FW: Today's News Summaries
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Robert Hand
May 14, 2016, 12:13:02 AM5/14/16
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Subject: Today's News Summaries
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Subject: Today's News Summaries
Editor's Note: Friday May 13, 2016
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Israel at 68: Changing
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Contents: (summaries below)
- The Meaning of True Independence, jewishpress.com, Colonel Richard Kemp
- The one thing Israel could do to avoid another Gaza war, al-monitor.com, Shlomi Eldar
- The Arabs' Real Grievance against the Jews, gatestoneinstitute.org, Fred Maroun
- Everything President Obama Promised Us About The Iran Deal Is Starting To Unravel, opinion.injo.com, Speaker Paul Ryan
- Hezbollah commander Badreddine killed in Syria, bbc.com,
- 'People Are Going to Get Hurt': America's Quiet War in Iraq, nationalinterest.org, Nolan Peterson
- In the Event of the Islamic State's Untimely Demise?, foreignpolicy.com, Brian Michael Jenkins, Colin P. Clarke
Colonel Richard Kemp
jewishpress.com, May 12, 2016
Colonel Richard Kemp“What kind of talk is this, ‘punishing Israel?’ Are we a vassal state of yours? Are we a banana republic? Are we 14-year-olds who, if we misbehave, get our wrists slapped? Let me tell you whom this Cabinet comprises. It is composed of people whose lives were marked by resistance, fighting and suffering.”
These were the words of Prime Minister Menachem Begin delivered to the U.S. President Ronald Reagan in December 1981. Begin, one of the greatest leaders and fighters of our times, knew the meaning of true independence.
He knew that it was not about firecrackers, dancing in the streets or lighting flames. It was about standing up for yourself and submitting to no man. Declaring to the world, “this is where we s tand.”
Israel’s independence was bought at a high price in Jewish blood, fighting first against the might of the British Empire and then against five powerful Arab armies which sought its destruction.
For 68 years Israelis have fought again and again to defend their independence against enemies who would subjugate their country. No other nation has struggled so long and so hard, surrounded by such unyielding hostility....
Shlomi Eldar
al-monitor.com, May 11, 2016
Smoke rises after an explosion in what witnesses said was an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, Aug. 20, 2014. Israel launched its Gaza offensive on July 8, 2014, and Hamas responded that Palestinians would continue confronting Israel until its blockade on the economically crippled Gaza Strip was lifted. (photo by Reuters/Ahmed Zakot)
The report by State Comptroller Joseph Shapira on Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip has not yet been published, but the initial draft, received by some 40 top defense and political figures, has already stirred up a storm. Reactions by associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who pounced on the report and on the comptroller with sharp and irrelevant comments, only reinforced the troubling feelings about the summer 2014 militar y campaign, which the Israeli public never perceived as a great military success to begin with. Now comes the draft report, which lambasts the political and military echelons for alleged negligence and infuriating irresponsibility.
For the first time, an official Israeli report links the suffering in the Gaza Strip caused by the blockade and the firing of rockets into Israel.
In a May 9 Al-Monitor article, Ben Caspit described the “war of generals” expected to erupt after the release of the final report. The most significant point in the comptroller’s report is his assessment that putting aside the flawed conduct of the operation and attendant decision-making, the war in Gaza could have been avoided. If the Israeli political echelon had not been shackled by outdated conceptions and basic lack of understanding regarding the significance of the Gaza blockade and its inherent dangers, many lives would have probably been spared. Senior Israeli off icials who received the draft — which they described as more severe than the findings of the Winograd Commission that investigated the shortcomings of Israel’s 2006 Lebanon War — said that one of the report’s chapters deals with what Israel could have done to avert the clash.
In the days before the military campaign, there was obvious satisfaction in Jerusalem over Egypt having joined in imposing a hermetic seal on Gaza and the new regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi conducting an all-out war against the tunnels dug by Hamas in Rafah on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt. The military and political leaderships failed, however, to understand one simple fact: that additional pressure on the Gaza pressure cooker would result in an explosion, as indeed it did.
Although Operation Protective Edge was the peak of an escalation that began with the June 2014 kidnapping and murder of three Israeli youths in the West Bank Etziyon settleme nt bloc, the root of the problem that led Hamas toward the conflict was the Gaza blockade and the desire to get rid of it at whatever the cost. When Hamas says “whatever the cost,” that includes the total destruction of extensive areas of the Gaza Strip and the lives of Gaza residents.
This is the first time since former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert imposed the closure on Gaza in June 2007 that an Israeli official will do the obvious and directly link the blockade and rocket firings at Israel. Anyone who assumes that the pressure on Gaza can be sustained relentlessly, without consequence, is either delusional or ignorant about human nature.
Hamas developed the Qassam rocket before the blockade as a deterrent against Israel and a way to attack without clashing with Israeli ground forces, but the blockade created a threat to its continued rule and forced it to launch an arms race that turned Gaza into a powder keg. Israel did not understand at the time that an extended blockade would mean subjecting Israeli residents in the south to a life in the shadow of Hamas rockets....
Fred Maroun
gatestoneinstitute.org, May 07, 2016
- The Arab world still does not today accept the concept of a Jewish state of any size or any shape. Even Egypt and Jordan, who signed peace agreements with Israel, do not accept that Israel is a Jewish state, and they continue to promote anti-Semitic hatred
against Israel.
- During Israel's War of Independence, Jews were ethnically cleansed from Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, and in the years that followed, they were ethnically cleansed from the rest of the Arab world.
- Jews demand the right to exist, and to exist as equals, on the land where they have existed and belonged continuously for more than three thousand years.
- We would rather claim that the conflict is about "occupation" and "settlements." The Jews see what radical Islamists are now doing to Christians and other minorities, who were also in the Middle East for thousands of years before the Muslim Prophet Mohammed
was even born.
- The real Arab grievance against the Jews is that they exist....
Speaker Paul Ryan
opinion.injo.com, May 10, 2016
When you get down to it, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that the Obama administration essentially misled the American people on the Iran deal—or at least misled itself.
Everything the administration told us about the deal is starting to unravel. The administration assured us that it could reimpose—or “snap back” –sanctions if Iran cheated. That seems more improbable now that other countries and even American companies are racing back into the Iranian marketplace.
We were told that Iran would never get access to the dollar or the U.S. financial system. The administration now appears to be reconsidering, and a few weeks ago it purchased millions of dollars of heavy water from Tehran. This follows an apparent $1.7 billion ransom paid earlier this year in exchange for five Americans unjustly detained in Iran.
They also told us that, if we just dealt with the nuclear problem, America would be in a stronger position to combat Iran’s other destabilizing activities. Instead, the defiant and emboldened regime in Tehran continues to sponsor terrorism across the regime, test-fire ballistic missiles inscribed with “Death to Israel,” and abuse the basic human rights of its citizens....
bbc.com, May 13, 2016
The man believed to be Hezbollah's most senior military commander in Syria's war has been killed in Damascus.
Mustafa Amine Badreddine's brother Adnan (L) paid his tribute in southern Beirut
Mustafa Amine Badreddine died in a large explosion near Damascus airport, the Lebanon-based militant group said in a statement on its al-Manar website.
Hezbollah supports Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and has sent thousands of fighters into Syria.
In 2015, the US said that Badreddine was behind all of Hezbollah's military operations in Syria since 2011....
Nolan Peterson
nationalinterest.org, May 11, 2016
U.S. ARMED FORCES, Iraq—The aircraft parked on the ramp at this military base in northern Iraq offer a symbolic counterpoint to the White House narrative that U.S. forces are on the sidelines of the ground war against the Islamic State.
U.S. Army medevac Blackhawk helicopters are based here, including the one that picked up mortally wounded Navy SEAL Charles Keating IV under heavy enemy fire during a May 3 battle north of Mosul.
Also lined up on the tarmac are Army Apache attack helicopters; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft; and a variety of armed special operations aircraft from different military branches.
“We’re in a war zone, and this place is dangerous,” an Army officer told The Daily Signal.
The U.S. base is an operational hub for Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led, 66-nation coalition combating Islamic State, the terrorist army also known as ISIS that holds territory in Iraq and Syria.
From the base in the vicinity of Erbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, U.S. and coalition personnel coordinate airstrikes to support Kurdish peshmerga forces.U.S. special operations troops also stage operations from here to advise and assist the peshmerga during combat.
To accomplish the advise-and-assist mission, U.S. special operations troops frequently go into areas where combat is happening....
Brian Michael Jenkins, Colin P. Clarke
foreignpolicy.com, May 11, 2016
Even a caliphate needs a Plan B. Here's what Baghdadi's might look like.
Photo Credit: Anadolu/Contributor
The power of the Islamic State is waning. With its loss of Ramadi and Palmyra over the past several months, and the steady advance of U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in northern Syria and Iraq, the group is shedding territory. It is also losing recruits to casualties and desertions, as its finances are being squeezed by coalition strikes on bulk cash storage sites and oil refineries. Meanwhile, the coalition campaign to eliminate high-value battlefield targets is succeeding.
Yet, defeat does not appear imminent. The Islamic State still controls key territory, including Raqqa, the capital of its caliphate; the Iraqi city of Mosul and large swaths of territory in the surrou nding Nineveh province; and hardscrabble Sunni enclaves in Anbar province, such as Fallujah, Hit, and Haditha. Furthermore, though the coalition has deprived the Islamic State of hundreds of millions of dollars, it is likely to find new, creative ways to replenish its diminishing war chest.
For Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, surrender is out of the question. And given the Islamic State leadership’s horrific behavior and stated objective of establishing a caliphate governed by sharia, a negotiated settlement is a non-starter. In the past, insurgencies that have come to an end in this way featured moderate leaders, insurgents open to compromise, and governments willing to accept insurgents as legitimate negotiating partners. The Islamic State and its opponents share none of these attributes....
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Robert Hand
May 17, 2016, 1:45:00 AM5/17/16
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Date: Tue, 17 May 2016 05:25:43 +0000
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Sent: Monday, May 16, 2016 3:06 PM
Editor's Note: Monday May 16, 2016
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Contents: (summaries below)
- Netanyahu Blasts France for 'Scandalous' UN Vote and Useless Peace Conference, unitedwithisrael.org,
- IDF general: IS fighters training with Hamas in Gaza, timesofisrael.com, Times of Israel staff
- Germany: Christian Refugees Persecuted by Muslims, gatestoneinstitute.org, Soeren Kern
- Hezbollah's Biggest Loss to Date in Syria, washingtoninstitute.org, Nadav Pollak and Matthew Levitt
- Analysis: Iran's War in Syria to Uphold Hezbollah in Lebanon, jerusalemonline.com, Reza Parchizadeh
- Exclusive: 'I was Raised by an Islamist Terror Cult in America', clarionproject.org, Ryan Mauro
unitedwithisrael.org, May 15, 2016
Despite Netanyahu’s strong objections, questioning France’s objectivity and insisting on direct negotiations, the French foreign minister is determined to move ahead with a peace conference.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s opposition to the upcoming French peace conference during a meeting Sunday morning with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, adding that the fairness of the conference was undermined by a “scandalous” French vote in favor of a recent resolution by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) regarding the Temple Mount.”
“I told (Ayrault) that the only way to advance true peace between us and the Palestinians is through direct negotiations between us and them without preconditions,” Netanyahu told the cabinet....
Times of Israel staff
timesofisrael.com, May 16, 2016
Hamas fighters take part in an anti-Israel rally in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, February 26, 2016. (AFP/Said Khatib)
Islamic State fighters have recently arrived in the Gaza Strip to train with their Hamas counterparts, a senior IDF official said in an Arabic interview published Friday.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai told the Saudi news website Elaph that IS members entered the Gaza Strip from the Sinai Peninsula through smuggling tunnels maintained and controlled by Hamas.
The fighters entered the Hamas-controlled territory in coordination with Sa’id Abed al-A’al, a resident of the Gaza Strip city of Rafah connected to Hamas, he said.
Mordechai, the head of the Defense Ministry body responsible for the Israeli border cros sings with the Gaza Strip and Civil Administration in the West Bank, said the military cooperation between the Islamic State and Hamas is unfolding with the full knowledge and consent of Hamas’s leaders....
Soeren Kern
gatestoneinstitute.org, May 15, 2016
"Incidents are deliberately downplayed and even covered up."
- Thousands of Christians in German refugee shelters are being persecuted by Muslims, sometimes even by their security guards, according to a new report by the NGO Open Doors.
- "A major obstacle to the survey was that many victims were afraid to participate. ... Their concern was not only on the possible consequences for them personally and for their families in Germany, but also for their relatives who continue to live in the
countries of origin." — Open Doors report.
- "I came to Germany after fleeing my own country in the hope my life would be safer in the face of growing dangers. But in Germany I've been threatened more." — Christian refugee in Germany.
- "Despite increased reports about this problem by the media, charities, human rights organizations, church leaders and Christian organizations, German authorities and politicians have hardly ever launched an investigation. Instead, we believe that incidents are deliberately downplayed and even covered up. ... Even in police stations, religiously motivated attacks on Christian refugees are not documented as such." — Open Doors report....
Nadav Pollak and Matthew Levitt
washingtoninstitute.org, May 13, 2016
Mustafa Badreddine's death will hurt
the group's operational efforts and morale in Syria, but it remains to be seen who it will blame for the attack and whether it will retaliate.On May 13, Hezbollah confirmed the death of its most prominent military figure, Mustafa Badreddine, reportedly killed in an explosion in Damascus on Tuesday night. Given Badreddine's role as head of the group's External Security Organization and its forces in Syria, his death represents Hezbollah's biggest loss since the 2008 assassination of former "chief of staff" Imad Mughniyah. The two men knew each other very well -- they were cousins and brothers-in-law, and they led Hezbollah's military activities for years.
Badreddine (aka "Zulfiqar") had a long history in the organization's ranks dating back to the early 1980s, when he took part in a series of terrorist attacks in Lebanon and Kuwait targeting U.S. embassies, Marine barracks, and other sites. After his escape from Kuwaiti prison during the Iraqi occupation in the early 1990s, he returned to Lebanon and quickly climbed up Hezbollah's ranks, helping the group establish some of its most notorious units. One fellow operative even described Badreddine as "more dangerous" than Mughniyah, his longtime "teacher in terrorism" (see PolicyWatch 1833, "Senior Hizballah Official Wanted for Murder").
In 2008, after Mughniyah was killed in an explosion in Damascus, Badreddine was promoted to head of Hezbollah's operations, including its operations abroad. Yet he remained a shadowy figure in Lebanon until 2011, when a long-delayed special tribunal named him as a culprit behind the assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri. That same year, Badreddine's status as on e of the group's military pillars was further solidified when he received the Syria portfolio. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, which imposed sanctions on him for various activities, his new post included attending meetings between Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, coordinating the deployment of fighters next door, and planning some of their operations in the war....
Reza Parchizadeh
jerusalemonline.com, May 16, 2016
Iranian political theorist Reza Parchizadeh explains why Iran continues to fight in Syria. According to him, it is more about propping up Hezbollah than it is about keeping Assad in power.
Photo Credit: Reuters/Channel 2 News
It is typically assumed that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s all-out military intervention in Syria is in order to save its old – and now seemingly only Arab – ally, President Bashar Assad. However, I believe Assad’s retention, although an important objective, is not necessarily the Iranian regime’s ultimate goal. Rather, the foremost aim of the Iranian intervention in Syria is to uphold Hezbollah in Lebanon. In order to understand the logic behind that assumption, we must backtrack a few decades to be able to see the roots of the present situation in Lebanon.
Lebanon has always been a land of multiple sects and religions. The majority are Christians and Sunni and Shia Muslims with a Druze minority. When on November 22, 1943 Lebanon gained its independence from France, political power was unevenly divided between the Christians and the Sunnis while the Shias found no or little legal representation. In order to fix that shortcoming, the Iranian cleric Musa Sadr was sent to Lebanon in the early 1960s.
Sadr, during the two decades he was stationed in Lebanon, organized the Shia population and turned it into a political power to reckon with. The Supreme Shia Council of Lebanon (founded in 1967) and the Amal Movement (founded in 1974) that Sadr set up became the Shia powerbases in Lebanon. However, the Sadr current’s foremost preoccupation was to give a distinctive voice and identity to the Lebanese Shia population rather than making the Shias the sole political power in Lebanon.
Nevertheless, the emergence of a self-conscious Shia movement made the boiling pot of Lebanon even more brewing, so much so that it can be claimed the rise of the Shia bloc became one of the major factors that contributed to the sparking of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975. During that dragged-out war, the Amal took up arms and fought alongside the Palestinian exiles against the Christians and their Western allies and Israel. As a result, when in the early 1980s a freshly revolutionary Islamic Republic of Iran entered the stage, it had little trouble recruiting the radicalized elements of Amal and other members of the Lebanese Shia community to create the formidable Hezbollah....
Ryan Mauro
clarionproject.org, May 15, 2016
A woman who grew up within Jamaat ul-Fuqra (Muslims of the Americas), a cultish Islamist terrorist group spoke to Clarion Project.
(Illustrative picture: Pixabay)
The Clarion Project has been in contact with a woman who grew up within Jamaat ul-Fuqra, a cultish Sufi Islamist terrorist group that now goes by the name of Muslims of the Americas.
The group is best known for establishing "Islamic villages" on U.S. soil, for example, its "Islamberg" headquarters in New York state.
She has agreed to anonymously come forward with her heartbreaking story. We have removed details for her safety. She provided photographs and specific facts that are unavailable in the public sphere that we subsequently confirmed.
The following is her testimony provided to Clarion Proj ect national security analyst Ryan Mauro. It is one of the very few first-hand testimonies from someone who was inside Jamaat ul-Fuqra when it committed terrorism under that name:
I still know many Muslims and I know that Jamaat ul-Fuqra is nothing like them, but there are violent ones who will take issue with what I say and do. They believe you should be killed if you decide not to be Muslim or practice Islam the way they do because, to them, it’s “apostasy,” and that’s a capital offense under Islam. I do believe some of those violent Muslims may attempt to kill me.
From my point of view as a kid in Michigan, everything was great even though my mom and dad got a divorce and I was living with my mom. My first introduction to X [a Fuqra member] was when he hit me for breaking rules I knew nothing about. My name was also changed to be Islamic.
We lived at 52 Ferris Street in Highland Park, Michigan, a three-story building with s ix apartments on each floor. The entire building was occupied by black Muslims, some who came from Detroit. Non-Muslims were not allowed to move in. Armed guards were at the front entrance.
Living in the building was like living in a Muslim country. We didn’t go outside much because they didn’t want us to be influenced by non-Muslims. Us kids didn’t have any friends outside of the building. We were very poor and slept on the bare floor with no beds. Sometimes we didn’t have heat or hot water. We didn’t have any furniture whatsoever. We ate on the floor out of large platters with our fingers. Food was also sometimes scarce.
Once my mother was making the only food we had in the house: Beans and rice. As she was seasoning, she mistakenly poured the entire bottle of salt in it. I watched her break down crying because this was the only food she had to feed her children. Someone told her to use a potato to suck the salt out of the food s o we could eat it.
The building was like a house of horrors. Some of the kids were tortured by their parents or beaten by the “brothers” in the building. There was one kid in particular I remember who was treated really badly. He would be beaten severely for little things like taking food from the refrigerator for himself. He and some others would sometimes not be allowed to stand up and forced to hop around like a bunny for days on end. They’d make him run errands throughout the building, hopping up three flights of stairs.
He was also starving and I remember him coming to our door begging for food. There was a fire set by one girl who was also known to be beaten badly and kept separate from the rest of the kids. Years later, I met the boy again and he just broke down crying. It was heart-wrenching. He wanted to know why no one helped him....
Robert Hand
May 18, 2016, 1:49:54 PM5/18/16
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Date: Wed, 18 May 2016 17:47:47 +0000
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Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2016 12:25 PM
Editor's Note: Tuesday May 17, 2016
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YouTube video - 04:08 (May 10, 2016) The IDF as you've never seen it before WATCH: IDF special forces units are some of the best in the world and are prepared to defend Israel against any and all threats; Watch as these elite soldiers train to keep Israel and all her citizens safe. CLICK HERE for article and videos The Glazov Gang-Phyllis Chesler Moment: Islam’s Specialty -- Gender and Religious Apartheid. YouTube Video - 10:51 (May 14, 2016) |
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Contents: (summaries below)
- Palestinians: The 'Battle for Succession', gatestoneinstitute.org, Khaled Abu Toameh
- ISIS Membership Drops Amid Reports Of Increased Brutality, westernjournalism.com, Yochanan Visser
- Al Qaeda Turns to Syria, With a Plan to Challenge ISIS, nytimes.com, Eric Schmitt
- Iranian Navy Commander: If Americans 'make even slightest mistake, their naval vessels will be sunk in the Persian Gulf', jihadwatch.org, Robert Spencer
- Five Possible Futures for the US Navy, defenseone.com, Mark Hagerott
- House 2017 defense bill would face Obama veto: White House, reuters.com, Patricia Zengerle
Khaled Abu Toameh
gatestoneinstitute.org, May 16, 2016
...After Arafat died, Arafatism lived on. The same applies to Mahmoud Abbas. No real changes, if ever, should be expected in the Palestinian attitude towards the conflict with Israel after his departure.
After Yasser Arafat died, Arafatism lived on. The same applies to Mahmoud Abbas. No real changes, if ever, should be expected in the Palestinian attitude towards the conflict with Israel after his departure. Pictured above: Yasser Arafat (L) and Mahmoud Abbas (R) in a Fatah propaganda poster.
Once again, the Palestinians will be the big losers. No one is going to ask their opinion about the next president and they will not be given the opportunity to cast their ballots in a presidential election.
Fatah's Central Committee in the West Bank brings to mind the Politburo of a Communist Party, which made decisions on behalf of the people, t hough not with their best interests in mind. In the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians will continue to be ruled by Hamas, an Islamist movement that has brought nothing but destruction and disaster to Palestinians.
So, in the end, the question of Abbas's successor is rather unimportant. The Palestinians will continue to be ruled by dictatorships that do not give a damn about their people.
Yochanan Visser
westernjournalism.com, May 12, 2016
ISIS outdid itself in its barbarism.
The Islamic State continues to commit unspeakable, horrific crimes against humanity and have recently seemed to step up their brutal execution campaign against non-Muslims, fellow Muslims, and even their own members.
On Thursday, the organization released a new anti-Christian propaganda video with sickening images of the murder of a group of Christians who refused to convert to Islam.
In the chilling video, a group of at least 16 Ethiopian Christians can be seen lying on a beach in Libya. The Christians were dressed in the traditional orange ISIS jumpsuits while their masked executioners stand behind them.
They are then separated into two groups. The first group is shot while the ISIS terrorists say they are “followers of the cross from the enemy Ethiopian Church,” while the other group undergoes gruesome beheadings. The video also shows images of burning churches in Ni neveh (Mosul) and other places in Iraq.
This was the second time the Islamic State murdered Christians on a beach in Libya. In February, ISIS beheaded a group of Egyptian Coptic Christians. Libya is in the top ten most dangerous countries for Christians in the world. The list, compiled by the Christian charity Open Doors, lists North Korea as the most dangerous, while Iraq comes in second place. As a result of the relentless persecution by Islamist terror groups only 200,000 Christians remain in Iraq today, down from 2 million in 2003....
Eric Schmitt
nytimes.com, May 15, 2016
The Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in a 2011 image provided by the SITE Intelligence Group. He seemed to clear the way this month for Al Qaeda figures to use the group’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, to form an emirate there. (Credit via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Al Qaeda’s top leadership in Pakistan, badly weakened after a decade of C.I.A. drone strikes, has decided that the terror group’s future lies in Syria and has secretly dispatched more than a dozen of its most seasoned veterans there, according to senior American and European intelligence and counterterrorism officials.
The movement of the senior Qaeda jihadists reflects Syria’s growing importance to the terrorist organization and most likely foreshadows an escalation of the group’s bl oody rivalry with the Islamic State, Western officials say.
The operatives have been told to start the process of creating an alternate headquarters in Syria and lay the groundwork for possibly establishing an emirate through Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, to compete with the Islamic State, from which Nusra broke in 2013. This would be a significant shift for Al Qaeda and its affiliate, which have resisted creating an emirate, or formal sovereign state, until they deem conditions on the ground are ready. Such an entity could also pose a heightened terrorist threat to the United States and Europe....
Robert Spencer
jihadwatch.org, May 16, 2016
Reminding the Americans who’s boss, as if the Obama administration didn’t know.
“IRGC Navy Commander Fadavi: American Vessels Will Be Sunk in the Persian Gulf If They Make the Slightest Mistake,” MEMRI, May 10, 2016:
In a recent TV interview, IRGC Navy Commander Ali Fadavi said: “The Americans are aware that if they make even the slightest mistake, their naval vessels will be sunk in the Persian Gulf, the Hormuz Strait, and the Sea of Oman.” He further claimed that Iran’s vessels would emerge from “undersea tunnels,” in which “no force will be able to harm our naval vessels.” In the interview, which aired on IRINN TV on May 10, Fadavi maintained that the crew of U.S. vessels is now obliged to speak Farsi in the Persian Gulf, and indeed do so.
Mark Hagerott
defenseone.com, May 15, 2016
Technology, especially networked algorithms, is changing the game. But which path will it take the Navy down?
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeanette Mullinax
The future of American naval power is in flux, perhaps more so than at any time since the simultaneous invention of submarines and aircraft about a century ago. An accelerating development of advanced technology resulting in the proliferation of ever “smarter” machines may soon alter operational doctrines across all physical domains. A critical mass of intelligent machines may create a type of warfare increasingly depopulated of humans and repopulated by unmanned systems. If cyberspace becomes a dominant domain of warfare, sea power may change even more radically.
Th e creation and sustainment of naval power can be framed as a four-factor problem-solving exercise. A simple memory device for the four factors, which was used with good effect in the education of several classes of midshipmen trainees, is the TIME model of naval warfare: naval power is generated at an ever-evolving nexus of Technology, Ideas (tactics, doctrine, strategy), Men and women, and Environment factors (in five domains). Expanded slightly: technology must be appropriate to the environment, guided by ideas whose creativity derives from men and women with imagination, integrity, and stamina.
But something new is afoot. With the rise of ever more intelligent machines, and the ability for fleets to act at increasing distances, the relationship between the human operator and technology is in a state of rapid change. Cumulative advances in artificial intelligence could produce a qualitatively new level of reliance on autonomous machines that challenges fundamental theor ies of war as a human and machine endeavor. The TIME model will still apply, but technology and pre-programmed ideas or machine learning may replace more and more operators on the battlefield, even though humans will still be the ultimate source of creative programming shoreside. Thus, the paths to the future of naval warfare are multiple....
Patricia Zengerle
reuters.com, May 16, 2016
U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks at North Western high school in Flint, a city struggling with the effects of lead-poisoned drinking water, in Michigan May 4, 2016. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)
President Barack Obama's White House set up one last fight with the Republican-controlled Congress over defense spending on Monday, threatening to veto a 2017 defense authorization bill over its use of special war funds for day-to-day military programs.
The House of Representatives draft of the $602 billion National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which sets spending policy for the Department of Defense, would shift $18 billion of wartime Overseas Contingency Operations, or OCO, funds to avoid automatic budget cuts to military p rograms.
The Obama administration objects to the use of that money, saying it threatens U.S. security and unfairly spares the Pentagon from cuts faced by important civilian programs such as medical research and education.
"By gambling with warfighting funds, the bill risks the safety of our men and women fighting to keep America safe, undercuts stable planning and efficient use of taxpayer dollars, dispirits troops and their families, baffles our allies, and emboldens our enemies," the White House said in a statement.
House Republicans say the spending plan is essential to ensure that the military has the resources it needs, as it wages wars in Afghanistan and against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria....
Robert Hand
May 20, 2016, 11:22:43 PM5/20/16
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Date: Sat, 21 May 2016 03:16:24 +0000
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VIDEO: Anti-Semitism in Britain's Labour Party May 19, 2016 at 1:00 pm Anti-Semitism isn't new to the UK Labour Party, and its recent anti-Semitic outbursts shouldn't surprise anyone. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has ordered an "independent inquiry" into the party's anti-Semitism. Douglas Murray, a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Gatestone Institute, explains in the video below how Labour's anti-Semitism problem starts at top of the party, and why this inquiry won't solve anything. Click here to view this illuminating 5-minute video: |
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Contents: (summaries below)
- Temple Mount Activist Yehuda Glick Joins the Israeli Knesset, Arutz-7, Alice Leason
- French Minister in Israel to Learn How to Deal with Terror Attacks, APwire, Stanley Evens
- Israeli Government Will Support Death Penalty for Terrorists, UnitedwithIsrael.com, Terri Nir
- Report: ISIS Terrorists Enter Gaza to Train with Hamas, WorldIsraelNews.com, James Kann
- 6 Fun Facts about 113-year-old Goldie Michelson - the Oldest Person in the US, JewishTelegraphicAgency , Gabe Friedman
Alice Leason
Arutz-7, May 20, 2016
With
the resignation of outgoing Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon from Israeli politics for the time being, Rabbi Yehuda Glick, an activist fighting for equal rights for Jews at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, is the newest Member of Knesset, Israel’s parliament.Glick was number 33 on the Likud party’s Knesset list, and by stepping down, Ya’alon paved the way for Glick to launch his political career in earnest.
“I pray to God that He give me good counsel and accompany me as an emissary for the nation of Israel, to sanctify the name of Heaven and to increase peace and light in the world and work to unify the nation of Israel,” Glick told Israel’s Arutz Sheva in response to the news.
Although labeled by many on the left as an extremist, in actuality Glick, executive director of the Haliba Movement for Jewish Freedom on the Temple Mount, supports equal rights for Jews and Arabs, fighting against the profound discrimination faced by Jewish visitors to Judaism’s holiest site. He has also called for joint Jewish-Muslim prayer sessions.
In October 2014, a Palestinian terrorist shot Glick in the chest multiple times after he had delivered a lecture in Jerusalem promoting an increased Jewish presence at the Mount. Glick, in critical condition at the time, underwent intensive surgery and months of rehabilitation. The assassination attempt occurred after Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, in one of many acts of incitement, told his people to prevent Jews – “in any way” – from visiting the site.
Glick is a resident of the town of Otniel in Judea, where Dafna Meir, a mother of six and a beloved nurse, was stabbed to death by a Palestinian teenager who, admittedly, murdered her in the presence of her daughter after watching a TV program on PA TV that incited to violence against Jews.
Glick says the situation in Otniel today is still one of heightened tension, Arutz-7 reported. ...
Stanley Evens
APwire, May 20, 2016
More
European countries are turning to Israel to learn from its vast experience in combating Islamic terrorism. France’s health minister is meeting with Israeli health care professionals to learn from their experience in dealing with terror attacks.Marisol Touraine visited Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital on Thursday and met with the Israeli health minister, Ya’akov Litzman. She recounted the “dramatic terror attack at the end of last year” in France and said her country needs to “think about the best way to prepare our hospitals in case of new attacks.”
Touraine added that there will be cooperation between the two countries “to learn from the Israeli experience.” Her visit comes as Europe struggles to cope with security threats from Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists that have claimed the Paris and Brussels terror attacks. Following the Muslim attacks in Europe, Israel has extended its assistance to any European country that requests it and in any field Israel can offer help.
Israel has reportedly become a hub for intelligence agencies seeking information on the various Muslim terror organizations that are planning further attacks against the West. Israel has been hit hard over the decades by Palestinian terrorist attacks in various forms, and has vast experience in preventing them and with treating victims of the attacks.
Terri Nir
UnitedwithIsrael.com, May 20, 2016
As
per the demand made by incoming Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman in order to join the government coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to implement the death penalty for terrorists.According to a report on Israel’s Channel 10, the death penalty for terrorists was a condition set by Liberman in order to bring his Israel Beyteinu party into the government coalition.
Liberman, who replaces Moshe Ya’alon as defense minister, met privately with the Israeli leader on Wednesday at the Prime Minister’s Office, where he was offered the Defense Ministry portfolio as well as that of the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption (Aliyah). In fact, another reform Liberman hopes to achieve is legislation providing government pensions to immigrants who have not been living in Israel long enough to get a full pension, which Netanyahu has said he would back.
“If we can correct this issue and ensure that immigrants will get pensions, this will be a major accomplishment. It will bring national recognition to the status of immigrants and to the Russian-speaking population in Israel,” Liberman, whose party consists mainly of immigrants from the Former Soviet Union, said on Thursday.
James Kann
WorldIsraelNews.com, May 20, 2016
Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists from the Sinai Peninsula have entered Gaza through terror-tunnels to train with the Hamas terror organization, a senior IDF officer has revealed.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai spoke of the recent developments on Friday in an interview with the Saudi news site Elaph, as translated by Israel’s Haaretz.
Mordechai said operatives entered Gaza a few days ago with the support of a well-connected Hamas affiliate, and that the organization is helping the ISIS fighters to receive medical care in Gaza’s hospitals. Such reports have surfaced in the past, and the collaboration between Hamas and Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, ISIS’ affiliate in the Sinai is a well established fact. Elaph has in recent weeks published reports of wounded men being transferred from the restive Sinai Peninsula into Gaza. In return, ISIS is reportedly supplying Hamas with weapons.
Mordechai explained that Hamas’ field commanders were informed, and its top military and political leaders were updated on the issue. On Saturday, Hamas denied the reports. Hamas spokesman in Gaza Sami Abu Zuhri called Mordechai’s words “incitement” against the Gaza Strip, issued in order to “justify future aggression and the continued siege of Gaza.” However, officials in the Israeli defense establishment say that Hamas only denies connections with ISIS outwardly, but are actually collaborating with them, as well as with Iran.
According to Palestinian sources in Gaza reported by Haaretz, though Hamas is actively courting Egypt, there are some, especially in it military leadership, that view Iran and Salafist groups as their main source of funds and arms, and are reluctant to give up the ties. Nonetheless, Hamas is facing increasing pressure from the Saudi royal house to cut ties with Iran and respect Egyptian national security interests.
Egypt has been waging a bloody war against ISIS insurgents in the Sinai. Egypt’s army has been conducting an extensive campaign to destroy smuggling tunnels running between Sinai and Gaza, as part of a broader military campaign in the northern Sinai against anti-regime Islamic terrorists who, together with Hamas, have carried out several deadly attacks against Egypt’s security forces.
Gabe Friedman
JewishTelegraphicAgency , May 19, 2016
After
the death last week of 116-year-old Susannah Mushatt-Jones, a 113-year-old Jewish lady named Goldie Michelson became the oldest living person in the United States.Goldie (neé Corash), as most who know her call her, is in great shape for her age, but she’s a little hard of hearing these days. So, Renee Minsky, 84, spoke with JTA by phone about her mother’s extraordinary life — which has involved Jewish volunteer work, theater and a lot of chocolate. Here are some of the aspects that stand out.
1. She’s lived in Worcester, Massachusetts, for over a century: - Born to Reform Jewish parents in Russia in 1902, Goldie immigrated to the U.S. at age 2. Apart from her time as an infant in Russia and a stint as an undergrad at Pembroke College — a women’s college in Providence, Rhode Island, that merged into Brown University in 1971 — Michelson has lived her entire life in her adopted hometown.
2. There’s a theater named after her at Clark University: - Goldie has a lifelong passion for theater, which she taught to Hebrew school students at Worcester’s Temple Emanuel (now Temple Emanuel Sinai), Jewish senior citizens and others for decades. She still has a small theater in the basement of her home, complete with a stage, footlights and a dressing room, which doubles as a laundry room. When Goldie left generous funding for future renovations to the local theater at Clark University in her will, the school naturally renamed it the Michelson Theater.
3. She wrote a master’s thesis about Worcester’s Jews: - Michelson completed a master’s degree at Clark University in sociology, and her thesis focused on a community that few probably know better than she does: the Jews of Worcester. In “A Citizenship Survey of Worcester Jewry,” Goldie found that many of the city’s Jewish immigrants were intimidated by the task of learning English and didn’t pursue American citizenship.
4. She volunteered for Jewish groups like Hadassah and helped resettle Soviet Jewish refugees: - After the borders of the Soviet Union opened up for Jews in 1989, a new wave of Jewish immigrants came to Worcester. Michelson was among the volunteers to help them settle in and accustom themselves to American society. Minsky fondly recalled attending the first bar mitzvah of a Soviet immigrant — an experience she said was “incredible.” On top of that, Michelson worked with many volunteer organizations, including Jewish ones like Hadassah and the National Council of Jewish Women. “You think of a women’s organization, and I was directing it,” she told the Worcester Telegram in 2012.
5. She says the key to her longevity was walking: - Goldie doesn’t leave home much anymore, but for much of her life, she walked 4 or 5 miles every morning. “One of the great joys of life was when I sold my car,” she told Clark University’s magazine in 2012. However, her real secret could be being a Jewish lady named Goldie — up until last year, the presumed oldest Jew in the world was 114-year-old Goldie Steinberg of New York.
6. Her favorite foods are chocolate and lobster: - Michelson is very healthy for her age, so she can still enjoy her culinary favorites. In addition to chocolate and lobster, Minsky said her mother also loves hot dogs and corn on the cob.
Robert Hand
May 24, 2016, 1:17:07 AM5/24/16
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Date: Tue, 24 May 2016 05:04:40 +0000
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Editor's Note: Monday May 23, 2016
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Contents: (summaries below)
- U.S. Will Work with New Israeli Defense Minister, State Department Says, IsraelChannelTen, Yonatan Sindel
- Fearful for Economic Future, Israelis want Scandinavian-style Government, Survey Shows, Reuters, Ben Sales
- J Street's pro-Iran Deal Activities Biggest Beneficiary of Anti-Nukes Foundation, APwire, Julia Dakoie
- Bibi's Foes Seeking a Promised Land, DEBKAfile, Debka Staff
- Moderate Arab States Show Flexibility Toward Peace Initiative with Israel, TheTower.org, Jonathan Spyer
- PM: I'm Responsible for Israel's Defense, 'STOP the Crying', timesofisrael.com, Marissa Newman
- Iran Warns It Can Destroy Israel 'in Less Than 8 Minutes', unitedwithisrael.org, Larry Levine
Yonatan Sindel
IsraelChannelTen, May 22, 2016
The
United States said it would work with the successor to Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, following his resignation.“We appreciate Mr. Yaalon’s leadership and partnership as defense minister and we look forward to working with his successor,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said Friday, Reuters reported. “Our bonds of friendship are unbreakable, and our commitment to the security of Israel remains absolute.”
Israel’s Channel 10 on Sunday cited an unnamed U.S. government official as saying that the appointment of Yisrael Beiteinu Party head Avigdor Liberman to replace Yaalon will not affect security coordination between the countries and that it would not affect the military aid package currently being negotiated with Israel. The report came hours after Israel’s Channel 2 reported that the U.S. warned Israel that the appointment of Liberman would cause problems for the defense talks.
Yaalon resigned from the Knesset and from his ministerial position on Friday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was immersed in talks to replace him with hard-line Yisrael Beiteinu Party head Avigdor Liberman. He said in leaving that the Likud Party had been “taken over by extremist and dangerous entities,” and that Likud “is no longer the movement I joined.” ...
Ben Sales
Reuters, May 22, 2016
On one hand,
most Israelis say their financial situation is good and getting better. On the other hand, they’re worried they won’t be able to provide for their children.On one hand, they want significantly more government spending in a wide range of public services. On the other hand, they say they pay too many taxes.
These are among the confused results of a wide-ranging economic survey obtained by JTA ahead of its publication Tuesday by the Israel Democracy Institute think tank. The survey results show widespread Israeli positivity when it comes to personal finances, disappointment in government and a desire for a broader welfare state on the Scandinavian model.
“These are people who, in the present, have a reasonable situation, but because of all of the change in the global arena, they’re very scared of the future,” said Tamar Hermann, the study’s lead author. “It’s not that someone is scared of the future because of his present situation. The situation isn’t totally bad; it’s pretty good. But we don’t know what will be in the future.”
Israel has had a relatively strong economy in recent years. The country joined the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of wealthy nations, in 2010. Its unemployment rate is around 5 percent, and its per capita GDP has risen from $26,500 in 2010 to $34,300 in 2015. The economy is growing 3 percent annually, according to the Bank of Israel. But at the same time, Israelis have become increasingly frustrated with their economy. ...
Julia Dakoie
APwire, May 22, 2016
J
Street was the single largest beneficiary last year of the Ploughshares Fund, a group that seeks to eliminate the world’s nuclear stockpiles, with over $575,000 in grants that funded advocacy for the Iran nuclear deal.Ploughshares’ annual report, first reported last week by the Associated Press, emphasizes the foundation’s role in helping to bring about support for the sanctions relief for nuclear rollback deal last year.
The foundation has not made a secret of its advocacy for the Iran deal, nor of its backing for J Street, the liberal Jewish Middle East policy group. The annual report is posted online and J Street is listed as an ally in Ploughshares’ triumphant video, “How we won,” produced after the Obama administration successfully squelched congressional opposition to the deal last year.
J Street and Ploughshares were part of a loose coalition of groups that have been coordinating strategy on building support for the deal since late 2013, occasionally consulting with the White House.
The amount of funding for J Street underscores the significance deal proponents attached to garnering American Jewish support for the deal. J Street and J Street Education Fund received a total of $576,500, making it by far the largest recipient of funds. One goal of the funding was “to mobilize Jewish support for a final deal.”
Ploughshares granted The National Iranian American Council, another top beneficiary, over $281,000.
...
Debka Staff
DEBKAfile, May 22, 2016
The
unprecedented political and personal attacks on Friday night by opponents and former allies of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister-designate Avigdor Lieberman, who used every possible media platform to warn that “the fascists are coming,” is more
indicative of their personal and political situation than the domestic political reality of the State of Israel.In their opinion, the appointment of Lieberman to defense minister, as his predecessor Moshe Ya’alon said, shows that extremism, violence and racism in Israeli society is undermining the country’s strength and is already having a detrimental effect on the IDF. Ya’alon also accused pro-government sections of disrespect for Israel’s judges and its supreme court to the detriment of the rule of law. The Israeli media said Ya’alon’s statement marked the emergence of a new leader of what it called “the sane right-of-center camp.”
In other words, anyone who does not belong to that camp is not sane. The right-of-center camp, if it comes into being, would be a major and important change in Israeli politics. Until now, the Israeli public has been led to believe that the left-of-center camp is the one that is sane. This time, even the Israeli media understand that the left has been completely discredited and that it is time to finally shift towards the right.
But that is not the main point. Rather, opponents of Netanyahu and Lieberman refuse to accept ...
Jonathan Spyer
TheTower.org, May 22, 2016
In
the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s positive response to Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi’s call for peace talks, moderate Arab states have been reaching out diplomatically to Israel and showing some flexibility regarding the Arab
Peace Initiative, Israel’s channel 10 reported on Friday.Arab governments, including those of Egypt and the Gulf states, have indicated their interest in publicly changing their posture towards Israel, according to the report. Their officials are now waiting for Netanyahu’s response to their offer for further discussions on the initiative.
Dore Gold, the director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, said three years ago that the Arab Peace Initiative was “something positive,” as it showed that the Arab world was interested in reaching out to Israel. However, he cautioned that “it would be great if this was the basis for sitting down and [bringing] our positions to the table,” rather than a non-negotiable proposal.
...
Marissa Newman
timesofisrael.com, May 22, 2016
Responding
to criticism over Liberman appointment, Netanyahu says the premier ultimately makes final call on IDF operations.Seeking to assuage fears over the expected appointment of Avigdor Liberman as defense minister, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said he has the final word on Israel’s security operations.
The prime minister also urged Israelis to stop their “crying and moaning,” over the dramatic political shake-up that saw former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon abruptly leave political life on Friday, with Liberman set to replace him and bring his five-seat Yisrael Beytenu party into the razor-thin coalition. “I, who fought as an officer and soldier in [the elite unit] Sayeret Matkal, who was in battle and was injured — I see to Israel’s security,” and “lead the operations,” said Netanyahu.
“In the end, the prime minister navigates all the operations with the defense minister and IDF chief of staff. It seems I haven’t done a bad job in the past two years, and so it will continue now. Responsible, determined, intelligent policies designed to uphold security,” he said.
...
Larry Levine
unitedwithisrael.org, May 22, 2016
The
Iranian military warned that it will destroy the “Zionist entity” within eight minutes if the Ayatollah issues the command.Ahmad Karimpour, a senior adviser of Iran’s elite Al Quds military unit, declared that the Revolutionary Guards will “raze the Zionist regime in less than eight minutes,” if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei gives the order, Times of Israel reported on Sunday.
“If the Supreme Leader’s orders [are] to be executed, with the abilities and the equipment at our disposal, we will raze the Zionist regime in less than eight minutes,” Karimpour said Thursday, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.
Khamenei has repeatedly stated his goal to destroy the State of Israel, which he refers to as the “Zionist entity,” and the Islamic Republic has been increasing its military and nuclear capabilities notwithstanding the nuclear deal that it concluded with the Six Global Powers, led by the Obama administration, in the summer.
Earlier this month, not for the first time, Iran test-fired a high precision ballistic missile which it claimed can strike at Israel, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported at the time.
...
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