Goals of the Islamic Revolution: Iran Presents the “Final Solution” – to the Question of Palestine - by Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall

Khomeini’s doctrine – “The destruction of Zionism and the ‘Zionist entity’ (Israel) is the basic condition for solving the contemporary problems of Islam” and liberating Palestine – continues to resonate and to guide even the second and third generations of the Islamic revolution, a sort of eternal precept that brooks no deviation, questioning, or disagreement and that one must strive constantly and actively to fulfill.

Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall..
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs..
Vol. 20, No. 11..
27 May '20..

Iran Celebrates International Quds (Jerusalem) Day

On Friday, May 22, Iran and the Muslim world celebrated International Jerusalem Day or Quds Day, which falls on the last Friday of the month of Ramadan. In line with a ruling by Ayatollah Khomeini and the Iranian government, this day has been observed each year since 1979. During it, Muslims express their yearning for the “liberation of Jerusalem” and the “restoration of the legitimate rights of the Palestinians in Palestine.” Even today, Khomeini’s doctrine, in general, and Jerusalem Day, in particular, continue to dictate, define, sustain, and shape the goals of the Islamic Revolution, not least the call that is reiterated each year for the destruction of the “Zionist entity” – that is, Israel. This year, Israel’s Jerusalem Day, marked each year (on the 28th of the Hebrew month of Iyar) to commemorate the city’s unification, fell on the same day as the Iranian International Quds Day.

Since its establishment, International Jerusalem Day has become a major highlight in the calendar of the Islamic regime. It is prepared for long in advance, both in Iran and among Muslim (particularly Shiite) populations outside of it. Among its main features are mass processions, usually after recruitment and organized transportation by the regime and its arms, in which placards proclaim “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” This year, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, of which Iran is one of the epicenters, the Iranian regime made do with virtual activity. Its centerpiece was an online speech by the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who asserted, among other things, that “the Zionist virus will not last very much longer and will be eradicated.” Iran also waged a wide-scale propaganda campaign on social networks and in its propaganda organs that featured calls for the annihilation of the Zionist entity (“the regime that occupies Jerusalem”). In that context, it also presented the Iranian peace plan along with denunciations of the Trump Peace Plan – the “deal of the century.”

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Great Question - Will Palestinian VIPs turn in their cards that allow easy travel to Israel? by Elder of Ziyon

Hamas is trying to embarrass its PLO rivals, of course. But that doesn’t mean this isn’t a good question.

Elder of Ziyon..
27 May '20..

Israel issued so-called “VIP” cards to PLO leaders and prominent business-people allowing them to go through checkpoints easily without inspection. Ordinary Palestinians have long been resentful that the “VIPs” could drive through checkpoints and go to Israel easily while everyone else has to wait in lines.

The VIP system was created during the Oslo process at the request of Palestinian leaders.

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Israel’s Sovereignty Plans for Judea-Samara: It’s Not Annexation, It’s Restoration - FLAME

When discussing this issue with friends, family and colleagues, I hope you’ll clarify that declaring sovereignty should be Israel’s decision, based on what is best for its security and future. But even if Israel decides against the prudence of the move, it must firmly uphold that it is legal. Because if binding international law does not dictate a country’s borders, then its enemies will. And this cannot stand in the case of Israel.

FLAME - Facts and Logic
About the Middle East..
factsandlogic.org..
26 May '20..
Link: https://www.factsandlogic.org/israels-sovereignty-plans-for-judea-samara-its-not-annexation-its-restoration/


Within months, Israel’s new government will begin the process of declaring sovereignty over Jewish settlements in Judea-Samaria (aka the West Bank). According to binding international law, the move is legal. While this legality does not establish its prudence, most Israelis and many American Zionists support it for existential reasons. One of those reasons is survival and another is a renewed chance for peace.

Israel’s long-standing intentions on this issue have been spurred by the recent peace plan put forward by the U.S. Israel’s declaration of sovereignty would mean the application of Israeli civil law to the Jewish settlements, which are majority Jewish and currently under military rule. The declaration would not in any way jeopardize the future establishment of a Palestinian state.

In fact, the current US peace plan is contingent upon Israel’s agreement to negotiate sovereignty for the Palestinians in other parts of Judea-Samaria. Every major peace plan ever put forward has included an incorporation of the major settlement blocks into Israel.

Critics charge that the move would be an illegal annexation of Palestinian land, which Israel captured from Jordan in 1967. However, this charge is based on a perverted reading of Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The article “prohibits the transfer of segments of the population of a state to the territory of another state which it has occupied.”

However, when Israel entered Judea-Samaria in 1967, it was retaking lands it had been granted by the Balfour Declaration, ratified in 1920 at the San Remo Conference. Following a war of Arab aggression, Jordan illegally occupied the territory in 1948—changing the name to the West Bank, and ethnically cleansing the area of Jews.

The legal definition of annexation requires a state to declare sovereignty over territory outside its domain. But since Judea-Samaria was within Israel’s legal borders in 1967, with Jordan the illegal occupier, the term annexation is corruptly misapplied here. It is rather restoration of Israel’s legal territory—to say nothing of its ancient biblical homeland.

Both the historic and modern battle to retake Jerusalem - by Michael Freund

So the next time you think about Jerusalem, take a moment and reflect beyond the daily and the mundane. For beneath the surface, the beauty of this very special city and its history, like that of a circle, lies in its wholeness and completion.

Michael Freund..
Pundicity/JPost..
21 May '20..
Link: http://www.michaelfreund.org/24188/battle-to-retake-jerusalem

Every city has its symbols, be they landmarks or logos, which our minds immediately conjure up when thinking of a certain metropolis. The mere mention of New York, London or Rome can evoke a range of visual or verbal imagery, which reveals much not only about the city itself but also how each of us might perceive it in our own unique way.

Jerusalem, whose liberation and reunification by Israel in 1967 we celebrate today, is of course no exception. For some it is the Holy City, with the Western Wall, the tomb of King David and other sacred sites. For others, it is the seat of Israel's government, home to the Knesset and host to a variety of national institutions such as Yad Vashem.

Indeed, Jerusalem is many things to many people, which is part of its attraction and its mystique. But as many of us know, it is also a place that somehow touches the inner depths of our souls unlike any other in a way that is often difficult to articulate.

That is part of Jerusalem's power, in that it speaks to us as individuals but also summons our collective memory as a people.

Therefore, as I ponder the significance of this date, the 28th of the Hebrew month of Iyar, when Israeli troops defeated the Jordanian occupying army and restored the Old City to Jewish control, I find myself coming back again and again to the idea of the closing of a vast and ancient series of meta-historical concentric circles.

The Recurring Manufactured Outrage Over “Annexation” - Victor Rosenthal

A few words about the reality behind the so-called “annexation.” To start with, nothing is being annexed.

Victor Rosenthal..
Abu Yehuda..
21 May '20..
Link: http://abuyehuda.com/2020/05/the-manufactured-outrage-over-annexation/

Annexation. The word is spat out with such vitriol that one would think that what is contemplated is mass murder. From Mahmoud Abbas to Jordan’s King Abdullah, to the European Union, to Justin Trudeau, the condemnations, warnings, and threats continue to flow. And of course, Joe Biden had his say.

A few words about the reality behind the so-called “annexation.” To start with, nothing is being annexed. It is the reasonable position of the Israeli government that it is sovereign in Judea and Samaria according to international law; and you can’t annex something that already belongs to you. But wait, you say, virtually the entire world disagrees, as is pointed out ad nauseum by sources like the BBC and the NY Times. Unhappily for them and the Palestinians they empathize with, international law is neither a popularity contest nor subject to a majority vote in the UN General Assembly. It is quite possible that the Government of Israel is right and “virtually the entire world” is wrong. This isn’t an article about that, but if you are interested, here is a good one.

The government calls it “extension of Israeli civil law,” and that is because presently those parts of Judea and Samaria that are not under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) are subject to a military government (this is the case whether residents are Israelis or Palestinians).

Those who are so up in arms about the proposal also like to say that “Israel plans to annex the West Bank.” The correct formulation is that Israel proposes to extend its civil law to certain parts of Judea and Samaria where Jewish communities exist, and to most of the Jordan Valley, with the exception of Jericho, with its large Arab population. It’s important to note that almost no Arabs live in the areas in question. Those that do will be offered full Israeli citizenship, just like the Arabs of Jerusalem – or Haifa, or Yafo.

The Jordan Valley has always been considered an area that must be under Israeli control in any permanent establishment of borders, because it is essential to Israel’s defense. No “two-state solution” that did not recognize this would ever be accepted by Israel. And neither would one which included the ethnic cleansing of Jews and the destruction of their communities in Judea and Samaria.

The furor over “annexation” is an excuse to attack Israel and the Trump plan, which is the first real breakthrough in diplomatic efforts to end the conflict since the unfortunate Oslo Accords institutionalized it.

Genocide? Seeing Israel Where It Is Not - by Sheri Oz

So how did Rev Dr Ployd, the editor, claim that Kireopoulos examines genocide with respect to the “conflict over Palestine”? Perhaps he just automatically associates the word ‘genocide’ with ‘Palestine’ as apparently many scholars, who have been infected with BDS mentality, do.

Sheri Oz..
Israel Diaries..
20 May '20..

If hate for Israel is triggered whenever you hear or read certain trigger-words, such as genocide, then you might see things that are not really there. I can think of no other reason for the blooper I spotted in an academic journal than that. “Racialized Violence and the Churches’ Responsibility” is the title of a special issue of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies that was released in April 2020. In the introduction by Adam Ployd, apparently editor of this special issue, he briefly describes the purpose of the collection of articles and what readers can expect from each one. He writes:

We begin with Tony Kireopoulos’s essay. He asks a provocative question: Should the killing of Black persons in the U.S. be considered a slow genocide? Using the technical United Nations definition of the term and examining its use in the conflict over Palestine, Kireopoulos comes to the conclusion that genocide is, indeed, a helpful concept for understanding racialized violence in the U.S., even if it might not meet official definitions. [emphasis added]

Regarding the merits of a scholarly journal applying an official, internationally accepted definition of a term to a situation “even if it might not meet [the criteria of the] official definitions”, may certainly be considered problematic. Kireopoulos, however, does a valient job of explaining why current ongoing slow-boil “carnage” (his term) needs to be called genocide even though the accepted tradition is to apply the term only after all the killing is over.

Genocide in ‘Palestine’

Now, given that the editor tells us that the author examines the use of the term ‘genocide’ as applied to the “conflict over Palestine”, my hackles were raised and I am sure yours are too. I had to carefully read through the article in case my search function was not working because document searches returned zero instances of the word ‘Palestine’ or ‘Palestinian’, zero instances of the word ‘Israel’, and zero instances of ‘occupation’.

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Nakba? Just another Name for the Arab Self-Inflicted Catastrophe - by Eli E. Hertz

“The Arabs have taken into their own hands, the Final Solution of the Jewish problem. The problem will be solved only in blood and fire. The Jews will be driven out.”

Eli E. Hertz ..
www.mythsandfacts.org/..
18 May '20..

As the British began to dismantle their Mandate [The British Mandate] and leave western Palestine, Israel’s War of Independence began (November 30, 1947 – May 14, 1948). During the war, Palestinian Arabs became belligerents in the conflict, and by its end, rather than accept a Jewish state after five-and-a-half months of warfare, Palestinian Arabs called upon their brethren from seven surrounding countries to invade and crush the nascent Jewish state. Six thousand Jews – 1 percent of Israel’s Jewish population – lost their lives during the War of Independence.

The Arab League's April 10, 1948 decision to invade Israel and “save Palestine,” marked a watershed event, for it changed the rules of the conflict. With the pending invasion following Israel's declaration of independence, it is no exaggeration to say that the new Jewish state's very existence hung in the balance. Dislodging all Arab inhabitants from sensitive areas in proximity to Jewish settlements, establishing territorial continuity between blocs under Jewish control, and ensuring control of key transportation arteries were military necessities.

The cost of defeat was hammered home by a stream of dire warnings from Arab capitals, with perhaps the most chilling for Israel coming from Jamal Al-Husseini as vice-chairman of the Arab Higher Committee [AHC], who publicly declared:

“The Arabs have taken into their own hands, the Final Solution of the Jewish problem. The problem will be solved only in blood and fire. The Jews will be driven out.”

Abbas’ post-paid terrorism has worked - FirstOneThrough

...In the early days of mobile, post-paid wireless subscribers were considered much more valuable than pre-paid subscribers, as they spent much more money each month and were more loyal, less likely to leave the carrier. That has changed over time with each spending roughly the same amount today. In terrorism, the dynamics have also converged. The loyalty of post-paid terrorists-in-waiting has matched the devoted jihadists, knowing that the monies and honor are guaranteed.

Paul Gherkin..
FirstOneThrough..
Israel Analysis..
17 May '20..

Mobile subscribers come in two general varieties: pre-paid and post-paid.

Post-paid subscribers pay AFTER they receive service each month. These customers do not know exactly how much they will pay for service due to the variability in usage but have an understanding with the wireless carrier on the basic parameters of $X for Y voice minutes and Z GB of data usage.

In contrast, pre-paid customers pay BEFORE they use the service. Sometimes this is done because the consumer wants to have a defined liability and ensure they are not burdened by overage charges. Pre-paid plans are often used by consumers with poor credit.

In the early days of wireless, there were only post-paid subscribers as the handsets and calling plans were expensive. The cost kept the marketplace limited to only the wealthy and consumers who truly needed the service. To attract the masses, carriers introduced pre-paid plans which were not only much cheaper but avoided the lengthy contracts and background checks. The mobile industry took off.

This is the template the Palestinian Authority has used with terrorism, inverting pre-paid and post-paid to attract the masses.

Post-paid Terrorism for the Masses

In the early days of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the group took a significant amount of time to recruit and train its killers. Money was spent on guns, ammunition and bombs, and considerable time was invested in surveillance, training and planning. The massacre of the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games, the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre and the numerous airplane hijackings in the 1970’s were carried out by devout fanatics. These were pre-paid terrorist activities with the terrorist group investing a lot upfront, limiting both the number of attacks and PLO membership.

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Here is why a movement of high-ranking officers and IDF fighters supports Sovereignty - by Col. (Res.) Tal Braun

When a historic chance arises to do what is right and just and what ensures Israel’s safety in the long term, we must seize the moment and not hesitate to confront any challenges that might arise.

Col. (Res.) Tal Braun..
Opinion/Israel National News..
16 May '20..
Link: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/280336

'Habithonistim' (Protectors of Israel) is a new movement of high-ranking officers, commanders and IDF fighters.

As part of our National Security concept, we support applying Sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and Judea and Samaria (excluding the Palestinian Authority areas). We believe it is essential to ensure Israel’s current and future security needs.

This agenda generated the movement great traction of more than 1000 officers and commanders who joined us in the first three months since our establishment. Furthermore, Israeli society gave us massive support, endorsing our call for Sovereignty now.

The plan, which calls on the Israeli government to apply its sovereignty over territories in the Jordan valley and the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, brought great expectations, and at the same time, anxiety and tension to the region, from all sides of the political spectrum.

On February 7, 2020, The "Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS)", an organization composed of retired high-ranking generals from the left side of the Israeli political map, published a position statement regarding the American plan “for “annexation", criticizing it and rejecting any “unilateral” “annexation” on behalf of Israel. They basically claim the plan will endanger and threaten regional stability and Israel’s security.

Habithonistim's response to these claims is brought here. Our motto and message are clear- we call for "Sovereignty Now!".

1. Will applying Sovereignty destabilize the already sensitive relations with Jordan and affect security coordination or even terminate the peace accord?

The Bithonistim response:

- Israeli sovereignty is a Jordanian interest. Israeli Sovereignty over the Jordan Valley will keep Jordan stable by ensuring that it will share forever a common border with Israel and not a Palestinian Arab unstable entity that might overthrow the king and gain control of Jordan, undermining Israel’s security.

- The border with Israel has been a quiet border for decades- Israel shares its longest border with Jordan. From the Yarmuk River to the Red Sea is a distance of 309 km/ 192 miles, while the Jordan valley section is 71 km/44 mile long. A quiet border allows the Jordanians to tighten their security measures along much more sensitive borders other than Israel, such as with Syria and Iraq.

- Jordan has a range of vital interests other than security including:

1.Water agreements with Israel- Israel supplies at least 50 million cubic meters of water a year to Jordan according to the peace treaty. Jordan is urging for doubling that number in order to supply drinking water for all its citizens and hundreds of thousands of refugees (mainly from Syria) as well as for its agriculture all along the border with Israel, which Israel assisted in developing.

2. Economy (Industry, tourism, agriculture, etc.):

a. A new-shared Industrial area between the countries has a great influence on the stability and economy of the region.

b. Jordan and Israel both share common tourism interests all along the border, such as the Baptismal Site on the Jordan River called "Qasr al Yahud", the Dead Sea, the city and shores of Aqaba near the Red Sea (the only passage Jordan has to the sea and its biggest resort). Thousands of tourists from all over the world cross the borders regularly and visit historical, archeological and religious sites in both countries.

c. Israeli industries manufacture products and trade through Jordan.

d. Thousands of Jordanians work in the tourism industry inside Israel.

3. Foreign relations - Jordan will not risk its relations with the US government or other major supportive countries because of Israeli sovereignty on land they never owned, as the kingdom counts on their economic, security and overall assistance to exist.

4. Religion - Israel respects the connection of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the Temple Mount area, in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem, as is written in the peace agreement. Jordan still has a special status, although the late king Hussein cancelled all Jordanian administrative claims and connections to the "West Bank", as a result of the Palestinian Arab uprising during July 1988, afraid of its eruption in his kingdom as well.

- Israel will be secured for decades by declaring its sovereignty over the Jordan valley, as it is the natural eastern border and defensive barrier for the land of Israel - fact well known to all of its conquerors and rulers since ancient times.

- Israel should not count on any Arab country to secure it, knowing that stability in the Middle East is fragile and agreements might not last as expected as is the case in western civilization. Therefore Israel counts on its own strength and intelligence to prevent any hostile activity and deter its enemies, while not undermining the importance of good, peaceful or at least quiet relationships with its neighbors.

Hamas Hearts Human Rights Watch - by Bassam Tawil

A terrorist group that has failed its own people on an epic level is pretending that it is worried about where Arabs in Israel will live.

💓

Bassam Tawil..
Gatestone Institute..
15 May '20..

Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group dedicated to the destruction of Israel, is apparently very pleased with Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international organization headquartered in New York. Hamas is so pleased that this week it issued a statement praising HRW for its systematic and continuous bashing of Israel.

It is rather rare for a radical Islamic terrorist group to heap praise on a Western supposed human rights organization, particularly an American one.

Exceptions exist in all areas, however, and HRW, known for its anti-Israel bias and for peddling anti-Israel hate, stands as an especially blazing one.

What motivated Hamas to express its admiration for HRW? Another anti-Israel report, this time claiming that Arab citizens of Israel are facing a "housing shortage."

The HRW report focuses on only three Arab towns in Israel -- Jisr al-Zarqa, Qalansawa and Ein Mahel, with a total population of 50,000. It deliberately ignores the other two million or so Arab Israelis. Moreover, the report fails to mention that the housing crisis affects not only Arabs, but also Jews.

"We are on the brink of a socio-economic abyss," said Raul Srugo, President of the Israel Builders Association.

"As long as the government doesn't begin strategic planning for the next generation in Israel, we'll find ourselves in the biggest crisis since the state was founded. In 2030, there will be 12 million residents in Israel, and in 2050 there will be 17 million people here. Remember, this is a country where it takes 15 years to approve construction of a single [new] neighborhood."

HRW, however, does not seem inclined to allow a few crucial facts to spoil its efforts to delegitimize Israel by accusing it of "discrimination" against Arab Israelis.

The good news is that Israel has been working hard in recent years to solve the housing crisis -- for both Arabs and Jews.

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The "Zionism equals Racism" resolution lost its legal status in 1991, but ... - by Dr. Alex Grobman

Recognizing Israel as a legitimate entity means that there is “justice in Zionism.” By forcing Jews to reject Zionism as “Jewish nationalism,” the Arabs could deprive the Jews of their national status, leaving them only with a religious identity that gave them no rights to a state of their own, according them inferior status as a people. The ultimate conclusion, accordingly, would be to accept antisemitism on an international basis.

Dr. Alex Grobman..
Israelnationalnews.com..
13 May '20..
Link: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/280171

On the 37th anniversary of the Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass), the UN General Assembly declared that Zionism is racism and a form of racial discrimination (Z=R) when it adopted Resolution 3379. The resolution, which passed on November 10, 1975, was part of an organized global campaign by the Soviets and the Arab states to delegitimize the State of Israel, after an abortive attempt to expel her from the UN.

On the same day, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 3376, creating an Assembly Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. Sixteen of the original 20 members on the Assembly committee did not have diplomatic relations with Israel, and some had never acknowledged Israel’s right to exist. [1]

Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, placed anti-Israel hostility in perspective: “What I saw at the Security Council reminded me of what it felt like to be bullied when I was a kid.,,"
The Z=R resolution attracted worldwide attention to Zionism as “a form of racism and racial discrimination.” guaranteeing Israel would be viewed as a racist state the international community would have to confront. Although the resolution was abrogated in 1991, depriving it of legal status, the hostility it generated toward Israel in most UN member nations, and in the UN’s own institutions continues unabated. [2].

No Longer Just a Common Reprobate

Israel was “no longer among the ordinary evil-doers of this world, all of whom at one time or another attack and harm civilian populations, oppress minorities, and institute exclusive immigration laws and monopolistic religious laws.” wrote Ehud Sprinzak, a Hebrew University political science professor. Israel’s crimes were committed “as part of an entire ideological system” and therefore every Israeli government action was racist and “antihumanistic.”

Israel had gone from being a legitimate national liberation movement to one that opposed the rightful aspirations of other nations and peoples. The UN General Assembly provided the stage and a guilt free path, assuming one was needed, for antisemites and antisemitism at the UN [3]

Even more insidious, the resolution went to the heart of Israel’s right to exist, opined Norman Podhoretz, editor of Commentary magazine. Israel was denounced not only “as an illegitimate entity,” but, “the very idea of a sovereign Jewish state in the Middle East (Zionism), let alone the actuality of one, no matter what its boundaries might be, was by definition declared criminal (racist)…. Israel could only cease to be criminal if it ceased to be both Jewish and sovereign—if, in other words, it ceased to exist. Returning to the boundaries of 1967 or even the boundaries of 1948 would make not the slightest difference. For the resolution did not concern boundaries or occupied territories; it concerned the right of a sovereign Jewish state of any size or shape to exist in the Middle East.” [4]

For Yohanan Manor, director of the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace, anti-Zionism “is more a slogan than an ideology.” Anti-Zionism, anti-Israel and anti-U.S. slogans are the one of the few types of glue that somehow holds together the heterogeneous coalition against globalism.” [5]

Israel's leaders now have the historic opportunity to finish the job that the country's forefathers could not - by Prof. Eyal Zisser

What's particularly interesting this year is the almost complete inattention, and even apathy to the point of boredom, that Nakba Day is arousing across the Arab world, but also among many Palestinians in Judea and Samaria and Gaza and among Arab Israeli citizens. All these have apparently decided to move forward instead of remaining stuck in the past, let alone mortgage their futures to people who have proved time and again that all they're capable of is delivering calamity upon calamity to the Palestinian people.

Prof. Eyal Zisser..
Israel Hayom..
12 May '20..
Link: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/we-are-the-next-generations/

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's upcoming visit to Israel and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman's comments on Israeli sovereignty signal the return of this diplomatic issue to the forefront of the public and media agenda. Ironically, these developments are taking place in a week the Palestinians mark their annual "Nakba Day" on May 15. Although the end of the British Mandate on May 15, 1948, paved the path for Israel's establishment, it also led to the War of Independence, which the Palestinians observe as their national "catastrophe."

Indeed, the Palestinians' decision to reject the UN Partition Plan on November 29, 1947, and launch their armed struggle against the Jewish community has proven to be a fateful mistake, the first of many the Palestinians made, but they choose to mark the day annually and use it to inflame the street against Israel.

This year, Nakba Day falls under the shadow of the Trump administration's "deal of the century" and Israel's intention to apply sovereignty in parts of Judea and Samaria. It should come as no surprise that voices in the Palestinian camp are talking about another Nakba, which could be the final nail in the coffin of the idea of a Palestinian state.

Similar to the Nakba of 1948, however, the Palestinians have brought this current catastrophe on themselves through a series of decisions they've made throughout the years, chief among them the employment of violence and terror, along with dependence on others, whether the United Nations or European Union, instead of taking responsibility for their own fate. Ultimately, the Palestinians would do well to leave the question of what transpired in 1948 to the historians, and in any case, their attempts to force the Palestinian narrative on Israel was always destined for failure and only prevents the sides from moving toward conciliation.

Obama acolytes Gordon and Malley, Middle East plans and fantasies - by Jerold S. Auerbach

Coexistence with Israel under any circumstances, even including assurance of massive American economic investment, would not be worth relinquishing the decades of hostility that are embedded in Palestinian identity. Their rigid reluctance to engage in negotiations with Israel long ago doomed any peace prospects.

Jerold S Auerbach..
JNS.org..
11 May '20..

In a New York Post article to May 4, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman challenged the assumptions and conclusions of President Barack Obama’s acolytes Philip Gordon and Robert Malley that recently appeared in Foreign Policy. Gordon served as Obama’s White House coordinator for the Middle East, and Malley was Obama’s special assistant for the Middle East.

Gordon and Malley, worried lest the new Israeli coalition government (with its huge Knesset majority led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) will soon annex major portions of Judea and Samaria, the biblical homeland of the Jewish people, where 400,000 Jews already live, urged former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to speak out in opposition to the plan. They shuddered over the pronouncement by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that it is “Israel’s decision to make.”

Gordon and Malley cited multiple reasons for rejecting the annexation plan. It “would jeopardize Israel’s future as a democratic, Jewish state”; “damage Israel’s relations with Jordan”; “violate international law”; ignore “the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people”; and “could be a harbinger of greater regional instability and possibly violence.” It might even lead to demands “in the United States and elsewhere” for a “single state solution” with Palestinians granted “equal civil and political rights.”

It is hardly surprising that Gordon and Malley staunchly oppose the Israeli annexation plan. Obama, whom they loyally served, was arguably Israel’s least friendly president since its Proclamation of Independence in 1948. Nearing the end of his term in the White House, having already opposed Israeli action against Iran’s nuclear-weapon development, Obama had refused to veto U.N. resolution 2334 that supported boycotts and sanctions against Israel, and declared settlements to be violations of international law. There is no evidence that Biden objected. With “friends” like Obama, Israel hardly needs his loyal acolyte Joe Biden in the White House.

Friedman’s response to the Gordon-Malley article was appropriately lacerating. Labeling the Obama administration’s response to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as “often wrong, never in doubt,”...

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Jerold S. Auerbach is the author of Fit to Print: The New York Times, Zionism and Israel, 1896-2016, chosen by Ruth Wisse and Martin Kramer for Mosaic as a Best Book for 2019.

The real Israel, thankfully, is not afraid because it shouldn’t be - by Yishai Fleisher

Contrary to a conservative's warnings, sending a signal that Israel intends to stay in its historic heartland forever will do much to deflate jihadist intentions.

Yishai Fleisher..
JNS.org..
08 May '20..

In a recent New York Times article, noted Middle East scholar and pro-Israel pundit Dr. Daniel Pipes warns that Israeli application of sovereignty in parts of the “West Bank,” known as Judea and Samaria, would be a grave mistake for the Jewish state and backs up his thesis with six reasons.

However, while Pipes sees himself as pragmatic, the article is riddled with one consistent flaw: It’s entirely founded on needlessly fearful conjecture.

Fear #1: President Trump’s fury

Right off the bat, Pipes reveals his phobic perspective: “First, President Trump could well erupt in fury at Israel for unilaterally taking that step.”

What? What is the basis for this concern? The annexation Pipes thinks will set off the president is in Trump’s very own “deal of the century” plan. Moreover, President Trump’s constituency supports Israel, and his administration is filled with officials who have openly backed Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, as they did in the Golan Heights and in Jerusalem.

And with regard to the commander-in-chief’s fury, it is clear that Trump respects strong leaders, not fearful weaklings.

So what is the basis for this terrified speculation that President Trump will “erupt in fury”? All indications are that the only “erupting” America’s president will do is the laughter he emits when he reads Pipes’s assessment.

Fear #2: Alienating Europe and the Democrats

For his second point, Pipes warns that “annexation would alienate and weaken Israel’s diminishing number of friends in the Democratic Party and in Europe.”

But “annexation” is just the latest excuse for the distance between Israel, on the one hand, and some Western European countries and much of the Democratic Party on the other. For these self-styled progressives, the very idea of nationalism has become abhorrent (except Palestinian nationalism), and the Zionist project, no matter what it does, is therefore distasteful. This mindset minimizes Israel’s accomplishments—military victories, impressive national economy, scientific and technological innovations. For progressives, the real heroes are perceived victims, not people who actually bring progress, liberty and freedom.

At the United Nations, Israel, the most liberal country in the Middle East, is regularly maligned as the world’s leading “human-rights abuser.” There is no way for Israel to please the radical progressives in Western Europe and the Democratic Party.

So while Pipes is right that Israel is losing the progressives, it has little to do with annexation.

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NY Times, Corona and the IDF’s ‘Cutting-Edge Ways of Killing People’ - by Pesach Benson

No matter what the New York Times says, Israel has no reason to apologize for developing the technology it needs to defend itself.

Pesach Benson..
Honest Report..
09 May '20..

Even when the Israel rolls up its sleeves to come up with innovative ways to fight the coronavirus pandemic, it can’t get a fair shake from the New York Times.

In a roundup of what the start-up nation’s entrepreneurs and defense industry are doing in areas such as testing, tracking and telemedicine, bureau chief David Halbfinger leads off with this appallingly disparaging sentence:

The Israeli Defense Ministry’s research-and-development arm is best known for pioneering cutting-edge ways to kill people and blow things up, with stealth tanks and sniper drones among its more lethal recent projects.

The NYT describes how one company is making strides in using audio technology and artificial intelligence to analyze breathing patterns that might identify indicators of Covid-19. Another company is developing a system to to let infectious-disease nurses “instantly determine who else needs to be quarantined when a hospital worker tests positive.” Robots are being adapted to allow doctors to monitor and treat patients remotely, without exposing medical staff. Hopefully, these and the other efforts referred to in the story will help beat back the corona crisis.

But the Times trivializes this research and development. Halbfinger and the editors think this is a profile of James Bond’s gadget guy, Q.

Memo to the Times: save the opinionizing for the op-ed pages.

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Question. Why can't those pesky Israelis do what we want them to? - David Collier

Yes, you can have your opinion. But unless you are prepared to send your children to the army to defend the Jewish state, let us not pretend that opinion matters too much. You want a voice that counts? Make aliyah. But hey – July approaches – don’t forget to all write your opinion pieces and tell everyone how Israel has let you down. You are all so desperate to show it off to your friends and tell them how innovative Jews in Israel are – how dare those pesky Israelis keep spoiling it for you by worrying about their own security.

David Collier..
Beyond the Great Divide..
08 May '20..

Some UK Jewish papers have already opened the ‘annexation front’, criticising Israel for unilateral action it may be about to take. I promised myself I would stay quiet on this until July – when I expected to be forced to stand up against an uproar from some of the small-but-vocal quarters of the diaspora community. It seems they are so eager to make a noise, they started early.

Most of those troubled by the annexation are also those deeply disappointed that Netanyahu successfully navigated every obstacle that he had to face. Fooled by the insane political analysis of those who actually believed their own hype, they somehow thought a coalition could be built to depose the right-wing block. For months they performed mathematical and ideological summersaults, building neverthere coalitions and putting numerous ideological enemies together in some farcical political alliance. Father Christmas had more chance of appearing in the halls of the Knesset.

According to certain elements in the Diaspora, those pesky Israelis just keep voting the wrong way. Oh, how they wish the Israelis were as clever or ‘woke’ as they are.

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Palestinian student sentenced to prison. Usual suspects defend her. - by Elder of Ziyon

Just based on a biased Haaretz report and some basic searches, we can see that Mays Abu Ghosh grew up with terrorists, joined a student group linked to terrorists and that glorifies terrorists, met with terrorists herself, and was caught making two firebombs. And these are just the charges and details we know about.

Elder of Ziyon..
06 May '20..

There are petitions with 15,000 signatures to free Mays Abu Ghosh from prison:

She was sentenced to 16 months in prison this week.

What were the charges against her? Haaretz' Gideon Levy co-wrote (with Alex Levac) a sarcastic article making fun of the idea that she is anything but an innocent lamb, so let's see if we can translate his spin into truth:

Mohammed Abu Ghosh says that his daughter’s arrest has been even more difficult for him than his son’s death. He casts a wistful glance at a huge photo of Mays’ pretty face and falls silent. A pendant in the shape of Palestine is hanging around her neck. Mays, his eldest, has been in Israeli custody for five months.

Mohammed has known his share of suffering: His son Hussein was killed at the age of 17 after perpetrating a stabbing attack in the settlement of Beit Horon in which Shlomit Krigman was killed in 2016. Mohammed’s nephew, also named Hussein, was killed at the age of 19 on the first anniversary of his son’s death, in a car-ramming attack in the settlement of Ma’aleh Mikhmash. And Mohammed’s son Suleiman, now 17, was twice arrested last year and held in administrative detention – incarceration without trial – for four months each time.

Translation: Mays comes from a family of terrorists.

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From the U.S. Congress, concern about how Jordanians deal with the fugitive terrorist in their midst - by Arnold Roth

Ahlam Tamimi, whose obscene freedom in Jordan is at the heart of the letter, is the Hamas terrorist who repeatedly confesses proudly to her central role in the massacre at Jerusalem's Sbarro pizzera on August 9, 2001.

Arnold/Frimet Roth..
This Ongoing War..
05 May '20..

A group of Republican members of the US Congress has despatched a letter to Her Excellency Dina Kawar, Jordan's ambassdor to Washington. It's reported by JNS in a May 4, 2020 syndicated article headlined "Congress members push for extradition of wanted terrorist Ahlam Tamimi from Jordan".

The law-makers who co-signed it are Reps. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) who took the lead; Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.); Ted Yoho (R-Fla.); Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.); Brian Mast (R-Fla.); Scott Perry (R-Penn.); and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas).

Ahlam Tamimi, whose obscene freedom in Jordan is at the heart of the letter, is the Hamas terrorist who repeatedly confesses proudly to her central role in the massacre at Jerusalem's Sbarro pizzera on August 9, 2001. Our daughter Malki, 15, was one of Tamimi's victims.

US Federal charges against Tamimi were announced in Washington by the Department of Justice on March 14, 2017.

Some extracts from the letter:

- [Tamimi] has been showered with acclaim by the students of the Arab world’s most important graduate school of journalism, the Amman-based Jordan Media Institute, who declared her to be their "success model"... For five years, she traveled widely and often to deliver public speeches throughout Jordan and in numerous Arab countries beyond Jordan’s borders. Her theme has always centered on promoting terror and terrorists.

- Today, appallingly, Tamimi is a media celebrity, the subject of wide popular admiration. She has appeared publicly side-by-side with prominent political figures and received extraordinary recognition in Jordan’s mainstream press and television media as a respected commentator and as an object of Jordanian national pride...

Referring to Jordan's blunt refusal to extradite Tamimi as required by the 1995 Jordan/US Extradition Treaty, the letter says

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Good Question. Why Would Anyone Celebrate the Anniversary of UNRWA? - by Elder of Ziyon

There is nothing to celebrate. UNRWA needs to be dismantled.

Elder of Ziyon..
Algemeiner..
04 May '20..

Last week, UNRWA celebrated its 70th anniversary. The question is — why? What is there to celebrate?

UNRWA was originally meant to be a temporary refugee agency for those displaced from the 1948 war — Arabs and Jews — until a permanent solution could be found for them.

Originally, UNRWA tried to find permanent housing and jobs for Palestinian refugees in Arab countries. It tried to ensure that non-refugees couldn’t get free services. It tried to act like a responsible agency.

But over its first few years, it lost that focus. It changed into a permanent welfare agency.

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The Never-ending Palestinian Refugee Scam - by Jerold Auerbach

Israel certainly can — and arguably should — invite the return of some 30,000 genuine Palestinian refugees, a number guaranteed to decline over time. The only objections, ironically, are likely to come from UNRWA and its Arab minions. They desperately need Palestinian “refugees” to sustain their unyielding public relations war against Israel and, perhaps more important, to protect UNRWA bank accounts that assure their own salaries. But it is long past time to close this fraudulent charade that lacerates Israel for crimes that it did not commit.

Jerold Auerbach..
Algemeiner..
03 May '20..

Can history be undone? The correct answer is: of course not. Surely what happened happened, notwithstanding any subsequent discomfort with the result.

Not so fast.

For example: Who are the rightful inheritors of Palestine? Indeed, where is “Palestine”? These questions, embedded in discussions (and inevitable disagreements) for the past century, have been thrust to the forefront with announcements by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the planned extension of Israeli sovereignty over settlements in Biblical Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and the Jordan Valley.

Prompted by the centennial anniversary of the San Remo accords, a long dormant set of flawed assumptions has surfaced. Those 1920 accords, ratified by the League of Nations and never rescinded, affirmed the promise made three years earlier by British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour that “His Majesty’s Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” The San Remo agreement became, and remained, the international affirmation of Jewish sovereignty over the land west (and originally also east) of the Jordan River. But the United Nations, with its long history of discomfort often shading into overt hostility toward Israel, has yet to recognize this embedded precedent of international law.

Yishai Fleisher, spokesman for the Hebron Jewish community, recently cited, “This momentous occasion, on which the international community recognized and then ratified the inalienable right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel for the first time in modern history.” But one year later, at the Cairo Conference, Great Britain excluded Transjordan from the territory comprising the Jewish national home and bestowed it as a gift to King Abdullah for his newly invented Kingdom of Jordan.

Israeli scholar Efraim Karsh has affirmed the impact of the San Remo Conference on international law and, by extension, its geographical and legal boundaries for the nascent Jewish state. But the 1948 partition of Palestine that followed Israel’s Independence War transformed Biblical Judea and Samaria into Jordan’s “West Bank.” So it remained for nearly two decades until the Six-Day War returned Israel to the Biblical homeland of the Jewish people. The partition boundaries were erased.

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Jerold S. Auerbach is the author of Print to Fit: The New York Times, Zionism and Israel 1896-2016, chosen by Ruth Wisse and Martin Kramer as a Mosaic Best Book for 2019.

Who would've thought? Haaretz's Gideon Levy offers life support to expired Tantura "Massacre" Fallacy - by Hanan Amiur

At the end of the legal process, which Katz paid for with Palestinian Authority funding, he was compelled to publish at his own expense newspaper advertisements in which he completely repudiated the massacre lies, eliminating any possibility of generously referring to them as a “contentious version.”

Hanan Amiur..
CAMERA..
27 April '20..

In advance of Israel’s Memorial Day, which starts tonight and continues tomorrow, Haaretz yesterday published an Op-Ed by Gideon Levy about combat soldier Gideon Bachrach, the son of family friends who fell in battle at an Arab fishing village called Tantura during the 1948 war (“Why Didn’t You Tell Us About the Palestinian Village in Tantura?”). Levy, who is named after the fallen Gideon Bachrach, wrote:

According to historian Benny Morris in his book on the birth of the Palestinian refugee problem in 1947-49, the [pre-state paramilitary organization] Haganah decided in advance to expel the inhabitants of Tantura. According to one contentious version there was a massacre there.

The prevaricating language, “contentious version,” lends a hand of legitimacy to the claim in which the Haganah allegedly engaged in a war crime: the massacre of hundreds of unarmed Arabs, not involved in hostilities, who were lined up against a wall and shot to death. (The Hebrew article refers to a “controversial version.”)

But the Tantura “massacre” allegation, which originated in a University of Haifa Master’s thesis submitted by student Teddy Katz, is not merely “contentious.” Rather, it was thoroughly debunked after veterans of the Alexandroni Brigade who took part in the battle, completely denied the allegations and sued Katz for slander, prompting a thorough examination of the chain of lies, fabrications and distortions of testimonies orchestrated to smear the soldiers as war criminals.

CAMERA’s Ricki Hollander previously wrote, the soldiers

maintained that the battle for Tantura was a strategic one, an attempt to stop the maritime smuggling of arms and food and to prevent the Haifa-Tel Aviv road from being cut off; and that throughout the fight for survival in a bloody war launched by the Arabs, they had maintained the strictest ethical standards. While the battle for Tantura was difficult – 14 members of the IDF battalion and about 40 Arabs were killed in street fighting – the veterans insisted Katz had lied about a massacre.

At the end of the legal process, which Katz paid for with Palestinian Authority funding, he was compelled to publish at his own expense newspaper advertisements in which he completely repudiated the massacre lies, eliminating any possibility of generously referring to them as a “contentious version.”

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The Jewish state is not purely the realization of a dream; it is an actual country, made up of real people - by Ruthie Blum

As I told a close friend who was considering aliyah a few years ago, the lobby of the King David Hotel is not Israel. Nor is dancing the hora through the streets of Jerusalem. Anyone harboring either fantasy is destined for disappointment. Those who see and adore Israel for what it is, on the other hand, can count on a successful and rewarding aliyah. Because the truth about the Jewish state – which is a breathing organism, not an ethereal concept – is that there’s no place quite like it.

Ruthie Blum..
Jerusalem Post..
30 April '20..

The State of Israel turned 72 on Wednesday, and what a peculiar birthday it was. If not for television and the Internet, it might have passed by unnoticed. Indeed, thanks to the coronavirus-spurred 27-hour curfew, the customary annual celebrations were void of participants, other than dignitaries delivering speeches and celebrities performing to venues filled with empty seats.

The sparse fireworks that were permitted in the end went off with more of a whisper than a bang. And anyone not fortunate enough to possess a balcony – or whose garden is secluded – missed out on the sense of solidarity that singing the national anthem on terraces around the nation provided.

As for the traditional barbecues, well, many took place with immediate family members, either indoors or on private patios. So, while the smell of charred meat wafting through the air was strong, the gatherings were subdued.

THIS IS NOT to say that the atmosphere was lacking in cheer, however. On the contrary, the weeks of virtual isolation leading up to the holiday, alongside the gradual reopening of shops that began a few days earlier, contributed to a sense of shared hardship on the one hand and budding optimism on the other. Nothing symbolized the latter better than the news that the beauty parlors were back in business.

Apparently, it’s a lot easier to pay tribute to the Zionist enterprise – particularly in the wake of weeks spent engaging in cabin-fever sloth and gluttony – with a proper haircut and fresh manicure.

This is natural.

As deserving of awe and enthusiasm as it is, the Jewish state is not purely the realization of a dream; it is an actual country, made up of real people. As such, we do not judge the quality of our lives by the Star of David on our flag or the international acclaim received by our start-ups. Though we may take pride in those things on an intellectual, ideological or political level, they do not govern our daily grind. What does preoccupy us most of the time is family, work, bills and errands. Religion helps some of us bear the burdens more gracefully than others, through gratitude. But even Judaism doesn’t deny the human condition.

WHICH BRINGS us to one peculiar side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic: a spike in the desire of Israelis living abroad to return home, and an increase in the interest of Diaspora Jews to make aliyah.

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