Israel land grab law 'ends hope of two-state solution'

Salaam

Another update

Anti-Hamas editorial exposes schism in Iran

Ghanoon, an Iranian newspaper with ties to Iran's Reformists, attacked Hamas Jan. 21, publishing a photo of the movement's political chief Ismail Haniyeh holding the flag of the Syrian revolution. The newspaper presented Hamas' project and positions as no longer compatible with Iran's policy in the region.

Khaled Kaddoumi, Hamas' representative in Iran, argued that relations between Hamas and Iran are strong and positive. “They have an agreed-upon strategy to unite efforts to help Palestine. They also have a common enemy, the Zionist entity, to which they have always declared public hostility,” he told Al-Monitor.

The newspaper lashed out at Hamas, describing it as a tool that is no longer useful and denouncing its ideological support of the Syrian revolution. It claimed the movement is ideologically close to the Islamic State, calling it “a treacherous movement that worships money.”

“The newspaper article reflects an [internal] Iranian split over the relationship with Hamas," Fatima al-Samadi, a researcher at the Al-Jazeera Center for Studies specializing in Iranian affairs, told Al-Monitor. "The two had mended their ties on Iranian terms. At the height of their political dispute over the Syrian revolution, Iran maintained its support for the movement’s military wing. Although the Iranian authorities are on good terms with Hamas, the Iranian people and media seem to have a different take on this relationship. Hamas has failed to establish ties with the Iranian people.”

The article came after Haniyeh sent a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Jan. 18 about the US decision on Jerusalem in December. Haniyeh stated that the United States wants to put an end to the Palestine cause and called for a popular uprising to foil the conspiracy against Palestine and Jerusalem. He also lauded Iran for its support in countering the US project.

The Hamas leadership is seeking to convince its constituents that oppose relations with Iran of the need for rapprochement in light of the US and Israeli policies against the Palestinian cause. Hamas is also trying to convince them of its urgent need for the financial and military aid that Iran exclusively offers to the movement. A Hamas spokesperson told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, "No other country that is close to Hamas has expressed its readiness so far to provide the movement with what Tehran is currently offering.”

Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot announced Jan. 2 that Iran has increased its spending for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to $100 million a year.

In an interview with Al-Quds on Jan. 20, Mahmoud al-Zahar, a member of Hamas' political bureau, affirmed that relations with Iran had been restored and Hamas was seeking to promote them.

However, a member of the Iranian Islamic Shura Council told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “There is no absolute consensus in Iran on supporting Hamas, amid declining interest by Iranian circles in the Palestinian issue. The priority is now on internal issues. The newspaper’s attack on Hamas does not represent the official Iranian position toward Hamas, but exposes a muffled disagreement in some Iranian circles on the need to support Hamas in light of the economic crisis Tehran is battling.”

In Ghanoon's article, Ismail Kothari, a former member of the Iranian parliament's National Security Committee, is quoted as saying that Hamas made strategic mistakes that it has yet to learn from.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Embassy's Charge d'Affaires Muhammad Sadiq al-Fadhli, representing Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Fathali, visited Mohammad Hamdan, a Hamas member who was injured during an assassination attempt in Beirut on Jan. 14.

Speaking at a conference in Tehran on the defense of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jan. 22, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Khamenei, noted that Hamas officials had told him the movement is counting on Iran to support the resistance.

Qassem Kassir, a Lebanese political analyst close to Iran, told Al-Monitor, “The article in Ghanoon reflects different Iranian views on supporting the Palestinian resistance. Some Iranian political parties have reservations about this support. They do not represent the official authorities.”

He continued, “We keep hearing about increasing Iranian financial and military support to Hamas, but we also keep hearing Iranian voices objecting to this support. The head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards and current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei have the final say. Iran's support for Hamas will not change unless there is a coup or a total change in the Iranian regime.”

Iranian voices against Hamas, though few, come in tandem with statements by figures close to Hamas in the Gaza Strip and elsewhere who are not thrilled about the rapprochement with Iran but lack decision-making power. Their objections are not likely to undermine the strategic Iran-Hamas relations.

Hamas seems reassured that its relationship with Iran is stable, strategic and not governed by short-term and temporary interests such as defying the US political solution to the Palestinian cause. Therefore, one article or one newspaper is unlikely to affect the continuation of Iranian support for Hamas and undermine the strong ties between the two sides.

“The newspaper's article reveals an internal divergence of opinions on Iran’s support for Hamas,” Belal Shobaki, a professor of political science at Hebron University in the southern West Bank, told Al-Monitor. “In the past, the relationship between Hamas and Iran was more of a solid and comprehensive alliance, but today it is purely interest-based. In the future, we may see an escalated attack on Hamas by the Iranian media.”

Notably, the article slamming Hamas was published in direct response to Iranian efforts to develop the relationship. Hamas-Iran ties seem to be in a new strategic stage despite their divergent positions on regional developments.

However, it also seems that the decision-makers in Iran today are inclined to support Hamas regardless of the opinions of the Iranian people. During the Iranian protests in late December, participants chanted, “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon … my soul is searching for the redemption of Iran.”

The Ghanoon article has also stirred an uproar among Iranian academic and media circles that support Hamas. Iranian journalist Mohammad al-Ahwazi told Al-Monitor, "Iranian Reformists are attacking Hamas to confront Iran's conservatives. This could also be a message from circles close to President Hassan Rouhani to US President Donald Trump that Tehran is moving toward cutting support for Hamas in a bid to maintain or salvage the [nuclear] deal signed in 2015.”

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/02/palestine-hamas-iran-support-qanoon-newspaper-attack-aid.html#ixzz564Vk3r9W

Salaam

Another update


Israel warns Slovenia against recognising State of Palestine

Israel warned Slovenian against recognising the State of Palestine as planned, Quds Press reported yesterday.

According to the Israeli TV Channel 10, the Israeli Ambassador to Slovenia Eyal Sila spoke to the Speaker of the Slovenian Parliament Milan Brglez and the chair of the Foreign Policy Committee Jozef Horvat in Ljubljana to warn them against the move.

According to the TV channel, Sila told the Slovenian authorities that recognising Palestine would have “negative consequences” on Israeli-Slovenian relations.
Slovenia’s Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday postponed a vote on a draft resolution which would be a first step towards recognition of the State of Palestine.

Sweden is currently the only country in Europe which recognises the State of Palestine.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180201-israel-warns-slovenia-against-recognising-state-of-palestine/

Wow, such hubris from the Israeli government. Slovenia is in the EU anyway, which for pretty much all purposes that matter conducts foreign policy as a bloc. One that Israel has everything to lose from picking a fight with.

I have little doubt Israel will fall. Its position may be strong on the face of it, but its leadership and establishment are blinded by hubris and groupthink. It will bumble its way to its own undoing.

Muslims- so in Islam they believe Allah sent Jabril(Angel Gabriel) to Muhammad and that's where he got revelations on islam but the first time you hear about the angel Gabriel in the Bible is with the prophet Daniel. Daniel was before Jesus which means he's way before Muhammad so if the quran doesn't align with the book of Daniel then you can prove it's a imposter angel. The Bible say's satan disguises himself as a angel of light. In Daniel chapter 9 the angel comes to Daniel and gives him a prophecy, the messiah will be cut off, not for himself and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and sanctuary. Jesus was killed not for himself but for the world and then in 70AD that's when the romans came and destroyed the city and the sanctuary just like the bible says. In Daniel chapter7:13 He gets a vision of one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, He was given authority, glory, and soverign power, all nations and people of every language worshipped him and his dominion is a everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will be destroyed. This is talking about when Jesus returns at his 2nd comeing to rule on earth as king of kings and lord of lords that's when all the nations will "worship him." In the quran this is obviously a conflicting message because they don't believe any man should be worshipped so therefore the angel that Muhammad encountered can not be real angel Gabriel considering Daniel encounterd the angel before him. once again, the Bible says satan disguises himself as a angel of light. In Isaiah it gives you the 5 pointed plan of the devil. 1. I will ascend into heaven 2. I will exalt my throne above the stars of god. 3 I will sit in the mount of congregation in the utter most parts of the north. 4 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. 5 I will be like the most high. satan wanted to accomplish two things with islam 1. mess up the identity of god. 2. remove the cross which is mans salvation. He has muslims praying 5 times a day to mock them because they are oblivious of his 5 pointed plan to be like the most high.


Atheist- Satan used the opposite foundation of the reverse trick to take you back to the original lie within your minds. If you go back into the bible In the garden of eden you will see that it was two trees. Tree of knowledge of good and evil and Gods tree of life. Put the original lie at the root of the tree of knowledge of good and evil symbolically. Surely you will not die when ye eat therof, your eyes will be opened, ye will become as god, knowing good and evil. What was produced on the exterior was sin, death, wickidness, fall of man, nakedness. Now remove gods tree of life from the garden and replace it with the modern day tree of life(tree of evolution) The bait the trap at the root to get you to eat is fact, logic, reason, science, intelligence, Once you take the bait and become atheist what's produced on the exterior is the original lie. Your eyes are opened(something came from nothing) ye will become as god(you remove god from the equation you become your own god), knowing good and evil(you can be a good person without believing in god) Surely death is not eternal. All that is within your inner subconscious from taking the bait of fact, logic, reason, science, intelligence. Opposite foundation, reverse trap because the interior is the exterior and the exterior is the interior(formula) to take you back to the original lie within your subconscious. Satan set up a dummy god in the east to counter the real god and a dummy tree of life in the west to counter gods tree of life. Blessed is the one who is victorious for he will be granted access to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of god.

Cool story bro.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jazzyj7

Muslims- so in Islam they believe Allah sent Jabril(Angel Gabriel) to Muhammad and that's where he got revelations on islam but the first time you hear about the angel Gabriel in the Bible is with the prophet Daniel. Daniel was before Jesus which means he's way before Muhammad so if the quran doesn't align with the book of Daniel then you can prove it's a imposter angel. The Bible say's satan disguises himself as a angel of light. In Daniel chapter 9 the angel comes to Daniel and gives him a prophecy, the messiah will be cut off, not for himself and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and sanctuary. Jesus was killed not for himself but for the world and then in 70AD that's when the romans came and destroyed the city and the sanctuary just like the bible says. In Daniel chapter7:13 He gets a vision of one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, He was given authority, glory, and soverign power, all nations and people of every language worshipped him and his dominion is a everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will be destroyed. This is talking about when Jesus returns at his 2nd comeing to rule on earth as king of kings and lord of lords that's when all the nations will "worship him." In the quran this is obviously a conflicting message because they don't believe any man should be worshipped so therefore the angel that Muhammad encountered can not be real angel Gabriel considering Daniel encounterd the angel before him. once again, the Bible says satan disguises himself as a angel of light. In Isaiah it gives you the 5 pointed plan of the devil. 1. I will ascend into heaven 2. I will exalt my throne above the stars of god. 3 I will sit in the mount of congregation in the utter most parts of the north. 4 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. 5 I will be like the most high. satan wanted to accomplish two things with islam 1. mess up the identity of god. 2. remove the cross which is mans salvation. He has muslims praying 5 times a day to mock them because they are oblivious of his 5 pointed plan to be like the most high.


Atheist- Satan used the opposite foundation of the reverse trick to take you back to the original lie within your minds. If you go back into the bible In the garden of eden you will see that it was two trees. Tree of knowledge of good and evil and Gods tree of life. Put the original lie at the root of the tree of knowledge of good and evil symbolically. Surely you will not die when ye eat therof, your eyes will be opened, ye will become as god, knowing good and evil. What was produced on the exterior was sin, death, wickidness, fall of man, nakedness. Now remove gods tree of life from the garden and replace it with the modern day tree of life(tree of evolution) The bait the trap at the root to get you to eat is fact, logic, reason, science, intelligence, Once you take the bait and become atheist what's produced on the exterior is the original lie. Your eyes are opened(something came from nothing) ye will become as god(you remove god from the equation you become your own god), knowing good and evil(you can be a good person without believing in god) Surely death is not eternal. All that is within your inner subconscious from taking the bait of fact, logic, reason, science, intelligence. Opposite foundation, reverse trap because the interior is the exterior and the exterior is the interior(formula) to take you back to the original lie within your subconscious. Satan set up a dummy god in the east to counter the real god and a dummy tree of life in the west to counter gods tree of life. Blessed is the one who is victorious for he will be granted access to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of god.

---

Religion is not an issue between the Jews of Israel and Muslims and Christians of Palestine. The issue here is racial dominion and apartheid. I have no problem if the Jews want to live like that, but they should stop incessantly crying about the "holocaust" and the far right people wanting to annihilate them. They should just have a good long look in the mirror.

Salaam

Another update

Israel's worst kept secret: An embarrassing alliance with Egypt in Sinai
#EgyptTurmoil

The brutal and corrupt nature of the Egyptian rule is not something an Israeli missile or jet can fix. Israel cannot singlehandedly maintain Sisi in power

Last week, the New York Times' Cairo bureau chief, David Kirkpatrick, published a purported expose of a hitherto secret Israeli campaign against Islamist insurgents in the northern Sinai.

Since 2011, the militants, who were an amalgam of disgruntled Bedouin and Islamic State (IS) operatives, had launched attacks both against targets on a southern highway near Eilat and against Egyptian military targets in northern Sinai.

Kirkpatrick noted the great pains taken by both the Egyptians and Israelis to conceal their joint efforts. He asserts in two places in the report that Israeli media could not report most of the attacks because of military censorship.

He pointed to one Israeli drone strike in 2013 which killed five Islamist fighters, as if this was the first of the joint attacks in Sinai. But it wasn't. The first such drone assault which killed a Sinai Islamist was in 2012.

Then he added: "It was…in late 2015, that Israel began its wave of air strikes, the American officials said, which they credit with killing a long roster of militant leaders." This, too, is imprecise, at best, although the details of the actual Israeli operations portrayed and the underlying reasons for the Israel-Egypt alliance are accurate.

Israel's worst kept secret

If the Israeli military intervention in Sinai was secret, it was one of the worst-kept secrets as far as Israel is concerned. No less a figure than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself in 2016 bragged at a Likud Party meeting about the daring steps Israel was taking to protect itself from "the Sinai terrorists".

Israel did not commence operations in the Sinai in 2015 or even 2013. In fact, it began the attacks in 2012 (more on this later), while the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi was still in power (he would be overthrown by a military junta in June 2013). This complicates the narrative that NYT presents of a bilateral alliance formed, as far as Israel was concerned, to prop up Egyptian military rule.

While it is true that the Israelis prefer strongmen generals running the show to Islamists like Morsi, the fact is that Israel saw these Islamists in Sinai as a threat before Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power.

Steven A Cook, the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told me: "When Morsi was in power, the Egyptian presidency left the Israel file to General Intelligence and the Ministry of Defense. It is plausible that the Israelis and Egyptian security forces were coordinating without Morsi knowing it, which was likely OK with him."

Cooke also pointed out that the commentary around the NYT article has made the Sisi-era Egypt-Israel coordination into a bigger deal militarily than it is. "The Egyptians have carried out probably thousands of strikes whereas the Israeli number is no doubt much lower."

Kirkpatrick also said: "It is unclear if any Israeli troops or special forces have set foot inside Egyptian borders, which would increase the risk of exposure."

This, too, is not correct. In 2011, in one of the most daring attacks originating from the Sinai, fighters crossed the border into Israel and raked heavy fire on a southern highway near Eilat. A bus and several civilian vehicles came under attack and seven Israelis were killed including a soldier.

Afterward, the attackers slipped back across the Egyptian border pursued by Israeli military and Border Police. Meanwhile, Egyptian security forces were hunting down the militants as well. When the two forces met, the Israelis opened fire on the Egyptian police, killing five.

Egypt quickly swept the matter under the rug. No Egyptian media reported that its own troops were killed by Israeli forces which had invaded Egypt in order to track down Sinai terrorists. Then prime minister Ehud Barak issued an apology and everything was hunky-dory.

Alex Fishman reported Israel's violation of Egyptian sovereignty in the Israeli daily, Yediot Achronot. Israeli blogger Idan Landau published a hard-hitting series of exposes as well. I published a number of blog posts on the subject as well, beginning in 2011.

The most trusted source

There were other Israeli incursions into Egypt. The Mossad kidnapped a Palestinian, Wael Abu Rida, in the Sinai and imprisoned him in Israel. Though Egyptian intelligence cooperated with the apprehension, Israeli agents were inside Egyptian territory and facilitated the operation there.

In 2012, I also reported that Israeli soldiers were crossing the Egyptian frontier in order to stem the flow of African refugees entering Israel via the Sinai.

It was facilitated in large part by questionable political alliances and national unity governments orchestrated by Barak.

Ben-Eliezer later drifted away from Barak's orbit and left politics altogether in 2014. By then, he was suffering from kidney failure and faced corruption charges filed by Israeli police.

But in the four years preceding, he offered me scores of scoops on major stories which could not be published in Israel due to judicial gag orders or military censorship.

It was Ben-Eliezer who came to me with the story of the first Israeli drone attack in Sinai in 2012. He also revealed to me the lies both Egypt and Israel were proffering the media about the terror attack in southern Israel mentioned above.

These lies were necessitated by the fact that Israel was embarrassed by the ease with which the Sinai fighters penetrated its defences; and Egypt was embarrassed that Israeli troops penetrated its territory and killed five of its own security personnel.

Here is a recounting of some of the stories related to Israel's campaign in the Sinai and burgeoning relationship with Egypt published before 2015: Israel's first Sinai drone strike killed a Bedouin militant (2012); Israeli violates Egyptian sovereignty killing four Sinai militants (2013); Israel and Egypt’s Junta: Birds of a Feather (2013); Israel encouraged Egyptian military coup and urged generals not to negotiate away their power in its aftermath (2013).

The wrong narrative

Clearly, the NYT sources didn't follow the entire history of Israeli involvement in the Sinai. They knew part of the story, and weaved those facts together to create a narrative to advance their interests.

The piece also amplifies the value of the Egypt-Israel joint military operations, claiming Israeli anti-terror operations have stemmed the tide of Islamist violence which might have otherwise toppled the military junta.

However, this argument has gone too far. Israel has not stopped or even significantly impeded the Islamist insurgency. If anything, it has only put a dent in it, and a fairly small one at that. IS wages almost daily attacks there against both military and civilian targets.

As this Haaretz report notes, the brutal and corrupt nature of the Egyptian rule is not something an Israeli missile or jet can fix. Israel cannot singlehandedly maintain Sisi in power. Eventually, he will go the way of Mubarak before him, with or without Israeli support.

If a truly democratic or populist figure ever comes to power in Egypt, both he and the Egyptian people will remember it was Israel that helped the corrupt and murderers maintain their hold on power.

Similarly, when the House of Saud is someday overthrown, whoever replaces it will remember the corrupt alliance forged between a corrupt, kleptocratic monarchy and its Israeli allies.

Dictatorship's short shelf life

It's astonishing that the US is seeking to tell such a warped, twisted narrative. Contrary to what US and Israeli intelligence would have us believe, it is not a good thing that Israel is forging these alliances with the most corrupt, repressive elements of the Arab world.

If it helps Israeli interests at all, it will only be in the short-run. Dictatorships and military strongmen have a limited shelf life in this part of the world, as recent events have shown. Once they are toppled, those who follow will not view Israel so favourably.

But in stories like these, involving tremendous amounts of dissembling, obfuscation and opacity by politicians and intelligence officials, it doesn't work.

Reporters and their editors must recognise that in closed societies like Egypt and Israel (yes, for all you liberal folk out there, even Israel), critical information comes from non-conventional sources that should be treated with the same respect reserved for sources the mainstream media considers kosher.

In a society like Israel, which imposes criminal sanctions on whistleblowers and other forms of dissent from the security consensus, journalistic standards must take this into account.




http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/israels-worst-kept-secret-1501690046

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Karl

Religion is not an issue between the Jews of Israel and Muslims and Christians of Palestine. The issue here is racial dominion and apartheid. I have no problem if the Jews want to live like that, but they should stop incessantly crying about the "holocaust" and the far right people wanting to annihilate them. They should just have a good long look in the mirror.

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Set up for humanity to despise Israel That's how god intervenes on Israels behalf.

² I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. ³ Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. ⁴ On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. ⁵ You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake^[a] in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.⁶ On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. ⁷ It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.⁸ On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.⁹ The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.

Salaam

Another update


Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's Capital Was High Point of My Term in Office, Trump Tells pro-Netanyahu Paper

In an interview to Israel Hayom, which is owned by Sheldon Adelson and is considered supportive of Netanyahu, Trump said both Israel and the Palestinians would need to compromise for peace

In an interview for an Israeli newspaper, President Donald Trump said that his Dec. 6 declaration recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was the high point of his time in office. In the Hebrew-language translation of an excerpt from Trump’s interview with Israel Hayom editor-in-chief Boaz Bismuth, Trump said that both Israel and the Palestinians would need to compromise significantly to achieve peace. Trump said this in replying to Bismuth’s question on whether Israel would have to give something in return for the declaration.

Trump abruptly reversed decades of U.S. policy in December when he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, generating outrage from Palestinians and the Arab world and concern among Washington’s Western allies.

Calling the city “your wonderful capital,” he added that the recognition of it as Israel’s capital was very important for many people whom Trump said thanked him. Others did not thank him for it, he added, but he described the move as an important promise he made and kept.

Trump also said he understands why previous presidents who said they would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital ended up not doing it. He cited “enormous pressure” through intensive lobbying by those opposed to the move. Bismuth asked Trump what he meant when he said last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that with the declaration “we took Jerusalem off the table.”

Trump said that he meant to say that the declaration clarified that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital, but when it comes to specific borders he would support the ones agreed upon by both parties.

The full interview is scheduled to be published Sunday.

Israel Hayom is owned by Sheldon Adelson and is considered close and supportive of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump has given similar "exclusive" interview to the paper in the past, both as president and during his time as president-elect.

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/trump-jerusalem-declaration-was-high-point-of-my-time-in-office-1.5806145

Salaam

Another update

Activist detained after questioning Saudi-Israel ties

A Saudi activist, who questioned the normalisation of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, has been detained in her home country, and could face up to five years in prison, a UK-based rights group said. Noha al-Balawi has reportedly been under detention in the northwestern region of Tabuk for more than two weeks, ALQST, a group advocating for human rights in Saudi Arabia, said on Thursday. According to ALQST, al-Balawi was asked to report to a police station in Tabuk on January 23, only to be arrested, and has been detained ever since.

Authorities reportedly questioned al-Balawi about her social media activities, including posts questioning the normalisation of ties between her country and Israel, the rights group said.

n one video clip widely circulated on social media, Balawi declared, "Normalisation means accepting the occupation", in reference to Israel's continued control of Palestinian land.

"Let me make it clear; we will never recognise Israel no matter what it will cost us. "There is not a single benefit for Arabs when we normalise relations with Israel. It only serves the best interests of the Zionist state," she added.

In recent months, relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel have warmed up, with a flurry of diplomatic activities between Riyadh and Tel Aviv. ALQST said that al-Balawi was also questioned for calling on the state to allow women to drive. In September 2017, the government of Saudi Arabia had already announced that it would allow women to drive starting in June 2018. According to the report, the investigating officer had referred al-Balawi's case for trial under the country's cybercrime law.

Article 6 of the law states that a person "who creates or transmits anything prejudicial to public order" could face up to five years in jail, and/or a fine of up to $800,000.

ALQST said Saudi authorities are trying to mislead the public by denying al-Balawi's detention. Earlier, ALQST said Saudi authorities had promised to release al-Balawi after five days. Instead, they have kept her for the past 18 days.
The group said al-Balawi's detention is an "obvious attempt" to silence public opinion.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/0...093154369.html

Salaam

How perceptive.

'If the Ottomans ever withdraw from Palestine bloodshed will not stop there until the day of judgement'

Sultan Abdülhamid II : B 21 Sep 1842 - D 10 Feb 1918

Salaam

A little humour to lighten up this thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k81p2LCj_cs

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jazzyj7

Set up for humanity to despise Israel That's how god intervenes on Israels behalf.

² I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. ³ Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. ⁴ On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. ⁵ You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake^[a] in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.⁶ On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. ⁷ It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.⁸ On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.⁹ The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.

---

Yeah but the Israelites have forsaken their Lord. They live by the laws of Baal not Jehovah. Israel is a secular state now and the Jewish religion is in tatters. Only money protects them not God. And for how long as the Beast turns on the Wh#re of Babylon and devours her.

- - - Updated - - -

I made a mistake the laws of Baal are not as illogical as the atheist laws of Israel.

Salaam

More comment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkFVAa2xSp4

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Junon

Salaam

More comment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkFVAa2xSp4

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You should be ashamed for disseminating such vile propaganda from such a vile man and quoting him on multiple subjects.

Salaam

No I dont, I find his perspective unusual and informative, I dont agree with everything he says and hes no friend, but hes worth a listen.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Junon

Salaam

No I dont, I find his perspective unusual and informative, I dont agree with everything he says and hes no friend, but hes worth a listen.

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No he isn't he is a vile polytheist and liar, he exaggerates and conspires in comprising the faith of the believers he is a friend only to apostates like Imran Hosein and Qadryov this vile priest and Imams of shame like Imran Hosein are the Musaylimahs of today in the trenches with the Ahzab of today.

Salaam

Another update

US to open Jerusalem embassy in May 2018

Announcement labelled 'provocation to Arabs' as May 15 marks Nakba Day and the mass displacement of Palestinians.

he US State Department has said the new US embassy in Jerusalem will open in May 2018, to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel's declaration of independence. The state department called the move a "historic step" in a statement issued on Friday. The announcement means the relocation comes much faster than expected. US Vice President Mike Pence in late January saidthe controversial embassy would open in 2019.

The US decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem prompted deadly protests in Palestine and solidarity rallies across the world. For Palestinians, May 15 marks Nakba Day, or the "catastrophe", when they commemorate the mass displacement of Palestinians to make way for the state of Israel. Between 1947 and 1949, at least 750,000 Palestinians, out of a population of 1.9 million, were expelled from or fled their homes in Palestine.

A senior Palestinian official told news agency AFP the announcement was "a provocation to Arabs" and a "blatant violation of international law". Saeb Erekat, Palestine Liberation Organization secretary-general, said the result would be "the destruction of the two-state option".

Israel Katz, Israeli intelligence minister, thanked Trump for the announcement.

"There is no greater gift than that! The most just and correct move. Thanks friend!" Katz said in a tweet.

Israel proclaimed its independence on May 14, 1948.

Embassy location

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan said that it is still unclear where the new embassy will be located.

"I am told that the ambassador, David Friedman, as well as a few aides, will take up their assignment in the current consulate general building in the Arnona neighbourhood in Jerusalem. "The additional staff will be transferred from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem over time, but there's also still the outstanding matter of trying to find a location to build a permanent embassy."

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Ramallah, Mustafa Barghouti, former Palestinian information minister, said the decision meant "adding insult to injury".

"When they want to move the embassy exactly on the worst anniversary in the history of Palestinians, the anniversary not of the establishment of Israel but of the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and the creation of the system of racial discrimination and apartheid ... this represents a very serious provocation to the Palestinian side," he said.

Clashes erupted in Gaza and the occupied West Bank on Friday during weekly protests against the US decision. At least 20 Palestinians have been killed in protests against the move since December 6, Palestinian health officials have said.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/0...155726882.html

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More to add

Jimmy Carter warns against one-state for Israel-Palestine

UNITED NATIONS — Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is warning that the two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “is being overtaken by a one-state reality which will have dire consequences for Israel in the long-term.”

Carter concluded that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state “is in Israel’s best interest.”

In a statement to the Security Council read Thursday by former U.S. ambassador Richard Murphy, Carter said that a two-state solution “must be anchored on 1967 borders with agreed upon adjustments and with Jerusalem as the capital for both Israelis and Palestinians.”

He said Gaza “is teetering on the brink of a humanitarian disaster” and warned that another war in the Hamas-ruled territory is “a real possibility — and the consequences would be catastrophic.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...=.7006d1d5ddd9

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Another update, another viewpoint.


Egypt Has Always Held the Palestinians of Gaza in Contempt

Every Egyptian military regime has sealed off Gaza, blamed Gazans for Cairo's own problems and sown fear, humiliation and misery among the enclave's Palestinian population. Al-Sissi is no exception

Egypt, the only Arab country bordering Gaza, is strongly associated with the beleaguered population’s suffering and misery, but also nostalgia and lingering hope. But for as long as Egypt continues to be hijacked by military dictators, Gaza is doomed to suffer.

In the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the Jordanian and Egyptian armies captured 22% of historic Palestine. Jordan annexed the West Bank, and gave its residents almost full rights, including Jordanian citizenship. Until today, Palestinians in the West Bank hold permanent or temporary Jordanian passports, or at least can travel to Jordan without restrictions.

Egypt, however, refused to annex the Gaza Strip, but rather fenced it off, installed an occupying force made up of military intelligence, and appointed a military governor in full control of it. The first governor was Mahmoud Riad, who later became the third Secretary General of the Arab League.

Riad’s first move in office was to give up a third of the Gaza Strip (about 200 square kilometers) to Israel in 1950, after the Israeli military complained that Palestinian refugees in Gaza were crossing the armistice line to visit their demolished villages, or to move to the West Bank and Jordan.

Gaza, flooded with Palestinian refugees displaced from 247 destroyed villages, was Egypt’s last priority, and it refused to assume any responsibility over its then-population of one million. Although Gaza was one of Egypt’s frontlines of defense in its conflict with Israel, the Egyptian regime’s position on Gazans was to never accept the burden of their care, but rather pivot responsibility to Israel as the overall occupying force, a position that it has held consistently until now.

Egypt actively thwarted Palestinian efforts to mobilize politically or choose their own leadership, and repeatedly denied Palestine’s Grand Mufti Amin al-Husseini entry to Gaza to attend national conferences. It also demilitarized the Gaza Strip and disarmed the rebel groups that were fighting against Israel under the premise of an Egyptian promise, which never materialized, that, "It’s our job to set you free, not yours!"

Furthermore, Egypt's first president, Gamal Abdel Nasser’s domestic persecution campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood, the communists and the Jews extended to largescale arbitrary arrests of Palestinian activists, unionists and intellectuals in the Gaza Strip.

Recently, in Copenhagen, I met Umm Fadi, a Palestinian mother of three from Gaza, now in her 80s. She recalled over dinner how, in 1959, the Egyptian military arrested thousands of Gazan activists overnight and took them to a military prison in Egypt. Her husband, Fakhri, was amongst the detained activists, for no obvious reason.

At the crack of dawn, Umm Fadi hastened to the Rafah land crossing to visit her husband. But passing from Gaza to Egypt has traditionally been an impossible task unless one pays some unaffordable bribe to the gatekeepers. Palestinians in Gaza only held an Egyptian-issued refugee travel document that didn’t even allow them to cross into Egypt freely.

My late grandmother, Egyptian herself, went through the same experience at the borders when trying to return to Egypt. She once told me, just as Umm Fadi described, "All passengers had to slip some money along with their passports to the border officers to let them cross to Egypt." Passengers were always afraid they'd given less than what the officer expected - in which case, the officer would arrest them on charges of attempted bribery.

That tradition continues today: Gazans are explicitly blackmailed to pay a bribe, at a minimum of $2000, to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing.

Upon finally arriving at the Egyptian military prison, Umm Fadi asked to visit her husband or find him an attorney, but both requests were denied under the pretext of "national security concerns." Luckily, she had a friend, Afaf Abu Hasira, who was married to an Egyptian military officer. He facilitated a meeting for Umm Fadi with infamous prison governor Hamza Al-Bassiouni to petition to see her husband.

Al-Bassiouni asked Umm Fadi to supply a list of bribes in order to see her husband in prison. She had to sell her jewelry in return for a visit permit. When she walked into the prison yard, she was shocked to find famous Gazan activists and leaders like Muin Bseiso, Samir Al Barqouni, Khalil Oweida and others, in torn clothes, perspiring profusely under a boiling sun, almost starved to death and covered in blood, bruises and scars from dog bites and the guards' lash.

She was blackmailed again to spare her husband the daily torture and humiliation in prison. She eventually had to sell their land in Gaza at an undervalued price to pay a huge bribe to move her husband to a non-military prison called Al-Wahat. The torture was no less severe in there, but she was able to visit him more often. Her husband remained in prison for four years with no trial, with no charges brought against him and no announced release date.

In 1967, Egypt lost control over Gaza, but the regime remained relatively hostile to its population. Anwar al-Sadat’s presidency differed little from Nasser’s; in 1978, Sadat launched a largescale arrest and deportation campaign against Palestinian students in Egyptian universities.

My father was studying medicine at Cairo University when the Egyptian national security forces arrested him; forces of ill-repute whose nominal specialty was, and is, counter-terrorism, but whose main aim has always been to target the regime’s political opponents. My grandmother, too, was forced to sell her gold jewelry to bribe her son out of prison and return him to the university.

It wasn’t until the 2011 revolution that Egypt, for the first time, had a government truly representative of its population. The borders with Gaza reopened, the claustrophobic population no longer felt imprisoned, the economy boomed, there were visits by Egyptian delegations to Gaza and vice versa; Gazans were treated like human beings again. It brought Gaza back to life. And Gazans took pride, for the first time in decades, in their identity when they visited Egypt.

Unfortunately, that golden era was short-lived.

It lasted two years before another military dictator led a coup against the elected government, sealed off Gaza from the world again, vilified it as the devil and key cause of Egypt’s repeated crises, and brought back a dark era of fear and misery.

By now, it’s almost a punishable offense to be a Gazan in Egypt; Egypt's population, subjected to interminable state propaganda, fear contact with Gazans as if they had the plague, or a contagious moral defect. And Gazans are the Egyptian regime's easiest targets for arbitrary arrests.

In 2014, my cousin was randomly picked up on the street to be a witness in a case with which he had no connection. When the officer learned he was from Gaza, although he held Egyptian citizenship, the officer called him a "terrorist" and threw him into detention for several weeks without even informing his family, who searched for him, increasingly desperately, without a single clue as to his whereabouts. Luckily, my uncle had some connections in the national security services who got his son out for a "decent price."

Ever since al-Sissi’s rise to power, it’s been virtually impossible for Gaza’s two million inhabitants to travel out of their open-air prison to a fellow Arab country. Egypt opens Gaza’s one gate to the world only occasionally: for three days every three months. Egypt decides who goes in or out and denies that right to thousands of people. Passengers must pay huge bribes to be allowed to leave Gaza, and then they are liable to humiliation, plunder, blackmail or arrest at countless checkpoints that punctuate that transit route.

Two weeks ago, Egypt opened its borders for three days after a long closure. My own family, waitlisted to travel for two years, failed to leave Gaza through the Rafah border crossing for the fifth consecutive time because they couldn’t pay the bribe.

The day before, I had called the Egyptian embassy in Sweden to check on my four-month-old visa application to see my family in Cairo. Once the employee heard me say the word "Gaza," his tone immediately became condescending, and reminded me that Gazans, and only Gazans, have to pass through an endless high-level security check by the national security authorities to obtain a permit to visit Egypt. A well-connected friend in Egypt told me that the current rate for a bribe to get that permit exceeds a thousand dollars.

I had a flashback to the 70 years of suffering that Egypt has dealt successive generations of Gazans. I felt the pent-up anger for that – and I also felt the shame of how the world continues to abandon Gaza as the Egyptian military regime's easy prey.

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/.premium-egypt-has-always-held-the-palestinians-of-gaza-in-contempt-1.5827868

Gaza is on the verge of collapse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44eOpxHM1QY

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Junon

Salaam

A little humour to lighten up this thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k81p2LCj_cs

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Why are you posting a music video? Instruments are haram.