NYT Plays Defense For Iranian Mullahs: Demonstrators ‘Ignored Calls For Calm,’ Defied ‘Moderate’ Iranian Leadership
Posted: January 2, 2018 Filed under: Breaking News, Censorship, Crime & Corruption, History, Mediasphere, Terrorism | Tags: Anti-Israel Bias, Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes, Bias, Erdbrink, Hamas, Iran, journalism, media, New York Times, President Rouhani 1 Comment
Ben Shapiro writes: On Monday, The New York Times ran the latest in a series of despicable pieces dedicated to making excuses for the tyrannical Islamist Iranian despotism. Here’s their tweet on the regime’s killing of dissidents:
Yes, it’s the fault of the demonstrators, who have somehow merely refused to heed the decent calls for calm from the Iranian mullahs. Oddly, The New York Times never has such words for Palestinian rioters who throw rocks at Israeli troops at the behest of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. When that happens, it’s Trump’s fault or the Jews’ fault. Somebody else’s fault, anyway.
But when it’s democracy-seeking Iranians, then they’re the problem.
The piece itself, by Thomas Erdbrink, is a disaster area. It contains lines like this one:
Despite Mr. Rouhani’s diplomatic language, it was clear the demonstrators would be given no leeway…Mr. Rouhani has urged demonstrators to avoid violence but defended their right to protest. He did so again on Monday on Twitter.
Rouhani is a tool of the regime, of course, and a radical Islamist to boot, as well as a Holocaust denier. But according to the Times, he’s a moderate:
This time, it is the failure of President Rouhani, a moderate, to deliver greater political changes and economic opportunity, despite the lifting of some of the sanctions against Iran as part of the nuclear deal. Young people are especially angry. The average age of those arrested is under 25, one official said.
And the protests are about economics, not about the repressive regime. Of course, the regime has spent billions of dollars on terrorism abroad, including the maximization of its bloodshed in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. But it’s just that the Iranian government hasn’t redistributed the oil wealth enough. The Iranians probably just need Bernie Sanders or something. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Warning, Graphic Video: Four Soldiers Killed in Truck Attack
Posted: January 8, 2017 Filed under: Breaking News, Mediasphere, Terrorism | Tags: Hamas, ISIS, Islamism, Israel, Jerusalem, Jew, Jihadism, Jihadist, Truck Attack, video Leave a comment
‘BAM BETRAYS ISRAEL’: New York Post Cover for December 24, 2016
Posted: December 24, 2016 Filed under: Diplomacy, Global, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Christians, Hamas, Hezbollah, Holy City, Israel, Jerusalem, Jews, Jihadism, journalism, New York Post, Newspapers, Palestine, Settlements, Tabloid Leave a comment
Source: New York Post
[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 »
[VIDEO] Open your eyes about Gaza
Posted: June 16, 2015 Filed under: Global, Mediasphere, Politics, War Room | Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Gaza Strip, Gaza War, Hamas, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, Palestinian people, Sami Abu Zuhri, United Nations, United Nations Human Rights Council Leave a commentHamas violently took control of Gaza in 2007. What have they been doing since? Oppressing the Gazan population and investing billions in terrorism against Israel’s civilian population. Some people choose to close their eyes to the reality on the ground. What about you?
‘Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the Gas’: Nazi Chants Cast an Ugly Shadow Over Dutch Soccer Game
Posted: April 10, 2015 Filed under: Health and Social Issues, War Room | Tags: AFC Ajax, Amstelveen, Amsterdam, Anti-Defamation League, Antisemitism, Arsenal F.C., FC Utrecht, Hamas, Jews, Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Leave a comment
For the past decade, European soccer organizations have fought a public battle against racism. But now anti-Semitism appears to have emerged as a second front.
Michael E. Miller reports: It was a beautiful day for soccer in the Dutch town of Utrecht. Spring sunshine filled the stadium as the local team, FC Utrecht, kicked off against perennial powerhouse Ajax Amsterdam.
As the beautiful game slowly played out on the field, however, things in the stands quickly got ugly.
“According to Kick It Out, a British organization originally devoted to combating racism, anti-Semitic incidents are up in the English Premier League. A Kick It Out study released last month revealed that there were 59 reported instances of anti-Semitism during the first half of this season.”
“Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas,” sang a section of the home supporters towards the fans visiting from Amsterdam, a city historic in part for its Jewish community. “My father was in the commandos, my mother was in the SS, together they burned Jews, because Jews burn the best!”
“That was more than during the entire previous season. Anti-Semitism made up a third of the total instances of abuse, and was second in frequency only to racism.”
The anti-Semitism was caught on video and quickly circulated among Dutch media. FC Utrecht issued an apology as Jewish organizations demanded action by soccer authorities.
“The shocking chants weren’t an isolated incident, however. Instead, they were the latest in a string of anti-Semitic episodes that threaten to mar European soccer.”
Discrimination isn’t new to European football, or soccer. The sport has long struggled with racism, a problem which resurfaced recently when Chelsea fans pushed a black man off the Paris metro, chanting: “We’re racist, we’re racist, and that’s the way we like it.”
“We’ve had issues like this since the ’80s,” said Shimon Samuels, director for international relations at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a human-rights organization.
But anti-Semitism in European soccer appears to be getting worse. According to Kick It Out, a British organization originally devoted to combating racism, anti-Semitic incidents are up in the English Premier League. A Kick It Out study released last month revealed that there were 59 reported instances of anti-Semitism during the first half of this season. That was more than during the entire previous season. Anti-Semitism made up a third of the total instances of abuse, and was second in frequency only to racism.
One of this season’s worst episodes came when fans of the London club West Ham were caught on camera chanting “I’ve got a foreskin, how about you? F—— Jew” on their way to play Tottenham Hotspur, a team with a historically strong Jewish following. (Last year, several Tottenham supporters were arrested for chants referring to themselves as “Yids,” a derogatory name that some Hotspur fans have reclaimed.)
Other recent incidents have included fans — and in several instances players — making Nazi-like salutes. Read the rest of this entry »
Report: Iran Transfers Millions to Hamas for Reconstruction of Tunnels
Posted: April 5, 2015 Filed under: Global, War Room | Tags: Hamas, Islamism, Israel, Jerusalem, Jerusalem Post, media, Militant islam, news, Palestine Leave a comment
Amnesty International: Hamas Guilty of War Crimes in Gaza Conflict
Posted: March 30, 2015 Filed under: Global, War Room | Tags: Arab League, Benjamin Netanyahu, Gaza Strip, Gaza War, Hamas, International Criminal Court, Israel, Likud, Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian National Authority, Palestinian people, Palestinian territories, Saeb Erekat Leave a comment
HAIFA, Israel – Paul Alster reports: A horrific missile attack that killed 11 children in Gaza during last summer’s war between Israel and Hamas, for which Israel was broadly condemned at the time, was actually caused by a Palestinian missile misfiring and killing its own people, Amnesty International charged in a report released Thursday.
“Although Palestinians have claimed that the Israeli military was responsible for the attack, an independent munitions expert, who examined the available evidence on behalf of Amnesty International, concluded that the projectile used in the attack was a Palestinian rocket.”
“In the deadliest incident believed to have been caused by a Palestinian armed group during the conflict, 13 Palestinian civilians – 11 of them children – were killed when a projectile exploded next to a supermarket in the crowded al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza on 28 July 2014, the first day of Eid al-Fitr,” Amnesty’s report said. “The children had been playing in the street and buying crisps and soft drinks in the supermarket at the time of the attack.”
“Palestinian armed groups, including the armed wing of Hamas, repeatedly launched unlawful attacks during the conflict killing and injuring civilians.”
“Although Palestinians have claimed that the Israeli military was responsible for the attack, an independent munitions expert, who examined the available evidence on behalf of Amnesty International, concluded that the projectile used in the attack was a Palestinian rocket.”
“Unlike Hamas, Israel is vigorously investigating its conduct, aiming to draw lessons and minimize civilian harm. Meanwhile, Hamas continues to incite terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians, boast of building new cross-border assault tunnels, and test-fires rockets, in preparation for further violence against Israelis.”
— a spokesperson for Israel’s Embassy in London
The report highlights the fact that the blast could not have been caused by a drone attack or as the result of Israeli shelling. The crater was too shallow, it said, while “its circumference was too wide to have been caused by a tank shell.”
“The Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, which against the wishes of the U.S. and others, intends to apply for membership of the International Criminal Court, next week, may be liable for this and other war crimes committed by Palestinians during the war if accepting ICC jurisdiction.”
“Palestinian armed groups, including the armed wing of Hamas, repeatedly launched unlawful attacks during the conflict killing and injuring civilians,” said Philip Luther, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International. “In launching these attacks, they displayed a flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law and for the consequences of their violations on civilians in both Israel and the Gaza Strip.”
Israel’s insistence from the start that the 13 deaths were caused by one of Hamas’ own missiles going astray was generally disregarded as Hamas rushed to accuse Israel. Read the rest of this entry »
Israel Hit by Artillery Attacks
Posted: January 28, 2015 Filed under: War Room | Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Charlie Hebdo, Gaza Strip, Gaza War, Hamas, Islamism, Israel, Palestinian people, Paris, Prime Minister of Israel Leave a comment
Hezbollah Claims Responsibility for Artillery Fire; Israeli Forces Retaliate With Attacks in Lebanon
JERUSALEM— Nicholas Casey And Joshua Mitnick reporting: Israel was hit by two artillery attacks along its northern border Wednesday, its military said, and Israeli forces retaliated with attacks in Lebanon.
“To all those who are trying to challenge us on the northern border I suggest to look at what happened…in the Gaza Strip.”
— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would respond sharply to Wednesday’s rocket and mortar attack, the second in two days on the country’s northern borders. Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite political and militant group that controls southern Lebanon, claimed responsibility for the artillery fire.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said Israeli forces “reserved the right” to resume military operations in Lebanon if attacks continued. She said Israeli casualties were being tallied, but gave no further details.
Lebanon’s state news agency reported Israeli artillery attacks on several southern Lebanese villages. It also said a member of the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon had been killed.
Israeli police were for the second consecutive day evacuating residents and tourists from border areas. At checkpoints, police were directing vehicles to move south, out of the range of artillery fire. Read the rest of this entry »
An inconvenient truth: Poll finds Israeli Arabs like being Israeli
Posted: January 5, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, Mediasphere | Tags: Arab–Israeli conflict, Hamas, Mamoun Fandy, Randy Levine, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, United Nations, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Human Rights Council, William Schabas, Yedioth Ahronoth Leave a commentPoll finds Israeli Arabs like being Israeli. An inconvenient truth. http://t.co/pkXztIFZuz pic.twitter.com/dIRjLq0p8y
— Anne Bayefsky (@AnneBayefsky) January 6, 2015
Israel, Outside Jerusalem: The Only 9/11 Memorial in the Middle East
Posted: September 11, 2014 Filed under: Mediasphere | Tags: Avi Mayer, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, Jerusalem, Middle East, September 11 2014, United States Leave a commentThis is Israel’s 9/11 Living Memorial outside Jerusalem, the only 9/11 memorial in the Middle East. #911anniversary pic.twitter.com/QE4pZS5KPX
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) September 11, 2014
Prophet? Or Just Read a Book or Two
Posted: September 7, 2014 Filed under: Diplomacy, Politics, War Room | Tags: Barack Obama, Caliphate, Hamas, Mitt Romney, Moscow, Romney, RUSSIA, Syrian civil war Leave a comment
It isn’t so much that former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was a prophet. Just that he had read a book or two.
From last week’s Hot Air, Noah Rothman writes:
…In 2012, Romney called it “troubling” and “alarming” that Barack Obama had essentially appeased the Russian bear by offering concessions like the withdrawal of interceptor missile and radar installations in Eastern Europe without reciprocity from Moscow. He said that Russia’s actions have made that nation “without question, our number one geopolitical foe.”
This prompted a flood of scorn and mockery from a raft of self-assured critics. But by 2014, after Russia had frustrated America’s ambition to contain the Syrian civil war, invaded neighboring Ukraine, and unilaterally annexed a portion of that nation’s territory into Russia proper, nearly all of Romney’s self-respecting critics were forced to concede that he had a point. Read the rest of this entry »
[MAP] Israel is Colonizing Arab Land!
Posted: September 6, 2014 Filed under: History, Mediasphere, Think Tank, War Room | Tags: Andreas Fagerbakke, Arab, Arab people, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, United States Leave a commentThe tiny blue spot is #Israel. The Arab world in green. Tell me more about how Israel is “colonizing” Arab land… pic.twitter.com/tSyKwlDtFK
— Andreas Fagerbakke (@afagerbakke) September 6, 2014
Bret Stephens: Obama’s Curious Rage
Posted: September 2, 2014 Filed under: Diplomacy, Politics, Think Tank, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas, Israel, John Kerry, Martin Indyk, New York Times, RUSSIA, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin Leave a comment
Calm when it comes to Putin, ISIS and Hamas, but furious with Israel
Barack Obama “has become ‘enraged’ at the Israeli government, both for its actions and for its treatment of his chief diplomat, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. ” So reports the Jerusalem Post, based on the testimony of Martin Indyk, 
until recently a special Middle East envoy for the president. The war in Gaza, Mr. Indyk adds, has had “a very negative impact” on Jerusalem’s relations with Washington.
Think about this. Enraged. Not “alarmed” or “concerned” or “irritated” or even “angered.” Anger is a feeling. Rage is a 
frenzy. Anger passes. Rage feeds on itself. Anger is specific. Rage is obsessional, neurotic.
[Also see Bret Stephens’ – ‘Pay Attention to Other People’s Nightmares, Because They Might Be Contagious’]
And Mr. Obama—No Drama Obama, the president who prides himself on his cool, a man whose emotional detachment is said to explain his intellectual strength—is enraged. With Israel. Which has just been hit by several thousand unguided rockets and 30-odd terror tunnels, a 50-day war, the forced closure of its one major airport, accusations of “genocide” by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, anti-Semitic protests throughout Europe, general condemnation across the world. This is the country that is the object of the president’s rage.
Think about this some more. In the summer in which Mr. Obama became “enraged” with Israel, Islamic State terrorists seized Mosul and massacred Shiite soldiers in open pits, Russian separatists shot down a civilian jetliner, Hamas executed 18 “collaborators” in broad daylight, Bashar Assad‘s forces in Syria came close to encircling Aleppo with the aim of starving the city into submission, a brave American journalist had his throat slit on YouTube by a British jihadist, Russian troops openly invaded Ukraine, and Chinese jets harassed U.S. surveillance planes over international waters.
Mr. Obama or his administration responded to these events with varying degrees of concern, censure and indignation. But rage? 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 »
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 »
Moral Decay and Social Decline in France: ‘I’ve never felt so disgusted by my own country ‘
Posted: August 3, 2014 Filed under: Global, Mediasphere, War Room | Tags: France, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Hannah Olivennes, Israel Leave a commentThis is what is going on in France right now…I’ve never felt so disgusted by my own country http://t.co/8JQLnvZdJv pic.twitter.com/Tttd2YXYCC
— Hannah Olivennes (@HannahOlivennes) August 2, 2014
Netanyahu’s (Popularity 82%) Warns Obama (Mideast Handling Approval 39%) ‘Don’t Second Guess Me On Hamas’
Posted: August 2, 2014 Filed under: Global, War Room, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Israel, John Kerry, Palestinian political violence, Qatar 1 Comment
WASHINGTON (AP) — Following the quick collapse of the cease-fire in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the White House not to force a truce with Palestinian militants on Israel.
[Obama Rated Poorly on Mideast Conflict]
[Netanyahu’s Popularity Soars to 82%]
Sources familiar with conversations between Netanyahu and senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry, say the Israeli leader advised the Obama administration “not to ever second guess me again” on the matter. The officials also said Netanyahu said he should be “trusted” on the issue and about the unwillingness of Hamas to enter into and follow through on cease-fire talks.
The Obama administration on Friday condemned “outrageous” violations of an internationally brokered Gaza cease-fire by Palestinian militants and called the apparent abduction of an Israeli soldier a “barbaric” action.
The strong reaction came as top Israeli officials questioned the effort to forge the truce, accusing the U.S. and the United Nations of being naive in assuming the radical Hamas movement would adhere with its terms. The officials also blamed the Gulf state of Qatar for not forcing the militants to comply. 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)
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 »
The One Thing Everyone in Israel Seems to Agree On: John Kerry Blew It
Posted: July 29, 2014 Filed under: Diplomacy, Self Defense, War Room | Tags: Hamas, Israel, Israeli, John Kerry, Kurdish people, Kurds, Michael Yon, United States Leave a commentJohn Kerry: Someone who millions of Thais, Israelis, Kurds, and Americans can all agree upon:… http://t.co/fTkyOdVV3O
— Michael Yon (@Michael_Yon) July 29, 2014
Eli Lake on The Cruz Doctrine: ‘American Exceptionalism Without the Nation Building’
Posted: July 29, 2014 Filed under: Mediasphere, Politics, Think Tank, War Room, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Cruz, Hamas, Israel, John Kerry, John McCain, Obama, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, White House Leave a comment
“It’s not the job of the U.S. military to do nation building or produce democratic utopias.”
For The Daily Beast, Eli Lake writes: One way to understand Ted Cruz’s foreign policy, particularly if you are a Democrat, is through the prism of the social media phenomenon known as trolling. The best trolls are provocateurs. Their language is meant to expose a fallacy or weakness in the opponent’s position as opposed to offering a constructive alternative.
“The American president has a peculiar leadership responsibility to speak out for freedom.”
In a wide-ranging interview with the junior senator from Texas, there was a lot of trolling. Of Obama’s recent attempt to stop the fighting in Gaza, Cruz said, “We should be helping Israel, not Hamas, which is what John Kerry’s proposal would have done.” But Cruz found a silver lining. “It’s remarkable that the failures of the Obama, Clinton, Kerry foreign policy are not only uniting the left and right in Israel but might even be creating some common ground between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.”
Cruz’s foreign policy approach hews much closer to that of one of Reagan’s top advisers, Jeane Kirkpatrick. She wrote a landmark essay for Commentary in 1979 called “Dictatorships And Double Standards” where she chastised President Jimmy Carter for pursuing human rights at the expense of U.S. national interests.
When speaking about the conditions that led up to the Egyptian military coup last year, Cruz observed: “One of the saddest things to see were posters among the people that said: ‘Obama supports the Muslim Brotherhood,’ ‘America supports terrorists.’”
[lSee Kirkpatrick’s essay “Dictatorships And Double Standards” in Commentary]
Cruz described Secretary of State John Kerry’s surprise deal with Vladimir Putin to disarm Syria’s chemical weapons in these words: “The incompetence of the Obama foreign policy was so manifest that it presented an opportunity for Putin to cast himself as a hero and save the day.” The Federal Aviation Administration’s decision last week to suspend all air travel to Israel after a Hamas rocket fell near Ben Gurion Airport amounted to an “economic boycott of Israel.”
But to think of Cruz as just a troll is to miss an important development in the Grand Old Party’s post-Bush foreign policy. Read the rest of this entry »
[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 »
Progressive Jews, Wake Up
Posted: July 27, 2014 Filed under: Global, Think Tank, War Room | Tags: Anti-Zionism, Antisemitism, Chicago, Hamas, Hitler Youth, Israel, Jew, Paris 2 Comments
“For those progressive Jews who have found solace in the myth that anti-Zionism has nothing to do with anti-Semitism, the events across the globe of the last few weeks have been a rude and discomforting awakening.”
For National Review Online, Abraham H. Miller writes: In the largely Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Chicago’s Petersen Park, residents last Saturday morning found anti-Semitic leaflets on their way to synagogue to observe the Sabbath. The leaflets threatened violence against the community unless Israel stopped the war with Gaza.
For those progressive Jews who have found solace in the myth that anti-Zionism has nothing to do with anti-Semitism, the events across the globe of the last few weeks have been a rude and 
discomforting awakening. And so they turned to their final recourse, the belief that America was different.
“Hatred is the great unifier. If you are going to hate anyone, hate Jews, because no one cares.”
Sure, there was a pogrom at a synagogue in Paris, but, well, that’s Paris. Muslims and their neo-fascist and leftist allies might walk through the streets of Germany shouting anti-Jewish slogans reminiscent of the Hitler Youth, but, well, that’s Germany.
Then came the pro-Hamas demonstrations in Los Angeles, Boston, and Chicago.
In San Francisco, if not for the police, some 30 pro-Israel protesters would have been brutalized by over 300 people demonstrating on behalf of the genocidal Hamas terrorists. 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)
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 commentFootage Shows Launcher with Two Missing Rockets Being Smuggled Back into Russia
Posted: July 18, 2014 Filed under: Guns and Gadgets, Mediasphere, Russia, War Room | Tags: BM-21 Grad, Gaza Strip, Hamas, Information Telegraph Agency of Russia, Israel, RUSSIA, Tel Aviv, Ukraine Leave a commentFootage shows launcher with two missing rockets being smuggled back into Russia… http://t.co/WPoA3gULGO
— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) July 18, 2014
REASSIGNED: 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 »
pundit from another planet 