[VIDEO] Benjamin Netanyahu Response to a Video: ‘The Palestinian Leadership Must Stop Encouraging Children to Kill’
Posted: August 3, 2016 Filed under: Global, Mediasphere, Politics, Terrorism, War Room | Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Blockade of the Gaza Strip, Fatah, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, Palestinian National Authority, Palestinian people, Ramallah, West Bank Leave a comment
“I’ve just watched a video that shook me to the core of my being. In just a few seconds, it shows why our conflict persists.
So here is a short snippet:
“Shoot him! Shoot him! Here he is. Go, go. Shoot him!”
A Palestinian father holds up his 4-year-old son. He pleads with Israeli border police to kill his own child. He shouts, “Shoot this little boy!” His boy.
He pushes his young son forward toward the soldiers and screams, “Kill him! Shoot him!”
The boy pauses. He is scared. Any child would be.
He turns back, looking at his father for guidance.
With his shirt tightly tucked into his bright red shorts, the boy ambles forward towards the soldiers. One of them extends his hand in friendship. The boy gives him a high-five.
It’s hard to make a four-year-old hate.
Imagine your own child at that age. Think of his smile. Imagine her laugh. Picture the unrestrained joy and innocence that only a child possesses.
Encouraging someone to murder a child – let alone your own child – is probably the most inhumane thing a person can do.
What did this child do to deserve this? The answer is: nothing. He is innocent.
He should be in a playground. He should be in the sun, laughing with other children.
Sadly, this father’s crime is not an isolated example. In Gaza, Hamas runs summer camps that teach children to value death over life – suicide kindergarten camps.
The Palestinian Ministry of Education in Ramallah recently organized an event for students to honor terrorists who murdered three civilians.
Two weeks ago, the Palestinian Authority’s official newspaper praised teenage terrorists and wrote that “death as a martyr is the path to excellence and greatness.” That’s a direct quote.
Palestinian and Israeli children deserve better. They deserve to live. They deserve to live in peace.
Children are not cannon fodder. They are the most precious things in the world. They’re the most precious things we have.
I’m sure Palestinian parents, many of them, are as outraged as I am at this video. Read the rest of this entry »
Israel Outflanks White House on Strategy
Posted: August 14, 2014 Filed under: Think Tank, War Room, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, United States, White House 2 Comments
Benjamin Netanyahu, left, looks on as President Barack Obama speaks at the White House in March. Bloomberg News
JERUSALEM—WSJ‘s Adam Entous reports: White House and State Department officials who were leading U.S. efforts to rein in Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip were caught off guard last month when they learned that the Israeli military had been quietly securing supplies of ammunition from the Pentagon without their approval.
Since then the Obama administration has tightened its control on arms transfers to Israel. But Israeli and U.S. officials say that the adroit bureaucratic maneuvering made it plain how little influence the White House and State Department have with the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu —and that both sides know it.
“We’ve been there before with a lot of tension with us and Washington. What we have now, on top of that, is mistrust and a collision of different perspectives on the Middle East. It’s become very personal.”
The munitions surprise and previously unreported U.S. response added to a string of slights and arguments that have bubbled behind the scenes during the Gaza conflict, according to events related by senior American, Palestinian and Israeli officials involved.
[See photos and maps surveying the destruction in Gaza.]
In addition, current and former American officials say, U.S.-Israel ties have been hurt by leaks that they believe were meant to undercut the administration’s standing by mischaracterizing its position and delay a cease-fire. The battles have driven U.S.-Israeli relations to the lowest point since President Barack Obama took office. Read the rest of this entry »
Katherine Timpf: ‘Social Media Slacktivists Aim to End Middle East Conflict by Posting Selfies with Hummus’
Posted: August 6, 2014 Filed under: Humor, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Chickpea, Facebook, Facebook features, Gaza, Hummus, Hummus Initiative, Israel, Katherine Timpf, Middle East, New York City, Palestine, Palestinian people 4 Comments
“In the Middle-East, everyone loves hummus, regardless of their religion, origin or nation.”
I grabbed this because I love the headline. Besides being a great hangout, they do great headlines. Above is a screen cap of the Facebook page, click the image to follow the link. Or don’t. Just say you did. Imagine whirled chickpeas.
From The Corner, Katherine Timpf reports:
Supporters of a social-media campaign called “The Hummus Initiative” are aiming to achieve peace in the Middle East by posting pictures of themselves with hummus….(read more)
Israel Accepts Egyptian Cease-Fire Plan
Posted: August 4, 2014 Filed under: Diplomacy, Mediasphere, War Room | Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Palestinian people, Rafah Leave a comment
Israeli soldiers walk by foot near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip as they return from the Hamas-controlled Palestinian coastal enclave on August 4, 2014. The Israeli army said today it was resuming its strikes on the Gaza Strip, after the end of a seven-hour humanitarian lull. An army spokesman said troops were redeploying within Gaza while other forces were pulling out in a process which began on August 2. GIL COHEN MAGEN/AFP/Getty Images)
W. James Antle III: ‘Thank God John Kerry Wasn’t President Of The United States’
Posted: August 4, 2014 Filed under: Diplomacy, Politics | Tags: Daily Caller, Gaza, Haaretz, Hamas, Holy Land, Israel, Israeli, John Kerry, Kerry, Massachusetts, Middle East 2 Comments
“The man of peace from Massachusetts intercepted with his own hands the reasonable cease-fire that was within reach, and pushed both the Palestinians and Israelis toward an escalation that most of them did not want.”
— Ari Shavit, Haaretz
For The Daily Caller, W. James Antle III writes: Addressing the cool kids at Rolling Stone during his ill-fated presidential campaign, John Kerry attempted to explain his vote for the Iraq War.
“I mean, when I voted for the war, I voted for what I thought was best for the country,” Kerry said. Then after taking a swipe at a Democratic presidential candidate who disrupted his coronation by actually opposing the war, he added, “Did I expect George Bush to f–k it up as badly as he did? I don’t think anybody did.”
Fast forward more than a decade. John Kerry is now secretary of state. And things are certainly f–ked up, perhaps more than anybody expected.
[Also see – EXCLUSIVE: Transcript of Kerry’s Phone Call to Netanyahu Complaining About Insults]
Kerry’s attempts at Middle East diplomacy have been almost universally panned, even by left-wing Israeli newspapers like Haaretz. “Kerry isn’t anti-Israeli; on the contrary, he’s a true friend to Israel,” states one of the more charitable Israeli accounts of Kerry’s Gaza maneuvers. “But his conduct in recent days over the Gaza cease-fire raises serious doubts over his judgment and perception of regional events.”
There are less charitable takes on Kerry’s peacemaking abilities. The Times of Israel’s Avi Issacharof described “an extraordinary phone call taking place between a senior Palestinian Authority official and an Israeli counterpart, during
which the two mocked the senior diplomat’s naivete and his failure to understand the regional reality.”
[Check out W. James Antle’s book “Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped“ at Amazon.com]
Ari Shavit, the author of the Haaretz piece, concluded, “The man of peace from Massachusetts intercepted with his own hands the reasonable cease-fire that was within reach, and pushed both the Palestinians and Israelis toward an escalation that most of them did not want.”
An Associated Press diplomatic correspondent tweeted,
Looks like phase one of new US Mideast peace strategy to piss everyone off so much they stop fighting each other & turn on Kerry is working.
— Matt Lee (@APDiploWriter) July 28, 2014
Kerry has finally beaten Bush: he has proved that he is a uniter, not a divider. Read the rest of this entry »
UPDATE: GLOBAL PANIC OF JULY 2014 OFFICIALLY EXTENDED INTO AUGUST
Posted: August 1, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, War Room | Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Ceasefire, Drudge, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Global Panic of 2014, Hamas, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Palestinian people, Washington Post 1 Comment
GAZA CITY — Less than three hours after a three-day humanitarian cease-fire between Israel and Hamas went into effect Friday, the truce broke down when clashes between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters erupted and militants fired rockets into Israel…
Gaza militants captured an Israeli officer in the southern Gaza Strip just as the cease-fire was falling apart, said a senior Israeli military spokesman. Two other Israeli soldiers were reported killed…(read more)
Advocacy for Terrorists Masked in the Language of Compassion: The Evil Sentimentality of the Pro-Hamas Left
Posted: August 1, 2014 Filed under: Think Tank, War Room | Tags: David French, Gaza, Israel, Mohammed Omer, Palestinian people, Patheos, Richard Chess, Syria 3 Comments
For National Review Online, David French writes:
Rarely has civilian death been so propagandized by so many of our fellow Americans. Oh, now, I know they’ll protest this characterization. They hate — just hate — the horrific loss of life in Gaza. They hate it so much that they’re moved to wax as eloquently as they can about the horror of death in schools, in mosques, in hospitals — all the places where people are supposed to be “safe,” supposed to seek “refuge.” They can’t stop writing about this death, emoting about this death. And they write and emote until you can almost see the splash of their crocodile tears on your computer screen.
They love peace, you see. They love it so much that they attempt to use every one of their God-given gifts to make you feel what a Palestinian widow feels, to make you stand in the shoes of a man weeping for his lost son. Feel the ultimate anguish. Hear the wailing. Don’t look away from the blood or the rage or the tears.
Have hundreds of thousands of parents and children and aunts and uncles shed similar tears in Syria? Look away from that. No, look away. I mean it. I need your eyes to focus back where they should — on that dead Palestinian child…
A Soldier of Israel Frees a Mentally Ill Man Hamas Chained to a Building to be a Casualty
Posted: July 30, 2014 Filed under: Global, Mediasphere, Politics, War Room | Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hama, Hamas, Israel, Palestine, Palestinian people, Twitter, West Bank 1 CommentA soldier of #Israel frees a mentally ill man #Hamas chained to a building to be a casualty when they fired rockets. pic.twitter.com/5lqhCiYPrz
— Bob Owens (@bob_owens) July 31, 2014
[VIDEO] MSNBC: Andrea Mitchell Ponders Soul Loss, Suffers Existential Confusion in Interview with Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer
Posted: July 30, 2014 Filed under: Mediasphere, Politics, War Room | Tags: Andrea Mitchell, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Palestinian people, Ron Dermer, United States, YouTube 1 CommentMSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell to Israeli Ambassador: ‘Israel May Be Losing Its Soul’ Over Gaza
[Also see: MSNBC Falls to 4th in Cable News Ratings…]
[POLL: Twice As Many Americans Blame Hamas For Gaza Violence Than Israel…]
[Hillary Clinton: Hamas Operates in Civilian Areas Because Gaza is a Small Place or Something]
MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell sat down today with Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, and asked him a provocative question: is Israel “losing its soul [and] may be losing the war because of the political impact of what is happening on the ground” in Gaza?
[More – MSNBC: ‘Keep it right here on Morning Jew’…]
Mitchell brought this up in the context of images depicting wounded and killed Palestinians, in those conditions as a
possible result of Israeli bombing.
“The difference is Hamas is using their civilians as human shields. They’re placing missile batteries in hospitals, they’re putting weapons depots in mosques. They’re storing rockets in UN schools. This is sick and grotesque.”
Dermer insisted, “Israel is not losing its soul. We are upholding our values under the most extreme circumstances.” Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Footage of Hamas Raid Shows Why Israel Is So Freaked Out About Gaza Tunnels
Posted: July 30, 2014 Filed under: Global, Self Defense, War Room | Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Policy, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Iron Dome, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Tunnel 1 Comment
For Foreign Policy, Elias Groll reports: Three weeks into deadly fighting in Gaza and along its border, Israeli forces have been surprised to encounter an extensive, sophisticated tunnel system that has been used by Hamas to infiltrate Israeli territory and carry out raids. The destruction of that tunnel system has become a focal point of Israeli military operations, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has emphasized that any cease-fire must allow his forces to continue identifying and sealing those tunnels.
To understand why these tunnels have become such a hot-button issue, one need look no further than a video released by Hamas by Tuesday, July 29. That video shows a group of fighters exiting such a tunnel and attacking an Israeli military installation. Read the rest of this entry »
Netanyahu’s Popularity Soars to 82%
Posted: July 29, 2014 Filed under: Diplomacy, Global, Politics, Self Defense, War Room | Tags: Barack Obama, Gallup, Gaza, Hamas, Herb Keinon, Israel, Jerusalem Post, Joel Pollak, John Kerry 2 CommentsFor Breitbart.com, John Nolte reports: There has not been a majority party in Israel for decades. Israelis are as politically divided as Americans in many ways. There is no national consensus on anything. But the Israeli people have unified behind Prime Minister Netanyahu. A recent poll
shows he is twice as popular in Israel as Barack Obama is in America.
The Jerusalem Post‘s Herb Keinon reports that a whopping 82% of Israelis “are satisfied with Netanyahu’s performance during [the Gaza] crisis.” According to the latest Gallup poll, Obama’s current American job approval rating, in the midst of numerous crises, is 40%, with 54% disapproving.
Israel firmly behind Netanyahu. Channel 2 poll: 82% are satisfied with Netanyahu’s performance during crisis, 10% not. (Last week 57%-35%)
— Herb Keinon (@HerbKeinon) July 24, 2014
Also of interest is where Israelis stand on the military action currently taking place in Gaza. Israelis might be split on when the action should end, but the split is way outside of the universe where Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry are operating. Read the rest of this entry »
Pro-Palestinian Protesters Play Dead Outside Boeing, Neglect to Protest Hamas’ Jew-Hating Rocket Attacks on Israeli Civilians
Posted: July 28, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, U.S. News, War Room | Tags: Boeing, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Israel, Palestinian people, Seattle, Twitter, Washington Times 1 CommentPro-#Palestinian protesters stage ‘die-in’ outside Seattle #Boeing offices http://t.co/pK8ZaFdFrX #Israel #Gaza pic.twitter.com/ffRptmB06z
— The Washington Times @WashTimes July 28, 2014
[VIDEO] Son of Hamas Founder Mosab Hassan Yousef: What Does Hamas Want? Conquest. When Do They Want It? Now.
Posted: July 28, 2014 Filed under: Politics, Think Tank, War Room | Tags: Andrew Johnson, Christianity, CNN, Gaza, Hamas, Hassan Yousef, Israel, Mosab Hassan Yousef, United States Leave a comment“Hamas is not seeking coexistence and compromise; Hamas is seeking conquest and taking over.”
— Mosab Hassan Yousef
This item from NRO‘s Andrew Johnson should clear up any lingering questions about Hamas and its objectives. Johnson writes:
The son of Hamas founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef revealed to CNN that Hamas’s “final destination” goes beyond just the destruction of Israel.
“Hamas does not care about the lives of Palestinians, does not care about the lives of Israelis or Americans.”
“Hamas is not seeking coexistence and compromise; Hamas is seeking conquest and taking over,” said Mosab Hassan Yousef, who has rejected Hamas’s objectives and converted to Christianity. Ultimately, Hamas aims to help create an Islamic caliphate “on the rubble of any other civilization.” Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] ‘For the sake of Palestine and its children, allow me to burn this filthy flag of the Zionist entity for the whole world to see”
Posted: July 25, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Mediasphere, War Room | Tags: Flag of Israel, Gaza, Israel, Jordan, Middle East Media Research Institute, Palestine, YouTube, Zionism, Zionist, Zionist entity Leave a commentGLOBAL PANIC OF JULY 2014 TELEVISED IN JORDAN
“We must demand that all Arab peoples expel them from their countries, starting with Jordan…I spit on this flag!”
For Breitbart.com, Nick Hallett reports: In a clip posted to YouTube by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Zoher Al-Azzeh burned the flag on Jordan’s 7 Stars TV while also calling for the US embassy in Jordan to be shut down, accusing America of using it as a “centre for spying”.
Describing the Israelis as “occupiers”, Al-Azzeh apologised to viewers for earlier having shown them graphic images of injured Palestinians, and then said: “For the sake of Palestine and its children, allow me to burn this filthy flag of the Zionist entity for the whole world to see”, before holding what appears to be an A4 paper print-off of the Israeli flag and setting light to it with a cigarette lighter…(read more)
Jordanian TV Host Burns Israeli Flag Live on Air
Jews See Need to Defend Themselves in France
Posted: July 22, 2014 Filed under: Global, War Room | Tags: Gaza, History of the Jews in France, Israel, Jews, Le Nouvel Observateur, Palestinian nationalism, Paris, Times Of Israel 1 Comment
Synagogues are targets during increasingly violent protests against Operation Protective Edge
For The Times of Israel, Cnaan Lipshiz reports: For the past 14 years, French Jews have grown accustomed to coming under attack during periods of conflict in the Middle East from hostile elements within their country’s large Arab and Muslim communities.
One recent incident, however, stood out: the July 13 riot by Palestinian sympathizers outside the Synagogue de la Roquette in central Paris that trapped some 200 terrified people inside the building. A street brawl ensued between the rioters and dozens of Jewish men who arrived to defend the synagogue.
“In people’s minds, there will be a before and after the Synagogue de la Roquette,” Joel Mergui, president of the Consistoire, French Jewry’s central religious services organization, told the French newsweekly Le Nouvel Observateur.
The incident involved pro-Palestinian protesters who reportedly had just come from a large demonstration against Israel’s airstrikes in Gaza.
The violence drew a stern rebuke from French President Francois Hollande. Read the rest of this entry »
The NYT: All The News Hamas Sees Fit to Print
Posted: July 21, 2014 Filed under: Censorship, Mediasphere, U.S. News | Tags: Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, New York Times, NOAH POLLAK, Twitter 1 CommentThe most influential news organization in the world is manufacturing an utterly false portrait of the battle—precisely the portrait that Hamas finds most helpful
For The Weekly Standard, Noah Pollak writes: Something important is missing from the New York Times‘s coverage of the war in Gaza: photographs of terrorist attacks on Israel, and pictures of Hamas fighters, tunnels, weaponry, and use of human shields.
A review of the Times‘s photography in Gaza reveals a stark contrast in how the two sides are portrayed. Nearly every picture from Israel depicts tanks, soldiers, or attack helicopters. And every picture of Gaza depicts either bloodied civilians, destroyed buildings, overflowing hospitals, or other images of civilian anguish. It is as one-sided and misleading a depiction of the Gaza battle as one can imagine.
” It appears the Times is silently but happily complying with a Hamas demand that the only pictures from Gaza are of civilians and never of fighters.”
It appears the Times is silently but happily complying with a Hamas demand that the only pictures from Gaza are of civilians and never of fighters. The most influential news organization in the world is thus manufacturing an utterly false portrait of the battle—precisely the portrait that Hamas finds most helpful: embattled, victimized Gaza civilians under attack by a cruel Israeli military.
“Maybe all of this is an illustration of just how biased against Israel the Times has become—so biased that Times photographers and editors are simply blind to any image that doesn’t conform to their view of the war.”
Today’s Times photo essay contains seven images: three of Gaza civilians in distress; one of a smoke plume rising over Gaza; and three of the IDF, including tanks and attack helicopters. The message is simple and clear: the IDF is attacking Gaza and harming Palestinian civilians. There are no images of Israelis under rocket attack, no images of grieving Israeli families and damaged Israeli buildings, no images of Hamas fighters or rocket attacks on Israel, no images of the RPG’s and machine guns recovered from attempted Hamas tunnel infiltrations into Israel.
Another report yesterday was accompanied by a single image: that of a dead child in a Gaza hospital. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Benjamin Netanyahu: ‘Hamas Wants Palestinian Civilians Dead’
Posted: July 21, 2014 Filed under: Diplomacy, Global, Mediasphere, Politics, War Room | Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Civilian casualties, Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Palestinian people, Prime Minister of Israel Leave a comment“This is the cruelest, most grotesque war that I’ve ever seen.”
For NRO, Celina Durgin: Hamas is purposely placing Palestinian citizens in Gaza in harm’s way to cause more civilian casualties at the hands of Israeli troops, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday on Special Report.
Hamas is “using their own people as propaganda fodder,” Netanyahu said.
Hamas soldiers have positioned their weapons in civilian homes… (read more)
Looting in Paris as Europeans Protest Against Glass Windows, Laws, Property, and Jews
Posted: July 20, 2014 Filed under: Global, Politics, War Room | Tags: Antisemitism, EUROPE, France, Gaza, Global Panic of July 2014, Israel, Jews, Looting, Paris, Sarcelles, Vienna 1 Comment
Sarcelles (France) (AFP) – A French rally against the deadly Israeli offensive in Gaza once again descended into chaos Sunday as protesters looted shops and riot police lobbed tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowds.
“We’re going to get the cash register.”
The demonstration in the northern Paris suburb of Sarcelles is the third to have deteriorated in the space of eight days in a country that counts the largest Muslim population in western Europe and a huge Jewish community.
Looters then began raiding shops, wrecking a funeral home and destroying its front window as several protesters shouted: “F@ck Israel!”
A decision by authorities to ban protests in areas deemed too sensitive has also garnered controversy as they took place anyway and turned violent, while authorised ones elsewhere in the country — as well as in other cities across Europe — were peaceful.
From Vienna to Stockholm and on to Amsterdam, thousands rallied on Sunday to oppose Israel’s offensive, which has left more than 400 Palestinians and 20 Israelis dead. Read the rest of this entry »
Palestinians Starting To Have Mixed Feelings About Being Used As Human Shields
Posted: July 19, 2014 Filed under: Global, Humor, Mediasphere, War Room | Tags: Beit Lahia, Bret Stephens, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Human shield, Israel, Palestinian political violence, satire 1 Comment
BEIT LAHIA, GAZA STRIP—Saying they’ve begun to reevaluate their stance as the latest outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian violence has escalated, hundreds of residents of the Gaza Strip told reporters Friday they are starting to have mixed feelings about Hamas using them and their loved ones as human shields.
“I’m not crazy about the fact that Hamas is actually okay with me dying as long as it fuels both resentment toward Israel and support for the party.”
“At this point, I have to say I’m pretty much on the fence about having militants strategically store their missile batteries in and around my home, which Israel will almost certainly want to bomb,” said Azzam al-Salhi, explaining that, while he’s always understood Hamas’ reliance on guerilla tactics to perpetuate the decades-long fight against Israel, he has recently soured on the idea of going to bed every night facing the real prospect of being incinerated by an Israeli airstrike intended for a Hamas arms cache.
“I guess I sort of appreciate where they’re coming from, so it’s tough. Of course, my kids hate it…”
[VIDEO] Lowry: Hamas Hopes ‘Media Is Lazy Enough’ to Only Report Casualty Numbers, Ignore Use of Human Shields
Posted: July 19, 2014 Filed under: Mediasphere, Politics, War Room | Tags: Civilian, Civilian casualties, Gaza, Hamas, Human shield, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Palestinian people Leave a commentREASSIGNED: CNN Pulls Diana Magnay From Gaza Coverage After Israeli ‘Scum’ Tweet
Posted: July 18, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Mediasphere, War Room | Tags: CNN, Diana Magnay, Gaza, Hamas, Huffington Post, Israel, Israeli, media, Moscow 1 CommentCNN has removed one of its reporters covering the Israel-Hamas conflict after she tweeted that Israelis cheering missile strikes in Gaza and whom she said threatened her were “scum,” the Huffington Post reported.
Diana Magnay reported live Thursday night as Israel commenced its ground operation in Gaza while around her, a group of Israelis cheered the missile strikes in the background. She tweeted afterward, later deleting it… (read more) TheBlaze.com
Image source: BuzzFeed
Jon Stewart Wrong on Israel-Gaza ‘I think they take the very funny Mr. Stewart very seriously. Which, in this case, is a bit of a problem.’
Posted: July 17, 2014 Filed under: Education, Entertainment, Global, History, Self Defense, War Room | Tags: David Horovitz, Gaza, Global Panic of 2014, Hamas, Israel, Jon Stewart, Ron Dermer, Stewart, Times Of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin 1 Comment
It’s an asymmetrical war, all right. But America’s satirical news host has got it the wrong way around
For The Times of Israel, David Horovitz writes: That Jon Stewart, he’s sooooo funny. Just watch his amusing take on the current Israel-Gaza conflict. Really, it’s a nonstop laugh fest.
Yeah, it misrepresents what’s going on here. But hey, it is funny, and all those millions of Americans who watched it on Monday know that it’s just satire, don’t they?
Except I fear that they do not. I think they take the very funny Mr. Stewart very seriously. Which, in this case, is a bit of a problem.
Why? Let’s take it joke by joke.
Our super-smart, engagingly frustrated host starts up despairing over a news report of the intensifying conflict which says Israeli troops are poised to invade Gaza, and which ends with the words “as the aerial bombardment from both sides continues.”
Stewart: “Tastes great. More killing.”
See, right off the bat, I’m unhappy. Because, first up, he’s begun with talk of Israel being set to invade Gaza, but without any cited reason — such as, say, Hamas being a terrorist organization with a notorious track record of suicide bombings, individual killings, kidnappings, and incessant rocket fire. And, second, because the implication here is that the combatants — Israel and Hamas — are both happy to be back killing again, and that’s just plain false. Hamas is avowedly committed to the destruction of Israel and holds to a perverted interpretation of Islam that claims killing Jews, Christians and non-believing Muslims is your guaranteed path to paradise if you also die in the process. Israelis, by contrast, would much rather live and let live. (We left Gaza unilaterally in 2005, under international pressure, hoping that the security risk would be worth it, and that we’d be rewarded with tranquility rather than rocket fire, but I wouldn’t expect Stewart to go back that far.)
Stewart: “Both sides are engaging in aerial bombardment, but one side appears to be bomb-better-at it. (Studio laughter at the wordplay.) Most Hamas rockets are neutralized by Israel’s Iron Dome technology, and Israeli citizens can even now download a warning app. (Cut to clip of Israel’s US ambassador Ron Dermer explaining how Israelis can know where and when they’re being attacked.) So Israelis seem to have a high-tech, smart-phone alert system.”
Let me see if I understand the point he’s making here: Having falsely implied that Israel is as keen on killing as Hamas is, Stewart now seems to be criticizing Israel for not being as vulnerable as Hamas would like it to be to those Hamas rockets that are sent to kill us. Read the rest of this entry »
Israel Starts Gaza Land, Sea & Air Offensive
Posted: July 17, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Self Defense, War Room | Tags: Armored Corps, Benjamin Netanyahu, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Global Panic of 2014, Hamas, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Thursday Leave a commentNetanyahu’s office says purpose of mission is to destroy terror tunnels and seriously harm the infrastructure of Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Gaza.
After days of waiting and deliberation, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday night directed the IDF to send ground troops into Gaza to strike the terror tunnels into Israel.
A statement put out by the Prime Minister’s Office said that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon Netanyahu directed the IDF to prepare to expand the ground operation.
The statement said that the security cabinet approved the operation after Israel agreed to the Egyptian cease-fire proposal on Tuesday, which Hamas rejected. In addition, the statement said, Hamas even fired rockets during the Thursday’s five-hour humanitarian cease-fire.
“In light of Hamas’ continuous criminal aggression, and the dangerous infiltration into Israeli territory, Israel is obligated to act in defense of its citizens,” the statement said.
The statement said that Operation Protective Edge, now in its 10th day, will continue until its goals are reached: restoring quiet for an extended period of time,and delivering a significant blow to Hamas and the other terrorist organizations in Gaza. Read the rest of this entry »
Israel’s Critics Wage War on Reality
Posted: July 17, 2014 Filed under: Global, Politics, Think Tank, War Room | Tags: Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, Max Boot, Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut, Naftali Frenkel, Palestinian people, Tyler Hicks 3 Comments
Tens of thousands Israelis attend the joint funeral of Gilad Shaer, 16, Naftali Frenkel, 16, and Eyal Ifrach, 19, in the central Israeli town of Modiin on July 1, 2014. Photograph: GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP/Getty Images
For Commentary Magazine, Max Boot writes: It tells you all you need to know about Hamas that its biggest victory to date against Israel–one that is no doubt being celebrated in the fortified bunkers that house its leadership–was the death of four young Palestinian boys on a Gaza City beach on Wednesday. The boys were apparently killed by an Israeli bomb or missile.
[Also see – NBC Reporter Acts As Hamas Spokesman, Denies Terror Group Uses Civilians As Human Shields]
Needless to say, the Israel Defense Forces do not deliberately target children–any more than do the armed forces of the United States or other civilized powers. That is both morally abhorrent and strategically stupid: What possible purpose can be served in killing children? But while deeply harmful and counterproductive for Israel, this inadvertent strike was a big win for Hamas. It produced the most coveted of victories in modern warfare: a front-page picture, taken by the storiedNew York Times photographer Tyler Hicks, of one dead boy lying on the Gaza sand and another being carried in a man’s arms.
There is no surer or better way for Hamas to make its propaganda point, which is the only point of this entire exercise from its standpoint. Hamas, like other terrorist groups, knows it cannot win a military victory against a much more powerful enemy, but it can win a public-relations victory by fostering the illusion that Israel is the aggressor and the Palestinians its victims.
Such an image is as powerful as it is misleading. All informed observers know the facts. Read the rest of this entry »
WAR GETS REAL: Israel Issues Evac Warning
Posted: July 16, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, War Room | Tags: Ashkelon, Benjamin Netanyahu, Egypt, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Shimon Peres 3 Comments
- A few minutes ago, two rockets fired from Gaza struck the Ashkelon area, and five rockets struck elsewhere in southern Israel, as per IDF.
- In an interview to a news agency, President Shimon Peres admits that firing at Gaza made for a “moral dilemma”, but there was no alternative to it.Speaking to the Associated Process, the nonagenerian President said, “There is a moral problem, but I don’t have a moral answer to it. If they are shooting at us, and don’t let our mothers and their children … have a full night’s sleep, what can we do?”
Israel says Hamas is telling Gazan civilians to ignore IDF warnings. The Israeli Army further says that it called off three airstrikes after identifying civilians in the area.
Earlier today, we urged civilians to move away from IDF military targets in Gaza. Once again, Hamas told civilians to ignore our warnings.
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 16, 2014
Holding off its barrage of rockets briefly in line with a truce proposed by Egypt, Israel resumed its strikes on Gaza Strip as Hamas continued firing, dashing hopes of a ceasefire. Read the rest of this entry »
France: Pro-Palestinian Agitators Storm Paris Synagogue, Clash with Police
Posted: July 14, 2014 Filed under: Global, Politics, War Room | Tags: France, Gaza, Isaac Abrabanel, Israel, Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Manuel Valls, Paris, Western Europe Leave a comment
PARIS (AP) — Angela Charlton reports: Pro-Palestinian protesters tried to force their way into a Paris synagogue Sunday with bats and chairs, then fought with security officers who blocked their way, according to police and a witness.
Recent violence in Gaza has raised emotions in France, home to Western Europe’s largest Muslim population and largest Jewish community. Sunday’s unrest by a few dozen troublemakers came at the end of sizable protest in the French capital demanding an end to Israeli strikes on Gaza and accusing Western leaders of not doing enough to stop them.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls said two Paris synagogues had been targeted by unspecified violence that he called “inadmissible.” In a statement, he said, “France will never tolerate using violent words or acts to import the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on our soil.” Read the rest of this entry »
Despite offensive, Gaza rockets still hit Israel
Posted: July 13, 2014 Filed under: Global, War Room | Tags: Al-Hayat, Gaza, Hamas, Hezbollah, Institute for National Security Studies, Iron Dome, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Lebanon, London, Tel Aviv 1 Comment
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel says its punishing air assault on Hamas militants, their property and their weaponry has delivered a devastating blow to the Islamic militant group. Yet rocket fire at Israel has continued almost unabated.
The military says that due to years of generous Iranian shipments, thousands of rockets remain in Gaza, and there is no quick way to eliminate the threat.
“There is no attempt here to solve the conflict. We are talking about managing the conflict and as long as it goes on, quiet will only be temporary.”
It says its goal is to inflict so much pain on Hamas that it will be deterred from attacking Israel again — just like Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon have largely remained on the sidelines for the past eight years.
The military also says it wants to punish Hamas for the violence. But both goals are hard to quantify in the short term. A similar offensive in November 2012 was also deemed a military success, though it left Israel vulnerable to rocket fire. Israel also launched a large offensive in late 2008 that delivered a tenuous cease-fire.
“It’s a mistake to think that if you have established deterrence it will stay that way. Deterrence must be maintained.”
— Shlomo Brom, a retired Israeli general, analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies
“There is no knockout, it is more complicated,” said a senior military official involved in the fighting, who spoke on condition of anonymity under military guidelines. But, he added, “if there is a map of pain that the enemy sees, it will have to think about things.” Read the rest of this entry »
Israel Drops Leaflets Warning of Northern Gaza Airstrikes
Posted: July 13, 2014 Filed under: Global, War Room | Tags: Al-Atatra, Beit Lahia, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Sunday 1 Comment
Handout / Israel Defense Forces
Image: IDF leaflets warning residents of northern Gaza that airstrikes are imminent
TEL AVIV – Israel’s air force dropped leaflets on northern Gaza early Sunday, warning residents to evacuate ahead of a new wave of airstrikes in the coming hours, military officials said. “To the residents of Beit Lahiya, the [Israeli Defense Force] intends to attack terrorists and terror infrastructures in the area east of Al-Atatra and Al-Salatin St., and in the area west and north of Ma’bscar Jabalyia,” the leaflets said. “Israel is currently attacking, and will continue to attack, every area from which rockets are being launched at its territory.”
The warning came ahead of what Israel’s military spokesman described as a “short and temporary” campaign against northern Gaza to begin sometime after 12 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET). Read the rest of this entry »
How Hamas Uses Human Shields
Posted: July 12, 2014 Filed under: War Room | Tags: CNN, Gaza, Hamas, Human shield, IDF, Iron Dome, Israel, Israel Defense Forces 4 CommentsZoe Liebmann reports: Since Operation Protective Edge began on Monday evening the death toll is up to 41 in Gaza and 0 in Israel. By looking blankly at these numbers one could assume that Hamas is the victim, however this assumption is proven invalid.
Bibi Netanyahu stated on July 8, “the security of our citizens is our primary consideration…we are determined to give our citizens the safety and security they deserve.” The objective of the IDF is to protect its people, not to kill. In the past two days, Gaza has fired over 300 rockets towards Israel. According to Haaretz Israeli News, the Iron Dome has shot down 90 percent of the rockets targeted at Israel. The IDF uses the Iron Dome to protect the people of Israel from terror.
Hamas on the other hand has a different objective. Hamas teaches their children to want to kill Jews. Hamas lives to kill, while Israel lives to protect. Hamas focuses on destroying Israel and using their own as human shields. Aside from Hamas promoting their own to be martyrs, they also use minors as human shields. This terrorist organization also purposely fires rockets from highly populated locations where civilians live.
Past NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in an interview with CNN news, in regards to Hamas’s tactics: “It’s the ultimate cowardness to launch your attack with human shields around you, it’s one of the oldest sick things that terrorists do. They surround themselves with civilians and they reach over their heads to attack you and if you defend yourself by attacking back the civilians get in the way and they say oh look you’re killing civilians.”
Video evidence shows Hamas launching rockets from civilian buildings, hospitals, and kindergartens. These are not new tactics for Hamas.
Hamas sends rockets nearly every day towards Israel to kill anyone it will hit. Unlike Hamas, the IDF protects its people and even tries to protect innocent civilians in Gaza. The Israeli army broadcast a radio message in Arabic, warning residents that: “For your safety, get away from Hamas and their hiding places. Don’t go near them. They’re endangering your lives. For your safety, don’t let them near your homes, don’t let them hide in your homes.”
The IDF also sends warning shots to alert civilians to evacuate the area. Read the rest of this entry »
Conflict with Hamas Enters Day 5
Posted: July 11, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, War Room | Tags: Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, July 11 2014, Mahmoud Abbas, Middle East, Times Of Israel Leave a commentNo end to Gaza rocket fire, Israeli air strikes, as conflict with Hamas enters Day 5 http://t.co/puCqiYSFCQ
— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) July 11, 2014
Rocket fired from Gaza moments ago hits a gas station in Ashdod
Posted: July 10, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, War Room | Tags: Ashdod, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Iron Dome, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Middle East 1 CommentBREAKING PHOTOS: Rocket fired from Gaza moments ago hits a gas station in Ashdod, causing fire, 3 injured 1 seriously pic.twitter.com/PkfhQc73RG
— Israel News Feed (@IsraelHatzolah) July 11, 2014
Hamas says ‘All Israelis now targets for missile attacks’, Top Obama Official Blasts… Israel?
Posted: July 9, 2014 Filed under: Diplomacy, Mediasphere, War Room, White House | Tags: Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, Khan Yunis, Sami Abu Zuhri, Tuesday, West Bank 1 Comment
Hamas vowed on Tuesday to step up its attacks on Israel, threatening that all Israelis have become a target for for the terror organization’s missiles.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri accused Israel of perpetrating “massacres” against women and children in Khan Yunis.
Referring to an Israel Air Force bombing of a house belonging to a Hamas operative, Abu Zuhri said: “The Khan Yunis massacre against women and children is an ugly war crime. All Israelis have now become legitimate targets.”
Ismail al-Ashqar, a Hamas legislator, said that his movement would continue the rocket attacks until Israel succumbs to its demand and lifts the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip.
Hussam Badran, a top Hamas figure, said that Israel’s “dream” of eliminating the rockets would not be fulfilled.
“The occupation began this aggression and we have the right to defend ourselves,” he said. “This is a war against the whole Palestinian people.”
He also lashed out at the Palestinian Authority leadership in the West Bank, saying it has been “completely detached” from its people.
“This could be the last chance for the Palestinian Authority leadership to correct its stance and join the choice of the people, which is based on resistance,” Badran said. “This is the time for unity at the battleground.” Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Arabs Celebrate Missile Strikes On Israeli Civilians
Posted: July 8, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, Mediasphere, War Room | Tags: Abbas, Al-Aqsa Mosque, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Israeli, Jerusalem, Temple Mount, Tuesday 1 CommentHundreds of Arabs flocked to the Temple Mount on Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the barrage of rockets upon Israel’s civilian population. The video, captioned in Arabic, reads “[c]elebrations at the Holy Al-Aqsa mosque after hearing the sounds of rockets explode in occupied Jerusalem.”
[See Also: President Abbas’ Advisor Urges Palestinians To Murder Israelis]
Israelis Taking Cover in Tel Aviv
Posted: July 8, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, War Room | Tags: Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Middle East, Tel Aviv Leave a commentIsraelis taking cover in Tel Aviv. This has to stop. #StopTheRockets pic.twitter.com/a9qlnLju3m
— Andreas Fagerbakke (@afagerbakke) July 8, 2014
Gaza Terrorists Launch Attack, Iron Dome Intercepts Second Rocket Over Greater Tel Aviv
Posted: July 8, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, War Room | Tags: Bat Yam, Civil defense siren, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Iron Dome, Israel, Rishon Lezion, Tel Aviv, Tuesday 1 Comment
DF deploys 5th Iron Dome Battery Photo: IDF Spokesman’s Office
JPost staff, Yaakov Lappin report:
For second time on Tuesday evening, Gaza terrorists launch rocket at central Israel; air raid sirens sounds in central Israel, blasts heard in Tel Aviv; Tel Aviv opens public bomb shelters; no injuries reported.
For the second time on Tuesday evening, a rocket was launched at central Israel from the Gaza Strip. An Iron Dome battery intercepted a projectile over the greater Tel Aviv area. Sirens sounded in various cities in central Israel on Tuesday night and blasts were heard in Tel Aviv. The air raid siren was activated in cities including Rishon Lezion, Bat Yam, Holon and Bnei Barak, but not in Tel Aviv.
Earlier on Tuesday evening, the Iron Dome rocket defense system intercepted a projectile near Tel Aviv over the city of Rishon Lezion, as air raid sirens sounded in central Israeli cities for the first time amid recent escalations. Read the rest of this entry »
BREAKING: After Bodies of Israeli Teens Found, Jets Strike Several Sites in Gaza
Posted: June 30, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, War Room | Tags: Alon Shvut, Benjamin Netanyahu, Eshkol Regional Council, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, New York City, Times Of Israel, West Bank Leave a comment
Air force targets locations in Khan Younis, Rafah; rocket fired at Eshkol region; no injuries or damage reported
The Times of Israel reports: Israeli jets struck several sites in Khan Younes and Rafah in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday morning, according to Palestinian sources.
ABC NEWS reports: Following the discovery of the bodies of three Israeli teenagers who were kidnapped in the West Bank earlier this month, reporters said they could hear the sound of airstrikes tonight in Gaza.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the strikes were in retaliation for the kidnappings and murders, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to avenge. The Israel Defense Forces also tweeted early Tuesday morning that a rocket was fired from Gaza into Israel, but no damage was reported….(read more)
Vigil for the three Israeli teens outside of the Israeli Consulate in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Earlier, a rocket was fired in the direction of the Eshkol Regional Council, landing in open terrain. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
A broken window from a rocket strike on Sdot Negev
The strikes came hours after the bodies of kidnapped Israeli teenagers — Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gil-ad Shaar, 16 and Naftali Fraenkel, 16 — were found partially buried in a field near the West Bank village of Halhul, north of Hebron.
The teenagers were kidnapped on the night of June 12 at a hitchhiking post outside the settlement of Alon Shvut in the Etzion Bloc south of Jerusalem.
The bodies were found at about 5:30 p.m. Monday, bound and partially buried, in an open field in a hard-to-access area. The site is less than 20 kilometers (12 miles) from where the teens had been abducted. Read the rest of this entry »
Code Pink Founder Jailed in Egypt, Claims Police Broke Her Arm
Posted: March 4, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, Global | Tags: Cairo, CODEPINK, Egypt, Gaza, Hamas, Hosni Mubarak, Medea Benjamin, Muslim Brotherhood 4 Comments
Medea Benjamin of Code Pink announced on twitter last night that she had been jailed by Egyptian police as she was on her way leading a group of activists to “Hamas-lead” Gaza traveling via Cairo. This morning she tweeted that the Egyptian Police had broken her arm.
Code Pink had worked with the Muslim Brotherhood to over throw Egypt’s former President Mubarak. The current government of Egypt has declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization after Brotherhood leader Morsi was removed from the presidency. Perhaps that is why Benjamin was detained.
Last night her twitter feed read:
Help. They broke my arm. Egypt police
— Medea Benjamin (@medeabenjamin) March 4, 2014
(see more of the feed at Breitbart.com) It’s unclear how Benjamin is tweeting with a broken arm, or allowed to tweet at all from her Egyptian jail cell.
Developing….
Hillary Clinton Supporters Slowly Realizing She Didn’t…Actually… Do… Anything… as Secretary of State
Posted: November 29, 2013 Filed under: Diplomacy, Politics, U.S. News | Tags: Clinton, Gaza, Hillary Clinton, Israel, Libya, North Korea 2 Comments
Daniel Greenfield writes: But that’s okay since Hillary Clinton also didn’t do anything in the Senate. It could actually be a good slogan for her campaign. “Vote for Hillary: She Won’t Do Anything as President Either.”
But some people close to Mrs. Clinton worry that, because of the high profile given to her work for women’s rights, and the headlines now being generated by the hyperkinetic Mr. Kerry, her efforts on trickier diplomatic situations have been eclipsed.
What exactly did Hillary Clinton do for women’s rights? I mean besides give speeches about it.
What about her 13 trips to Libya in 2011 to build the coalition that led to the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, they ask. Why is no one talking about how she brokered a cease-fire in Gaza? Anyone remember that she furthered economic sanctions on North Korea?
Seriously?
Libya is on fire. Its cities are run by armed Islamist militias. Some of whom murdered 4 Americans in a diplomatic mission that Hillary and her staffers failed to provide security for while they were blowing millions on overpriced Kindles, art in embassies and a YouTube channel for Afghanistan. Read the rest of this entry »
VIDEO: how Hamas plans and operates its terrorist infrastructure
Posted: November 19, 2012 Filed under: Mediasphere, War Room | Tags: Gaza, Hamas, Islam, Israel, Istanbul, Muslim, Prime Minister of Turkey, Terrorism Leave a commentIn light of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s delusional claims, describing Israel as a “terrorist state”, in comments at a conference of the Eurasian Islamic Council in Istanbul, I have to post this video, as a revealing reminder of the dishonesty, denial, and propaganda employed by Hamas, and amplified by its grievance-peddling defenders, in inflammatory statements like this one.
“Those who associate Islam with terrorism close their eyes in the face of mass killing of Muslims, turn their heads from the massacre of children in Gaza,” Erdogan lectured.
“For this reason, I say that Israel is a terrorist state, and its acts are terrorist acts.”
Obviously, he has it exactly backwards.Related articles
- Hamas Leaves Israel No Choice (guardian.co.uk)
- BBC Jerusalem Bureau leads the charge in false accusations of “targeting journalists” (bbcwatch.org)
- Erdogan: Israel is a ‘Terrorist State’ (israelnationalnews.com)
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