Strategic Minute

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May 18, 2022

A Word First:

We’re starting another publication. We’re not really sure how this will proceed. But our aim is to inform our readers on the strategic repercussions of decisions that have been overlooked or played down by the open media.

Our first edition is about what we believe is the most important development since the end of World War II: the rearming of Germany. As the West crows about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Berlin, with nuclear weapons capability, has implemented a plan worked out with Washington for years, if not decades.

Read on.

German armed forces recruit fewer minors | News | DW | 14.01.2019

German troops prepare for an operation in 2019. [DW]

The Great Diversion

By Steve Rodan

In the movie “Charlie Wilson’s War,” a congressman from Texas who wants to increase funds to the CIA has come under investigation for drugs and other vices. Wilson’s CIA handler, however, doesn’t flinch. He sees this as good news.

“As long as the press expects it to be on the left hand, you can park a battleship carrier group in the right hand and nobody’s going to notice,” the CIA man, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, said.

While the mini-war takes place in Ukraine, the West has overlooked the most dangerous threat in a century. It is something that has European strategists up at night and explains their governments’ lack of enthusiasm to confront Moscow.

For the first time since World War II, Germany has been rearming — with the approval of the United States. The diversion was the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On Feb. 27, only days after Russia began air strikes on Kiev, Germany convened its parliament in a special session on Sunday. Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for a special fund of 100 billion euro, or $112 billion, for military procurement as part of a plan to allocate more than two percent of Germany’s gross domestic product to the military.

“We will have to invest more in the security of our country to protect out freedom and democracy,” Scholz said.

Within half an hour, Germany shed nearly 75 years of pacifism. Scholz had begun the rearming of Germany. From then, things moved quickly. On March 16, Finance Minister Christian Lindner submitted a revised budget for 2022. He also handed parliament a bill that ensured that the defense fund, known as Sondervermögen, would be in the hands of the Cabinet rather than legislators. The legislation would also ensure that defense spending bypasses limits on the national debt.

The government wants parliamentary approval as well as an amendment to the constitution to be completed within a month or two. The entire Defense Ministry and military would require retraining to deal with the rapid arms buildup. By 2025, Germany plans to amass enough weapons and platforms to become one of the most powerful countries in Europe. Only the United States and China would spend more money on defense.

The arms buildup has begun in an ominous veil of secrecy. Scholz never told parliament or any other outsider what Berlin would procure and why. The chancellor, who has warned that Germany was dependent on Russian energy, never specified the military threat to Germany, which before the announcement pledged to spend three percent of GDP on defense.

What is clear is that the war in Ukraine has been used to justify German ambitions to become the leading military power in Europe. The rearmament has begun with the blessings if not encouragement of the United States, which will sell the super-expensive yet dubious F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to Berlin. Washington has long pressed Germany to increase its budget to at least two percent of GDP.

In the meantime, Berlin has emerged as the strongest European defense ally of Washington. Germany, overturning its long opposition to military intervention, has openly sent anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine.

Scholz did not need to employ a hard sell to rearm Germany. Some 69 percent of Germans support the militarization of their country and ending dependence on Washington and NATO. A German military that could push around the rest of Europe could fulfill the dreams of everybody from the kaiser to Hitler — gaining access to energy and grain.

And that’s where Ukraine, the second largest country in Europe, comes in: Germany has never forgotten its dreams of taking over large parts of Poland and Ukraine. Kiev produces three percent of the world’s grain, 16 percent of grain exports. Ukraine is situated along the largest natural gas pipeline route in the world, much of the energy from neighboring Russia. Little wonder that the European Union has been pouring in billions of dollars to maintain the energy flow from this corrupt and destitute nation.

The joker in this high-stakes game is the nuclear option. Will Washington allow Germany to turn into a nuclear power. For nearly 60 years, Berlin, partly through its cooperation with Israel, has accumulated the technology and expertise needed to rapidly assemble atomic bombs. It’s just a question of just turning a lever in one of Germany’s numerous nuclear reactors.

At that point, all that will be missing is the man with the funny mustache.

BREAKING: AL-JAZEERA JOURNALIST Shireen Abu Aleh: Incitement During Funeral March ‘How Good Is It To Murder Jews’/ YouTube

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May 17, 2022

INCITEMENT DURING FUNERAL MARCH OF AL-JAZEERA JOURNALIST
Here are some messages from the funeral march of Shireen Abu Aqla, likely killed by gun fire of an Arab terrorist although IDF is immediately blamed.
Pseudo mourners carry assault weapons.
– there is nothing better than being a shahid (martyr)
– answer me rifle
– terrorist attacks and kidnapping soldiers
– how good it is to murder Jews
– millions of martyrs are marching for al-Aqsa
– revenge, revenge!
– we will reach Tel Aviv and leave her under fire
The teaching of hatred (thanks UNRWA), brain-washing and manipulation of Arab masses has been a success.

The Process: 1,100 Days That Changed the Middle East in retrospect

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May 17, 2022

Following Uri Savir’s death last week, David Bedein writes on his book The Process: 1,100 Days That Changed the Middle East.

Uri Savir

Uri Savir, who died at the age of 69 , was one of the key diplomats who crafted the 1993 Middle East negotiations, which came to be known as the Oslo process, because of secret talks held in the Norwegian capital between the Israeli government and its rival, the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Savir has left a living legacy of the Oslo process in his book

The Oslo process afforded unprecedented recognition, status and arms for Yassir Arafat and the PLO Organization, so as to irrevocably alter the history and direction of the Middle East.

Uri Savir, who served as the director of Israel’s foreign ministry from May 1993 until May 1996, played a crucial role in the Oslo process until Benyamin Netanyahu, the head of Israel’s Likud opposition party, defeated Uri Savir’s boss, Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Israel’s Labor Party leader in a close race for the office of Israeli head of state, after which Savir tendered his resignation from Israel’s foreign service.

Savir declared that he authored this title while the Oslo process was still fresh in his memory, and. presumably, while the diskettes from Savir’s computer were still warm. Since Savir continued to advocate for the Oslo process as the head of the Peres Center for Peace in the Middle East, this book should be read and carefully analyzed by those who pay close attention to the Middle East.

In this book, Savir walked through the sweat of the hours, days and weeks of meticulous negotiations that he led with the PLO, taking the reader from airports to hotel rooms to the hidden places of secret rendezvous from Norwegian woods and Israeli resorts. Savir was a man to chronicle every detail of negotiation, down to the last cigarette butt and empty cup of Turkish coffee left in smoke-filled negotiating rooms.

Savir wrote how he developed a respect for leading members of the PLO, especially for one PLO operative in particular – his negotiating partner, Abu Alla, the head of Arafat’s PLC, the Palestine Legislative Council. In Savir’s view, the Oslo process was a diplomatic initiative that had little or no downside for the state of Israel, let alone for the cause of peace.

What Savir did not offer was any perspective of how these agreements came unravelled so quickly, and while he was still in office.

Savir stated firmly and clearly that his first accomplishment in the negotiations with the PLO was that Jerusalem would be kept out of the Palestine Authority and the PLO. In this book, Savir does confirm, for the first time, that Peres had given official sanction to Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem in a secret document that has never been disclosed. Yet what Savir did not mention is that during August, 1993, that the PLO did exactly the opposite and formally established official institutions of the Palestine Authority and the PLO in Jerusalem, all of which continue to function in Jerusalem, in violation of the accord reached with Peres and Savir.

Savir proudly reported the agreement that he achieved to get the new Palestine Authority to arrest and try any Arab who escapes to the area under their control after committing a terrorist attack, except that he neglected to mention that Arafat and the Palestine Authority have refused to arrest any killers who have found refuge inside the Palestine Authority, with the exception of Imjad HaNawi, one of the two gunmen who machine-gunned to death an American boy, David Boim, at a bus stop north of Jerusalem in May 1996 whom the Palestine Authority only arrested after President Clinton’s personal intervention in February 1998.

Throughout the book, Savir mentioned the underlying assumption that the Palestine Authority will indeed crush the Hamas without providing any mention or analysis of the May 1995 Palestine Authority decision to arm the Hamas or the December 1995 Palestine Authority decision to incorporate the Hamas within the Palestine Authority.

Yet Savir expressed full confidence in Arafat as an advocate of peace.

Surprisingly, nowhere in this book will you find Savir ever mentioning the constant stream of speeches given by Arafat in Arabic since the genesis of the Oslo accords that call for total holy war against the people and state of Israel.

Savir wrote as if Arafat’s speeches against peace never took place did not exist.

In February, 1995, following one of Savir’s briefings at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, I asked Savir for his comment about Arafat’s incitement in Arabic. Savir gave me a blank stare, which perhaps meant that he was not capable of dealing with any fault ascribed to his negotiating partners.

Savir chose to overlook Arafat’s shortcomings because of what he viewed as the greatest accomplishment of the Oslo process – the cancellation of the PLO covenant that calls for continued war against the state and people of Israel.

Savir reports that on April 24, 1996, at “the highest point of the peace process”, Arafat had fulfilled his pledge to convene the Palestine National Council, the PNC, to cancel the PLO covenant. Savir even notes that the Israeli foreign ministry’s special American legal consultant Yoel Singer had confirmed that this was the case.

Yet when Singer read the proofs of this book, he publicly revealed for the first time that the PNC never voted on the carefully worded proposal to cancel the PLO covenant that Singer had negotiated with Arafat’s director of planning, Nabil Sha’at.

Instead, Sha’at informed Singer that the PLO was incapable of passing any such resolution. All the PNC did was to form a committee to consider a new charter.

Singer reported that Savir knew this full well. The question remains: Why in May 1998 did Savir again convey the notion that the PLO had cancelled its covenant when he knew this not to be the case?

Savir could have used this chronicle of the Oslo accords to analyze why all Palestine Authority media, including the news coverage of the official PBC, the Palestine Broadcasting Corporation, reported that the PNC had not cancelled the PLO covenant as requested.

Yet even a more serious question emerges: Did Savir’s warm and intense relationship with Abu Alla and with Arafat distract his judgment from seeing that they acted in a charming and convincing manner with him while carrying out yet another policy with their own people.

Uri Savir negotiated an agreement as a patriot of Israel, and as an advocate of peace. It would seem that he could not bear to see that the people whom he has negotiated with in good faith may have betrayed him.

With his passing, a sequel to Savir’s book should analyse whether the trust and faith that Savir placed in Arafat, Abu Allah and the Palestine Liberation Organization ultimately advanced or hurt the cause of peace in the Middle East.

Israeli cops say they intervened in funeral of Al Jazeera journalist because mob STOLE coffin from her family after Biden slammed ‘disturbing’ scenes of ‘pallbearers’ being attacked

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May 17, 2022

Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, was fatally shot in Jenin on Weds
Funeral procession jostled by Israeli police as the casket nearly toppled over
Israeli authorities refused to let the procession walk to church for the funeral
Police were seen clubbing mourners and pallbearers
The IDF has admitted that it may have been one of its soldiers that shot reporter
Online sleuths debunk Israeli video claiming Abu Akleh ‘likely’ shot by militants
Israeli defense minister conceded that fatal shot could’ve been from ‘our side’
Psaki called images ‘disturbing’ and said day should mark memory of ‘remarkable’ journalist

Israeli cops claim the coffin of an Al-Jazeera journalist shot dead was stolen by a mob from her family, who were then subsequently filmed being attacked by IDF troops.

In a statement the Israeli police explained how the mob also threatened the driver of the Akleh’s hearse before attempting to grab the coffin.

Thousands then led her casket through Jerusalem’s Old City in an outpouring of grief and anger over her killing.

Images of Israeli soldiers attacking pallbearers sparked fury online – including condemnation from Joe Biden – but Israel insists there was more to the story than meets the eye.

‘Plans for the funeral procession of Shireen Abu-Akleh were coordinated in advance by the Israel Police together with the Abu-Akleh family,’ the police explained in a lengthy statement.

‘On Friday, about 300 rioters arrived at Saint Joseph hospital in Jerusalem and prevented the family members from loading the coffin onto the hearse to travel to the cemetery as had been planned and coordinated with the family in advance. Instead, the mob threatened the driver of the hearse and then proceeded to carry the coffin on an unplanned procession to the cemetery by foot.

Israeli police released a statement explaining the scenes at Abu Akleh’s funeral

Israeli police confront with mourners as they carry the casket of slain Al Jazeera veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during her funeral in east Jerusalem, on Friday

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The police explained how the the mob threatened the driver of the Akleh’s hearse before attempting to steal the coffin

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Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American reporter who covered the Mideast conflict for more than 25 years, was shot dead Wednesday during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank town of Jenin

Family and relatives attend the funeral of Al Jaseera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh. She was shot by a live bullet on the morning of Wednesday 11 May. She was covering an Israeli military raid.

Palestinians attend the funeral procession of slain Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh at The Greek Catholic Patriarchate Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday

‘This went against the wishes of the Abu-Akleh family and the security coordinations that had been planned to safeguard the large number of mourners.

‘The Israel Police instructed that the coffin be returned to the hearse, as did the EU ambassador and Shireen Abu-Akleh’s own family, but the mob refused,’ a spokesman explained.

‘Israeli Police intervened to disperse the mob and prevent them from taking the coffin, so that the funeral could proceed as planned in accordance with the wishes of the family.

‘During the riot that was instigated by the mob, glass bottles and other objects were thrown, resulting in the, injury of both mourners and Police officers.

Palestinian mourners carry the casket of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh at her funeral in Jerusalem

Television footage showed pallbearers struggling to stop Abu Akleh’s coffin from falling to the ground as baton-wielding police officers charged towards them, grabbing Palestinian flags from mourners.

Washington said it was ‘deeply troubled’ by the scenes, while the European Union said it was ‘appalled’ by the ‘unnecessary force.’

The Jerusalem Red Crescent said 33 people were injured during the procession, of whom six were hospitalised.

Israeli police said they made six arrests. A government official said mourners had thrown ‘rocks and glass bottles’.

As her body left St Joseph’s hospital in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, Israeli police stormed the crowds who were hoisting Palestinian flags.

The Jewish state forbids public displays of Palestinian flags and routinely intervenes against those who parade them at demonstrations or other gatherings.

Police said they had warned the crowd to stop ‘nationalistic’ songs and were forced to act as ‘violent rioters (were) trying to disrupt the proper course of the funeral.’

But prominent Palestinian figure Hanan Ashrawi said the police charge on pallbearers showed Israel’s ‘inhumanity.’

Violence erupts between Israeli security forces and Palestinian pallbearers carrying the casket of slain Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

Mourners carry the casket of slain Al Jazeera veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during her funeral in Jerusalem’s Old City

Abu Akleh’s brother, Tony, said the scenes ‘prove that Shireen’s reports and honest words … had a powerful impact.’

Al Jazeera correspondent Givara Budeiri said the police crackdown was like killing Abu Akleh again. ‘It seems her voice isn’t silent,’ she said during a report.

East Jerusalem, home to the city´s most important Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites, was captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. It claims all of the city as its eternal capital and has annexed the eastern sector in a move that is not internationally recognized.

The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state. Israel routinely clamps down on any displays of support for Palestinian statehood. The conflicting claims to east Jerusalem often spill over into violence, helping fuel an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza militants last year and more recently sparking weeks of unrest at the city´s most sensitive holy site.

Outside of prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque, Israel rarely allows large Palestinian gatherings in east Jerusalem and routinely clamps down on any displays of support for Palestinian statehood.

Police said the crowd at the hospital was chanting ‘nationalist incitement,’ ignored calls to stop and threw stones at them. ‘The policemen were forced to act,’ police said. They issued a video in which a commander outside the hospital warns the crowd that police will come in if they don´t stop their incitement and ‘nationalist songs.’

Shortly before midnight, the Israeli police issued a second statement claiming that they had coordinated plans with the family for the casket to be placed in a vehicle, but that a ‘mob threatened the driver of the hearse and then proceeded to carry the coffin on an unplanned procession.’ It said police intervened ‘so that the funeral could proceed as planned in accordance with the wishes of the family.’

She 'was the sister of all Palestinians', Shireen Abu Akleh's brother said of the slain journalist

She ‘was the sister of all Palestinians’, Shireen Abu Akleh’s brother said of the slain journalist

Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed on 11 May 2022 by Israeli forces during an Israeli raid in the West Bank town of Jenin

The White House on Friday condemned as ‘deeply disturbing’ video footage from Jerusalem of Israeli police using batons to beat back pallbearers carrying the casket of slain Palestinian-American journalist for Al Jazeera.

She spoke after broadcast images of the attack on mourners carrying the casket of slain Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh through streets, with Israeli police seen ripping away Palestinian flags and beating mourners as they made their way to a Catholic Church in the old city, in defiance of security orders.

‘Well, I would say first that we have all seen those images, they’re obviously deeply disturbing,’ Psaki said when asked about the event, which followed the shooting of the TV journalist, who was a fixture on the network and is a U.S. citizen. The Israel Defense Forces have admitted that the IDF may have shot the reporter during a raid in the West Bank.

‘This is a day where we should all be marking – including everyone there – the memory of a remarkable journalist who lost her life. With the disturbing footage from the funeral procession procession today in Jerusalem. We regret the intrusion into what should have been a peaceful procession. We’ve urged respect for the funeral procession the mourners and the family at this sensitive time,’ she continued.

‘We have all seen those images, they’re obviously deeply disturbing,’ White House press secretary Jen Psaki said after video of Israeli police clubbing mourners of slain Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, 51

She said the administration was ‘in close touch with Israeli and Palestinian authorities’ and would continue those contacts. ‘We’re not currently involved in any of the investigation, but we are working to bridge cooperation and available to provide assistance as needed,’ she said.

Her comment on the images, but not precisely the actions of Israeli security, prompted a question about whether the White House condemned the actions or believed they could be justified.

‘I think when we said they were disturbing we obviously, we’re not justifying them, but I will leave my comments at what I said,’ said Psaki, exercising caution while discussing a key U.S. ally.

Also issuing a public statement Friday was Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

‘The United States again extends our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Shireen Abu Akleh, a renowned Palestinian American journalist,’ he said.

‘We were deeply troubled to see the images of Israeli police intruding into her funeral procession today. Every family deserves to be able to lay their loved ones to rest in a dignified and unimpeded manner. We remain in close contact with our Israeli and Palestinian counterparts and call on all to maintain calm and avoid any actions that could further escalate tensions,’ his statement continued.

She spoke after Baton-wielding Israeli police swarmed the funeral procession of mourners carrying the casket of slain Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh through Jerusalem today.

The Israelis and Palestinians are both investigating, but it was not clear the U.S. would play any role in untangling what happened.

‘We’ve offered our assistance to the Israelis, the Palestinians and are prepared to provide that should they want it,’ Psaki said.

The shocking images broadcast by Al Jazeera show Israeli police beating mourners carrying Palestinian flags, the pall bearers getting jostled and the casket almost falling to the ground.

The incident occurred as the procession attempted to take the coffin of Abu Akleh – who was a Christian – to a nearby church for the funeral.

Al Jazeera report that the Israeli government had forbidden the procession from walking the coffin 45 minutes to the church and had insisted that the body be taken in a hearse.

They had also warned the brother of Abu Akleh to limit the size of the funeral procession and they forbid Palestinian flags from being displayed or slogans being chanted.

The Qatari-owned media outlet even report that Israeli soldiers had been asking people entering the church if they were Muslim or Christian and barring entry to the former.

‘By our blood, and our soul, we will avenge your death,’ protestors chanted at Israeli forces obstructing them from accompanying the coffin to the church.

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Israeli police rushed the funeral procession of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jerusalem

The shocking images broadcast by Al Jazeera show the casket carrying Abu Akleh’s body getting jostled and falling to the ground at one point

Coffin is dropped amid chaos at funeral of Al Jazeera reporter

The scenes come as Israel admits that it may have been one of its soldiers that shot and killed the veteran Palestinian reporter during a West Bank raid on Wednesday.

Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, a well known television personality in the Middle East, was fatally shot in the face while she reported on an IDF raid of a refugee camp in the north West Bank town of Jenin.

Initially both sides had pointed the finger at the other, with Al Jazeera and Qatar – which owns the media outlet – blaming an Israeli sniper for firing at their reporters who were clearly marked as press.

In response, Israel released a short video of a Palestinian gunmen firing down a corridor, saying militants had been firing ‘indiscriminately’ and that Abu Akleh was ‘likely’ killed by one of them.

The video was swiftly debunked by online sleuths including B’Tselem, The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, which showed that Palestinian gunmen seen in the video had no line of sight towards the location where Abu Akleh was killed.

Israeli sources have since started walking back their assertions, with Benny Gantz, the Israeli defence minister, conceding that she could have been shot by fire from ‘our side’.

A soldier with a rifle and a very good aiming system was shooting toward a terrorist with an M16, in very good condition, very clear picture, that was shooting on our troops,’ an IDF official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Washington Post.

‘What we are checking now is the location of Shireen.’

Investigators have confiscated rifles from the IDF soldiers involved in the raid for ballistic testing.

Israel has called for a joint investigation into Abu Akleh’s death with the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank and cooperates with it on security.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas angrily rejected the proposal, saying ‘we hold the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for killing her,’ even as thousands gathered to mourn the slain Al Jazeera journalist in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah yesterday.

‘They cannot hide the truth with this crime,’ Abbas said in an address as her body lay in state with a Palestinian flag draped over it in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority is headquartered.

‘They are the ones who committed the crime, and because we do not trust them, we will immediately go to the International Criminal Court,’ Abbas said.

The ICC launched an investigation into possible Israeli war crimes over a year ago. Israel has rejected that probe as being biased against it.

Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior aide to Abbas, said that the Palestinians would conduct their own independent probe and convey the results ‘with high transparency.’

He rejected an Israeli request to conduct its own ballistic analysis on the bullet.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused the Palestinians of denying Israel ‘access to the basic findings required to get to the truth.’

Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had claimed it was ‘likely’ Abu Akleh was shot by Palestinian militants. He accused the Palestinians of denying Israel ‘access to the basic findings required to get to the truth’ over an investigation

He called on the Palestinian Authority to not take ‘any steps to disrupt the investigation or to contaminate the investigation process.’

Hagai El-Ad, executive director of B’Tselem denounced Israel’s announcement of an investigation.

‘The announcement of an investigation is one of Israel’s tried and unfortunately successful tricks in the blanket impunity Israel provides itself,’ he said.

‘Israel does not investigate. Israel whitewashes, and the announcement of the investigation is just the first stage in this whitewash,’ he added.

‘The investigations are not meant to establish accountability. They are meant to protect the perpetrators.’

Abu Akleh was killed while covering an Israeli military raid in Jenin, which has emerged as a militant bastion in recent weeks as Palestinians have carried out a series of deadly attacks and Israel has launched military raids across the occupied West Bank.

Her death was met with an outpouring of grief across the Arab world. The 51-year-old was well-known as a veteran on-air correspondent for Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language channel.

Her reporting shed light on the harsh realities of Israeli military rule, which is well into its sixth decade with no end in sight. She was also a U.S. citizen.

Her body was to be brought to Jerusalem, where she was born, for burial on Friday.

The killing sparked international condemnation and widespread calls for accountability.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Gutteres called for an ‘an independent and transparent investigation’ to ensure those responsible are held to account.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Wednesday promised such an inquiry, saying he was in touch with U.S. and Palestinian officials and hoped for cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians.

‘We are trying to figure out exactly what happened,’ he said. ‘I don’t have final conclusions.’

Asked about the investigation and Israel’s offer for the Palestinians to participate, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that U.S. officials ‘stand ready to assist either party in any way that we can.’

‘Neither side has asked for our assistance at this time and such a request would be required in order for us to do so,’ she said.

Abu Akleh’s death could draw new scrutiny of Israel’s military justice system, which is being examined as part of the ICC probe. It also threatened to further strain often rocky relations between the army and the international media.

Rights groups say Israel rarely follows through on investigations of deadly encounters with Palestinians, and that when it does, it often hands down lenient punishments.

Her death comes amid a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence that has been fuelled by tensions at a key Jerusalem holy site.

At least 18 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks in recent weeks, as well as more than 30 Palestinians, most of them involved in attacks or clashes with Israeli forces. Among the slain Palestinians were an unarmed woman and at least two apparent passersby, fuelling criticism that Israel often uses excessive force.

Share or comment on this article: Israeli cops say they intervened in funeral of Al Jazeera journalist because mob STOLE coffin

JNS Caroline Glick interview the Israel Nobel Prize Winner Yisrael Aumann

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May 16, 2022

JNS Caroline Glick interview the Israel Nobel Prize Winner Yisrael Aumann
Copyright JNS

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“Pikuach Nefesh Alert”: A Strategic Approach

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David Bedein

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May 14, 2022

The Lubavitche Rebbe once commented that concessions to the Palestinian Authority, which works under the aegis of the Palestine Liberation Organization, represent a matter of Pikuach Nefesh- a threat to human life.

Security of land of Israel

The time has come to launch a strategic Pikuach Nefesh campaign, to challenge six life-threatening policies to Israel.

None of these challenges are insurmountable.

The goal: Organize citizens of conscience around the world to challenge policies which pose a threat to Jewish lives in Israel.

1. Pay for Slay

The PA has enacted an unprecedented statute which provides a salary for life to anyone who murders a Jew, and a salary for life to the family of anyone killed in the act of murdering a Jew. The PA adopted this policy of honoring those who murder Jews in the early stages of the Oslo Process, in October 1993.

In August 2015, the PA formalized the ordinance to automatically bestow a monetary gift on any Arab who murders a Jews, and a monetary gift for the family of any Arab killed in the act of murder or attempted murder of a Jew.

While the law of Pay For Slay has been widely condemned, it remains on the books and is applied every day, with the PA paying $1.1 billion to terrorists and their families. Source of the funds: Worldwide humanitarian donations.

The time has come to organize families of loved ones who have been murdered and whose assailants are now honored- to appeal to the conscience of every nation to demand a repeal of the “Pay for Slay” as a condition for any aid to the PA.

Such legislation, which generously rewards the spilling of Jewish blood, is documented at:

Incentivizing Terrorism: Palestinian Authority Allocations to Terrorists and their Families

2. Indoctrination to war, as featured on PBC TV, radio and social media

Since the onset of the Oslo Process,in 1993. the Palestine Broadcasting Corporation (PBC), which operates on frequencies owned by Israel, features content that incites Arabs to wage war on the Jews. To save lives, we must put pressure on the government of Israel to pull the plug on the PBC. https://israelbehindthenews.com/?s=pbc

3. PA schools

The Oslo process was supposed to yield the first independent Palestinian Arab curriculum, one that would promote peace and reconciliation. Instead, our review of more than 1000 PA textbooks handed over to UNRWA shows that the new PA curriculum indoctrinates a new generation toward total war on Jews, while delegitimating and demonizing the very presence of Jews in the land of Israel.

It has now an imperative to organize people of conscience to educate policy-makers and the public about the murderous messages conveyed by PA schools.

https://israelbehindthenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Jews-in-Palestinian-Authority-Schoolbooks-in-UNRWA-Use.pdf

4. Palestine Security Forces

One of the core principles of the peace process, as envisioned in the 1979 Camp David accords and signed by Israel, the US and the PLO, was that the new Palestinian Arab entity would have a “strong police force” to protect it from terrorists.

https://reliefweb.int/report/israel/camp-david-accords-framework-peace-middle-east

However, that PA police force, known as the PSF, the Palestinian Security Force, trained by Israel and the US, has incorporated Arab terrorist organizations that remain in a state of total war with Israel. It is vital to recruit intelligence experts to brief policy-makers and the general public about the lethal dangers that lurk in the PSF.

The Dangers of US Aid to Palestinian Security Forces

5. UNRWA

UNRWA, overseeing the well-being of 6.7 million descendants of Arab refugees from the 1948 war, operates under the the funding and logistical support of the UN, donor nations and the State of Israel, located in 59 Arab refugee camps until a “just solution” is found to relieve their plight.

However, UNRWA camps are now infested with terror groups who operate under the premise of “The Right of Return by Force of Arms”, without any plan to replace Arab refugee camps with communities that would live in peace with Israel.

The UN Secretary General staff has met six times with the Bedein Center staff and has stressed that the only power to change UNRWA policy rests with the donor nations. https://www.unrwa.org/sites/default/files/top_20_donors_2021_overall_ranking.pdf

The time has come to organize a task force that would expose UNRWA incitement to genocide, while promoting a humanitarian solution to resettle the Arab refugees under conditions of dignity.

Six Policy Challenges, to Guide UNRWA Policy Reform

6. COGAT: Israel Civil Administration

COGAT- the Israel civil administration, mandated to promote Israel’s interests in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, allows Palestinian Arabs affiliated with terror groups to build anywhere, regardless of the law. COGAT facilitates Pay for Slay, PBC, PA schools, & UNRWA.

Moreover, COGAT allows Arab terrorist organizations to thrive, while subjugating Jewish life in Judea and Samaria.The time has come to organize a task force to challenge COGAT policies.

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What are Harvard students taught about Israel?

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May 13, 2022

Much has written about the recent endorsement of BDS by the editors of The Harvard Crimson, the Harvard student newspaper. But how do you suppose Harvard students got that way? Could it have anything to do with the professors who are teaching them about Israel?

Let’s consider Derek J. Penslar, who is Harvard’s William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History. His areas of specialty are the history of Zionism and Israel, as well as related topics in modern Jewish history.

Penslar, who happens to be Jewish, has been very successful in his academic career. He has had a string of prestigious named professorships—first at Indiana University, and then at the University of Toronto, before moving up to Harvard. He has published books with prominent academic presses, and articles in well-known scholarly journals. He serves on the editorial boards of several Israel-related academic journals. He is frequently interviewed by the news media and invited to lecture at various Jewish institutions.

All these impressive credentials give us a sense of Prof. Penslar’s prominence in his field. But what exactly does he think about Israel? What does he teach his students? What message does he convey when he speaks to the Jewish community?

— “Israel is guilty of ethnic cleansing.”

In an interview with London’s Jewish Chronicle on March 14, 2013, Penslar said: “What happened to the Palestinians [in 1948] wasn’t genocide. It was ethnic cleansing.”

That’s a lie. Israel didn’t commit genocide, and it didn’t commit ethnic cleansing. There was no mass murder of the Arabs. There was no mass expulsion of the Arabs. There were a few isolated instances—as there are in every war—in which a small number of individuals were compelled to move a few miles down the road. That’s not even close to “ethnic cleansing.”

There is no internationally accepted legal definition of ethnic cleansing, so I’ll use the one posted on the website of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: “The forced removal of an ethnic group from a territory…The practice of ethnic cleansing may constitute genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes.” Israel didn’t do any of those things. Not in 1948. Not in 1967. Not ever.

— “Israel is partly to blame for the Arab-Israeli wars.”

Penslar wrote last year that “Israel bears its share of responsibility for the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem in 1948 and for subsequent Arab-Israeli wars.” Nonsense. Israel is not to blame for the refugee problem; the Arab regimes that invaded Israel in 1948 are to blame. Israel is not to blame for the Arab wars against it; the Arabs who launched those wars are to blame. Israel’s pre-emptive strikes against Arab regimes that were preparing to invade it were not acts aggression; they were self-defense.

— “Israel perpetuates oppression, resistance, and hatred.”

Penslar wrote last year: “Israel and the Palestinian territories are a welter of ill-fitting political elements – statehood and occupation, autonomy and settlement enclaves – that perpetuate oppression, resistance, and hatred.”

I know it’s annoying when academics write like this, using convoluted language that has to be deciphered like some code. Still, it’s obvious that when Penslar is talking here about “oppression,” he’s not saying the Palestinians oppress Israel, he’s saying that Israel oppresses them. When Penslar refers to “resistance,” he’s referring to Palestinian terrorism against Israel; why he labels it “resistance,” which implies that it’s justified, is a question worth asking. (I’ll set aside his reference to “hatred,” since in theory it could be interpreted either way.)

— “Most PLO terrorism after 1967 was the work of splinter groups.”

In a book review in The Forward on October 8, 1999, Penslar said the author of the book was “on firm factual ground when he argues that post-1967 Palestinian terrorism was waged primarily by splinter groups that were not part of the PLO mainstream…”

Could Penslar really be so ignorant as to believe such a blatantly untrue statement? Does he really not know now many post-1967 terrorist attacks were openly claimed by the “mainstream” PLO, under Yasser Arafat’s leadership? Does he really still believe the pathetic fiction that “Black September” was not part of the PLO mainstream, even though its leaders all long ago admitted to it being a PLO front?

Ironically, not too long after Penslar’s apologetics for the “PLO mainstream,” the PLO mainstream—that is, its largest component, Fatah—launched a wave of suicide bombings against Israel, including the notorious Passover Seder massacre in Netanya. I find no evidence that Penslar ever publicly acknowledged his error or apologized.

So why do many Harvard students see Israel as a perpetrator of ethnic cleansing and an aggressor against the Arabs? Why do many Harvard students see Palestinian massacres of Israelis as “resistance” instead of terrorism? Why do many Harvard students excuse mainstream Palestinian Arab terrorism by pretending that the mainstream PLO leadership is not to blame?

I’m not saying that Prof. Penslar is single-handedly responsible for the spread of anti-Israel attitudes on campus, or the mindset that led to the Harvard Crimson newspaper endorsing BDS in late April. But it would be absurd to pretend that there is no connection between what Harvard professors teach and what Harvard students believe.

Academic freedom ensures the right of professors to teach whatever they want, including lies about Israel engaging in “ethnic cleansing.” But parents have a right to know what their kids are being taught, so they can decide if that’s the kind of professor who they want teaching their kids about Israel.

[Moshe Phillips is a commentator on Jewish affairs. He was a U.S. delegate to the 38th World Zionist Congress in 2020. The views expressed are his own.]

END

Sour notes and tone deaf

By

Michael Kuttner

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May 13, 2022

This has been a bumper week during which rhetoric and incitement combined to produce toxic results and tone deaf responses.

It highlighted yet again the unlimited capacity for many to display their total detachment from reality and the willingness of far too many to embrace the heights of hypocrisy.

If any trusting soul still believes that peace can be made with those who promote, facilitate, fund and sponsor terror against Israelis, they must be suffering from a severe case of delusional dementia. Unfortunately, this sickness is far too prevalent among a diminishing but still substantial swathe of individuals and supportive groups.

On the eve of Ramadan when anyone with even a smattering of common sense knew that violence and terror was looming our esteemed President (a former leader of the Labour Party), rang the PA President for life and chief inciter, expressing his hopes for “peace” and “stability.” I have no way of knowing what the reaction in Ramallah to this futile gesture was, but one can guarantee that it caused bemused wonderment. Without skipping a beat and right on cue the incitement from the PA and Hamas in Gaza launched into high gear and the inevitable murderous mayhem followed.

The siren songs of hate reached a crescendo as those brainwashed by the daily barrage of hate, planned and executed their dastardly deeds. Their desire to become martyrs was fueled not only by their family’s adorations and their leaders’ exhortations but also by the knowledge that a lifelong stipend would be forthcoming. This scandalous situation, sustained by the continuing flow of international aid, is still possible because neither the international community nor our own tone deaf leaders have the guts to put a stop to it. When the US Ambassador to Israel paid a shiva call to the family of one of the victims of terror the widow tackled him on this very subject. Instead of condemnation of the “pay for slay” policy he avoided the question and murmured that he was just paying a condolence visit.

This same diplomat, who refuses to set foot over a mythical green line, wished Israelis a “happy Independence Day.” Presumably, this greeting excludes all those Jews who have returned to an unrecognized Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Golan. The hypocrisy deepens further when he and his masters in Washington express horror at the murderous killing spree and then, almost in the same breath, condemn the building of homes for Jews in these very places. President Biden is rumoured to be planning a visit in June and the State Department in its usual display of “friendship” has already pressured the Government to cease building.

Some sensitive souls believe that we should cave in to this hypocrisy in order not to inject a sour note and potentially jeopardize the intended media spectacle. It has already been mooted that if Biden does come then he will have to make a pilgrimage to Ramallah and we all know the garbage that will flow from that meeting. There are rumours that the State Dept wants Biden to visit “East” Jerusalem without any Israeli officials. This would reinforce the lie that Israel has no sovereignty in its Capital. It would therefore be best for everyone concerned if our politicians would grow a backbone and tell him not to come. Perhaps some brave official should send him and his team examples of the poison being pumped out from the “peace partners” every day of the week. In order to help them here are just a few select samples, courtesy of Honest Reporting and PMW:

https://palwatch.org/page/31339

https://palwatch.org/page/31269

When, for gullible international consumption, Abbas issues a pareve “condemnation” his duplicitous hypocrisy is exposed by reality on the ground. The tragedy is that far too many are duped and remain blithely oblivious.

How many people noticed this PA declaration? “East Jerusalem, with its Islamic and Christian holy sites is the eternal capital of the state of Palestine as per UN Resolution 2334.” Note that there is no mention of any Jewish holy sites (which would include the Kotel) in this falsification of historical facts and thus you should get an inkling of what would happen if the PA and Jordan ever controlled the city. We can also once again thank New Zealand for sponsoring this despicable UN resolution. Anyone who naively peddles the myth that the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a guarantor of any sort of religious freedom for non-Muslims, particularly Jews, is suffering from a terminal case of tone-deafness. Abbas and Abdullah have already met in Amman to discuss “ways to defend Jerusalem.”

Can their agenda be any clearer? One wouldn’t think so but despite these unambiguous messages there are still some who want to appoint the monarch of the Palestinian Arab majority country of Jordan as a “guardian” of religious freedom.

We all know that most of the mainstream media has a problem with the fact that Israel exists and fights back against terror. Hardly a week passes when there is not some sort of tendentious report which manages to throw mud all over the country’s good deeds and highlights its sins and crimes.

True to form and moreover exquisitely timed for Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror) a report appeared on the NZ Herald website about Jerusalem. Sourced from the irretrievably biased NY Times it predictably distorted a story about the intention to construct a system of gondolas which would take visitors from downtown Jerusalem to the Kotel area. As per the usual technique the misleading headline read “HOLY CITY OR THEME PARK? Israel plans ZIP line for ancient Jerusalem.” Anyone who bothered to read further would have read – “A Jewish settler group is promoting projects that opponents say will change the delicate historic religious and political balance in highly symbolic areas around Jerusalem’s Old City.”

In the space of one paragraph all the bogus and false assertions were trotted out. The devilish illegal settlers, the fact that Israel has no right to do anything in its Capital because it will upset somebody or something and “nudge, nudge, wink, wink” those Jews are once again doing something criminal. In case the message didn’t get through to an ignorant readership the headline accusing Israel of turning the “holy city” into a theme park would have conveyed the intended slanderous slur.

The truth of course is somewhat different but then why should facts interfere with a preconceived agenda of delegitimization?

In order to ease traffic congestion the proposal is to enable tourists and locals to access the Old City via a system of gondolas. One can protest perhaps on environmental grounds as some have because they think that the pylons and wires will detract from the views and this is perfectly acceptable in a democracy where permits have to be issued by various authorities and all objections must be heard and adjudicated on. The term “zip line” implies some sort of Disney attraction and the inclusion of the word “settlers” is intended to convey negative vibes.

By some strange twist of irony a news item carried by the same NZ Herald website a few days later reported that a proposal to build a gondola system across the harbour in Auckland to ease traffic congestion was being considered. Unsurprisingly nobody has commented that this will turn downtown Auckland into a Disney theme park or that it will somehow alter the historic political balance in New Zealand’s largest city.

I wonder why?

Those of us combating media bias know the answer of course but in most cases readers of these alleged pieces of information do not.

That is how lies and disinformation proliferate.

It has without a doubt been a vintage week for sour notes and tone-deaf responses.

EMET’s Statement on White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s Antisemitism and Israelophobia

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May 12, 2022

EMET would like to express our deep dismay, disgust and despair that the Biden administration has recently appointed Karine Jean-Pierre to a critically important position: White House Press Secretary. This position’s responsibilities include communicating the White House’s policy as well as hosting daily briefings with the White House Press Corps.

Unfortunately, Ms. Jean-Pierre has a long history of deeply antisemitic and Israelophobic views. In a 2019 Newsweek article, she encouraged Democrats not to attend the AIPAC policy conference, calling the bipartisan organization “racist” and “Islamophobic.” AIPAC has always taken great pains to be bipartisan, yet, in the article, she wrote that: “You cannot call yourself a progressive and associate yourself with an organization like AIPAC, that has often been the antithesis of progressivism.”

Ms. Jean-Pierre also condemned AIPAC for inviting then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the policy conference. It is standard operating procedure for the pro-Israel lobbying organization to invite the current Prime Minister. She also threw in, that “under his leadership, according to the United Nations, Israel may have committed war crimes in attacks against Gazan protesters,” demonstrating her total bias in favor of the Palestinians.

This ignorant statement also demonstrates a complete failure to understand the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as an inability to distinguish between those who send missiles, bombs, knives and kites or balloons with incendiary devices attached to them across the border, and those who are trying to defend their civilian population. In other words, between the arsonist and the firefighter.

Ms. Jean-Pierre wrote that piece while she was acting spokesperson and senior advisor for Moveon.org. where she worked from April 2016 to August of 2020. Moveon.org is an extremely radical, far-left organization that has long supported the BDS movement and defended such antisemites as Linda Sarsour who made the outrageous comment that “Israel was built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else.”

Moveon.org has also supported Rashida Tlaib, (D-Mich.), who spoke of Jews with “money” as a shadowy force, controlling the political process “from behind the curtain,” using classic antisemitic tropes. They also supported Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who has made such odious remarks as “Israel has hypnotized the world,” and “It’s all about the Benjamins.”

Said Sarah Stern, EMET Founder and President, “It is absolutely nauseating that the administration would bend so far to the highly progressive, radical wing of the Democratic party and appoint a spokesperson for the White House who has such clearly antisemitic and Israelophobic views, particularly while antisemitism is on the rise in the United States. This clearly demonstrates how the Biden administration is willing to turn a blind eye toward antisemitism and anti-Israel biases. To sweep under the rug, overlook and ignore Ms. Jean-Pierre’s antisemitism in the appointment of such a critically important position as White House Press Secretary is enabling it to continue.”

About The Endowment for Middle East Truth
Founded in 2005, EMET’s mission is to educate policymakers in Washington and the general public about the importance of Israel to the United States in their common struggle against radical Islam. For more information, please visitwww.emetonline.org. Follow EMET on Twitter and Facebook.

Israel Holds LARGEST Military Drill in Decades As Hezbollah & Hamas Threats Grow | Watchman Newscast

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May 12, 2022

Israel Defense Forces have dubbed it “Chariots of Fire”. On today’s Watchman Newscast, host Erick Stakelbeck breaks down one of the largest and most extensive drills conducted by Israel since its establishment. Amid a string of deadly terrorist attacks in Israel, thousands of IDF soldiers and reservists will take part in a month long training exercise designed to simulate a multifront and multidimensional war against enemies in the air, at sea, on land and on the cyber front. We join the IDF for an inside look on today’s Watchman Newscast!

Israel Behind the News

Strategic Minute

A Word First:

The Great Diversion

BREAKING: AL-JAZEERA JOURNALIST Shireen Abu Aleh: Incitement During Funeral March ‘How Good Is It To Murder Jews’/ YouTube

The Process: 1,100 Days That Changed the Middle East in retrospect

Israeli cops say they intervened in funeral of Al Jazeera journalist because mob STOLE coffin from her family after Biden slammed ‘disturbing’ scenes of ‘pallbearers’ being attacked

JNS Caroline Glick interview the Israel Nobel Prize Winner Yisrael Aumann

“Pikuach Nefesh Alert”: A Strategic Approach

What are Harvard students taught about Israel?

Sour notes and tone deaf

EMET’s Statement on White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s Antisemitism and Israelophobia

Israel Holds LARGEST Military Drill in Decades As Hezbollah & Hamas Threats Grow | Watchman Newscast

Column from the Director