Tuesday, December 01, 2015
How To Stop Mass Casualty Terror Attacks: Take Violence Against Jews Seriously
You don’t have to be Hercule Poirot to realize that a justice system headed by a man who doesn’t consider synagogue attendance as a gathering or Jewish museums as public places isn’t going to try especially hard to pursue justice when the victims are Jews. A year after the shooting in the Jewish Museum, Brussels was on an unprecedented four-day lock down following the shootings in Paris, with many of the suspects traced back to the same neighborhood and the same network that spawned Nemmouche.JCPA: Connecting the Terror in Paris with the Terror against Israel
And the Belgians are hardly alone. On Nov. 5, 1990, the Israeli rabbi and politician Meir Kahane finished a speech in the Marriott East Side hotel in Manhattan. He stepped off stage shortly after 9 p.m., surrounded by well-wishers and supporters. A man disguised as an Orthodox Jew emerged from the crowd, drew a .357 caliber pistol, and shot Kahane from close range, killing him. He was revealed to be El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-born American citizen living in Jersey City.
Nosair, authorities soon learned, wasn’t working alone. He was part of a network run by Omar Abdel-Rahman, known as the Blind Sheik. So great was the jury’s contempt for Kahane, that they acquitted Nosair of murder and convicted him only of assault and possession of an illegal firearm, a decision that the trial’s judge, Justice Alvin Schlesinger, lamented went “against the overwhelming weight of evidence and was devoid of common sense and logic.” Nosair’s legal defense was paid by a wealthy supporter of Abdel-Rahman, one Osama Bin Laden. Three years later, several of Abdel-Rahman’s other disciples were arrested for attempting to blow up the World Trade Center.
Could Abdel-Rahman have been stopped? Would a more aggressive investigation of Nosair have led to his operator and curtailed not only the first attempt on the World Trade Center but also the second, and tragically successful one, on Sept. 11, 2001? And, more importantly, have we the mindset necessary to prevent the next attack?
In this regard the struggle that the ultra-radical Islamists are waging against the West and its allies, on the one hand, and the Palestinian struggle against Israel, on the other, complement each other. Their common goal is to destroy the world order that the West created after the First World War, which included the dismantlement of the caliphate, the Sykes-Picot Agreement, and the adoption of the Balfour Declaration at the San Remo Conference as part of the British Mandate. This world order was reinforced after the Second World War, among other things by the decision to establish a Jewish State in Eretz Yisrael, whose implementation in the face of Muslim opposition is still rejected by the Palestinians and by radical Islam in all its variants. Thus, the terror against Israel and the terror against the West are two sides of the same coin from an ideological standpoint as well, not only regarding its methods and the means of fighting it. Israel needs to make this connection clearer to its friends in the West.PMW: Mahmoud Abbas: Murdering Israelis is "popular peaceful uprising"
What disturbs the Palestinians is that as radical Islam’s direct warfare against the West expands, they lose a key asset for promoting their goals. If, as is becoming increasingly clear, the Palestinian issue is not the heart of the problem, then the West’s expression of regret for its “crimes” on this issue will not solve the greater problem. The request for penance must be much more far-reaching; Iranian President Hassan Rouhani recently made dialogue with the United States conditional on an American request for Iran’s forgiveness. In addition, the more the connection between the two kinds of terror grows, the more the radical Islamic component of the Palestinian rejection of Israel’s existence as the democratic nation-state of the Jewish people and preference for a violent struggle to eliminate it, is exposed. The West would better understand how difficult it is to promote a settlement and may (as Israel would hope) come to understand that the terror against Israel is essentially part and parcel of the terror against the West.
Israel’s outlawing of the northern branch of the Israeli Islamic movement, which is the arm of realistic radical Islam among the Israeli Arabs, is part of the struggle against this radical ideology. Unfortunately, many in the West still think that realistic radical Islam (Rouhani and the Muslim Brotherhood, for example) is a legitimate partner in the fight against the ultra-radical Islamists, and favor it over the pragmatic elements in the Islamic world. I’m afraid that even the current wave of attacks will not suffice to change this mindset.
A statement by PA Chairman Abbas explains why he has not yet condemned even one of the 22 murders of Israelis during the past two months of terror, even though he tells the international community he is against terror. Referring to the current Palestinian terror uprising, which at the time of Abbas’ statement had already murdered 14 Israelis and wounded 167 in 65 stabbings and 8 shootings, Abbas announced on PA TV that it is a “peaceful uprising.” [Figures from http://mfa.gov.il]
Abbas: “No one called for this uprising and no one asked for it. It stemmed from the hearts of the young... We said to everyone that we want peaceful popular uprising, and that’s what this is. That’s what this is. However, the aggression of firing bullets has come from the Israelis.” [Official PA TV, Nov. 16, 2015]
According to Abbas, when Palestinians kill young Israeli parents in front of their children, kill Israeli teens, or kill Israeli fathers with their sons, it is not to be condemned as terror because it is an expression of “peace.” And therefore, when Israelis kill the stabbers and shooters who are trying to peacefully kill Israelis - it is the Israelis who are the “aggressors.”
Significantly, Abbas openly admitted that he called “to everyone” for this violence:
“We said to everyone that we want peaceful popular uprising, and that’s what this is. That’s what this is.”
Bizarro reality
When Barack Obama became president, clues to his conduct of foreign and domestic policy could be found in one formula that pretty much always worked: If George W. Bush did something one way when he was president, then Obama would do the opposite. Bush led the U.S. into Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama would get us out. Bush took prisoners to Guantanamo, Obama would release them and close the prison. Bush supported tax cuts, Obama would raise rates even higher than they had been before Bush reduced them. If you were describing the behavior of a 5-year-old, you would say, he is "doing the opposite." Netanyahu calls for friendly countries to change UN voting pattern on Israel
Another way to describe the behavior is Bizarro-like. Bizarro was a super-villain who originally appeared in the Superman comic book series. Superman, the Man of Steel, was a force for good. Bizarro was Superman's opposite, a very negative force whose powers were often the exact reverse of Superman's.
Bizarro World is the EU treating Israeli products differently than those from everywhere else. It is Obama forgetting only the Jewish terror victim in his public comments. Bizarro World is the secretary of state distinguishing the latest terror attacks in Paris as having had less legitimacy and rationale than the earlier ones in January (which included the deliberate murders of Jews and cartoonists who drew pictures of the Prophet Muhammad). I guess we should understand and accept that Arabs and Muslims want to kill Jews and those who think they have a right to caricature Muhammad, but attacks on others are more problematic. Bizarro World is the U.N. secretary-general not treating terror attacks on Jews as equivalent to terror attacks on anyone else. Bizarro World is treating Abbas as a potential peacemaker while he fans the flames of mass murders of Israeli Jews.
Take your pick: opposites or Bizarro World. In either case, we are forced to confront some basic "truths": Terror is wrong, unless its victims are Jews. Boycotts are wrong, unless they are aimed at the one Jewish state. Terror victims should be named and remembered, unless they are Jews. For years, the United Nations has been exhibit No. 1 in the Bizarro World presentation, as the Human Rights Council, filled with the world's most thuggish regimes, only condemns behavior by Israel. Now we are seeing evidence of similar selective treatment of Israel by the United States. When the Palestinians reject Israeli peace offers (as we now know occurred in 2008), Israel is blamed for the failure to finalize a deal because of its settlement activity. When Palestinians refuse even to meet with Israelis without prior concessions, Israel is blamed for its lack of interest in peace. In Bizarro World, Israel cannot win, for everyone else sees the opposite of reality.
Israel will begin asking countries with whom it has friendly ties and who want Israeli cooperation to change their anti-Israel voting patterns at the UN, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday after speaking with numerous heads of state at the climate conference in the French capital.The UN Can’t Support Israel’s Fight on Terrorism since it Considers Israel the Terrorists
Netanyahu, speaking to Israeli reporters following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and before beginning a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said leaders from around the world – including Arab states – approached him to talk about counter-terrorism and technological issues.
The time has come for the friendship and cooperation of these countries to come out in votes in international institutions, Netanyahu said, without naming which countries he had in mind. “You will hear this [demand] more and more – this is our natural expectation.
“Israel’s standing in the word is very firm,” Netanyahu said.
“People are looking to get close to us. They understand that Israel is a big regional power, and also a world power in cyber technology and there is hardly anyone who didn’t talk to me about that. They also understand that we can help in the war against terrorism and radical Islam.”
This has been true for every announcement made about deliberate murders committed by Palestinian Arabs against Israelis, whether the killing of the Henkins in front of their children (October 2015) or the slaughter of the Fogel family in their beds (March 2011).In Light of Terror Wave, ‘Civilian Heroism’ to Be Theme of Next Israeli Independence Day
The reason becomes clear when reviewing the various UN statements.
This November 19 attack was the first time that Ban Ki-Moon actually used the word “terror” about Israel. The reason? Because a Palestinian was listed among those killed. The language of the press release could lead a reader to conclude that the terrorism was CAUSED by Israel, rather than Arab murderers.
That was the reason that the UN did not extend condolences to, or express support for the Government of Israel. For the UN Secretary-General, Israel is as much part of the terrorist infrastructure as the jihadists.
The theme of next year’s Independence Day will be “civilian heroism,” Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Ceremonies and Symbols has announced.Attempted stabbing attack at Gush Etzion junction
“In honor of the 68th anniversary of Israel’s establishment, and in view of the varied and various challenges to its values and security, I consider it the right thing to do to celebrate the heroism of Israeli civilians,” said committee chair and Minister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev, according to Israeli news site Walla on Monday.
“Israeli citizens have been exhibiting alertness, resourcefulness and courage in the face of the current terror situation, which is worthy of every ounce of praise,” she said.
But, said Regev, this courage is not only about terrorism. “Civilian heroism is many-faceted and is revealed in all aspects of Israeli life. Israel owes the strength and beauty of its society to its citizens — to their bravery, determination and dedication. It will be an honor for all of us this Independence Day for Israel to salute its citizens.”
Israel’s next Independence Day falls on May 12, 2016.
A Palestinian terrorist attempted to stab a man at Gush Etzion junction on Tuesday morning. Security forces at the scene shot and killed the terrorist. A 40-year-old bystander was lightly injured by shrapnel at the scene.Palestinian woman attempts to stab IDF soldier in West Bank in second attack of day
Paramedics administered initial care at the scene and evacuated the man to Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem.
Gush Etzion junction has been the site of multiple stabbing and shooting attacks in the last few weeks.
Last week, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed and killed Hadar Buchris, 21, as she stood at a bus stop at the Gush Etzion junction in the West Bank.
A female Palestinian assailant attempted to stab an IDF officer at Einav Junction in the northern West Bank on Tuesday morning, in the second attempted stabbing incident of the day.High Court issues rare rejection of terrorist home demolition
Security forces opened fire at the attacker. She was shot on the scene and later succumbed to her wounds.
There were no injuries among security personnel in the incident.
The High Court of Justice on Tuesday issued a rare rejection of a state request to demolish a residence belonging to the family of an accused terrorist, while approving another house demolition request in a heatedly split decision.'It hurts that a terrorist who destroys a life gets this ruling'
In the rejected house demolition, the state had requested to demolish the residence of Nur a-Din Hashiya’s family following his alleged stabbing and murder of IDF soldier Almog Shiloni near Tel Aviv Hahagana train station in 2014.
The decision was a 3-0 unanimous vote by the court’s Vice President Elyakim Rubinstein, Justice Menahem Mazuz and Justice Zvi Zilbertal.
In a separate decision, the High Court approved the house demolition of Rajoub Aluya, who security forces have alleged was involved in the Naama and Eitam Henkin murders in October.
Friends of First Sergeant Almog Shiloni are livid Tuesday, after the High Court for Justice ruled that the demolition of his murderer's home would be cancelled because "too much time has passed."Jewish U of Michigan Student Faces Ethics Probe for Arguing With Anti-Israel Demonstrators on Day of Ezra Schwartz Murder
Nur al-Din Abu Hashiya stabbed Shiloni, then 20, outside of Tel Aviv's Hahagana Train Station in November 2014.
"It doesn't surprise me, this is the country we live in," Noy Hilo, Shiloni's girlfriend, stated in a special Arutz Sheva interview. "It's sad that the state would ban demolishing the home."
"It hurts that a terrorist who destroys a life gets this decision from the High Court," she added. "I am disappointed and angry."
Hilo was speaking on the phone to Shiloni as he was murdered. She described her tough recovery over the past 13 months from that experience.
"It was very difficult to move on from an experience like this," she said. "I still haven't successfully recovered."
A Jewish student at the University of Michigan is facing an ethics investigation after lambasting anti-Israel demonstrators on campus, The College Fix reported on Monday.Israelis get anti-lynching warning: ‘You’re not Van Damme’
Jesse Arm, a Central Student Government (CSG) representative, earlier this month confronted fellow students who erected on the quad two mock 8-by-12-foot walls mimicking the 25-foot security fence separating Israel from the Palestinian Authority.
One “wall” has an image of a dove with a bullseye resembling the crosshairs of a sniper rifle on its chest, flying under barbed wire. The same wall includes a drawing of a woman dressed in a traditional Palestinian headscarf, underneath a Palestinian flag and the words “CTRL+ALT+DELETE.” The bottom corner of the wall reads: “Tear down this wall.”
Demonstrators dressed as Israeli soldiers interacted with fellow students, attempting to demonstrate what they claim is like for Palestinians to go through an Israeli checkpoint, The College Fix reported.
A video taken at the scene shows Arm confronting a demonstrator by saying, “You want to hold a moment of silence, you ought to take a moment and recognize that if you want peace to ever happen, it’s going to have to happen with people who understand the situation and who are going to be delicate about it. … So take that thing down about ‘existing to resist’ and say ‘exist for peace.'”
The state prosecutor on Monday warned Israelis against taking the law into their own hands regarding suspected perpetrators of terror attacks.UPDATE: Globe “Corrects” Claiming Israeli Civilians Committed Terror on Palestinians Using Cars, Scissors, & Knives
“Whoever acts violently against a terrorist who no longer poses a threat will stand trial,” Shai Nitzan said in an online lecture to thousands of students, the Hebrew-language Maariv website reported.
In his lecture on human rights and security, delivered via the Education Ministry’s Online Academy program, Nitzan called for sessions in every school that would outline what is permitted during a terror attack and what is not, so as to ensure that Israel retains its humane character.
“As soon as a terrorist has been neutralized, there can be no violence on the part of citizens. If he’s handcuffed, you can’t hit him. You can’t punch. You’re not [action star Jean-Claude] Van Damme. You’re not the police, nor are you judges or God.”
Canada’s so-called paper of record, the Globe and Mail, produced reporting on November 28 which outrageously claimed that Israeli civilians have committed terror on Palestinians by using “cars, scissors and knives to inflict injury.”Watchdog Slams Guardian for Headline Highlighting Death of Palestinian Terrorist Who Stabbed Israeli Border Policeman
This claim was made in a photo caption to a prominently placed Patrick Martin report entitled “Vigilante violence grips Israelis, Palestinians”.
The photo caption (see immediately below) shockingly claimed: “… It is one of the many attacks in which civilians on both sides have used cars, scissors and knives to inflict injury“. There is no foundation to the Globe and Mail’s claim that Israeli civilians have carried out terror attacks on Palestinians using “cars, scissors and knives to inflict injury”. In sharp contrast, dozens of Palestinian terrorists have shot, stabbed and have intentionally run over Israelis with their cars killing 19 Israelis and an American citizen and wounded hundreds.
...
It goes without saying that this correction is not satisfactory by any means and does not remedy the Globe’s falsely claiming that Israeli civilians committed terror on Palestinians using cars, scissors, and knives. Firstly, to recall the Globe’s original claim, they contended that Israeli civilians used cars, scissors and knives to “inflict harm” on Palestinians. While the Globe claims that Palestinians have “largely” used these weapons which this correction whitewashes as mere “tools”, they should have said “exclusively”. The Globe also elected to take a disgraceful and misleading shot at Israel by saying that “Most Palestinian casualties have come from Israeli gunfire.” In truth, Israel contends that the majority of these Palestinian casualties were killed while carrying out terror attacks and Israelis acted in self defense. The remainder of the Palestinian casualties were killed in violent riots initiated by Palestinians during hostilities with Israel’s Defence Forces. The Globe omitted making mention of this fact and context.
The Globe has yet to comment on the other shortcomings in this article that we pointed out, specifically its implied claims that Palestinian terrorists are mere “vigilantes” and reporter Patrick Martin’s audacious claim that “It is also hard to justify the violence meted out by Israelis who increasingly take the law into their own hands.”
A recent headline in the UK Guardian about a terrorist attack against Israelis drew the ire or a local media watchdog for leading with the death of the Palestinian assailant.Google denies agreement to monitor anti-Israel videos
The Guardian headline ran: “Palestinian shot dead at Damascus gate in Jerusalem after stabbing Israeli guard.”
The article itself, about an incident on Sunday, did begin with the knife attacker seriously wounding an Israeli border policeman before being shot dead, but the text of the article itself was borrowed from Agence France Presse.
Additionally, the Guardian added a sub-headline indicating the Palestinian death toll in the current wave of violence, which has mostly revolved around near-daily knifing attacks against Israelis, predominantly in the West Bank but also in central Israel.
The Daily Mail ran a similar headline, albeit at a greater length: “Jerusalem’s streets run red with blood: Israeli police shoot dead man who stabbed border guard at Damascus Gate — the 99th Palestinian to die in latest wave of violence.” The Mail coverage, however, was not borrowed from the AFP story.
Google on Monday denied a claim by the Foreign Ministry that the internet giant has reached an agreement with the Israeli government to jointly monitor YouTube videos inciting attacks.PA orders Hamas TV off the air in West Bank
The ministry last week said that Google, which owns YouTube, had agreed on a joint mechanism to monitor online materials — including videos encouraging attacks on Israelis — after a meeting between Google executives and Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely.
But the firm said no such agreement had been struck.
A Google spokesman told AFP the meeting, in which Hotovely met Google’s senior counsel for public policy, Juniper Downs, and YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki, was just “one of many that we have with policymakers from different countries to explain our policies on controversial content, flagging and removals.
“The Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs has corrected its original announcement which, in error, suggested there had been an agreement with Google to establish a mechanism to monitor online materials,” he added.
The Palestinian Authority on Monday instructed its broadcasting authority to indefinitely suspend Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV programming in the West Bank.The Paris Attacks: Not a Strategic Change, but a “Natural” Development
“The PA’s security apparatuses have announced officially to all broadcasters in the West Bank that they are forbidden from airing the Al-Aqsa network,” Hamas confirmed in a statement on Facebook.
Israeli watchdog groups have long-claimed Al-Aqsa TV promotes terrorist activity, teaches anti-Semitism and incites hatred of Israelis, especially in its programming for children.
Monday’s move was seen as an attempt by Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to tackle Hamas “incitement,” and in so doing to curb the almost-daily clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian rioters.
The directive came one day after Israel Defense Forces soldiers raided a popular radio station in the West Bank city of Hebron, confiscated equipment, and shut down the station due to accusations that it has been inciting violence against Israelis.
The Paris attacks do not represent a radical or surprising departure from the Islamic State’s strategy against Western nations, and thus what is at work is a natural, calculated development that was planned and organized by the Islamic State. The notion that unlike al-Qaeda, which focused on showcase terrorism in the West as its main action strategy, the Islamic State would avoid international terrorism and concentrate on encouraging sporadic acts of terrorism by lone perpetrators while its main focus was on entrenchment in the Arab sphere was clearly unfounded. In a campaign against the Islamic State, sophistication and innovation are a key. To ensure that the operations are effective and avoid harm to civilians as much as possible – harm that the Islamic State would exploit to recruit new supporters and fighters – it is necessary to make use of local forces in planning, operational activity, aerial assistance, targeted assassinations, and special forces based on high quality intelligence. The difficulty in enlisting a coalition of many states, each with its own particular and sometimes contradictory set of interests, is obvious. But the increase in the scope and impact of the Islamic State’s showcase attacks in Western cities will likely motivate nations to bridge the gaps between them and work together to remove the threat.Officials: Obama, Lawmakers Impede Intel Agencies in Terrorism Fight
U.S. policies are hindering efforts by intelligence agencies to prevent attacks by the Islamic State in Western countries, current and former U.S. officials say, raising concerns in the wake of the Paris attacks and the expiration of a key surveillance tool.Murdoch: weakened by the Left in the fight against terrorism
The National Security Agency officially ended its mass collection of metadata from U.S. phone calls on Sunday. Metadata consists of the dates, times, duration, and other information about the calls, but not their content. The program was first publicly disclosed by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
The USA Freedom Act, passed by lawmakers in June to prohibit the NSA’s metadata collection, now requires the agency to obtain a court order before it can view the phone records of terrorist suspects.
While lawmakers who supported the act cited concerns about the privacy of Americans, current and former U.S. officials say the elimination of surveillance programs could undermine security and make it more difficult to track Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) terrorists.
Michael Allen, a former staff director for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said on Monday that the cancellation of the NSA metadata program makes U.S. intelligence agencies “less flexible and less agile.” Phone companies will still retain the metadata but have to complete multiple steps to gather all the information for an NSA query, he said, slowing the intelligence collection process.
News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch, in a discursive speech Monday evening, blasted Secretary of State John Kerry and attacked the left for creating an “identity crisis” that he charged has undermined American strength and fostered terrorism around the world.Car bomb found in main Bulgarian airport
And he drew a connection between U.S. foreign policy and domestic culture, arguing that “in recent years, there has been far too much institutionalization of grievance and victimhood."…
Murdoch quickly pivoted to a sweeping indictment of U.S. foreign policy under Barack Obama, though he did not mention the president by name.
“For a U.S. secretary of state to suggest that Islamic terrorists had a ‘rationale’ in slaughtering journalists is one of the low points of recent Western diplomacy and it is indicative of a serious malaise,” Murdoch said, referring to Kerry’s recent mangled attempt to draw a distinction between the assault on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and the more recent Paris attacks. ...
“For America to have a sense of direction, two conditions are essential: A U.S. leader must understand, be proud of and assert the American personality,” he said…
“An identity crisis is not a starting point for any journey; and secondly, there must be clear goals informed by values and by a realization of the extraordinary potential of its people,” Murdoch continued.
A van loaded with an explosive and parked outside the international airport of Bulgaria's capital city Sofia was discovered on Tuesday by authorities, who narrowly prevented an apparent disaster.El Al orders pilots not to wear uniforms when out and about in Europe
"An explosive device had been found in the van," announced airport spokesperson Daniela Veleva, who noted police are working to disarm the explosive.
Police later conducted a controlled detonation to eliminate the threat. An Interior Ministry spokesperson revealed a trained police dog had first caught the suspicious bags inside the van during a routine check.
A section of Terminal 1 in the airport was evacuated and cordoned off earlier, after suspicious bags that turned out to contain the bomb were spotted in a van parked just outside the major airport.
El Al has reportedly ordered its pilots not to stay overnight in Brussels, and not to wear their uniforms when out and about in several European capitals.Hungarian mayor: Israel behind Paris attacks
Channel 2 News reported Monday that the new measures were introduced as a consequence of raised fears of terrorism in Europe in the wake of the November 13 Paris terror attacks. An El Al spokesman declined to comment on company security procedures.
Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, as it searched for suspects linked to the bloodbath in France. And though it has since reduced that alert by one level, El Al has barred its pilots from staying overnight in Brussels, and ordered that they must fly back the same day, the TV report said.
It added that El Al pilots have been told not to wear their company uniforms in several unspecified European capitals, so as not to be easily identifiable and thus potentially more vulnerable to terrorism.
A mayor of a city in Hungary has accused Israel of being behind the terror attacks in Paris last month, but was quick to offer an apology after a recording of his comments was leaked to local media.Assad accuses France of 'supporting terrorism'
Speaking during a November 16 council meeting over the expansion of a nearby refugee camp, Szentgotthárd Mayor Gábor Huszár said: "Everyone should just take my word for it. What happened in Paris is clear evidence that certain business circles, dare I say business circles which are likely backed by the Jewish state, are trying to pit Christian Europe against the Muslims."
According to media in the country, Huszár was trying to placate concerns over the expansion of the refugee camp by arguing that the Muslim refugees were not to blame for the November 13 attack in the French capital that claimed the lives of 130 people.
France has been adamant in its opposition to Assad, describing him as a "butcher" of his own people and on Monday Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said working with the Syrian army to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) group was not on the cards until he was removed.Israeli surveillance balloon guarding Paris climate summit
Assad, for his part, said following the deadly terror attacks in Paris that they were caused in part by French policy, and later said his country is willing to share intelligence information with France but only if Paris changes its policies in the region.
On a trip to Washington last week, French President Francois Hollande and reiterated his determination to see Assad step down in order to give Syria a chance for peace, saying "it should be as soon as possible."
"He has been the problem -- he cannot be the solution," Hollande said.
Assad’s claim that France supports terrorism came a day after the Syrian President accused his enemies abroad of increasing support for “terrorists” - that is, the regime's armed opponents.
Assad refers to all the rebel groups trying to oust him as “terrorists”.
An Israeli-made surveillance balloon is being used by the Paris municipal police to help guard the global climate change summit currently underway in Paris.Tel Aviv-sur-Seine? It’s Paris-sur-Yarkon we should fear
Yavne-based RT LTA System Ltd.’s SkyStart 180 Aerostat is in the air over the French capital, providing mid-range surveillance and public security services to the police, which leased the balloon from RT and the French company Groupe SSI.
The balloon can operate continuously for up to 72 hours, and can reach an altitude of as high as 1,000 feet.
In Paris, the SkyStart 180 is utilizing the TR-Stamp surveillance payload, made by Israeli defense company Controp.
Last week’s Economist editorial on the atrocities in Paris contained an off-the-cuff slight so subtle that it barely registers. “[The attacks are] sorely testing [Paris’s] reputation for joie de vivre,” the editors quip, “and its resolution not to become Tel Aviv-sur-Seine.”Netanyahu Holds ‘Important’ Impromptu Meeting With Obama, Kerry on Sidelines of Climate Change Conference in Paris
“Tel Aviv-sur-Seine”? Excuse me? When did “Tel Aviv” suddenly become a lazy byword for “city ravaged by terrorism”?
Do you mean a city that annually absorbs hundreds (if not thousands) of French immigrants, eager to walk upright down the street without fear of being attacked for being Jews? Who believe that Paris has had its day, and Tel Aviv is the city of promise?
Perhaps you mean the city that no matter how many attacks it endures, never loses its “ahavat chayyim” (that’s “joie de vivre” in Hebrew), and whose residents have internalised that revenge is to live, and to live hard and fast and around the clock?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an important meeting with US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry at the climate change conference being held in Paris, Israel’s Channel 10 reported on Monday.Israeli-Arab Communist Leader to be Hosted at White House
According to the report, the impromptu meeting lasted about 10 minutes, on the sidelines of the 2015 United Nations Conference on Climate Change.
Netanyahu was also seen shaking hands with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the first face-to-face encounter the two leaders have had since 2010.
Yediot Achronot, the largest Israeli newspaper, is reporting that Ayman Odeh, an Arab-Israeli politician who serves as Chairman of the Joint List, the third-largest political party in the Knesset, is departing Israel today for a two-week diplomatic visit to Washington D.C.Man who torched Arab-Jewish school sentenced to 3 years
The article notes: “Odeh is expected to meet with senior White House and state department members.” Continuing, “MK Odeh will later fly to Atlanta, where he is scheduled to meet leaders of the American civil rights movement and give a speech at Dr. Martin Luther King's church. After that Odeh will meet with and speak in front of a gathering of 100 reform Jewish rabbis. During the trip, Odeh will take part in a roundtable-style panel at liberal think-tank CAP (Center for American Progress), where PM Benjamin Netanyahu spoke recently.”
Obama may feel very comfortable with Odeh, as he is head of Hadash, a socialist-communist party which “supports a communist economy and workers' rights.” Hadash is “non-Zionist” and earlier this year, the political party “declared its support for the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against companies operating in the Palestinian territories.” Odeh will also be appearing at the HaaretzQ at the New Israel Fund conference in New York on December 12th.
No doubt one of the topics of discussion between Odeh and those White House representatives will be the "fundamental transformation" of Israel.
One of three men convicted in an arson attack on a Jewish-Arab school in Jerusalem a year ago was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison after rejecting a plea deal signed by two other perpetrators.Palestinian Authority limits Christmas celebrations in West Bank
In September, the Jerusalem District Court found Yitzhak Gabai, 22, guilty on separate counts of arson, carrying an illegal weapon, and incitement to violence on social media.
Judge Zvi Segal noted Tuesday that the sentence set a legal precedent in that 10 months of the three years’ imprisonment for Gabai were handed down for the social media incitement conviction — a first. Twenty-four months of his sentence were tied to the arson attack itself, and an additional two months to the knife possession conviction.
Two other men convicted in the arson attack, brothers Nahman and Shlomo Twitto, were sentenced in July to prison terms of two and two-and-a-half years, respectively, in a plea bargain. They were also required to pay the school a total of NIS 25,000 ($6,450) in compensation.
The Palestinian Authority has asked municipalities to tone down their public Christmas celebrations this year amid escalating violence between Palestinians and Israelis.Islamist To Egypt's Christians: Pay ‘Protection’ Tax Or Move Out
Hanna Amireh, who heads a government committee on churches in the West Bank, confirmed the Palestinian Authority is requesting “a certain decrease” in festivities following the deaths of dozens of Palestinians since mid-September. The majority of them were killed during clashes with Israeli forces or carrying out terrorist attacks, according to the Israeli government.
Amireh said the government has asked the municipality of Bethlehem, the town where Jesus was born and where official Palestinian celebrations of Christmas take place, not to set off holiday fireworks this year and to limit the festive lights and decorations that traditionally adorn the town to two main streets.
Although Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah will light the towering Christmas tree in Manger Square he will not participate in a festive post-lighting dinner hosted by the Bethlehem municipality, Amireh said. The colorful annual Christmas procession, which includes the heads of churches and drum-beating Palestinian scouts, will be held as usual.
News of the limitations upset Palestinian Christians, who comprise less than 2 percent of the population in the West Bank and Israel.
Breitbart Jerusalem discussed Tawadros’ visit to Israel and the reports of Christian persecution in Egypt with Abu Ubaidah al-Maqdisi, a senior member the Mujahedeen Shura Council, a Salafi group based in the Egyptian Sinai. The Council previously took responsibility for the firing of rockets from Sinai to the Israeli southern resort city of Eilat.Exiled Iranian poet in Israel: This is the best place on Earth
During the interview, Maqdisi referred to the Coptic leader as “the Christian crusader Tawadros” and claimed Tawadros and the “Zionist enemy” are “part of the ongoing conspiracy against Islam and Muslims.”
“They are a part of the same crusader campaign against Islam and Muslims anywhere in the world and they are part of the alignment which helps the Arab dictators wage war against the Islamists in their countries, the same dictators whose purpose is to help the Crusaders in ruling over the Islamic states.”
Maqdadis vowed, “We shall not allow the Christians and the Crusaders and the Infidels to rule our country. We are at a battle to impose the Islamic caliphate on the whole world. Eventually, Islam will be the only victor in the world.”
The exiled Iranian poet, Payam Feili, arrived in Israel on Sunday to launch the Hebrew version of his new book “Three Reasons” and to attend the premier of an Israeli-produced adaptation of the work.
In an interview with Channel 10 Monday, Feili, who sports a tattoo of a Star of David on his neck, said he has an inexplicable attraction to Israel.
“For me, this is the best place on Earth and the most beautiful,” he said.
“The Iranian people do not hate Israel just like the Israeli people do not hate Iran,” he went on.
Feili was granted an entry visa into Israel by Interior Minister Silvan Shalom last week.
The openly gay 30-year-old has been living in Turkey for over a year, having been forced into exile from Iran after numerous arrests, threats, censorship and run-ins with the Iran’s conservative Revolutionary Guards.
