hamas for at least the past four years.
The Hamas-affiliated Al-Risala published a report recently outlining the various units and capabilities of the ‘Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades,’ Hamas’ military wing, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) . Portions of the report, translated by MEMRI, state that the Brigades, totalling approximately 30,000 terrorists, consists of six regiments, with roughly 5,000 fighters in each and encompassing five battalions.What Really Happened At Wafa Hospital in Gaza
The Infantry Unit is the largest contingent, comprising approximately 85% of the entire Al-Qassam Brigades. Tasked with maintaining internal stability and attacking Israeli soldiers head-on, the Infantry Unit boasts several types of advanced weapons, including the Kalashnikov 74, M-16 rifles, and a quarter of a million locally manufactured hand grenades.
The Special Unit is responsible for carrying out infiltration attacks in Israel and striking Israeli military bases. Its fighters represent the elite of the al-Qassam Brigades, possessing advanced and sophisticated weaponry, including sniper rifles, explosive charges, and night vision binoculars. Moreover, the Engineering Unit is tasked with tunnel excavations, constructing a vast underground network featuring tunnels dozens of kilometers long utilized for weapons storage, and for transferring supplies. Attack tunnels are also exploited for infiltrating and facilitating attacks within Israel.
Jonathan Miller gives the Hamas terrorists’ version of events at Wafa Hospital in Gaza instead of reporting what really happened.
Hamas used Wafa Hospital as a base to attack Israel and IDF soldiers. However, Miller leaves that out of his report and also neglects to tell viewers about how the IDF had issued repeated warnings before attacking the Hamas terrorists there.
Fatah said threatening to obstruct Rafah opening
Fatah officials have reportedly warned that if Hamas does not cede control of the Gaza Strip to the unity government, the presidential guard forces of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will not deploy along the borders and the crossings will remain closed.Attacking Hamas in Gaza: What if Israel Followed US Policies?
According to an Israel Radio report, a member of the Palestinian delegation to the Cairo talks added that ceasefire negotiations would resume in October.
The report came a day after a high-level Egyptian delegation visited Ramallah to hold a series of consultations on the bid for a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and simmering tensions between Hamas and Fatah. Following the discussions, Egyptian ambassador to the PA Wael Atiyeh said that Egypt is ready to train presidential guard forces to man the borders and that once they are ready, Egypt will then open the Rafah crossing to full capacity, the report said.
Israel has been accused of using disproportionate and excessive force, and of killing large numbers of civilians in Gaza, while trying to stop Hamas "militants" who have been targeting Israeli civilians with thousands of rockets and mortars, and who have also infiltrated into Israel via dozens of tunnels. The US State Department even referred to one (alleged) Israeli strike in Gaza as "appalling" and "disgraceful."Russell Tribunal on Palestine: Kangaroo Court’s “Extraordinary Session” on “Israel’s Crimes in Gaza”
What the United States or other Western democracies would do in a similar situation is purely speculative, since none of these countries have recently been rocketed by a neighboring country, or even face the prospect of their civilians being directly targeted in such a way.
But the United States has been fighting in various Near Eastern countries in recent years, so how has the US carried out this fight, and what have been the US rules of engagement? Of course, as noted above, this is clearly an imperfect comparison, because if US cities and towns were being attacked as Israeli ones have been, the American reaction would almost certainly be far more vigorous than what is allowed by US rules of engagement when the battlefield is thousands of miles from home.
Despite this, it turns out to be an instructive comparison, because under the United States rules of engagement in effect until just a few months ago, any male of military age near a combatant was considered on that basis to also be a combatant and therefore a legitimate target.
On August 18, 2014, the Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RToP) announced an “Extraordinary session” on “Israel’s Crimes in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge.” The RToP session plans to consider alleged “Israel’s Crimes (including War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and the Crime of Genocide)…as well as third States complicity.”Top Trudeau adviser breaks ranks, blames Israel for civilian deaths
As seen in previous Russell Tribunals, RToP has no judicial basis and exploits a legal facade in order to create an appearance of neutrality and credibility. The sessions have included “jurors” who examine expert “witnesses,” with the “findings” later published. The witnesses and jurors are biased, the outcome is predetermined, and the findings have no credibility.
A retired Canadian general who hopes to be elected as a Liberal MP next year believes Israel's military forces fired "indiscriminately" on Palestinian women and children in the recent Hamas-Israel conflict.IDF Forces Return to 'Abandoned' Southern Town
"Casualties are caused by the Israelis using very heavy weapons systems, firing indiscriminately onto Palestinian women and children," Andrew Leslie said at an event on Aug. 19.
Leslie, who plays a key role as co-chair of a group of international affairs advisers to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, made the comment as part of an extended response to questions from a woman who attended a roundtable on veterans issues he hosted in Ottawa-Orleans, the riding in which he hopes to become the next Liberal candidate.
One day after it was revealed that IDF forces had quietly abandoned the Gaza border community of Netiv Ha'asarah, Nahal Brigade soldiers have returned once again to guard the town.Wounded IDF Soldier Astounds Doctors With Miraculous Recovery
But Penina Rogolski, a member of the local council, says that she is still concerned the error could repeat itself.
"We have still not yet received any explanation from the military with whom we have a good and close connection with," she told Arutz Sheva.
And although heartened by the return of some of the IDF forces which had left, she insists that "it only happened because of all the publicity" which surrounded the incident.
Rogolski explained that her community could not afford to take chances.
Dr. Amir Korngreen, director of orthopedic trauma unit at Soroka, spoke to Arutz Sheva about the treatment.Palestinian killed by IDF troops after alleged run-over attempt
"He came to us in a difficult situation, where the blood vessels in both legs were completely torn at the knee and the palm of the right hand was mangled," Dr. Korngreen said. "Daniel underwent several operations carried out by experts in many fields - hematology, plastic surgery, and orthopedics. "
Dr. Amit Frankel, a senior physician general intensive care unit at Soroka, said that the recovery was surprisingly swift.
"Daniel surprised us by how fast he recovered from his serious injuries," Dr. Frankel said. "He is still expected to undergo a long rehabilitation process, but without a doubt he has overcome the main struggle."
Daniel returned home yesterday, after giving a special "thank you" to the orthopedic ward and ICU staff.
A Palestinian man was shot by IDF troops at a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Qalqilya on Tuesday afternoon after allegedly trying to run over soldiers. He later died of his wounds. A second Palestinian was shot in the leg and lightly injured attempting to flee the scene.Leading US Congressmen in Israel: Hamas and ISIS are the Same
The soldiers suspected the man was attempting to enter Israel illegally, and after he was ordered to halt allegedly tried to run them down, Channel 2 reported.
Soldiers fired on his car, a gray minivan with Israeli plates, with the intention of stopping the vehicle.
Senior US Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Ed Royce (R-Calif) held a press conference together with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman Wednesday to emphasize the importance of the US-Israel alliance.IDF Promotes Living Legend, Said to Have Killed 27 Terrorists
Royce, who is a Chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the reason for both the popular support for Israel among the American population, as well as strong bipartisan support in Congress, was Israel's status as a beacon of democratic values amid a sea of brutality and turmoil in the Middle East.
Engel, who is also a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, echoed those sentiments.
Former Israeli army Gaza Division chief, Maj.-Gen. Yossi Bachar, 50, is moving up in the wake of Operation Protective Edge, Israel’s Channel 2 News reported Tuesday.Abbas rips ‘liar’ Mashaal in leaked Qatari minutes
Bachar, with a honed, battle-hardened record – including a reputed 27, mostly Hezbollah terrorist, kills to his name – was on Tuesday appointed commander of the General Staff Corps in place of Gen. Gershon HaCohen.
“The legend, by the way, is correct for the most part. Bachar is highly respected by his troops, and should have gotten the promotion a long time ago,” a senior army officer who is acquainted with Bachar said.
Minutes of the meeting, written on official Qatari letterhead and signed by Sheikh Tamim’s chief of staff Khalid bin Khalifa Al Thani on August 23, quoted Abbas highlighting two “intractable issues” facing his leadership: the inability to negotiate with Israel, and the existential challenge posed by Hamas, Qatar’s protege. The document was published on Tuesday by Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, affiliated with Hezbollah and the Assad regime.Palestinian minister confirms PA ploy to continue terrorist salaries
“Since the creation of the Palestinian Authority, they [Hamas] have been trying to undermine and topple it,” Abbas told his Qatari host. “They issue [religious rulings] to suit them and use religion to serve their purposes.”
“[In February 2007] we traveled to Mecca and swore to adhere to national unity. Three months later they carried out a coup against the PA [in Gaza]. Until today every time I mention Mashaal to King Abdullah [of Saudi Arabia] he says ‘that Mashaal is a liar’.”
Interviewer: "Would you say this formal change, in quotation marks, was done or devised to avoid international pressure, which Israel pushed for?"
Karake: "[That’s] one of the reasons, yes. We’re speaking honestly. There was [international] pressure and a kind of war, an intense war, and monetary and financial threats towards the PA. The Palestinian leadership was subject to real pressure, but of course it refused to submit to all this pressure. We told them [international donors] it was a matter of freedom, a matter of fighter-prisoners, a matter of a national liberation movement, and so the idea that it would be part of the PLO was conceived... The Palestinian leadership, President Abbas and the members of the [PLO’s] Executive Committee confirmed that this change would in no way affect the importance and significance of the prisoners’ issue, neither in terms of politics and the struggle nor in terms of the services [provided to the prisoners]."
Errant Mortars from Syria, as Syrian Flag Taken Down
Two stray mortars landed near the Israeli border Tuesday evening in the Eastern Golan Heights. No injuries or damage reported.The Little Known Truth about ISIS's Human Trafficking and Slave Trade
Heavy fighting continues between the Assad loyalists and the Rebel forces around Quneitra.
The large Syrian flag that used to fly over Quneitra in the Eastern Golan Heights has been taken down by anti-Assad rebel forces.
ISIS fighters are capturing civilians and using them as slaves, transporting them enormous distances and separating them from their families forever, according to the testimony of a Yazidi girl in today's Times.ISIS’ Antiquities Sideline
The 16-year-old girl, called Sama, says that she was held with other girls as young as 11, with her captors saying they would make them "marry Muslim men."
Sama got lucky, however, and was rescued by an unknown benefactor who 'bought' her and then let her go. She is now in Kurdish-controlled territory.
She told of how she was seized by ISIS fighters when they over-ran her village, which she has asked to not be named, near Mount Sinjar last month: "We were sitting inside and we heard gunshots and shouting. ISIS came and got everybody outside.
"They took all of our gold and our cash. My mother had a necklace and $12,000. Then they put women and children in one room and men in the other."
The following day, they were driven to the nearby town of Sinjar where they were transferred onto buses with women from other villages. They never saw their male relatives again.
In extensive conversations with those working and living in areas currently under ISIS control, we learned that ISIS is indeed involved in the illicit antiquities trade, but in a way that is more complex and insidious than we expected. (Our contacts and sources, whom we cannot name for reasons of their safety, continue their work under the most dangerous of conditions.)Danish mosque declares support for Isis
ISIS does not seem to have devoted the manpower of its army to the active work of looting archaeological sites. Rather, its involvement is financial. In general, ISIS permits local inhabitants to dig at these sites in exchange for a percentage of the monetary value of any finds.
The group’s rationale for this levy is the Islamic khums tax, according to which Muslims are required to pay a percentage of the value of any goods or treasure recovered from the ground. ISIS claims to be the legitimate recipient of such proceeds.
An Aarhus mosque that has long been accused of radicalising young members has now come out in support of the militant jihadist organisation Islamic State.Jordan to Play Important NATO Role Against ISIS
A spokesman for the Aarhus mosque Grimhøjmoskeen has openly declared the mosque’s support of the terrorist organisation Islamic State, or Isis.
“An Islamic state will always be what Muslims long for, therefore we cannot help but to support the Islamic State. Even if it makes mistakes, we will just have to wait and see,” mosque spokesman Fadi Abdallah told the online news source Den Korte Avis.
Jordan’s King Abdullah’s participation in the upcoming NATO summit will be of “immeasurable illumination” on the strategy of confronting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Syria (ISIS), British Ambassador to Jordan Peter Millett told journalists on Tuesday, Jordan Times reported.Islamic State Terrorists in Russian Jets: 'Putin, You're Next'
Millett briefed the press on the agenda of the summit, which will be held from September 4-5 in Newport, Wales.
According to Millett, three topics will dominate the upcoming meeting: the Ukraine, Afghanistan, and the threat ISIS poses to Middle East security and stability.
Millett said King Abdullah’s “participation is of prime importance because there will be a lot of discussions, ideas and proposals on the role that NATO can play in confronting ISIS’ threat. How can we cooperate and coordinate, and work with Jordan to achieve the security of Jordan and the region and NATO’s allies.”
Tabqa airbase was taken after prolonged and intensive fighting which left hundreds of Islamic State and pro-regime forces dead. Its conquest meant that the Islamic State now controls all of Syria's northern Raqqa Province, as well as much of the northeast of the country.Missing Libyan Jetliners Raise Fears of Suicide Airliner Attacks on 9/11
After finally taking the base, the Islamic State released a video showing the mass execution of some 250 regime fighters, who were first ordered to march through the desert stripped to their underwear. Jihadis also circulated pictures of heavy weaponry and Russian-made MiG fighter jets they had seized.
In a video dated August 31, a group of Arab IS fighters address Assad directly from inside a hangar in the base.
"You'd better watch out Bashar - we're coming for you in planes!" declares one terrorist from atop a captured Russian aircraft. "We'll be coming for you from the skies, with these planes, Allah willing."
Islamist militias in Libya took control of nearly a dozen commercial jetliners last month, and western intelligence agencies recently issued a warning that the jets could be used in terrorist attacks across North Africa.Steinitz warns: Iran not scaling back nuclear program enough, Israel won't accept a bad deal
Intelligence reports of the stolen jetliners were distributed within the U.S. government over the past two weeks and included a warning that one or more of the aircraft could be used in an attack later this month on the date marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against New York and Washington, said U.S. officials familiar with the reports.
“There are a number of commercial airliners in Libya that are missing,” said one official. “We found out on September 11 what can happen with hijacked planes.”
While not a party to the negotiations with Iran, Israel wields influence in foreign capitals given its veiled threats to launch preemptive war to prevent Iran getting the bomb.Iran Losing Key Ally as Sudan Expels Embassy Staff
"Next week I will be leading a very large delegation to two days of talks in the United States ahead of the main, the central and possibly the last round of talks between the world powers and Iran," Steinitz told Israel Radio.
He saw no sign of Iran significantly scaling back uranium enrichment, a process that can make fuel for nuclear warheads, despite diplomatic outreach by its President Hassan Rouhani.
"What Rouhani has done is concede on all kinds of secondary issues, partial concessions, but protected the project's core, which is what threatens us and the whole world," Steinitz said.
"This means that in substance Iran's positions have remained as tough as before, and if there is no dramatic development in the coming month then either there will be no deal - or there will be a bad deal leaving Iran a nuclear threshold state, and this is of course something we are not willing to accept."
Sudan has expelled the Iranian embassy's cultural attache, in a slap in the face to its one-time ally over creeping "Shia influence" in the Sunni-majority country.Congress Targets Turkish President’s Anti-Semitism
The Sudanese government closed down the Iranian Cultural Center in the capital Khartoum, and ordered the attache and all the center's staff to leave the country within 72 hours.
According to the Sudan Tribune the move was taken amid growing controversy over the spread of Shia Islam - and the accompanying Iranian political influence - in the country which is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim.
The Tribune quoted statements by an Egyptian TV pundit, Ahmed al-Maslamani, who recently claimed that some 12,000 Sudanese had converted to Shia Islam, most of whom were students who attended regular workshops held by Iran's cultural attache. He also aired a video recording of a prominent Shia cleric in Kuwait calling on Shia Muslims in Sudan to mount an "uprising" against President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
More than 80 House lawmakers are pushing to crack down on rising anti-Semitism across the globe following a sharp spike in violent attacks on Jews in the wake of Israel’s most recent conflict with Gaza.
The bipartisan resolution presents “clear evidence” that anti-Semitism is on the rise around the globe and specifically targets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for fostering anti-Semitism.
The measure hits back at “attempts by many to justify anti-Jewish hatred or violent attacks as an acceptable expression of disapproval or frustration over political events in the Middle East or elsewhere,” according to a copy of the resolution.
Lawmakers are pressuring countries in the Middle East, Europe, and elsewhere to crackdown on anti-Semitic attacks, strengthen laws to punish anti-Jewish violence, and express vocal opposition to all who compare “Israel to Nazis perpetrating a Holocaust or genocide.”
