GOOD NEWS FROM THE UK as Britain bans 'anti-Semitic' French comic from entering UK using tough new laws outlawing anti Semitism

On grounds of public security and strick laws to fight anti Semitism, Britain's interior ministry slaps exclusion order on Dieudonne M'bala M'bala after he reportedly planned to visit country to support Nicolas Anelka in footballer's 'quenelle' row. Dieudonne responds by giving Queen Elizabeth II his trademark Nazi-like salute

French comedian Dieudonne M'bala M'bala was on Monday banned from entering Britain after he reportedly planned to visit to support Nicolas Anelka in the footballer's anti-Semitism row. Dieudonne responded by giving Queen Elizabeth II his trademark Nazi-like salute.

The comic, who has a string of convictions for hate speech in his homeland, performed the stiff-armed gesture after naming the queen in a rant during a show in the Swiss town of Nyon.

Britain's interior ministry said earlier it had slapped an exclusion order on 47-year-old Dieudonne who in his homeland has a string of convictions, for hate speech, using Britain's strict new laws that were brought in to combat anti Semitism  on the grounds of public security.

Dieudonne invented the allegedly anti-Semitic"quenelle" gesture that Anelka used during a goal celebration in December, landing the striker with a charge from English footballing authorities.

 

"We can confirm that Mr. Dieudonne is subject to an exclusion order," a Home Office spokeswoman said in a statement.

 

"The home secretary (Theresa May) will seek to exclude an individual from the UK if she considers that there are public policy or public security reasons to do so."

 

British media last week quoted Dieudonne as saying that he was planning to perform a show in Britain and hold a press conference in support of his friend, former French international Anelka.

 

The Home Office refused to give further details on the order banning from Britain.

 

But a British government source told AFP on condition of anonymity: "The reason for the exclusion order is that he was going to come to the UK."

 

Dieudonne, who also faces accusations of fraud at home, says he is being persecuted by the French authorities.

 

"So many things have happened over the past year. Just today... Shit, what have I done? I don't know," he said during his show in Nyon.

 

His lawyer Jacques Verdier said he did not know if his client had actually intended to go to London.

 

He said that the ban showed British authorities were "nervous" and added that "it's appalling but nothing surprises us at the moment."

 

Trademark stiff-armed gesture

Anelka has been charged by the Football Association, the sport's governing body in England, after he made the "quenelle" gesture, which critics say is anti-Semitic but Dieudonne insists is anti-establishment.

 

The West Bromwich Albion striker made the gesture during a goal celebration after scoring against West Ham during an English Premier League match on December 28.

 

Anelka denies the charge, saying he is neither anti-Semitic nor racist, and that he made the gesture in support of Dieudonne.

 

Britain is using new laws to combat anti Semitism which were brought in last year and has used exclusion orders on rare occasions in recent years to keep out public figures deemed as having extreme views.

 

France has in recent weeks intensified a crackdown on Dieudonne, who has been widely accused of promoting anti-Semitism and has been convicted in France for hate speech and other related offences.

 

The French government in December succeeded in preventing him from starting a nationwide tour of a new show, "The Wall", because of its perceived anti-Jewish content.

 

Last week French police seized €650,000 and $15,000 in cash during a raid on his house as part of a probe into suspected fraud.

 

Authorities are currently trying to force Dieudonne to pay more than €65,000 in outstanding fines related to his convictions and suspect that the 47-year-old was planning to fraudulently declare himself bankrupt.

 

The "quenelle" is Dieudonne's trademark stiff-armed gesture that critics say is a disguised Nazi salute but that he defends as a generic "up yours" to the French establishment.

 

Some followers of Dieudonne have been photographed doing the quenelle at sites including Auschwitz, synagogues and outside a Jewish school in Toulouse where a rabbi and three children were shot dead by Islamist gunman Mohamed Merah in 2012.

Ynet news

Common sense from France : French court fines boycott-Israel activistsfor discrimination

The ruling reversed a 2012 verdict which found the defendants not guilty.

A French court imposed a $1,300 fine on members of an anti-Israel group who called on supermarket shoppers to boycott Israeli products.

The Court of Appeals of Colmar near Strasbourg fined each of the group’s 12 members individually on Wednesday for their participation in a pro-boycott activity in 2009-2010, which the court qualified as “provocation to discrimination.” The court also gave the activists a suspended jail sentence, according to a report by the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities.

The ruling reversed a 2012 verdict by the Correctional Tribunal of Mulhouse, which found the defendants not guilty. Prosecutors filed the appeal, CRIF said in a statement.

The actions for which the defendants were sentenced took place in 2009 in a supermarket in Mulhouse and again in 2010. Some of the defendants received a double fine for each action, CRIF reported.

The perpetrators were sentenced in accordance with strict anti-discrimination laws, including one passed by the French parliament in 2003 known as the Lellouche Law, after the lawmaker who drafted it, Pierre Lellouche.

In September, seven activists were given a $650 fine for a similar action in 2010 in a supermarket in Alençon.

Yet the Court of Cassation — France’s highest criminal court of appeal — on Nov. 19 acquitted several anti-Israel protesters who staged a boycott action in a supermarket in Evry near Paris in 2009.

In a separate ruling, a French court of appeals on Thursday slapped a $36,000 fine on the comedian Dieudonne for “inciting racial hate” in films in which he ridiculed the Holocaust and expressed anti-Semitic views. It was Dieudonne’s seventh conviction related to anti-Semitism.

Some of the films contain the word “shoananas,” a combination of the Hebrew name for the Holocaust with the French word for pineapple. It is used as a code word for denying the Holocaust yet seen to be too vague to violate France’s law forbidding Holocaust denial. 

Cruz Backs Israel, Urges Obama to ‘Reverse Course’ on Iran

At least someone stand with us.

Posted on 25 November, 2013 by sophia

Via Newsmax

Sen. Ted Cruz weighed in late Sunday on President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, agreeing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it amounts to a “historic mistake” that threatens America and its allies.

“All the smiling embraces between diplomats after the interim deal was signed notwithstanding, the Iranian regime remains a brutal and oppressive dictatorship that pursues nuclear weapons for the purpose of dominating the Middle East and threatening America and our allies, notably Israel,” the Texas Republican said in a statement released by his office.

“President Obama and Secretary Kerry should reconsider their policy of rapprochement with Iran that is dismaying to Jerusalem and encouraging to Tehran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu predicted this agreement would be a ‘very, very bad deal’ and has now correctly identified it as an ‘historic mistake,’” Cruz added.

The comments were some of the boldest issued by the tea party-backed lawmaker since spearheading the 16-day government shutdown in October over Obamacare that tarnished his credibility in some GOP circles. In his statement, Cruz seized on the agreement aimed halting Iran’s nuclear development program as another administration failure that would not prevent Tehran from continuing its effort to produce nuclear weapons.

“Not one centrifuge will be destroyed. Not one pound of enriched uranium will leave Iran. Not one American unjustly detained in Iran’s notorious prisons will be released,” his statement read.

But Iran, he continued, “will start to receive, in a matter of days, $7 billion in relief from international economics sanctions.”

Cruz’s statement came after diplomats announced early Sunday in Geneva that they had reached a deal on the Iranian nuclear program that eases sanctions on Tehran in exchange for some concessions on its atomic work.

One of America’s staunchest allies in the Middle East, Israel, quickly condemned the agreement, with Prime Minister Netanyahu describing it as a ‘historic mistake’ that his nation would not be bound to recognize or support.

“What was achieved last night in Geneva is not historic; it is a historic mistake. Today, the world has become a much more dangerous place,” Netanyahu said in comments broadcast on Israel Radio. “Israel is not bound by this agreement.”

In his comments, Cruz referenced a tweet by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani touting the Geneva deal as the beginning of the “breaking down” of international sanctions against Iran. The Texan called on the administration to “reverse course before any further damage is done.”

"Peace in our time" said Chamberlin in 1938 - "Deal of our time"from Kerry in 2013 : And this will turn out just as disastrous -Americans and other nations seriously need to wake up

Kerry's appeasement will end up with the same nightmarish results as Chamberlin's appeasement  

Israel has learned a lot lately, especially in the last 24 hours, that she cannot trust anyone, now including her allies. 

The nuclear deal signed enabling Iran to effectively build a nuclear weapon via the back door, is the ultimate insult to Israel. 

America and the others know Israel's predicament yet they have now allowed Iran time knowing fully well that Iran will use it to build a nuke. Anyone, including a child of four, can see that all Iran's talk and promises of change is just that, talk. 

Even after Rouhani made his first promises Obama and Kerry didn't exactly give it time to see if they were genuine. A sensible world leader would have waited at least a year to see if any positive action by Rouhani to prove he'd changed, like stopping further hangings of women in public places, or gays being lynched from cranes. Or most of all a good world leader might have given it a year to see if the anti Israel rhetoric coming from Tehran might cease. 

But no, after a couple of smiles and a few words of encouragement Obama and Co Jump straight into the trap and sign a deal that could effectively mean the end of human existence. After just three months these incompetent bungling fools have swallowed the lie and have now given the worlds most dangerous regime a blank cheque to do what it wants. 

This deal will just give Iran time and now resources, to build a nuclear weapon and the sole reason for this is Iran's hatred of Israel, which will be the main target of any Iranian nuclear attack.

The whole world is at fault here for letting this happen. All of them could have helped prevent this, including Britain, Russia, China and Germany, but they chose not to. Instead they chose appeasement. 

But most shocking of all is the actions of America. America is 'supposed' to be Israel's closest ally, yet America has been the driving force for this 'deal', as it has also for the so-called 'peace talks' in the middle east, another 'deal' detrimental to Israel's interests. 

Israel has learned one thing from the last few weeks and that is that it can no longer trust its supposed allies let alone its enemies. Despite the good hearted nature of the millions of Americans, Britons, Europeans and Russians to name s few countries, the leaderships of those countries are out for a quick fix to look good temporarily for the voters, yet they are leaving an ally and the middle easts only democracy in the lurch, not forgetting putting the lives of millions of people world wide in jeopardy, including their own citizens. 

But the striking event to arise from this shamboc 'deal' is the conduct of France. Out of all the countries who has been vocal in standing by Israel was France. A nation that is regularly the object of jests on FB and elsewhere due to the policies of its governments in the past; jests and gibes about radical Islam on French streets and the influence of radicals in this or that sector to name some; jests and jibes coming from many quarters, but much often coming from keyboards in American homes. 

People from all nations need to step back and take note, but more so Americans need to step back and take a very close look at their own backyard before criticising others because the potential  harm done against Israel and the free world in this Iranian nuclear deal, far outweighs an Islamist buffoon shouting his mouth of on a French street or a radical nut insisting the traffic stops in Paris during prayer. 

France might have major problems, but it has not got the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood directing foreign policy in its parliament and it hasn't got an Islamist president causing problems of potential global destructive scale. 

As grateful as Israelis are at the support, past and present, from ordinary Americans, as indeed all nations, sadly its not them that hold the reigns of power. The power comes from Government and going by the actions in this latest 'Deal' involving Iran, France has actually shown more signs of being Israel's closest friend and sadly America under Obama has done Israel's interests harm, together with the lapdogs that masquerade as politicians from Britain and other appeasers.
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Israel's friend France President Francois Hollande believes comments byIran’s supreme leader about Israel are “unacceptable”

The French government spokeswoman says President Francois Hollande believes comments by Iran’s supreme leader about Israel are “unacceptable” and complicate talks between world powers and the Islamic regime over its nuclear program.

French government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem told reporters that Hollande’s cabinet discussed the Iran nuclear dossier just hours before negotiations between Iran and six world powers were set to resume in Geneva.

She said, however, that France still hopes for a deal and its position has not changed in the talks.

Hollande was referring to comments attributed earlier to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaking to a gathering of the Basij force, which is controlled by Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard.

In them, the Iranian leader referred to Israel — “the Zionist regime” — as “the rabid dog of the region.”

Speaking to some 50,000 members of the paramilitary volunteer militia, Khamenei said Israel was ripe for collapse.

“The (Israeli) Zionist regime is a regime whose pillars are extremely shaky and is doomed to collapse,” he said, according to French news agency AFP. “Any phenomenon that is created by force cannot endure.”

Khamenei also said Europe felt pressed to make concessions to the Zionists “because of their economic network.” He said Israelis “should not be called humans,” according to a Channel 2 translation of his comments.

Speaking to some 50,000 members of a paramilitary militia, Khamenei also said Israel would disappear. “The Zionist regime is a regime whose pillars are extremely shaky and is doomed to collapse,” he said, according to French news agency AFP. “Any phenomenon that is created by force cannot endure.”

TV footage showed the crowd shouting, “Death to Israel.”

British Foreign Minister William Hague said Wednesday that an agreement with Iran was attainable, and added that signing such a deal would be in the best interest of countries throughout the Middle East.

“The differences that remain between the parties are narrow and I believe they can be bridged with political will and commitment,” Hague said during a visit to Istanbul.

“It is the best chance for a long time to make progress on one of the gravest problems in foreign policy.”

Hague declined to comment on Khamenei’s statements, and called instead to focus on the “substance” of the talks.

Times of Israel 

France's Hollande receives warm welcome in Israel as Iran nuclear deallooms large

"I will always remain a friend of Israel," French President Francois Hollande said in Hebrew at the end of a brief address he delivered upon landing at Ben-Gurion Airport Sunday afternoon.

Hollande, welcomed with full pomp and ceremony and a great deal of warmth by President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, said France will not surrender to nuclear proliferation and that Paris will stand by its demands – and continue with sanctions – until Iran gives up on a nuclear weapon.

Hollande arrived in Israel as head of a massive delegation, including seven ministers and nearly 200 businessmen, aides and journalists, just three days before the P5+1 – of which France is a member  - will meet again in Geneva with Iranian negotiators.Iran, he said, "is a threat to Israel, to the region, and to the whole world."

Iran will be a central topic of discussion during his meetings here, and France's tough stand on Iran means that the visit is taking place at a time where there is a great deal of appreciation in Jerusalem for Paris' position on this matter.

Regarding the Palestinian issue, Hollande said he pinned a lot of hopes on the current negotiations. "You will need courage," he said. "But you have courage."

"I came to deliver a message of support of France, based on our long history, a history of joint fate, but also of suffering, pain and tragedy," he said.

Netanyahu welcomed Hollande by saying that Zionism was influenced a great deal from the lofty ideals of the French revolution: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité (liberty, equality, and fraternity). He added that other elements Zionism took from the French revolution were the belief in progress, human rights, and the "sovereignty of the people, not of the ruler."

Israel was the only state in the region that sanctified those values, he said, adding that Israeli-French ties are long-standing and deeply rooted.

"We appreciate France's decisive contribution to our security during the first and fateful years of our state," he said, saluting Peres for playing a large role in establishing those ties.

"We are preserving and developing those ties," he added.

France, according to Netanyahu understands very well the dangers of extremist factors who do not shudder from violence and terrorism to achieve their aims. He praised Hollande for the "courageous decision" to fight Islamic radical terrorists in Mali, and for the tough stance Paris has taken toward Syria and Iran's continued attempts to get nuclear arms.

"It is forbidden for Iran to get nuclear arms," he said. "This will not only endanger Israel and other states in the Middle East, but also France, Europe and the whole world."

Netanyahu said that when he went with Hollande to Toulouse last year after the terrorist attack there, and saw his unwavering stand against anti-Semitism, and his warm relations with the French Jewish community, "I saw in front of me a leader with principles and deep humanity."

Peres was also effusive in his praise of France.

"The people of Israel owe France a great debt for standing by our side in times of peace and of war," he said. "For allowing the development of Israel's defensive force. Especially in the first years of the state, when we needed France more than at any other time."

Peres, who was instrumental in forging close ties with Paris during the early years of statehood, said that with the support of its citizens, its soldiers, its writers and its leaders, France enthusiastically "allowed us to defend ourselves as a sovereign state and to build a new society. We will never forget it. Thank you from the depth of our hearts. The true historic friendship between our two people is founded upon mutual values and a deep sense of mutual respect. We share a legacy of fighting slavery and rejecting tyranny."

Hollande told the assembled government ministers and dignitaries that there was great empathy for Israel's position in his country and that he wished to strengthen relations between the two peoples.

"I want to bring you a message of support from France based on joint history, suffering, pain and tragedy," the president said. "With 150,000 French Jews living in Israel, I have come to give a new push to our ties, especially in business and cultural spheres."

After a welcoming ceremony at Ben-Gurion Airport, Hollande will go directly to the President’s Residence in the capital for a formal reception and meeting with Peres.

He will then lay a wreath at the grave of Theodor Herzl, visit Yitzhak Rabin’s grave, and go to Yad Vashem.

In the evening he has a private meeting planned with Netanyahu, followed by a joint press conference, and then dinner with the prime minister.

On Monday, following a visit to Jerusalem’s Old City, he will go to Ramallah for some five hours, after which he will return to Jerusalem, address the Knesset and attend a state dinner hosted by Peres.

On Tuesday, after visiting the graves at the Har Hamenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem of the victims of the March 2012 Toulouse terrorist attack, he will take part in a joint economic meeting in Tel Aviv and meet French Israelis at Tel Aviv University.

He will leave Tuesday afternoon.

JPost.com 

A true friend of Israel - French president vows tough Iran stance inIsrael

Visiting French President Francois Hollande vowed to maintain his country's tough stance in upcoming nuclear talks with Iran this week, earning praise from his Israeli hosts Sunday as he began a three-day visit to the Jewish state.

Israel has repeatedly voiced concern that the emerging deal global powers are negotiating with Iran gives it too much, without guaranteeing that the Islamic Republic's ability to develop a nuclear weapon is eliminated.

Hollande vowed to keep up pressure on Iran and not make any concessions regarding nuclear proliferation.

"If there hadn't been sanctions, if they hadn't been enforced, it's clear that we would never even have had the words from Iran — and I don't yet speak of actions — that we had in the last few weeks," he said In a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "We have a duty to resolve this problem that has been under discussions for too many years because Iran for too long has participated in discussions without taking actions."

Netanyahu has been outspoken in his opposition to a potential deal in which the international community would ease some sanctions on Iran in exchange for some curbs on Iran's nuclear program. The countries fear that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, a charge Iran denies.

Speaking alongside Hollande, Netanyahu once again warned that Iran could soon have enough fissile material to develop a bomb within weeks and that Israel would not be bound to what he called a "bad deal." At the same time, he thanked Hollande for leading a tough stance that has blocked a deal thus far.

The warm atmosphere comes at a time when Israel increasingly finds itself at odds with its top ally, the United States, over the talks with Iran.

Netanyahu has tried to play down his differences with the Obama administration as a disagreement between the "best of friends," but he went out of his way to charm Hollande — peppering his remarks with French and embracing him often.

Hollande, accompanied by his companion Valerie Trierweiler, was welcomed by an honor guard at Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. With trumpets playing in the background, a line of politicians, religious leaders and other dignitaries greeted the French leader. Later, he visited Israel's national cemetery as well as Yad Vashem, the national Holocaust memorial, before a meeting and dinner with Netanyahu.

"Israel sees in France a true friend," Netanyahu said at the ceremony.

Initially a strong ally of Israel, France was an early provider of weapons to the country and was instrumental in establishing Israel's nuclear program. But relations soured after the 1967 Mideast war, when France imposed an arms embargo and began adopting more policies critical of Israel.

Many Israelis have traditionally viewed France as biased in favor of the Palestinians, and reports of rising anti-Semitism toward the French Jewish community — at 600,000 the third-largest in the world — has only fanned the flames.

Relations warmed significantly under Hollande's predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Hollande's tough stance on the Iranian nuclear program has made him popular with Israelis.

The six powers negotiating with Iran — the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany — failed to reach an agreement earlier this month. The U.S. has expressed optimism that an initial deal can be wrapped up at the next round of talks, providing a six-month period to reach a final agreement.

Netanyahu believes the sanctions seriously have weakened Iran and that providing any relief, even temporarily, will be lead to the crumbling of international pressure. He has urged the world to step up, not ease, the pressure on Iran until it completely dismantles what he says is a military nuclear program.

Netanyahu's strong objections have raised tensions with the U.S., which said his concerns are premature.

Meanwhile, Hollande has struck a tone far more amenable to Israeli ears.

"The goal is that Iran renounces nuclear weapons forever," he said Sunday. "We are against nuclear proliferation, and in Iran there has been a will — even once expressed — to enrich uranium to military capabilities."

Israel views a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat to its very existence, citing its repeated calls for the destruction of the Jewish state, Tehran's long-range missile program and its support for violent anti-Israel groups like the Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Netanyahu has repeatedly denounced the potential agreement between the six powers and Iran and hinted at readiness to attack Iran if it appears close to getting a bomb, saying Israel is ready to "defend itself."

Invoking the memory of the Holocaust, Netanyahu said it was his obligation to prevent it from happening again.

"It is my duty to prevent anyone from credibly threatening or executing another Holocaust against the Jewish people," he said. "When someone says they are out to destroy you we have learned in our Jewish history to take them seriously."

Netanyahu said the Iran talks would dominate discussions with Hollande, as well as meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to visit Jerusalem on Friday.

Newly restarted Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are also on the agenda and Hollande is to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday in the West Bank.

USA Today

"ISRAEL WILL ATTACK...." -You better believe it

French member of parliament telephoned French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in Geneva at the weekend to warn him that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would attack Iran’s nuclear facilities if the P5+1 nations did not stiffen their terms on a deal with Iran, Israel’s Channel 2 News reported Sunday.

“I know [Netanyahu],” the French MP, Meyer Habib, reportedly told Fabius, and predicted that the Israeli prime minister would resort to the use of force if the deal was approved in its form at the time. “If you don’t toughen your positions, Netanyahu will attack Iran,” the report quoted Habib as saying. “I know this. I know him. You have to toughen your positions in order to prevent war.”

France’s Fabius is widely reported to have scuppered the finalizing of the emerging deal late Saturday, leading to the halting of the negotiations with Iran, and an agreement to reconvene on November 20.

Explaining his concerns to reporters in Geneva, Fabius said Tehran was resisting demands that it suspend work on its plutonium-producing reactor at Arak and downgrade its stockpile of higher-enriched uranium.

Habib, the deputy president of the Jewish umbrella organization in France, waselected to the National Assembly in Paris in June, to represent the district of southern Europe, which includes French nationals residing in Israel.

“I have known Meyer Habib for many years and he is a good friend to me and to Israel,” Netanyahu said in French in a video of endorsement posted on YouTube in May. Standing next to Habib, Netanyahu continued in Hebrew: “He fights a lot for Israel, for public opinion, and cares intensely about the Land of Israel and Jerusalem, and he has helped me over the years deepen Israeli-French relations.”

The TV report on Sunday said Jerusalem believed that Netanyahu’s angry public criticism of the emerging deal, and his phone conversations with world leaders — including Presidents Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, and Francois Hollande, Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister David Cameron — had played a crucial role in stalling the deal, but that Israel was well aware that an agreement would be reached very soon. Netanyahu himself said Sunday that he was aware of the “strong desire” for a deal on the part of the P5+1 negotiators, and had asked the various leaders in his calls, “What’s the hurry?”

The report, quoting sources in Jerusalem, said Netanyahu and ministers close to him were castigating the United States for its “radical eagerness” in seeking a deal, and saying that Washington appeared fearful of confrontation with Iran. “This is no way to run a negotiation,” the sources were quoted as saying. The Americans “are giving up all of their pressure points, and the Iranians recognize the Americans’ weakness.”

At Sunday’s cabinet meeting, Netanyahu expressed outrage that under the terms of the emerging deal, “not a single centrifuge would be dismantled, not one.”

Israel believes the imminent deal will leave Iran with uranium enrichment capabilities, and thus enable it to become a nuclear breakout state at a time of its choosing.

Secretary of State John Kerry hit back at Netanyahu on Sunday, declaring, “I’m not sure that the prime minister, who I have great respect for, knows exactly what the amount or the terms are going to be because we haven’t arrived at them all yet. That’s what we’re negotiating.”

After the talks broke up in Geneva after midnight Saturday, Kerry complained about critics who were “jumping to conclusions” about the terms of the accord on the basis of “rumors or other parcels of information that somebody pretends to know.”

Netanyahu on Friday publicly pleaded with Kerry not to rush to sign what he called a “very, very bad deal.”

Times of Israel 

THE SUEZ CRISES - 1956 - How the Armies of Israel, Britain and France stood firm in the face of Nassers fury

The catalyst for the joint Israeli-British-French attack on Egypt was the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egyptian leader General Gamal Abdel Nasser in July 1956. The situation had been brewing for some time. Two years earlier, the Egyptian military had begun pressuring the British to end its military presence (which had been granted in the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty) in the canal zone. Nasser's armed forces also engaged in sporadic battles with Israeli soldiers along the border between the two nations, and the Egyptian leader did nothing to conceal his antipathy toward the Israeli nation. 

Supported by Soviet arms and money Nasser ordered the Suez Canal seized and nationalized. The British were angry with the move and sought the support of Israel and France as it was also believed that Nasser was using the canal to help rebels ferry weapons.

On November 3^rd1956, Anthony Eden prepared to address the British nation.

In that same speech, Eden went on to explain how we should stand firm, united against Nasser and take action to undo what Nasser had done with regards to the Suez Canal.

In Egypt, civilians were given rifles in an effort to produce a makeshift militia that would support the army. The military in Cairo fully expected a full-scale Anglo-French invasion and wanted as many to help as was physically possible.

When the decision was finally made to go to war, more than 100,000 Israeli soldiers were mobilized in less than 72 hours and the Israeli air force was fully operational within 43 hours. Israeli Paratroopers landed in the Sinai and Israeli forces quickly advanced unopposed toward the Suez Canal before halting in compliance with Britain and France.      



Israeli troops advance

On November 5^th, Britain began its attack as men from the 3^rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment took off for El Gamil airfield, to the west of Port Said. At 05.00, the first men landed at the airfield – 668 British paratroopers were to parachute into El Gamil in total. The paratroopers faced a mixture of civilians and army fighters.


French paratroopers, with some British in support, landed to the west of Port Said. At El Gamil, the resistance put up by the Egyptians was greater than expected and 3 Para took more casualties than had been anticipated. From El Gamil, 3 Para moved on Port Said itself at the mouth of the Suez Canal. The Royal Air Force gave the men fighter cover as they moved. Despite fierce resistance in a cemetery near Port Said, the allied forces had a successful first day.

However, on that day a letter was received in London – but not shown to the sleeping Eden until the following day – from Bulganin, the Soviet Union’s Prime Minister. As Suez was played out in the background of the Soviet invasion of Hungary, seeming Soviet involvement was a worrying occurrence. Bulganin made it clear that the Soviet Union would take action against any aggressors in Egypt.

In the era of the Cold War and with the world reeling from the Soviet invasion of Hungary, it would have been expected that Britain’s  and Israel's primary ally at the time – the United States of America – would have rallied to support Great Britain and Israel. This did not happen – in fact, the opposite happened.

Dwight Eisenhower, America’s president, was campaigning to be re-elected as President of America. The global image of an American ally acting like an imperial bully against a nation that probably could not protect itself against such a force was unacceptable to Eisenhower. He had already told Eden that the use of force was unacceptable to the Americans. In a letter to Eisenhower, Eden wrote:

“History alone can judge whether we have made the right decision.”

Militarily, Day One went as well as could have been expected. Diplomatically, things were not going well for Eden.

So With America refusing to back Israel, Britain and France on November 6^th, the sea landings took place in support of the paratroopers on the ground. At 04.00, guns from Royal Navy ships started to pound known defences in Port Said. At 04.45, men from 40 and 42 British Commandos, Royal Marines, started their assault on Port Said.

45 Commando Royal Marines went in via helicopters. Faced with a combination of British and French paratroopers, British commandos and the newly powerful Israeli Army in Sinai, it seemed obvious to many that the Egyptian forces would not last for long.

However, on the same day, politics started to take its toll. The Chancellor of the British Exchequer, Harold McMillan, told a cabinet meeting that there was a run on sterling, especially in New York and the Britain faced the real prospect of having to devalue sterling and also face the possibility of an Arab oil embargo due to Arab feeling of strength due to Americas lack of support for the military operation.

Both would have a major negative impact on the British economy. This was also coupled with the prospect of United Nation sanctions against Britain, Israel and France, surprisingly with American approval.

US President Eisenhower had also made it clear to his cabinet that America would not do anything to prop up sterling until Britain Israel and France had started to withdraw their forces from Egypt.

America persistently pressed against British, Israeli and French forces involvement and pressed for the military action to stop.  

By the end of November 6^th, Port Said had been taken and the military estimated that full control of the Suez Canal would only take another 24 hours. Victory was in sight, but with American backed UN pressure, however, they were ordered to stop fighting at midnight on the same day.

By November 7^th, casualty figures could be assessed. It is believed that about 650 Egyptians were killed including civilians, with 2,000 wounded.

The Anglo-French forces lost 26 men killed and 129 wounded – included in these figures were Royal Marines killed and wounded in a friendly-fire incident involving the RAF.

Britain and Israel together with France made the following statement through their governments

“We make no apology and will never make one for the actions which our nations took. We believed then and now that it was the right course of action and future generations will see fit our involvement and bare the consequences of its outcome”

British, Israeli and French troops started to withdraw on December 23^rd.

Israel to Expel French Diplomat who Punched IDF Soldier

Marion Fesneau-Castaing to be expelled from Israel after assaulting IDF soldier during protest in support of Bedouin squatters.

A French diplomat who physically attacked an Israeli soldier during a demonstration in support of illegal Bedouin squatters will be deported from Israel, an official has told the Israel Hayom paper.

He added, however, that it was "an isolated incident that does not characterise relations" between Israel and France

Castaing throws a punch at IDF soldier

Marion Fesneau-Castaing, France's cultural attache to its consulate in Jerusalem, punched the soldier in the face during scuffles around an illegal encampment set up by local and foreign activists in the Jordan Valley.

EU officials initially issued a condemnation against Israel over the incident, as reports by anti-Israel activists claimed Israeli forces had used violence against a convoy delivering "humanitarian aid," and had physically assaulted the French diplomat.

However, a video of the incident emerged showing a very different story - including footage of Castaing punching a soldier in the face, as well as remarkable restraint on behalf of IDF personnel in the face of provocation by Arab and European activists.

That footage provoked an angry response by the Israeli Foreign
Ministry which condemned "European diplomats' blatant violation of the law, their disregard to a ruling of the Israeli 
court and their unnecessary provocation under the alleged pretext 
of humanitarian aid."

Fesneau-Castaing will be deported from the country before the end of the year.

 By Ari Soffer
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Posted with Blogsy

UK, US, France: UN report leaves 'no doubt' on Assad chemical weapons - Are you listening Obama

Ban says chemical weapons against civilians in Syria is worst since Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 1988; Russian UN envoy tells counterparts not to "jump to any conclusions."

Britain, France and the United States moved quickly to repeat their accusations against the Syria regime Monday, after a United Nations investigation found that chemical weapons had definitely been used in the country in an August 21 attack on the outskirts of Damascus.
UN chief Ban Ki-Moon declined to identify those responsible for the attack, which the US says killed more than 1,400 people, including women and children, but said that the attack constituted a war crime.

"This is the most significant confirmed use of chemical weapons against civilians since Saddam Hussein used them in Halabja (Iraq) in 1988," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. "The international community has pledged to prevent any such horror from recurring, yet it has happened again."

British, French and US envoys told reporters that the UN report left no doubt that Syria President Bashar Assad's government was responsible for the chemical attack, while Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin countered that there was no scientific proof government forces were responsible for the sarin attack.

Syria and Russia have blamed the August 21 attack on the rebels. The rebels, the United States and other Western powers blame forces loyal to Assad for the Ghouta attack.
It is not immediately clear whether any of the details in the report suggested culpability.
"We need to not jump to any conclusions," Churkin said.

British UN Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said the rocket samples examined had a payload of 350 liters, which was 35 times the amount used in the Tokyo subway attack in 1995.

"In response to a question Mr Sellstrom confirmed that the quality of the sarin was superior both to that used in the Tokyo subway but also to that used by Iraq during the Iraq-Iran war," he told reporters.

"This does not point to a cottage industry chemical," said Lyall Grant, taking a swipe at earlier comments by Churkin. Churkin said in July that a Moscow analysis found "cottage industry" quality sarin gas was used in an alleged March 19 attack, which he blamed on the rebels.

The investigators studied five impact sites and were able to determine the likely trajectory of the projectiles at two sites: Moadamiyah and Ein Tarma.

Eliot Higgins, who blogs under the name of Brown Moses and has been tracking videos of weapons used in the Syria conflict, wrote that he has not seen the opposition using the munitions identified in the report: a variant of the M14 artillery rocket and a 330 mm caliber artillery rocket.

Rebels have seized all kinds of weapons from military depots across the country in the 2 1/2-year civil war that has killed over 100,000 people, according to the United Nations.

But Amy Smithson, a chemical weapons expert at Monterey Institute, said the Aug. 21 attack bore "so many hallmarks of a military trained in chemical warfare doctrine" and not an untrained force.

"The Assad government has been in the business of chemical weapons since the 1970s. They are trained in military doctrine. They also have chemical delivery systems that the rebels don't," she said.

The UN confirmation of sarin gas use on August 21 comes as France, Britain and the United States agreed in Paris to seek a "strong and robust" UN resolution that sets binding deadlines on removal of chemical weapons.

Those talks followed a weekend deal on Syria's chemical weapons reached by the United States and Russia that could avert US military action.

Ban urged the Security Council consider ways to ensure enforcement and compliance with the US-Russia plan. "I agree there should be consequences for non-compliance. Any use of chemical weapons by anyone, anywhere, is a crime," he said.



Source
Jerusalem Post