The corrupt Palestinian Authority must not be a part of any Saudi-Israel deal

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September 11, 2023

American officials are visiting Saudi Arabia to discuss Palestinian demands regarding a potential deal for the kingdom to normalize relations with Israel. The deal could include Riyadh’s reported proposal to resume its financial payments to the Palestinian Authority (PA) if it constrains militants. While Saudi Arabia desires any normalization deal to benefit the Palestinian people, it is financially and morally irresponsible to distribute funds through the corrupt, terrorist-funding PA.

Instead of funneling aid through the PA as part of any normalization agreement, the creation of a new nongovernmental organization would enable the Saudis to support fellow Muslims, develop a responsible organization to tangibly improve Palestinian lives, foster a civil society more amenable to Arab-Israeli normalization outside of the PA’s repression and create a much-needed alternative to the PA’s endemic misgovernance.

Building on the groundbreaking Abraham Accords that one of us helped negotiate during the Trump administration, Saudi normalization with Israel would demonstrate to the world that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is a historic figure focused on transforming his society and advancing global peace, as well as provide him an opportunity to chart a better course for Palestinians. Any deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel would mark a massive advancement of the Abraham Accords, creating the political cover for additional Muslim leaders to formalize relations with Israel.

A notable holdout to the goodwill of Saudi-Israel peace could be Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was elected to a four-year term in 2005 yet still remains in office. Abbas has repeatedly refused or stalled U.S. and Israeli diplomatic proposals.

Yet providing funds to the Palestinian Authority, an organization that continues to reward Palestinian terrorism, would undercut the peaceful message and implications of normalization. Having recognized that the PA’s payments to the families of terrorists encourages violence, Congress passed the Taylor Force Act in 2018, which cuts U.S. funding to the PA until its stops this “pay for slay” program. Since money is fungible, any foreign aid to the PA would effectively incentivize further terror against Israelis. Riyadh should not provide funds to the PA that would exempt the PA from ending its “pay for slay.”

Moreover, and despite the international community having propped up the PA for the past 30 years as the representative of the Palestinian people, the corrupt organization remains a failure that services its leadership with luxuries, like the purchase of a $50 million jet for Abbas in 2018, amid funding cuts.

Considering the strong diplomatic, economic and security relationships that have developed through the Abraham Accords, it is the PA’s intransigence, repression and cronyism that holds back an even deeper and wider peace between Israel and the Arab and Muslim worlds.

Simultaneously, Saudi Arabia has been signaling to its neighbors that it is attaching conditions to its bountiful foreign aid, which has long provided vital financial support to troubled economies throughout the Middle East. Riyadh has sent over $5 billion to Palestinian causes, but, recognizing the PA’s rampant corruption, began decreasing its aid in 2016 and cut it off entirely in 2021. “We used to give direct grants and deposits without strings attached and we are changing that,” Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said in January. “We are working with multilateral institutions to actually say we need to see reforms.”

Having sent billions of dollars in aid to Middle Eastern nations like Egypt and Jordan, Saudi Arabia under MBS’s leadership is increasingly insisting on economic reforms in these countries to ensure better returns on Saudi investment and help bolster key linchpins of regional stability.

The international community should adopt a parallel approach to Palestinian aid. It is past time to stop funding Palestinian aid through an organization like the Palestinian Authority that has no intention of yielding a return on that investment, and whose corruption and misgovernance works directly at cross-purposes with shared U.S., Israeli and Saudi goals of promoting peace, prosperity and stability.

Instead, the United States and Saudi Arabia should create a responsible mechanism for helping the Palestinians — not furthering PA corruption and support for terrorism. Establishing a new aid organization would enable the United States to provide assistance to the Palestinian people without violating the Taylor Force Act. Removing the PA from the aid equation would better ensure that aid reaches the Palestinian people and not PA coffers or as a subsidy for terrorist attacks against Israelis.

As part of the normalization process between Saudi Arabia and Israel, U.S. and Saudi officials should establish a Saudi-led international aid organization that would be independent of the PA’s cronyism and of the United Nations, which has hindered Palestinian progress. A new “Future Investment Fund for the Palestinian People” would not only establish an alternative mechanism for providing the Palestinians with financial support, but also create a political power base that is independent of PA malfeasance and misgovernance.

Normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel provides an opportunity not only to reshape the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East but also to move past the outmoded Palestinian Authority, which has long been an obstacle to peace. In doing so, Saudi-Israel relations would pave the road to the long-sought peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Mike Pompeo is a former U.S. secretary of state. Sander Gerber is the chief executive of Hudson Bay Capital Management, a distinguished fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) and a member of the State Department’s Middle East Partnership for Peace Act (MEPPA) advisory board.

File Police Complaints against Abbas

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September 9, 2023

Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, a terrorist organization,

has launched a violent anti-semitic tirade which has been condemned around the world.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/mahmoud-abbas-palestine-israel-fatah-party-c131ddd9?mod=opinion_lead_pos4

Yet “condemnation” has no effect on Abbas, who galivants around the world, heading an entity, funded by 135 nations without any pretense of transparency,

https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/the-palestinian-authority-donor-machine-615677

What Abbas may not know is the PLO leader enjoys no immunity anywhere

I checked.

Abbas has no immunity from criminal prosecution in Israel, theich US, Canada, or the 27 nations of the EU

Anyone– anywhere = can file a police complaint against Abbas because of his criminal incitement and demand that Abbas be denied freedom of movement in their country

What’s In A Name? – Phantom Nation

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September 9, 2023

Israel News Talk Radio · What’s In A Name? – Phantom Nation

Par for the course

By

Michael Kuttner

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September 9, 2023

The Jewish year may be winding down but Jews and Israel continue to dominate the news one way or another.

Some events from the recent past seem to have sunk into oblivion. Others may have caused some minor ripples but have otherwise elicited only muted responses.

As we prepare to wrap up another year it is important to recall those challenges which have gone unanswered. Putting them in the too-hard basket because dealing with them might have upset too many people is a recipe for disaster. Kicking the can down the road in the hope that someone else might deal with them is a failed strategy.

Politicians love to promise and procrastinate in the hope that the befuddled masses can be beguiled into believing their intentions. While many are fooled, increasing numbers of the long-suffering public can discern “snake oil” salespersons and are not prepared to fall for unfulfilled gestures.

The following is just a random selection of some of the still unresolved challenges which confront us.

There are still many who cannot understand the continuing romance with an entity which promotes jihadist martyrdom and pays murderers and their families for killing Jewish Israelis. Recently an Abbas spokesperson declared that Israel’s elimination of “martyrs” (aka terrorists) is a war crime. Following this patently poisonous assertion one should have expected the White House, State Department, EU, UK Foreign Office and the UN to denounce the sponsors of terror residing in Ramallah. These same defenders of “saint Mahmoud” are quick to condemn Israel for each and every perceived “threat to democracy.”

Unsurprisingly nary a peep has been heard.

Instead, all we can hear are hymns of praise from the international community and Jewish self-loathers for those who supposedly are yearning to establish a fake State based on democratic and human rights values. Instead of an outpouring of outrage from Diaspora Jewish leaders and Israeli politicians all we have is silence or meaningless mumbling.

A report in the Israeli media this week revealed that in a recording of a speech by Abbas he claimed that “Jews were murdered in the Holocaust not because of their “Jewishness” but so that the Nazis could seize their money.”

For good measure, he also asserted that “all the historical evidence and documents show the Palestinian identity of Jerusalem, the Al Aqsa Mosque and all the holy places for Islam and Christianity in Jerusalem.”

His lies and fabrications elicited muted responses from Israeli political leaders and Diaspora Jewish spokespersons.

Why, therefore, should anyone be surprised when the UN and general media give yet another pass to the anointed apostle of peace?

Recently, a group of Democratic Party legislators visited Israel and were shown around various areas of the country. They also had the opportunity to meet and speak with many Israelis. The object of the exercise, no doubt, was to expose them to some realities so that they could better understand the complexities of the problems confronting Israel. Presumably, it is hoped that once cognizant of facts rather than myths these US representatives might return to the USA and enlighten some of their colleagues who are drifting into the far-left anti-Israel camp.

On their return, the Michigan State senator issued an abject apology for having participated in this visit and in the face of furious condemnation from Michigan Muslim groups recanted any sympathy that may have been expressed for the Jewish State.

Once again, American Jewish leadership remained relatively mute in the face of this glaring hypocrisy.

What can only be described as a continuing theatre of the absurd manifested itself in a few other ways as we count down to the end of the year.

One of the contenders for the Republican Party Presidential nomination in 2024, Vivek Ramaswamy, touted as an up-and-coming young politician, found himself caught up in controversy over his remarks about Israel. At first, he advocated ending aid to Israel but after a barrage of scornful criticism from fellow Republicans, he backtracked somewhat. Whether his views were as a result of political naivety or a misstep remains to be seen but a subsequent declaration should ring warning bells not only in Israel but also with other US allies.

He stated that he was against using US military force against Iran. As reported, he declared that “it would be taking part in a war we don’t belong in.” I am sure that the Mullahs in Tehran must be rooting for him to become the nominee in 2024. Faced with a choice between a Democrat President doing his level best to unfreeze billions of Iranian funds and a potential Republican candidate pledged to avoid military action, the regime must be in paradise.

Just imagine what the Taiwanese facing a Chinese invasion and the South Koreans facing a North Korean nuclear attack must be thinking.

Any Israeli with some recollection of recent history will remember the infamous words of Neville Chamberlain as Czechoslovakia was about to be swallowed up by Nazi Germany: “it’s about a quarrel in a faraway country between people of whom we know nothing.”

Is history about to be repeated?

The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report which stated that “it regrets a lack of Iranian co-operation as enriched uranium grows.” This observation, instead of sending shivers down Iranian spines, will induce paroxysms of hilarious laughter.

The mandate for the UN “peacekeeping” force in South Lebanon has been renewed by the Security Council (with China and Russia abstaining). Listening to the subsequent rhetoric, one could imagine that this was a triumph for the enforcement of UN resolutions and the disarmament of Hezbollah terror forces. No such event, of course, will take place and the Iranian-backed terrorists will continue to aim their missiles at Israel and prepare for a conflict which is not that far away.

The stark reality is euphoric diplomatic hallucinations that ignore the effective disarming of those threatening not only Israel but also the independence of Lebanon, will result in mayhem and murder.

Egypt has reportedly asked Israel not to harm Hamas and Jihad leaders. In other words, those fomenting the murder of Israelis should be given immunity and allowed to continue plotting their terror agenda. This is the mad cuckoo world we face at the moment and the absence of a concerted campaign to expose this only lends credence to the hypocrisy which is now the rule.

The Papal blessing of Pope Francis provides proof of how far sanity has been compromised.

In a message to young Russians, he pontificated: “You are the heirs of the great Russia – of the saints, of the Kings, of Peter the Great, Catherine, great imperial Russia, cultivated with so much culture and humanity.”

This declaration may have warmed the hearts of some, but it certainly did the opposite as far as any intelligent Jews are concerned.

The history of Jews in Tsarist and Communist Russia is certainly not one of humanity and religious tolerance. It is a bloody trail of pogroms and persecution at the hands of rulers and with the sanction of Church authorities. Blood libels and conspiracies are the legacy of those periods in Russian history.

It’s a pity that political correctness has yet again produced a shameful silence.

What will the New Year bring? Stay tuned.

Latest investigations

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September 8, 2023

Our newest investigations:

https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/app/uploads/2023/08/E_157_23.pdf

https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/app/uploads/2023/08/E_164_23.pdf

Earlier investigations:

https://tinyurl.com/yckerppu

Latest Movie:

https://vimeo.com/854738278

https://vimeo.com/856467890

Earlier movies:

https://www.cfnepr.com/205640/Movies

Unrwa Accountability Report fpr Congressman Rep.Mario Diaz-Balart, a senior member of the House Committee on Appropriations, and he is the Chairman of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) Subcommittee,

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September 8, 2023

Since 1987, the Nahum Bedein Center for Near East Policy Research Ltd., located in Jerusalem and headed by David Bedein, has stood at the forefront of advocacy for UNRWA (United Nations Refugee Works Agency) policy change, addressing alleged misuse of donor funds and breaches of the UNRWA mandate “to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestine refugees pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.”

Bedein, an MSW, has examined the Palestinian Authority school system since the first day that the PA began to issue its own textbooks (August 1, 2000), the time UNRWA adopted the PA school curriculum.

Having met with and received personal authorization from Yasser Arafat (PLO Chairman 1969-2004) to review all textbooks issued by the Palestinian Authority (used by UNRWA schools in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and Gaza), Bedein engaged a journalist and scholar of Arabic education, Dr. Arnon Groiss, to review more 1,000 schoolbooks issued by the PA and used by UNRWA.

Groiss, who is fluent in Arabic, holds a PhD in Islamic Studies and served as deputy director of the Arabic division of the Israel Broadcasting Authority.
The following is a partial list of serious violations of the UNRWA mandate to help the 6.7 million descendants of Arab refugees from the 1948 war now registered with UNRWA:

• Terror advocacy conveyed by new Palestinian Authority textbooks used by UNRWA
• Hamas infiltration into the UNRWA schools and youth clubs
• Prolonged manipulation of Arabs to dwell as “refugees for perpetuity” in 59 UNRWA squalor camps, as pawns in the unresolved Arab Israel war
• UNRWA works with the PA to “erase” Israel from their maps, rather than using standard UN maps, which depict all UN members in good standing, including Israel
• Deliberate financial misrepresentations to international donors
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I.) Current UNRWA Policy: Part of the Problem, Not Part of the Solution UNRWA continually requests more and more funds, with a budget that has swelled to $1.6 billion in less than three years.
Established with a “temporary” mandate by the UN General Assembly in 1949, UNRWA has done nothing to help Arab refugees and their families move on with their lives or seek a better future for themselves or their families.

Instead, UNRWA enshrines the “right of return by force of arms,” which envisions the elimination of Israel by flooding it with millions of Arab refugees.

II.) No UNRWA Support for a Two-State Solution Our review of more than 1,000 official textbooks of the PA, used by UNRWA, finds that both UNRWA and the PA reject the two-state solution because UNRWA and PA education are based on three fundamentals:

1. De-legitimization of Israel’s existence and the Jews’ very presence in the country, which includes denial of their history and the existence of any Jewish holy places there.

2. Demonization of both Israel and Jews, also religiously – with implications regarding the Jews’ image in the eyes of children who hail from a traditional Arab society.

3. The absence of a call for peace with Israel. Instead, there is a call for a violent struggle for the liberation of the whole country, including pre-1967 Israel. This struggle is given a religious color and terror is made an integral part thereof, encouraging the murder of Jews.

III.) De-Legitimization

1. Israel’s Jewish citizens are considered foreign colonialists. (Social Studies, Grade 8, Part 2 [2020], p. 34)

2. The country’s Jewish history is denied, including the existence of archaeological items proving it: “The conqueror has built for himself an artificial entity that derives its identity and the legitimacy of its existence from tales, legends and fantasies and has tried in various ways and means to create live material evidence for these legends, or archaeological architectural proofs that would determine their truth and authenticity, but in vain.” (Arabic Language – Academic Path, Grade 10, Part 2 [2020], p. 68)

3. Existence of Jewish holy places in the country is denied, including the Western Wall in Jerusalem. In Arabic: “Al-Buraq Wall:” “The Al-Buraq Wall has been named after Al-Buraq [the divine beast] that carried the Messenger [of God, i.e., Muhammad] during the Nocturnal Journey [from Mecca to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, according to Islamic belief] and the Ascension [to Heaven]. The AlBuraq Wall is part of the western wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Al-Aqsa Mosque, including the wall, is Palestinian land and an exclusive right of the Muslims.” (Islamic Education, Grade 5, Part 1 [2020] p. 63)

4. Having been considered foreign settlers, Jews in the country are not counted as legitimate inhabitants and the cities they built there, including Tel Aviv, are absent from maps in the texts used in PA schools. The PA school map, titled “Map of Palestine”, does not show any Jewish city, except the southern city of Eilat, which appears under its Arabic name, a desolate place where it was later built up – “Umm al-Rashrash”. (Social Studies, Grade 6, Part 1 [2020], p. 6)

5. The Jews’ historical and religious ties to Jerusalem are ignored. According to the PA textbooks, Jerusalem was built by the Palestinians’ Arab ancestors (i.e., the
“Arabized” Canaanites and Jebusites) and is holy to Muslims and Christians alone. Jews are not mentioned in this context: “Jerusalem is an Arab city built by our Arab ancestors thousands of years ago. Jerusalem is holy only to Muslims and Christians.” (National and Social Upbringing, Grade 3, Part 1 (2020) p. 29)

6. A short historical description of the city’s names features a huge gap of 1,000 years between the Jebusites and the Romans, that is, the Jewish historical period. The name “Jerusalem” with its various forms that is used in hundreds of languages around the world is completely absent: “The city of Jerusalem was known as ‘Jebus’ after the Arab Jebusites who built it 5,000 years ago. When the Romans occupied it, they named it ‘Aelia’. Later on, it came to be known as ‘AlQuds’ or ‘Bayt al-Maqdis’, after the Muslims had conquered it at the hands of
Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab in 637 CE…”(Geography and Modern and Contemporary History of Palestine, Grade 10, Part 1 (2020) p. 43)

7. The woman commander of an attack on an Israeli civilian bus in 1978, which ended in the murder of over 30 Israeli civilians – men, women and children, transforms into a role-model for Palestinian children in a text introduced in the UNRWA schools in 2017 and republished each year. https://israelbehindthenews.com/2021/11/30/dalal-al-mughrabi-a-murderous-terroristas-a-role-model-in-palestinian-authority-schoolbooks-used-by-unrwa-2/

IV.) US Middle East Policy Recommendations to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and its Middle East Subcommittee

• Cancel the new UNRWA curriculum, which incorporates jihad, martyrdom and “right of return by force of arms” in UN schools that are supposed to promote the UN principle of “Peace Starts Here.”

• Cease paramilitary training for UNRWA students contiguous to UNRWA schools. UNRWA must demonstrate its commitment to UN principles for “peace education.”

• Insist that UNRWA dismiss employees affiliated with terror-affiliated groups, in accordance with laws on the books in Western nations, which prohibit the provision of aid to any agency that employs members of terror groups.

• Demand that UNRWA cancel connections with the informal UNRWA “youth ambassador” Mohammad Assaf who travels the world encouraging violence.

• Ask for a thorough audit of funds that flow to UNRWA via cash and bank transfer. This would address widespread documented reports of wasted resources, duplicity of services and flow of cash, especially the terror groups that have controlled UNRWA operations in Gaza since 2007.

• Introduce UNHCR standards to UNRWA to advance the resettlement of Arab refugees. UNRWA policy is that refugee resettlement would interfere with the “right of return” to Arab villages that existed before 1948. While UN rules will not allow UNHCR to replace UNRWA, nothing stops UNRWA from adopting the constructive working principles of UNHCR.

Note: Mr. Bedein had asked the US State Department if it would demand a change in the PA or curriculum, to advocate a two-state solution. To date, no response to this query.

UNRWA schools in Jenin and in Gaza have become virtual arsenals, leading us to ask the US State Department whether the US will ask for a weapons and ammunition inspection of UNRWA facilities. To date, no response to this query.

V.) Responding to Request for Information on UNRWA to the British Parliament To: A Senior Parliamentary Assistant at The House of Lords SW1A 0PW Parliament

Pleased to respond to your request to raise UNRWA policy issues at the UK Parliament.

Context: The UK is a major donor to UNRWA and can influence UNRWA policy.

https://www.unrwa.org/how-you-can-help/government-partners/funding-trends

The following questions challenged UK lawmakers to ask UNRWA to act in accordance with the values of the United Nations.

1. In 2017, UNRWA introduced a textbook which features a woman named Dalal el Mugrabi – whose terror squad commandeered a civilian bus and murdered more than 30 passengers, including 13 children – as a role model for UNRWA pupils.

In the new UNRWA text, Dalal is portrayed in full terror garb, followed by a lesson plan which presents her life story for adulation and emulation. Why does the UK not ask for the removal of this and other such texts taught at United Nations schools?

https://israelbehindthenews.com/2021/11/30/dalal-al-mughrabi-a-murderous-terroristas-a-role-model-in-palestinian-authority-schoolbooks-used-by-unrwa-2/

2. UNRWA contracts for exclusive use of Palestinian Authority schoolbooks in Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem and Gaza. Like all UN agencies, UNRWA administers its schools under the UN slogan of “Peace Begins Here.” PA education, however, runs schools based on the ideology of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is “the conquest of Palestine by force of arms.” In
another new text, UNRWA pupils are taught to sing a song which encourages children to “exterminate the usurpers” after the Arabs return to control of Palestine Why does the UK not ask UNRWA to instead offer a curriculum based on peace and reconciliation?

Current UNRWA curriculum:

The U.N.’s Child Death Cult Education

https://israelbehindthenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Jews-in-PalestinianAuthority-Schoolbooks-in-UNRWA-Use.pdf
https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/?s=GROISS

3. El Kutla youth clubs in UNRWA schools, affiliated with Hamas, inspire pupils with the mantra of the armed struggle from a young age.
https://israelbehindthenews.com/2022/02/11/new-research-hamas-operation-ofunrwa-youth-clubs-in-unrwa-schools/

Why does the UK not ask UNRWA to demand that youth clubs on UNRWA premises cease and desist from violent incitement?
https://israelbehindthenews.com/2022/03/08/hamas-islamic-bloc-in-unrwa-schools-inthe-gaza-strip-activities-modus-operandi/

4. UNRWA now presents 125 new maps in their schools with Arab names that delete the Jewish names of all Jewish communities. Meanwhile, Israel is wiped off the UNRWA maps. Since Israel is a member state of the United Nations, why does the UK not insist that Israel be included on UNRWA maps?
https://israelbehindthenews.com/2022/09/24/revealing-maps-the-palestinian-vision-astaught-in-unrwa-schools/

5. UNRWA schools in Jenin and in Gaza have become virtual arsenals. Why does the UK not ask for a weapons and ammunition inspection of UNRWA facilities?

6. At this point in time, UNRWA holds out the “right of return” as the only option for the future of 6.7 million descendants of Arab refugees from the 1948 War who dwell as “refugees for perpetuity” in the indignity of 59 “temporary” refugee camps since 1949. However, the UNHCR, which protects the rights of refugees all over the world, has enforced the most important human right for all refugees to be settled in permanent homes, with dignity. Why, then does the UK not endorse a plan for Arab refugees for the voluntary resettlement of UNRWA residents who wish to leave the squalid conditions of UNRWA refugee camps?

7. In light of the continued incitement at UNRWA facilities, the US and UNRWA signed an accord in July 2021 that requires UNRWA to eradicate incitement from its educational system as a condition for receiving funds. When UNRWA refused to make such changes in the UNRWA curriculum, the US placed funds for UNRWA education in escrow. Will the UK also condition funds for UK education until UNRWA makes the relevant changes in its schools?

8. Hamas, defined by the UN as an illegal terrorist group, controls UNRWA facilities in Gaza. Since the UK defines Hamas as a terrorist group, why does the UK not demand the removal of Hamas from UNRWA?

9. Following murders committed by thirteen- and fourteen-year-old children from UNRWA, along with the widespread militarization of Palestinian Arab youth, will the UK seek to stem the violent indoctrination of UNRWA youth, which violates the UN statute on the rights of the child? https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/app/uploads/2023/02/E_039_23.pdf

10. UNRWA schools are often adorned with murals of “martyrs” who died while killing Jews. Will the UK ask UNRWA to remove these murals? https://israelbehindthenews.com/wpcontent/uploads/2021/11/UNWRA-OCT-21-02.jpg

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Conference- Holding UNRWA accountable

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September 7, 2023

Hold UNRWA Accountable ad (13.56 × 15.24 cm)-2 (5) (1)

Saudi Arabia reportedly denies entry visas to two Israeli ministers ahead of UNESCO conference

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September 7, 2023

Mossad chief David Barnea attends a ceremony marking Remembrance Day for Israel's fallen soldiers and victims of terror, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, on May 3, 2022. Photo by Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90 *** Local Caption *** ????? ??????
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Saudi Arabia has reportedly denied entry to two Israeli ministers who were due to take part in a UNESCO conference in Riyadh next week, according to Israeli media.

The Israeli Channel 13 said on Monday evening that Saudi Arabia refused to grant visas to Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Education Minister Yoav Kisch.

The US and Israel have increasingly been pushing for a deal to normalise ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, but this has so far failed to materialise, as Riyadh sticks to its official position that it will only establish official relations with Tel Aviv if a Palestinian state is established.

Channel 13 reported that Israel had engaged in “great efforts” for the two ministers to be invited but Saudi Arabia had “put up obstacles” and did not issue them with visas.

It also said that the Israeli foreign ministry had pulled back from its efforts to get visas for the two ministers, following a US request.

As a result, Israeli professionals will take part in the Riyadh meeting but not Israeli ministers.

According to Channel 13, US officials told their Israeli counterparts that because of “progress in contacts” between Israel and Saudi Arabia, an invitation to Israeli ministers at this stage would put Saudi Arabia “in a complicated situation”.

“This is not the time, it is too early,” a US official reportedly said.

Saudi Arabia recently appointed an envoy to the Palestinian territories, in a move believed to be a preparation for normalisation of relations with Israel.

In 2020, three Arab states – the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco, normalised ties with Israel in a controversial deal known as the Abraham Accords.

Palestinians slammed the deals as a betrayal of their cause, pointing out that they rewarded Israel while it continued to occupy the West Bank, besiege the Gaza Strip, and prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

A Peace Process with the PLO that lasted less than three weeks.

By

David Bedein

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September 6, 2023

Yes, on September 13, 1993, at the White House, Israel signed the “Declaration of Principles” (the DOP) between Israel and the PLO, in the presence of US and Russian officials who also sat at the table on the White House lawn.

The agreement, hammered out in Oslo, stipulated mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO.

It required the PLO to cease and desist from terrorism, and for the PLO to nullify its covenant, which calls for Israel’s destruction.

The Israeli Knesset ratified the Oslo Accord by a vote of 61 to 50, with 9 abstentions, a week later. However, what received hardly any attention was the fact that on October 6, 1993, the PLO Fatah executive would not ratify the Oslo Accord, for lack of a quorum.

Pinchas Inbari, one of the only Israeli correspondentד covering the PLO in Tunis at the time, writing for the Israeli left-wing Hebrew newspaper Al HaMishmar, indeed broke the story of the PLO non-ratification of the “Declaration of Principles”.

The rest of the Israeli media, however, did not report that the PLO never ratified the accord, while the Israeli government acted as if the PLO had done so.

Inbari was scheduled to appear on a popular morning KOL YISRAEL radio show when he got back from Tunis.

However, Prime Minister Rabin personally called Israel state radio to cancel that appearance.

Instead, the Israel government dispatched then deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, Yossi Beilin, to fly to Tunis to thank Arafat for facilitating the ratification of the Oslo Accord, which Arafat and the PLO never ratified.

In the desire to falsely believe and hope that Arafat was genuinely trying to usher in an era of peace, the Israeli government and its compliant media chose to overlook the PLO’s significant failure to ratify the Oslo Accord..

It was a sign of things to come.

Dr. Michael Widlanski, a former New York Times reporter, uncovered the working record of duplicity of Arafat’s PA. Widlanski personally reviewed nearly a half a million documents contained in the computer discs, hard drives and file boxes that were seized by the Israeli government when then Israeli minister of Public security Uzi Landau in 2002 ordered the closure of Orient House, which was the quasi-official seat of the PA in Jerusalem.

As Widlanski, who sent me a number of copies of the documents in Arabic, said “The documents repeatedly showed that Arafat was in day to day control of the details of the Palestinian Authority’s military operations…They showed irrefutably that he controlled Fatah’s tanzeem militia, [and other terror organizations] not that they controlled him.”

The documents showed that Arafat’s proxies, such as Faisal-Al-Husseini, relayed requests for approval of expenditures to Arafat himself. For example, among the captured documents were reports addressed to Faisal-Al-Husseini, from a joint field committee of Palestinian Arab organizations detailing terrorist operations carried out in Jerusalem, along with a budget request to cover operational costs for the coming month.

“After Al-Husseini initiated this document, he wrote a separate letter to Arafat relaying the request and recommending he approve the expenditure,” Widlanski said.

To view the article that Widlanski wrote at the time detailing his “finds” see here.

The documents from the Orient House that were stored in a police warehouse in Beit Shemesh provide insight into the workings of the Palestinian Authority secret police in Jerusalem and the involvement of the PA in all areas of organized crime – drugs, prostitution, arms smuggling, and car thefts.

Two police officials asked me at the time if I could find private funds to translate these documents. However, the police officials later informed me hat a decision was made to not disclose these documents to the public.

I asked the Member of the Knesset (at the time) who was chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, MK Tzachi Hanegbi, as to why the decision was made to not allow for a professional review of the PLO documents seized at the PLO headquarters in Jerusalem, which were then in police custody, HaNegbi said that the answer to that question is “classified”.

Hanegbi today heads the Israel National Security Council (NSC) , which coordinates, designs and plans Israeli national security policy

Meanwhile, a flood at the Israel Police headquarters in Beit Shemesh destroyed the PLO Orient House documents that would have shed light on Arafat’s true intentions.

In its desire to plant the false belied that Arafat was genuinely trying to usher in an era of peace, the Israeli government and media chose to overlook this significant and crucial failure.

Very few people know or remember that Pinchas Inbari, a left wing Israeli journalist indeed broke the story that Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organization DID NOT RATIFY the Oslo Accords after Arafat signed them.

Inbari today is a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

Full disclosure: For more than 30 years, I rely upon the integrity of Inbari at the news and research agency,

After reading Inbari’s headline story at the time in Al Hamishmar I opined that that Arafat may go down in history as the new Woodrow Wilson, after he witnessed his own legislative body reject the peace accord that Arafat had promoted – or at least made a pretense of promoting.

Except that the Israel media shielded anyone from knowing that that the peace process with PLO lasted less than three weeks..

Senator Risch is holding up US funding for UNRWA? Kudos to him!

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September 4, 2023

Can there be a difference between one’s obligations and one’s actions? Well, we all are supposed to be good citizens — but somehow, the jails are full, so the answer to that question is therefore a clear “yes.”

But not to one Khaled Elgindy, a “senior fellow and director of the Program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs at the Middle East Institute.” Writing in The Hill, he lambasts the Biden administration for not releasing an additional $75 million earmarked for UNRWA over an objection by Idaho Senator James Risch. “Risch has said that he will not release the funds until he receives assurances from the Biden administration that UNRWA is not aiding Palestinian militants or promoting antisemitism. However, these and other conditions are already requirements UNRWA must abide by in its framework agreement with the State Department.”

Clearly, Mr. Elgindy implies that the fact that there are “requirements UNRWA must abide by” means that UNRWA abides by those requirements. Yet, if the two are one and the same, it is odd that he does not suggest an easy solution — that the administration issues the desired assurances to Senator Risch, and moves on with the release of funds. Instead, Mr. Elgindy proposes that President Biden should ignore Senator Risch’s hold, and hands over the money anyway: “To be clear, the senator’s ability to put a “hold” on the funds has no legal authority but rather is a courtesy extended by the executive branch to the legislative branch. … the Biden administration could simply ignore the hold if it chose to do so.”

So why won’t the administration do it? And why would Mr. Elgindy suggest violating the balance of power between branches of government, and the accepted protocols, when a simple letter of assurance would produce the exact result he desires?

Perhaps because both the administration, and Mr. Elgindy know full well that such an assurance would be a lie. That UNRWA employs members of Hamas — an organization that is openly dedicated to the destruction of Israel — is not even a secret. “Professor Rashid Khalidi, a noted Hamas apologist at Columbia University, explains that UNRWA employs, ‘members of different political groups such as… Hamas and Islamic Jihad, without reference to their belonging to a specific group’” was on top of my google search for “does UNRWA employ members of Hamas?” Nor are the textbooks used in UNRWA schools free from antisemitism. On the contrary, according to the recent examination of their contents, “UNRWA-produced educational literature ‘contains material that encourages jihad, violence and martyrdom, promotes antisemitism, and promotes hate, intolerance, and lack of neutrality.’”

While he clearly understands what UNRWA is, and whom it supports, Mr. Elgindy pretends that some nefarious politics is at work here; in fact, his screed is titled “Stop playing politics with Palestinian lives” But, it seems to me, it is Mr. Elgindy who tries to play politics with lives — Israeli lives, that is, by demanding release of US funding to UNRWA despite its support for Palestinian terrorism.

It is perhaps not surprising that Mr. Elgindy, a Palestinian apologist, would do so, but it is rather a shock that The Hill would support him in this mission. And it is surprising too that Senator Risch would be the only member of the senate to bring to light the glaring inappropriateness of American support for UNRWA that is a primary source of Palestinian intransigence — and should have been defunded and dismantled years ago.

While it is gratifying that the Biden administration won’t paper over a lie that UNRWA does not support terrorism — or that even Mr. Elgindy won’t demand it, it is sad that the fact that UNRWA is an obstacle to peace is not being broadcast far and wide, but is merely whispered in the corridors of power.

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The corrupt Palestinian Authority must not be a part of any Saudi-Israel deal

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What’s In A Name? – Phantom Nation

Par for the course

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Unrwa Accountability Report fpr Congressman Rep.Mario Diaz-Balart, a senior member of the House Committee on Appropriations, and he is the Chairman of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) Subcommittee,

Conference- Holding UNRWA accountable

Saudi Arabia reportedly denies entry visas to two Israeli ministers ahead of UNESCO conference

A Peace Process with the PLO that lasted less than three weeks.

Senator Risch is holding up US funding for UNRWA? Kudos to him!

Column from the Director