Palestinian Rock Throwers Destroy Child’s Life : Kerry should listen to this before he listens to the whining of Abbas

A few days ago, Adva Biton testified at the trial of a Palestinian man accused of throwing the rocks that put her three year-old daughter Adele in hospital until today. Her life, she told the court, changed dramatically on that tragic night.

Rock throwers disabled three-year-old Adele Biton.

In March 2013, Adva Biton was driving with her three daughters on her way home near Ariel. As she was driving, a Palestinian minor threw rocks at the truck in front of her car. The truck stopped suddenly and Adva did not have time to react. She collided directly with the truck. Adva’s five- and four-year-old daughters were lightly injured, but her three-year-old old daughter Adele was injured critically.

“All her joy, all her life was taken from her at the age of three,” Adva said during her testimony in court.

Palestinian rock throwers kill.

Her baby remains in the hospital until today, and requires the constant presence of Adva or her husband. “I am not home anymore, I am not available for my three kids,” she said. “I’m supposed to be a mother but I live in Levenstein Hospital. My husband has not really been home in over 10 months. He doesn’t sleep at home at all. It’s like you have no family.”

“To see a child connected to a million pipes is very difficult. Her life has been destroyed because of rock throwing. It is difficult for me to cope with the fact that my daughter will be handicapped in every way because of such an act. It’s a daily trauma when you see your child gasping with her head hanging down and you can’t do anything.”

United with Israel 

BRING IT ON : Rightwing ministers, MKs protest: There will be only one state - ISRAEL

In show of force, MKs, ministers from Right lead thousands strong march in West Bank to tell PM he does not have mandate to divide land or Jerusalem. 'There will be only one state between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River,' minister says

Rightists ministers and Knesset members led a march together with thousands in support of Israel's right to live and build in the West Bank.

The march was held in Ma'ale Adumim and, according to the organizers, called on the government to block international pressure onIsrael with an adequate Zionist response.

The march continued for 4 km until the until the line marking the E-1 area, where the demonstrated gathered to send Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu a message according to which he does not have support for dividing Jerusalem or giving up land. They called on him to "stop groveling before the world's demands."

 

 

Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) said before the gathering that "the masses marching here represent the absolute majority of the people unwilling to bow and surrender to threats and demands. They understand that from Mevaseret to Ma'ale Adumim, together with all of Judea and Samaria, are an integral part of Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) and Eretz Yisrael belongs to the people of Israel."

 

Ariel further said that "there are those, unfortunately, that think that if we grovel and appease the world it will bring us peace. But it must be said clearly: We are here to stay. There will be only one state between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River."

 

Marching into the night in E1 (Photo: Eli Mendlebaum)

Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin (Likud ) said "we are here today to tell the world that this is our land, and we have a right to build here. (Netanyahu) once said that 'we want continuity from the greater Jerusalem area from west to east, and the Palestinians want continuity from north to south, someone will have to come out victories.' The prime minister was right. It's us or them, and we're going to win."

 

He further added that "We are committed to the citizens of Israel who voted for us, not to world nations."

 

Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon spoke during the gathering and said "we are telling the prime minister, the Likud is not a contractor for (Justice Minister and chief negotiator) Tzipi Livniand (Meretz Chairwoman) Zehava Gal-On.

 

"During his first tenure, Netanyahu built in the Har Homa area, like now, then the Americans pressured and threatened us, and the Palestinians threatened as well, and today there are 6,000 units there, like there will be here."

 

Photo: Eli Mendlebaum

 

 

Coalition Chairman MK Yariv Levin said "we are here because this is our land, we are because of our legal historical, religious and national right, and no one will uproot us. No one will prevent us from turning this land into a fruitful and blooming place were Jews can live and raise their children for generations. I say this with certainty: There are hardships and obstacles along the way, but we will overcome. The truth will win."

 

The son of former prime minister Yitzhak Shamir and Agriculture Minister Yair Shamir (Yisrael Beiteinu) said "I come to politics to promote and strengthen the settlement, and to remove the doubts regarding our way."

The gathering was also attended by MK Tzipi Hotoveli (Likud), Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, MK Miri Regev and MK Ofir Okunis.

Ynet news

Chief Palestinian negotiator claims the Palestinians cannot accept Israel as the Jewish State.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat claimed at the Munich Security Conference on Jan. 31 that the Palestinians cannot accept Israel as the Jewish state because they lived in the region long before the Jews.

In the context of the current debate over the Jordan Valley, Erekat claimed that his ancestors were the real descendants of the Canaanites and lived in the area for “5,500 years before Joshua Bin-Nun.” (1)

In effect, Erekat was promoting the well-known Palestinian narrative that they are the native population, while the Jews are latecomers who only arrived in the last hundred years. Since the Muslim Arab conquest of Palestine occurred only in 634CE, the credibility of this Palestinian claim is questionable, to say the least.

At the same time, there is documented proof of a Jewish presence in the land dating back millennia. In Jericho itself, the Shalom al Yisrael (Peace unto Israel) synagogue with its magnificent mosaic was discovered in the 1930s and dates back to the Byzantine period. Not far away is the Wadi Kelt synagogue which dates back to 75 BCE, from the time of the Hasmonean monarchy, making it the oldest synagogue to have been discovered. (2)

According to Moshe Gil’s A History of Palestine 634-1099 published by Cambridge University Press, “The Jewish population in Palestine residing in the country at the time of the Muslim conquest consisted of the direct descendants of the generations of Jews who had lived there since the days of Joshua bin Nun, in other words, for some 2,000 years.” (3)   In the fifth century, “the Jews and the Samaritans virtually governed the land.” (4)

Salo Wittmayer Baron, in A Social and Religious History of the Jews published by Columbia University Press, recounts how the Caliph ‘Umar I embarked on a career of world conquest in 634 in the first decade after Mohammed’s death. “‘Umar expelled the Jews of Khaibar, the largest and most intact non-Muslim group still remaining in northern Arabia.” According to Al-Bukhari, the most famous and authoritative compiler of Muslim traditions known as hadith, ‘Umar deported Khaibar Jews to Jericho(5)

There is another tradition that most of the Jews of Khaybar settled in Jericho and in the surrounding area. “The Jews of Khaybar apparently spread out from Jericho along the Jordan Valley, reaching the Sanur Valley in northern Samaria.”(6)

Thus, the Jewish presence in the land can be documented as dating back for millennia, while the politically-motivated claims made up by Palestinian leaders in an attempt to refute the long-standing history of the Jews in the region lack any such proof.


Notes

1. Daniel Siryoti and Shlomo Cesana, “Chief Palestinian Negotiator: We Were Here before the Jews,” Israel Hayom, Feb. 2, 2014, http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=15185. Erekat’s own family probably came from southern Jordan near the Saudi border, see http://alahaywat.blogspot.ca/2013/12/blog-post_2522.html

2. http://archive.archaeology.org/9807/newsbriefs/israel.html

3. Moshe Gil, A History of Palestine 634-1099 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), p. 2.

4. Ibid., p. 3.

5. Salo Wittmayer Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews (New York: Columbia University Press, 1957), pp. 86-87.

6. “Khaybar,” Encyclopedia Judaica, 2nd ed., vol. 12, http://archive.org/stream/KhaosOdenslandArchiveDocstheMisanthropicMisogynist/EncyclopaediaJudaicaV.12kat-lie_djvu.txt

- See more at: http://jcpa.org/erekat-wrong-jewish-presence-land-dates-back-millennia/#sthash.GnLcYHv9.dpuf

source

Kerry's Peace Plan: Divide Jerusalem, Recognize Jewish State

US Secretary of State John Kerry is about to bring over six months of frantic shuttle diplomacy to a climax by presenting a firm American proposal for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

That according to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who is close to the Obama Administration.

"After letting the two sides fruitlessly butt heads for six months, [Kerry's] now planning to present a U.S. framework that will lay out what Washington considers the core concessions Israelis and Palestinians need to make for a fair, lasting deal," Friedman wrote on Tuesday.

As the columnist explains it, the US plan sees Israel withdrawing from Judea and Samaria in stages, but not from 100 percent of the territory. Large Jewish settlement blocs would be left intact and under Israeli sovereignty, and Israel would compensate by surrendering some of its territory to the Palestinian Authority.

Jerusalem would be divided, and the eastern half recognized as the capital of "Palestine." Speaking of recognition, Israel would be explicitly acknowledged as the nation state of the Jewish people.

The proposal does not allow for the mass entry of so-called "Palestinian refugees" into Israel.

For those familiar with the conflict, as Friedman purports to be, the proposal and his support for it are baffling.

How many times does Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas have to reject the notions of recognizing a Jewish state or relinquishing a Palestinian "right of return" before America will take him at his word?

Abbas has staked his political legacy on achieving a "right of return" for Palestinians to Israel-proper, and has been so adamant about never calling Israel a "Jewish state" that it is somewhat unreasonable for anyone to expect him to change his mind now.

And those aren't the only insurmountable obstacles.

Kerry and Friedman seem to be forgetting about Hamas, which on Tuesday issued a statement that it would never accept a two-state solution or give up even "one inch of the land of Palestine," which the group considers to include the entirety of the Land of Israel.

Nor can Hamas' extreme positions be ignored, as the group has demonstrated its ability to win Palestinian elections and ascend to the highest positions of power, be it through democratic processes or force of arms.

There is also the matter of Israeli Arabs who would become Palestinian citizens as part of the proposed land swaps. Almost to a man, Israeli Arabs and their representatives in the Knesset have rejected such an outcome.

Last but not least, Israeli Jews have made it abundantly clear in surveys carried out over the past two decades that they will not accept the re-division of their ancient and sacred capital. Any prime minister who agrees to such a concession is very likely to be voted from power before he or she has a chance to actually implement the agreement.

Why Kerry or Friedman believe that this latest proposal will lead to any different results than those that came before it is beyond me.

Israel today 

VIDEO: Israeli Soldiers Under Hail of Stones

Today's report on the rise in terrorist incidents in 2013 merely provides raw, dry figures. But Israelis have to deal with this violence in a very personal way, as the video below demonstrates.

In the following video, a gang of Arab youths can be seen hurling stones at Israeli soldiers who arrived to protect ambushed Jewish motorists. The Arab youths attack brutally and with no apparent thought for or concern of being injured themselves.

The incident occurred on October 4 of last year, when Arab rioters proceeded to a main highway in Palestinian-controlled territory and began to attack Jewish civilian cars.

Watch the video:

Israel Today 

Settlers in Palestine — a Netanyahu gambit backfires

So the fake Palestinians will not accept Jewish Israelis on "their land" or should I say the land they wish to steal

The Palestinian refusal to accept Israeli settlers in their future state does not stem from anti-Jewish sentiment, Palestinian officials said on Monday. Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, told The Times of Israel that Jews and members of all religions would have the right to apply for Palestinian citizenship. But “Palestine” could not accept “ex-territorial Jewish enclaves” where residents maintained their Israeli citizenship status, she said.

Benjamin Netanyahu, then leader of the opposition, visits a
West Bank settlement outpost in 2007 (Photo credit: Olivier Fitoussi /Flash90)

The PM may have thought he’d benefit by exposing the intransigent Palestinian insistence on a Judenrein Palestine. But his own right wing got angrier, louder and faster

It must have seemed a good idea at the timeן

Asked by The Times of Israel on Sunday to clarify what exactly the prime minister had meant in Davos, on Friday, when he said he wouldn’t remove a single settlement or displace a single settler, the Prime Minister’s Office provided explicit elaboration.

No, Benjamin Netanyahu had not only been talking about settlements in the Jordan Valley, as some reports had suggested. And no, the prime minister was not only speaking about an interim period ahead of a permanent accord. Rather, the official told The Times of Israel, Netanyahu would henceforth be insisting that all settlers be given the free choice of remaining in place and living under Palestinian rule after a peace deal, or relocating voluntarily to areas under Israeli sovereign rule. “Just as Israel has an Arab minority, the prime minister doesn’t see why Palestine can’t have a Jewish minority,” we were told. “The Jews living on their side should have a choice whether they want to stay or not.”

The official who spoke to us claimed that this position represented Netanyahu’s “longstanding” stance. If so, it had never been expressed so explicitly — as is clear from the diplomatic storm our article has provoked.

It may be that Netanyahu was floating a trial balloon, to see how the international community, and the settlers, would react. In which case, the results thus far cannot have been too pleasing for the prime minister. More likely, it was a gambit to embarrass the Palestinians, whom Netanyahu could rightly have predicted would furiously reject the idea. The problem is that this predictable Palestinian reaction has been drowned out by the speed and intensity of the rejection by his own right-wing allies/rivals.

Leading the avalanche of right-wing criticism has been the Jewish Home party leader and economics minister, Naftali Bennett, who dismissed the notion of creating settler-Palestinians with a Facebook post on Sunday evening that can be summarized by the single word “Never.”

Behind the scenes in the last few hours, members of Bennett’s circle have assailed Netanyahu for selling the settlers out to the Palestinians. Members of the prime minister’s camp have retorted that, by attacking Netanyahu for floating an idea the Palestinians were sure to reject, Bennett was hurting the shared cause of settlement. Well, the Bennett camp has countered, it might be smart to tell us in advance the next time you’re unleashing a brilliant plan to expose Palestinian intransigence. After all, Netanyahu and Bennett spent six full hours together on Sunday. Did this cunning new plan slip his mind?

Also wading in from the right have been members of Netanyahu’s own Likud party — including not only perennial hawks such as Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, but also Netanyahu’s own protegé and former aide MK Ofer Akunis, who called the idea “delusional.”

Netanyahu has actually privately presented the idea of settlers and settlements staying put under Palestinian rule to US Secretary of State John Kerry, as senior Palestinian sources confirmed to The Times of Israel Monday, and some sources suggest Kerry has raised it with the Palestinians.

By leaking it now, the prime minister must have believed he could easily draw angry Palestinians responses: the PA would reject the idea of any Israeli presence in their state, and he could decry their ostensible anti-Semitism. Moreover, he may have hoped, the Israeli right would celebrate him for his refusal to uproot Jewish communities; quite the contrast to Ariel Sharon and the demolition of the entire Gaza settlement enterprise in 2005. His aides might even have contemplated linking Palestinian intransigence on the issue to the calendar: Here’s Mahmoud Abbas insisting on a Judenrein Palestine, just in time for International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

None of this has panned out. The idea of a Jewish minority in “Palestine” was shot down so quickly by Bennett and his fellow warriors against Palestinian statehood that the Palestinian brush-off will hardly have registered with the international community. The US and the EU have so far kept quiet on the issue. And the Palestinians have smoothed out their initial indignation. Sunday night’s angry vow by chief negotiator Saeb Erekat that “not one” settler could stay in Palestine, quickly attacked by the PMO, had given way by Monday morning to PLO official Hanan Ahrawi’s far more palatable position that Jews could be welcome, it’s only “ex-territorial” settlers retaining Israeli citizenship who are a no-go.

It’s possible that Netanyahu’s idea of offering settlers the chance to stay represents his acceptance of the inevitable division of the land, his willingness to preside over that process, but his refusal to follow Sharon and forcibly remove Jews from Biblical Israel: He can live with the gradual establishment of a Palestinian state and thus enter the history books as the leader who ended the conflict. But kicking Jews out of their houses? Not on his watch. Let them stay, if they want. If they need to be withdrawn, let someone else do the dirty work.

It’s also possible that his Davos comments — “I do not intend to remove a single settlement, [and] I do not intend to displace a single Israeli” — were deemed so inflexible by the Americans that he had to give some ostensible ground toward realizing a two-state solution: No, he won’t uproot settlements, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be a two-state deal.

Again, though, if the idea was to sound flexible, the result has been the reverse.

Thus Netanyahu is not merely back where he started — widely perceived internationally as the key player blocking peace process — but even further in the mire, seen as seeking to place yet another obstacle in the path to Palestinian statehood. And with both the settlers and the Palestinians more angry and mistrustful of him than before.

source

Shin Bet: Twice as many terror attacks in 2013 - Yet Kerry still insists on appeasement. What is wrong with these people???

Security agency's annual report indicates that 5 Israelis were killed in the past year in attacks in West Bank, compared to 0 in 2012. Overall 2013 saw 1,271 terror attacks

The General Security Service's annual report for the year of 2013 indicates a decline in the number of Israelis killed in terrorist attacks in comparison to 2012: Six people were killed, compared to ten in the previous year.

However, the report shows that the majority of the victims in 2013 were killed in attacks in the West Bank, as opposed to 2012, during which no Israelis were killed in terrorist attacks that originated in the West Bank.

At the same time, in the past year no Israelis were killed as a result of attacks that originated in the Sinai Peninsula, as opposed to two killed in 2012 and eight in 2011.

 

The report pertains to the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Sinai regions. Most of 2013's victims were killed in attacks carried out by local organizations and the rest of the attacks were carried out by single perpetrators. In the past year, 44 people were injured, compared to 40 in 2012 (when Operation Pillar of Defense took place). Most of the victims were injured by firebombs or stones that were hurled at them.

 

However, despite the decline in the number of casualties, the number of attacks in the West Banks was doubled in 2013, with 1,271 attacks in comparison to 578 attacks in 2012.

 

2013 saw 201 firearm attacks , in comparison to 37 such attacks in 2012. During the past year, there was a 60% increase in the number of attacks that had amateur characteristics such as the Molotov cocktails (considered relatively easy to produce).

 

In Jerusalem there was a decline in the number of attacks in the past year: 126, compared with 187 in the year of 2012.

 

The Gaza Strip saw a sharp decline in the number of attacks: 55 in 2013 compared to 1,130 in 2012, but the figure refers mainly to rocket-fire. The decline was preceded by understandings reached after Operation Pillar of Defense. In 2013, 64 rockets and 11 mortar shells were fired at Israel, compared to 2,327 rockets and 230 mortar shells in 2012. (Most of the rockets were launched during Operation Pillar of Defense).

 

However, even attacks that were not in the form of rocket-fire saw a significant decrease: 16 attacks in 2013 compared to 52 in 2012.

 

The decline in the number of launches is not parallel to Hamas' and the Islamic Jihad's empowerment and force-building efforts, which includes the manufacturing of rockets with a range of 75 km (46 miles) that can reach the Tel Aviv metropolitan area and the digging of 'terror tunnels' that lead from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

 

Which attacks were thwarted?

In 2013, a total of 190 serious terror attacks were foiled, including 16 suicide attacks, compared to 112 attacks in 2012.

 

According to the Shin Bet, 40 terrorist attacks that were targeted by prisoners from the Gaza Strip released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap deal were also foiled.  

 

Israel counterterrorism operations and the Egyptian army's work in thwarting terrorist infrastructures in Sinai led to a decline in the number of attacks carried out from Egypt. In 2013, three attacks were carried out in Israel from Sinai (rocket-fire), compared to 11 in 2012.

 

In 2013 there were no attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets around the world, but the Shin Bet stresses in their report the continued existence of Iran's and other organizations' (that are operating under their patronage) motivation to carry out attacks.

 

The involvement of Israeli Arabs in attacks continued to be minor this year.

Ynet news 

Five Palestinians, two IDF soldiers injured in West Bank clashes

Palestinian injuries reported in Silwad, Bilin protests; IDF: Protesters hurled rocks at soldiers who used crowd dispersal means.

Five Palestinians were reportedly injured in clashes Friday with IDF forces near Ramallah in the West Bank, Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported, while two IDF soldiers were lightly injured in Bilin, an army spokeswoman said.

Dozens of Palestinian protesters threw rocks at IDF soldiers in the village of Silwad north of Ramallah, who responded with crowd dispersal measures, including tear gas and 022 bullets, an IDF spokeswoman said.

In Bilin, IDF soldiers used rubber-coated bullets and tear gas to disperse a demonstration of some 100 Palestinians throwing rocks at the soldiers, the IDF spokeswoman said.The IDF was still looking into reports of injuries on the Palestinian side.

Ma'an reported the demonstration was to celebrate Christmas and the release of hunger-striker prisoner Samer Issawi.

Palestinians reported that dozens of protesters suffered excessive tear gas inhalation, and photographer Mohammad Yassin, 20, was hit with a rubber-coated bullet.

The IDF said that while it has not received reports of Palestinian injuries, two IDF soldiers were lightly injured from rocks and were taken to hospital for treatment.

These incidents were just the latest in a series of violent clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian terrorists.

Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have intensified recently, as reports increased that the US-mediated peace talks have ground to a halt.

In the past week alone, a Palestinian sniperkilled a Defense Ministry contractor doing maintenance work on the Gaza border fence, a bomb was planted on a bus in Bat Yam, a police officer was stabbed at a West Bank checkpoint, and rocket fire from the Gaza Strip continued trickling into southern Israel.

The IDF struck several terrorist targets in Gazain retaliation to the various attacks, Iron Dome missile defense batteries have been redeployed in the south, and security forces have increased their presence on the Gaza border, in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem.

At least two Palestinians were killed in the retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip, one of them a three-year-old girl, while several others were injured.

Israel's envoy to the US Ron Prosor urged the UN Security Council Friday to join UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in condemnation of the recent flare of violence, and decried the lack of condemnation from Palestinian leadership.

"Two days ago, the UN Secretary-General condemned the violent Palestinian attacks, alas not even a whisper was heard from [PA President Mahmoud Abbas] and his men," hewrote in a letter to the UN Security Council.

Prosor said incitement in the Palestinian Authority was to blame for the spike in Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis.

"The recent wave of violence is proof the Palestinian incitement has deadly results. School bookse, preaching in mosques and the [Palestinian] leadership's rhetoric all inflame hatred, ignorance and intolerance towards Israelis and Jews," he said.

"There won't be peace and calm in our region until we know peace and calm on our borders," rus concluded.

Jeruselam post

"Kerry's Plan to Invest $4 Billion in Palestinian Economy is Nonsense"

The arrest of businessman Mohamed Al Sabawi is seen as part of a campaign by the Palestinian Authority to intimidate and extort money from prominent and wealthy businessmen who seek to help strengthen the Palestinian economy. The case of Al Sabawi will undoubtedly scare potential investors and convince them that investing in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities is a bad idea.

A Palestinian Authority security official said that the arrest was a "routine legal procedure" against an investor suspected of slander and obstructing the work of police officers.

Palestinian businessmen planning to invest in the West Bank economy have once again been reminded of the challenges facing anyone who wants to do business with the Palestinian Authority.

One of the businessmen, Mohamed Al Sabawi, a Canadian investor of Palestinian origin, was this week arrested by Palestinian Authority policemen in Ramallah after publicly criticizing Mahmoud Abbas.

Al Sabawi, 68, is Director-General of the Ahlia Insurance Group, a firm that employs hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank. His arrest is seen as part of a campaign by the Palestinian Authority to intimidate and extort money from prominent and wealthy businessmen who seek to help strengthen the Palestinian economy.

Palestinian Authority policemen raided Al Sabawi's office and arrested him on suspicion that he had called on Palestinians to topple Abbas.

Al Sabawi was held for nine hours at a police station in Ramallah, where he was accused of "insulting" Abbas and "obstructing" the work of police officers.

Palestinian Authority policemen raiding Mohamed Al Sabawi's Ramallah office. (Image source: Screenshot from Wattan TV YouTube video.)

The second charge relates to an incident on November 18, when officers belonging to the Palestinian Authority's Presidential Guard stormed the building housing the Ahlia Insurance Group in order to occupy the roof as part of measures to secure the visit of French President François Hollande to Ramallah.

Al Sabawi tried to prevent the security officers from entering the building, but to no avail. Frustrated, he declared in front of TV crews, "The people want the downfall of Mahmoud Abbas!"

Al Sabawi probably thought that his status as a prominent investor would provide him with some kind of immunity. Of course, he turned out to be wrong.

It is not unusual for the Palestinian Authority to crack down on Palestinians who dare to criticize Abbas. Over the past few years, a number of Palestinian journalists, bloggers and politicians have been targeted by the Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank for publicly criticizing Abbas, especially through social media networking.

But clamping down on journalists and bloggers is not the same as arresting or intimidating businessmen and investors. The case of Al Sabawi will undoubtedly scare potential investors and convince them that investing in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities is a dangerous idea.

Al Sabawi's son, Khaled, said that besides the arrest and humiliation of his father, the Palestinian Authority has "stopped all our title deed procedures for our TABO project." He explained that the TABO project "protects Palestinian land by creating title deeds in neglected villages."

Khaled, who was named "One of the World's Top Energy Entrepreneurs" by Global Post in 2010, said that his father was released as a result of "enormous pressure" on the Palestinian Authority after being held for nine hours .

Khaled, who spent the whole nine hours with his father in the police station in Ramallah, wrote that the arrest"goes to show that the US Kerry Plan to bring 4billion in private investment to the Palestinians territories is nonsense! Come and invest in the PA areas, but if u don't bribe their corrupt officials, the will PA will arrest you."

Abbas himself has not commented on the arrest of Al Sabawi. However, a Palestinian Authority security official said that the arrest was a "routine legal procedure" against an investor suspected of slander and obstructing the work of police officers.

Ironically, Abbas was quoted the following day as saying that the Palestinian economy "needs security and stability." Abbas was speaking during a meeting in his office with a delegation of Israeli businessmen.

The arrest of Al Sabawi shows that Abbas is responsible for creating an atmosphere that harms the Palestinian economy and drives away potential investors.

As the defiant son of Al Sabawai concluded, "This arrest was an attempt to humiliate my father - an independent investor who employs hundreds of Palestinians and has invested in renewable energy and expanding property rights for Palestinians. What the unelected, cynical, and morally bankrupt cronies in Mahmoud Abbas's office don't realize is that they just completely humiliated themselves and that this issue has made us stronger, more vigilant, and with your help, given us a bigger microphone."

by Khaled Abu Toameh

-------------------------------------

What's With the Nazi Fascination?

Video reveals how Nazi salutes at Islamic Jihad rally on campus are part of a wider trend of Palestinian Nazi glorification.

Palestinian Arabs hold Nazi flag at Netzarim Junction, 2000

Reuters

Just over a week since an American university severed ties with the Hamas-linked Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, after pictures emerged showing a Nazi-style on-campus rally by Islamic Jihad in November, further evidence of fascist-style events at the flagship Palestinian Arab institution has emerged.
Video footage, posted by MEMRI (the Middle East Media Research Institute), shows clips from two separate rallies at Al-Quds University, in which Islamic Jihad members, cheered on by other students, take part in a live performance at which they brandish imitation assault rifles and black Islamist flags, and give Nazi salutes.

The live "show" features terrorists killing Israeli soldiers and executing a "collaborator", who is denounced as a "traitor" and a "spy", and suggests that the initial pictures, which were first released by British journalist Tom Gross, were not from a one-off incident but evidence of a much wider phenomenon.



Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Tom Gross said that the footage proved that attempts by Al-Quds to excuse the November 5th rally as an isolated event were disingenuous:

"The emergence of a video showing another Fascistic-style, militaristic Islamic Jihad rally, on what appears to be the main campus of Al-Quds University this past May - together with Palestinian students at Al-Quds who have informed me that the student factions of both Hamas and the PFLP held similar rallies at Al-Quds University this semester a few weeks ago - calls into question the claims by the Al-Quds university authorities that the November 5 rally was a one-off event, which they claim they didn't know about until they saw the photos of it."

Islamic Jihad rally at Al-Quds University, November 5, 2013 Tom Gross Media

Many Israelis point to the lionization of Nazi and other anti-Semitic figures as a reason to doubt the sincerity of the Palestinian Authority's commitment to any future peace agreement.

The use of Nazi symbols is worryingly common, although tends to go unnoticed by many mainstream media outlets.

Just this past October, for example, Jewish motorists were horrified to see a Nazi flag flying over a major thoroughfair(1)  near the Arab town of Beit Umar. The flag had apparently been placed there by residents of the town, located near Hevron.

That incident was in fact the second occasion in which Beit Umar residents had flown a Nazi flag(2)  over the same highway, in an apparent "gesture" to their Jewish neighbors.

Later that same month, a youth magazine linked to the Palestinian Authority published a list of "famous quotes" from none other than Adolf Hitler, aimed at glorifying the Nazi leader.
Link between "Palestinian nationalism", Nazism?

Apart from the frequency with which such instances occur, some have pointed to the role of prominent Palestinian Arab and Muslim leaders promoting anti-Semitism and encouraging the use of Nazi symbols specifically to goad Jews.

For example, during a 2009 interview with a London-based Arabic language TV station, the head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Ra'ed Salah, remenisced fondly about how his class once drew a swastika on the classroom blackboard to provoke their Jewish teacher.

More famous is the case of the infamously anti-Semitic Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin Al-Husseini.
In October, reacting to ongoing incidents of incitement and anti-Semitism by the Palestinian Authority, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu used a keynote speech at Bar Ilan University to point to a deep link between the Palestinian national movement and Germany's Nazi regime.

Netanyahu noted that Haj Amin Al-Husseini, the founder of "Palestinian nationalism", was an admirer and supporter of Adolf Hitler, had met the Nazi Fuhrer on numerous occasions and was actively involved in encouraging Hitler and his henchmen in their project of annihilating theJewish people.

Far from playing a "minor role" in the Holocaust, as some have claimed, the Mufti played an "important" part in ordering the extermination of Jews and "was directly involved in The Final Solution", Netanyahu said.
Back in January, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas - whose organization is currently involved in US-brokered "peace talks" with Israel -hailed the Muft as a "hero", whose ways should be emulated. The transcript of that speech - made at a Fatah party rally - was also translated by MEMRI though it garnered very little mention from the majority of international media outlets.


Zero-sum politics

But according to Middle East expert Dr. Mordechai Kedar, the issue extends further still. Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Kedar asserts that adopting of the trappings of the ultimate enemy of the Jewish people - Nazism - is simply a manifestation of a zero-sum way in which politics and conflict is pursued in the Middle East at large.
"Unfortunately there are people in the United States of America and elsewhere, Jews and non-Jews alike - usually liberal, open-minded people - who think that the Middle East acts according to American rules, and that views and approaches which can work in America can work in the Middle East.

"These people fail to understand that the Middle East works according to totally different rules, because the mindset of people in this region is different.

"In America people think that every struggle, every dispute, has some kind of solution. In the Middle East, what prevails is the belief that a struggle finishes when one of the sides ceases to exist. This is the end of a conflict," he explained.

For him, framing the saga over the use of fascist or other anti-Semitic symbolism as a "Palestinian" issue misses the point.

"Palestinians are no different from any Arab group which lives in this region," he continued. "Whatever they do, whether peacefully or not, is meant to undermine the existence of the State of Israel...through 

undermining the legitimacy of the State of Israel, through vilifying it and demonizing [it]. Of course this also extends to non-violent methods, like media clips, demonstrations, etc.

"Everything revolves arond one purpose, which is to get rid of Israel altogether from the map of the Middle East."


"Religious struggle"

The fact that it is often senior religious figures - as well as political ones - who so often lead such efforts is indicative of the fundamentally religious aspect of the Arab-Israel conflict, says Kedar.

"Even universities like Al-Quds university are established especially in Jerusalem, in order to show that Arabs and Muslims are the masters of this place and not the Jews, because in their view, if Judaism will control Jerusalem it will mean that Judaism came back to life after Islam came to replace it.

"This is why the basis of the struggle over Jerusalem and over the whole land of Israel is a religious struggle - not between Israel and the Arabs but between Judaism and Islam. This is the essence of th struggle, and everything stems from this archimedic point of the struggle."

His view offers a unique glimpse into the conflicting ways in which the conflict is seen from inside and outside the region.

Dr. Kedar insists that the much of the difference in the way things are perceived in the western world stems primarily from ignorance. For him, the Brandeis-Al-Quds saga represents a unique shattering of an illusory discourse. 

"Unfortunately there are people who don't believe that this is true, and tend to accept all kind of Arab and Islamic standpoints and institutions as if they are meant to live side-by-side with Israel.

"I believe that recognizing Al-Quds university by Brandeis University came from this point: that Jews - or those that run Brandeis University - would like to see a situation where everybody in the Middle East sits by one fire and sings kumbaya together."

Pursuit of genuine coexistence isn't the problem, however. Rather, it is a lack of willingness to learn "about the realities of the Middle East" - a result, he says, of institutionalized academic bias.

"Those teachers and those books which tell the truth about the Middle East usually don't see any attention in universities in the US. School curricula in America usually are politicized, therefore the texts which students are exposed to are based on the political views and approaches of the teachers - who in too many cases have very little understanding of the nature of the Middle East."

However, "there is a limit," and incidents such as that which occured at Al-Quds are too blatant to ignore.
"When the Islamic Jihad group, which lives under the wings of Al-Quds University - comes out with a very problematic clip, even bleeding-hearts in Brandeis University cannot take it any more.

"This is the minute when they start to understand the nature of the struggle - not betwen Israel and the Arabs, but between Islam and Judaism."

Yet regardless of the cognizance of others, Kedar insists that "we Jews cannot have the luxury of not believing our own enemies."

"Some 80 years ago we didn't believe; unfortunately, some people failed to learn the lessons from those days and to start believing our enemies."

* * * * 

For at least the second time in five months, Arab residents of Beit Umar in the Palestinian Authority (PA) have placed a Nazi flag over a major thoroughfare where Jews pass in their vehicles.

Beit Umar is located a half hour south of Jerusalem, between Halhoul and the Etzion Bloc, not far from Hevron.

Soldiers from the Haruv battalion in Kfir Regiment tried to take down the flag Saturday, but encountered difficulty because it was placed very high up.

A similar event took place at Beit Umar in May, when hundreds of residents of Gush Etzion who drove down Highway 60 were astounded to see an oversized Nazi flag flying next to a mosque in the Arab town.

In a recent key speech, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu quoted numerous historical sources showing that the leader of the Palestinian Arabs in the first half of the 20th century, Mufti Hajj Amin Al-Husseini, was “one of the initiators of the Holocaust of the Jews of Europe,” and that he was constantly encouraging the Nazi leadership to annihilate the Jews, throughout the war. He cited evidence that the Mufti even visited the gas chambers at Auschwitz with Adolf Eichmann.

"The Mufti is still a greatly admired figure in the Palestinian national movement," said Netanyahu. "These are the weeds that need to be uprooted," he said. "The root of the conflict is the deep resistance among a hard core of Palestinians to the right of the Jewish people to its own state in Israel."

Flying Nazi flag Ziv Edelstein / News 0404

* * * *

Arabs Fly Nazi Flag near Hevron

Residents of Gush Etzion astounded to see Nazi flag flying near the mosque of Beit Omar.

Hundreds of residents of Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem, were astounded Monday morning to see an oversized Nazi flag flying next to a mosque in the Arab town of Beit Omar.

The residents notified the IDF.

A resident, Uri Arnon, told theTazpit News Agency: "I felt we were going back 75 years, losing our hold on the land. The Arabs no longer feel the need to hide their murderous tendencies, announcing out loud that they wish to annihilate us."

An IDF spokesman said that the flag was hung on an electrical line, and that they were waiting to professionals to come and remove it.

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