Elder of Ziyon 09/11 Links Pt2: Netanyahu on 9/11: We shall always stand with the United States; Ayaan Hirsi Ali: On September 11, here's what Islamists and 'Wokeists' have in common
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commemorated Friday those killed during the September 11 attacks on the United States.
In a statement on Twitter, Netanyahu wrote that "Today we remember all those who perished in the greatest terrorist crime in history, committed on September 11, 2001."
He added that "We shall always stand with the United States and free people everywhere in fighting the evil of terrorism."
Alternate Prime Minister and current Defense Minister Benny Gantz also noted the solemness of the day, saying on Twitter Friday "Thinking about our friends in the US today, who are marking 19 years since the unthinkable attack that robbed 3000 innocent people of their lives and changed the world forever. Let the strength and faith of the American people remind us that love will always prevail over hate."
Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi likewise released a statement, saying on Twitter "Today I, and all the people of Israel, join with our brothers and sisters in the #US to remember and mourn the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks carried out 19 years ago."
"The victims of 9/11 meant the world for their families and their beloved ones. I know that nothing can heal the wound or ease the pain. Our heart goes out to the families. Forever we will stand by our friend the #US," the statement concluded.
Some 2,996 people were killed in terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon and on Flight 93 in Pennsylvania, which crashed after being thwarted by passengers on the plane.
Approximately 25,000 people were injured as a result of the attacks, while many more first responders also lost their lives in the years following due to the health effects involved in rescuing trapped survivors.
By most accounts, Danny Lewin was the first victim of 9/11. Seated in seat 9B aboard American Airlines flight 11, he saw Mohamed Atta and Abdulaziz al-Omari, sitting just in front of him, rise and make their way to the cockpit. According to calls from flight attendants to air traffic officials, later documented in the 9/11 Commission's report, Lewin wasted no time in acting. Having served as an officer in Sayeret Matkal, the Israel Defense Forces' top unit, he moved to tackle the terrorists. The man in 10B, Satam al-Suqami, moved, too, producing a knife and slitting Lewin's throat. Less than 30 minutes later, at 8:46 a.m., the plane crashed into the World Trade Center's North Tower.
Elsewhere, in America and all over the world, people desperate for accurate information turned to the Internet for news. Straining under the overwhelming demand of tens of millions of simultaneous requests, the web's biggest news sites threatened to collapse. Very few did, thanks in large part to the technology that Lewin himself had developed years earlier: Although only 31 at the time of his murder, he was the co-founder of Akamai, a pioneering technology company whose content routing solutions enable the seamless flow of nearly 20 percent of the web's traffic.
As a terrific new biography of Lewin—No Better Time, by Molly Knight Raskin, released this week—demonstrates, the tenacity that the young entrepreneur displayed in his last moments was the same intense force that propelled him to tech titanhood. Born in Denver, he moved to Israel with his parents at 14 and quickly found high school insufficiently stimulating. Frequently keeping just one step ahead of the truancy officer, he skipped classes to work out at a local gym, eventually winning the title of Mr. Teenage Israel in a coveted bodybuilding competition. When the time came to join the army, Lewin had no doubts about where he belonged—it had to be the best.
The Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor was a wakeup call. It led to a high-intensity armed conflict that, within a few years, defeated the fascists of Europe and Asia. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington were a wakeup call. They led to a low-intensity armed conflict that, 19 years later, remains inconclusive.
So it should be instructive to hear what President Trump and Vice President Biden say about this week's 9/11 anniversary. My best guess: Both will eulogize the victims, but say little about the policies and strategies necessary to prevent those who call themselves jihadists from achieving their goals over the years ahead.
Americans today face a complex threat matrix. We are menaced by China's ambitious and ruthless rulers; by a virus those rulers somehow let loose on the world; by a revanchist Russia; by a North Korean dictatorship that our diplomats failed to prevent from acquiring nuclear weapons; and by an Iranian regime vowing "Death to America!" Domestically, we are a deeply divided nation. Dazzled by this chaos, you could be forgiven for thinking jihadists are no longer a serious concern. But you'd be wrong.
My colleague, terrorism analyst Thomas Joscelyn, pointed out in congressional testimony in June: "The jihadists today are waging insurgencies across Africa, hotspots in the Middle East, and into South Asia."
Al-Qaida "has spread from South Asia into multiple other countries." Its official branches: "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, and al-Shabaab in Somalia."
The Islamic State, aka ISIS, "is waging an insurgency across parts of Iraq and Syria. It also has noteworthy 'provinces' in Khorasan (Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of the surrounding countries), the Sinai, Southeast Asia, Somalia, West Africa, and Yemen. ISIS has terrorist networks in other areas."
These groups have not launched a catastrophic terrorist attack in the West in recent years but that's not because they wouldn't like to. It's in large measure because the US and some allies have taken the fight to them.
The two ideologies have distinctive rituals: Islamists shout "Allahu Akbar" and "Death to America"; the Woke chant "Black lives matter" and "I can't breathe." Islamists pray to Mecca; the Woke take the knee. Both like burning the American flag.
Both believe that those who refuse conversion may be harassed, or worse. Both take offence at every opportunity and seek not just apologies but concessions. Islamism inveighs against "blasphemy"; Wokeism wants to outlaw "hate speech." Islamists use the word "Islamophobia" to silence critics; the Woke do the same with "racism."
Islamists despise Jews; the Woke say they just hate Israel, but the anti-Semitism is pervasive. The two share a fondness for iconoclasm: statues, beware.
Both ideologies aim to tear down the existing system and replace it with utopias that always turn out to be hellish anarchies: Islamic State in Raqqa, the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle. Both are collectivist: Group identity trumps the individual. Both tolerate — and often glorify — violence carried out by zealots.
This September 11, then, let's dismiss the fairy stories about the enemies of a free society. Their grievances aren't merely economic and they won't be satisfied with jobs or entitlements. Their motivations are ideological and they will be satisfied only with power.
I cling to the hope that most Americans are still willing as a nation to fight and, if necessary, to die to preserve our freedoms, our rights, our customs, our history.
That was the spirit of Flight 93. It was the spirit that ultimately defeated al-Qa'ida and Islamic State. But it is not the spirit of today's "woke" protesters. And it is time that we all woke up to that reality.
For Israel, after 2 peace treaties in 72 years, 2 in a month
Bahrain is establishing full diplomatic relations with Israel, US President Donald Trump announced Friday, making it the second Gulf country to do so in less than a month.
A joint statement released by the White House said Bahrain's King Hamad bin Salman al-Khalifa spoke earlier in the day with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "and agreed to the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain."
"Another HISTORIC breakthrough today! Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain agree to a Peace Deal – the second Arab country to make peace with Israel in 30 days!" Trump tweeted.
Israel and the UAE announced they were normalizing relations on August 13, and a signing ceremony for their accord is being held at the White House on September 15. Bahrain will now join that ceremony, with its foreign minister Abdullatif Al Zayani and Netanyahu signing "a historic Declaration of Peace," the joint statement said.
Netanyahu hailed the agreement as part of a "new era of peace" and predicted more accords would follow.
The Bahraini king's senior adviser Khalid al-Khalifa said in a statement that the normalization deal "sends a positive and encouraging message to the people of Israel, that a just and comprehensive peace with the Palestinian people is the best path and the true interest for their future and the future of the peoples of the region."
Since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, Bahrain's rulers have blamed Iran for arming militants on the island. Iran denies the accusations, though weapons experts suggest explosives found there bear similarities to others linked to Iran. Israel and Iran view each other as top regional enemies.
Outside of those tensions, Bahrain's Shiite majority has accused the government of treating them like second-class citizens. The Shiites joined pro-democracy activists in demanding more political freedoms in 2011, as Arab Spring protests swept across the wider Middle East. Saudi and Emirati troops ultimately helped violently put down the demonstrations.
In recent years, Bahrain has cracked down on all dissent, imprisoned activists and hampered independent reporting on the island. While the Obama administration halted the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Bahrain over human rights concerns, the Trump administration dropped that after coming into office.
Bahrain's royal family and officials have come out in support of the Israel-UAE agreement. However, civil society groups and others have condemned the move and warned the monarchy not to follow in UAE's footsteps — despite Bahrain's yearslong flirtation with Israel and Jewish leaders. Unlike the Emirates, Jews had a historical presence on the island and some still live there.
A member of the Bahraini royal family visits the country's small Hanukah celebration every year, and the regime makes a point of treating the tiny Jewish community well.
In 2017, two prominent US rabbis said Bahrain's king told them he hoped the Arab boycott of Israel would end. An interfaith group from Bahrain that year also visited Israel, though the state-run Bahrain News Agency later said that it didn't "represent any official entity" after an uproar erupted on social media.
Bahrain has increasingly relied on support from other nations as it struggles with its debts, particularly neighboring Saudi Arabia. In that way, Bahrain has followed in lockstep with Riyadh, meaning any normalization with Israel likely got the kingdom's approval, though, Saudi Arabia has for its part remained silent since the Emirati announcement.
The Palestinian Authority and the Hamas terror group both condemned Friday's Israeli-Bahraini normalization deal as another "stab in the back" by an Arab state and act of "aggression" against their people.
The agreement was "a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people," like the UAE-Israel deal announced last month, Ahmad Majdalani, social affairs minister in the West Bank-based PA, told AFP.
"This is another stab in the back of the Palestinian cause, the Palestinian people and their rights," echoed Wasel Abu Yousef, a senior member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. "It is a betrayal of Jerusalem and the Palestinians… We see absolutely no justification for this free normalization with Israel."
PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki recalled the Palestinian ambassador to Bahrain "for consultations on the necessary steps" in response to the normalization agreement, according to the Palestinian Authority's official Wafa news agency.
Wafa also carried a statement in the name of the "Palestinian leadership" strongly denouncing the deal.
"This step is a token of support for legitimizing the ugly crimes of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people," the statement said.
The statement said the move "blows up" the Arab Peace Initiative, a Saudi-backed proposal adopted by the Arab League in 2002. The proposal calls for full diplomatic ties between Israel and the entire Arab and Muslim world in exchange for a "full Israeli withdrawal from all the Arab territories occupied since June 1967," the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and a "just" and "agreed upon" solution to the Palestinian refugee question.
Detroit police chief James Craig slammed far-left congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) and other Democratic lawmakers, accusing them of making false claims against his police department.
Tlaib, who represents Michigan's 13th Congressional District, coauthored a letter with three other Democratic legislators on Tuesday asking for an independent investigation into the Detroit police department's use of force on demonstrators this summer. The letter claimed that police actions to quell protests demonstrated "a dismissive attitude of the movement for racial justice."
But Craig said the claims made in the letter are not factually correct, and he blasted the legislators for ignoring protesters' violence aimed at police.
"It's unfortunate that these representatives have chosen to repeat a number of false claims in their letter without verifying the facts," Craig said in a statement. "What really disturbs me is that when the protesters assaulted Detroit police officers with rocks, railroad spikes, and fireworks, never once did these representatives ask for an independent investigation into their violent criminal activity."
Craig told MLive that his department has only deployed forceful tactics, such as using tear gas or physically restraining protesters, in violent situations.
"Every time we've had to use less-than-lethal force, it's been to address violence by protesters, resisting arrest, or when they've tried to take over an intersection in violation of the law," he said.
It's interesting that for the purposes of this feature Justin Amash (Palestinian/Syrian Christian family) is white and Rashida Tlaib (Palestinian Muslim family) is a person of color. https://t.co/axYuRJrjd4
A coalition of 80 Jewish groups sent a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, on Sept.10 urging him to veto AB 331, a bill that would mandate ethnic studies as a requirement to graduate high school.
The letter, which was spearheaded by the AMCHA Initiative, argued that the most recent draft of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) from the State Board of Education's Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) suggests that the curriculum will focus on Critical Ethnic Studies. The letter describes Critical Ethnic Studies as "firmly rooted in Marxist ideologies that divide society into oppressed and oppressor groups based primarily on race and class, and, as part of its disciplinary mission, uses the classroom to indoctrinate students into narrow political beliefs and political activism."
Additionally, the latest ESMC draft has "an anti-Jewish bias," the letter stated, pointing to how the draft offers school districts the opportunity to teach a class on Irish and Jewish Americans where students have to write a paper about how Jews and the Irish have obtained "racial privilege" in the United States.
"At a time when anti-Jewish sentiment, hostility and violence has reached truly alarming levels, indoctrinating students to view Jews as 'white' and 'racially privileged' is tantamount to putting an even larger target on the back of every Jewish student," the letter said.
The letter goes on to say that Critical Ethnic Studies has an anti-Israel bias, pointing to its promotion of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.
"Several empirical studies have shown strong correlations between faculty who use their classrooms to express support and advocate for anti-Zionist causes, including BDS, and anti-Semitic incidents that target Jewish students for harm, including physical and verbal assault, vandalism, bullying and harassment," the letter stated. "That is why last summer more than 18,000 members of the Jewish and pro-Israel community submitted public comments decrying the overt anti-Israel bias and explicit promotion of BDS in the first draft of the ESMC. Many also noted that a majority of the ethnic studies experts hired or appointed by the California Department of Education to develop the first draft curriculum had publicly expressed support for BDS or other anti-Zionist sentiments."
The communications director of the US office of the UN Relief and Works Agency's (UNRWA) is scheduled to address a conference next week hosted by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).
Laila Mokhiber is scheduled to be part of a panel event at the conference in Washington, DC.
Organizers say it is an "in-depth course on legislative advocacy" in training activists to lobby Congress on BDS and other anti-Israel issues.
AMP is an anti-Israel group that supports the BDS movement and was founded by Hatem Bazian, who also co-founded Students for Justice in Palestine.
Mokhiber did not respond to a request for comment from The Washington Free Beacon, which first reported her upcoming appearance, regarding her ties to AMP and the anti-Israel BDS movement.
UNRWA, founded in 1949, provides various kinds of aid and assistance to Palestinian refugees and generations of their descendants, in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, as well as in Judea and Samaria.
.@PeterBeinart hosts a discussion on antisemitism. It's one hour about the IHRA definition of AS and how it's used as a trick to silence people.
That's it.
Here we have profound ignorance or an intentional disregard of history; Id be happy to go through the history with them. pic.twitter.com/zqQEsic2Al
As the UK faces a possible second Covid spike - children face further education disruption - and workers face job losses - you may be interested to know that our largest unions - like the National Education Union @neunion - think what matters is spreading lies about Israel. pic.twitter.com/CvBTHKdFs1
Facts about Leila Khaled: 1. She had more plastic surgeries than Carrot Top. 2. Still an active PFLP member (designated terror org) 3. She would have a lot of frequent flyer miles but she keeps blowing them. pic.twitter.com/7bCLBanDc3
The confiscation of books and the upcoming case against author and comedian Aron Flam has ignited a debate in Sweden about the value of freedom of speech. As Flam has pointed out, a Swedish writer who happens to be Jewish having his books, critical of Swedish-Nazi collaboration during the war, seized by the Swedish state is a bit ironic.
Uppsala, once a picturesque and peaceful university town, is now the town in Sweden with the most shootings per capita. "The gangs have been allowed to grow" Manne Gerell, a criminologist at Malmö University told SVT Nyheter in December 2019, adding that the police had "woken up" a little too late.
Perhaps it is time for Sweden's government to spend fewer resources on prosecuting the speech crimes of pensioners and comedians, and more on fighting violent crime.
CAMERA UK submitted a complaint to the BBC on those issues. Three weeks later we received the following reply:
"Thank you for writing and we are sorry to hear you have concerns about this report on Today on August 14th. Yolande Knell was analysing the agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalise relations and was asked whether the move was widely welcomed.
She said the Palestinians had rejected it, saying it was a free reward for Israel, and went on to explain in general how "previous peace plans" contained the implicit promise that peace deals with other Arab countries would follow on from peace with the Palestinians on the terms of a two-state solution and "that's something that came out of the Saudi-led Arab Peace Initiative as well."
You are of course right to say that the Oslo Accords do not specifically call for a Palestinian state – rather they promise to fulfil "the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination" – and while we agree that we could have clarified the specific point you raise, the peace process that built on this agreement does specifically seek an independent Palestinian state, including in 2016, UNSC resolution 2334."
Coincidentally or not, that highlighted portrayal of the Oslo Accords is remarkably similar to the one found in the opening lines of the Wikipedia entry on the topic.
In other words, unlike other media outlets (see below), the BBC is clearly not interested in relieving its audiences of the repeatedly promoted misconception that the Oslo Accords stipulated a 'two-state solution' to the conflict. Likewise, it is obviously quite content to leave standing Yolande Knell's entirely inaccurate claim that the Oslo Accords conditioned diplomatic ties with Arab states on "peace with the Palestinians".
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has been urged by 100 prominent Orthodox Jewish rabbis across the U.S. to cut ties between the company's AmazonSmile charitable initiative and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in a letter obtained exclusively by Fox News.
AmazonSmile, launched in 2013, allows customers to select a charity to which Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible items. The company uses the SPLC to separate legitimate charities from so-called "hate groups" ineligible to receive donations.
The Sept. 1 letter from The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV) describes the SPLC's "hate map" feature as "uniquely detrimental and even dangerous to the Jewish community."
The letter charges that the SPLC "frequently vilifies group based upon nothing more than their advocacy for biblically-based beliefs about sexuality and family ethics that were uncontroversial a generation or two ago." It adds that the SPLC map omits groups "which ally with international terror organizations, openly glorify murder under the guise of 'resistance,' and frequently descend into clearly anti-Semitic expression."
"According to the SPLC, Christians can only incite hate, and Muslims can only be its victims," the letter states. "Yet more Jews have been murdered in the past 50 years due to radical Islamic terror organizations than all those groups that the SPLC does mention — combined. This level of dishonesty directly endangers the Jewish community."
The fact that 'anti-maskers' would be more likely to accept an antisemitic conspiracy theory certainly seems intuitive, in that opposition to wearing masks is typically motivated by conspiratorial thinking. However, the correlation between anti-maskers and antisemitic conspiracy theories turns out to quite murky in light of a more general poll of French citizens conducted in 2018.
That survey, by the Ifop polling company, showed that 53% of all French people believe Zionism is a Jewish conspiracy designed to manipulate Western societies to benefit world Jewry – a number that's statistically in line with that of the anti-maskers.
The fact that a majority of French people embrace an antisemitic conspiracy theory – as well as the fact that Jews, who represent less than 1% of the population, are victims of more than 50% of all French hate crimes – suggests that polls showing most French citizens have positive feelings towards Jews are misleading.
As we saw in the Labour antisemitism scandal, and the existential fears it elicited in British Jews, warm feelings towards Jews in the abstract isn't nearly as important as attitudes towards the values and defining characteristics of most actual Jews.
As Zionism for the overwhelming majority of Jews is intrinsically wedded to their Jewish identity, and the statistical correlation between hostility to Zionism and hostility to Jews is strong, the moral and political difference between the statements "Jews are our misfortune" and "Zionism is our misfortune" is essentially meaningless.
Germany's interior minister affirmed on Thursday that the fight against antisemitism remained a central concern of the country's current Presidency of the EU Council, telling a government conference in Berlin that animosity toward Jews was a continent-wide problem.
"Antisemitism does not stop at national borders and is a challenge for all of Europe," Interior Minister Horst Seehofer declared in an address to the conference, titled, "Together Against Antisemitism in Europe — Structures and Strategies for a Holistic Fight."
"Together we resolutely oppose antisemitic crimes such as denial of the Holocaust as well as agitation and hate speech," Seehoffer said.
German government and EU officials attending the conference discussed the continuing spread of antisemitic conspiracy theories concerning the coronavirus pandemic, as well as improving methods for monitoring and recording antisemitic hate crimes.
Also speaking at the conference was Margaritis Schinas — the EU commissioner whose responsibilities include combating antisemitism.
"We are intensifying our efforts to ensure the security of Jewish communities in response to the increasing antisemitic conspiracy theories to counteract online, and to invest in education, awareness raising and research," Schinas stated. "The struggle for the normality of Jewish life requires concerted efforts on the part of all member states. It is a litmus test for Europe when it comes to upholding our values and diversity."
A yearlong battle between a doctor and a New York hospital trying to fire him over anti-Semitic and anti-gay posts will be back in court next week.
New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital has tried to dismiss Walid Khass from his position as a pediatric resident since 2019, the Forward reported Thursday. In recent years, Khass has written on separate posts on social media "Go beat up a Zionist," "You trust the Jews — I never did" and "I hope only Israelis get ebola." He also wrote that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi's mother was Jewish, meaning that she belongs to a "higher group run the corrupt world."
Khass was admitted to the hospital's residency program, but then was informed he had been found unsuitable. He sued the hospital to be readmitted to the program and won.
The hospital, which treats many Jewish patients, appealed the decision and is due to argue its case at a Sept. 17 hearing in Brooklyn state Supreme Court, according to the Forward. It says Khass cannot remain because some of his posts condoned or encouraged violence.
"These posts would cause serious and extreme hardship on the Program because it would interfere with the Program's ability to serve a patient population consisting of a large number of Orthodox Jews," one filing said.
Disgraced former YouTuber and "comedian" Owen Benjamin made up a pandemic song with the lyrics "Corona was a stupid thing, invented by Masons & Jews. I bet they are all gay... I'm diagnosed with coronu [sic]. Because I always believe the Jews."https://t.co/OS8oPj0Lcwpic.twitter.com/94sej5sqQw
Yad Vashem in Jerusalem on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indiana-based University of Notre Dame and its global network to increase and encourage advanced Holocaust education and research across the world.
The agreement was signed on Wednesday by Yad Vashem Director-General Dorit Novak and University of Notre Dame Vice President and Associate Provost for Internationalization Michael Pippenger.
"Yad Vashem is pleased to sign the agreement with the University of Notre Dame," said Novak. "Yad Vashem is committed to ensuring that the history of the Holocaust continues to be relevant to us today and for future generations, and not just yet another chapter in human history. Our efforts aim to equip students and teachers alike with the necessary tools and materials to address the topic of the Holocaust and engage young scholars in the need for further research into the multifaceted nature of the Holocaust. Yad Vashem hopes that this agreement will open more opportunities to be active on many more universities and college campuses across the United States and the rest of the world."
The memorandum of understanding will create a basis for ongoing cooperation between these two internationally renowned institutions. Yad Vashem's International Institute for Holocaust Research and International School for Holocaust Studies will work together with members of the faculty, staff and students at the university.
With a heavy heart, director Avi Nesher announced Friday that due to the upcoming lockdown approved by the coronavirus cabinet, he had no choice but to temporarily halt production on his latest movie, Portrait of Victory, which had been shooting the Negev for several weeks.
The film's producers released a statement saying that they had made this decision "with no choice and great sorrow."
Nesher said, "After all the careful preparations of the wonderful actors and creators who worked with us for many months on the cinematic texture of the film, it is of course a severe disappointment, but these are difficult times for all of us and we must abide by regulations designed to end the damn plague We will return to filming soon when this storm passes."
Portrait of Victory, Nesher's 21st film as director, is a fact-based epic set during the War of Independence and tells the story of Mira Ben-Ari, a fiercely independent young wireless operator, and Lt. Avraham Schwarzstein who emerged from the smoky ruins of Kibbutz Nitzanim in June 1948 to face Egyptian officers backed by tanks and cannons, and a young Egyptian journalist and photographer who had come from Cairo to document the Israeli surrender. The story is told both from the points of views of the Israelis and the Egyptians. The film stars Joy Rieger, who appeared in Nesher's previous two films, The Other Story and Past Life, as Mira.
A feature film about the life of Nicholas Winton, who saved 669 children from the Nazis, is in production with Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins in the lead role.
"One Life" has Hopkins playing an older Winton, Deadline Hollywood reported. British actor Johnny Flynn portrays the young Winton. Winton, who is nicknamed "the British Schindler," died in 2015 at the age of 106.
The baptized son of Jewish parents, Winton was a 29-year-old stockbroker when he arrived in Prague in December 1938. He was planning to go on a skiing holiday in Switzerland, but changed his plans when he heard about the refugee crisis in Czechoslovakia, which had just been occupied by the Nazis. In the following nine months, he organized eight trains that carried children, the vast majority of them Jewish, from Czechoslovakia to safety in Britain.
Winton's heroism was unremarked until the 1980s, when his wife found evidence of the rescues. The discovery led to a surprise reunion with some of the children and a documentary. Winton received many honors in his later years, including a knighthood.
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Countercurrents has an opinion piece by Jafar Ramini, a Palestinian who lives in London:
I believe that for us Arabs to survive and progress we must have in common more than religion, language and rhetoric. We need unity, transparency and honesty.
We Palestinians are teetering on the edge of a precipice. Until very recently, every Arab leader, politician, cleric and pundit, given half a chance, would mount the platform and raise the Palestinian flag promising to do what is necessary to liberate the land and restore what is rightfully ours. Not any more.
The language has changed totally from support of the Palestinian cause to condemnation of us Palestinians, accusing us of being ungrateful architects of our own demise. The schism between some Arab regimes, especially in the Gulf and the Palestinians has been widening ever since the two Mohammads – Bin Zayid in the UAE and Bin Salman in Saudi Arabia took control.
...This schism became even more apparent during yet another meeting, this time in Cairo two days ago. The Foreign Ministers of the Arab League opposed a proposal put forward by the Palestinian side to condemn the UAE/Israel peace treaty. So, where is the unity? Where is the transparency? Where is the honesty.?
There is none.
You might think that this recent betrayal and open rejection should serve to bring the Palestinian leaders of all persuasions to a realisation that Palestine is not the core subject of most of the Arab regimes.
It sounds like Mr. Ramini might be close to getting it. But, no, the antisemitism that he grew up with is more powerful than actual self-assessment.
I don't know what to say to those Arab leaders to convince them that any form of treaty with the Israelis is a folly. Israel is in it for whatever it can distort or squeeze from any Arab country for the betterment and expansion of Israel. ....
Do those Arab leaders think for one moment that when Israel establishes a firm foothold in their countries it will play fair?
This cartoon in Felesteen captures the current Palestinian mindset.
They are so certain that Israelis and Jews are the worst people on the planet that they are sitting back to wait for Israel to somehow destroy the Gulf. Because that's what Jews do.
And in the meanwhile, instead of thinking that maybe the Arab world that has supported them so much for so long might have some insights, they are convinced that they are right and they will happily ally with Iran to maintain their conceit.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
The Gulf state of Bahrain is to normalize relations with Israel, the diplomatic correspondent for Israel's public broadcaster Kan said on Friday, without citing sources.
Another Israeli reporter, Raphael Ahren of The Times of Israel, said US President Donald Trump would on Friday announce that Bahrain was joining its neighbour the United Arab Emirates in formally establishing ties with Israel.
The White House had no immediate comment. Trump will on Tuesday host a White House ceremony solemnizing the Israel-UAE deal, which was announced on Aug. 13.
The Kan reporter, Amichai Stein, said in a tweet that Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa would be in Washington on Monday.
Neither Bahrain's government communications center nor Bahrain's embassy in Washington immediately responded to a request for comment.
Last week, Bahrain said it would allow flights between Israel and the UAE to use its airspace. This followed a Saudi decision to allow an Israeli commercial airliner to fly over it on the way to the UAE.
Bahrain, a small island state, is a close ally of Saudi Arabia and the site of the US Navy's regional headquarters. Riyadh in 2011 sent troops to Bahrain to help quell an uprising and, alongside Kuwait and the UAE, in 2018 offered Bahrain a $10 billion economic bailout.
Israel Advocacy Movement: The EU's divides the Middle East while USA brings peace
The US-brokered peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which is scheduled to be finalized next week at the White House, strikes a major blow to the twin forces of Islamic imperialism and terror in the Middle East: the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood and the Shiite regime in Iran. The tripartite alliance between the US, Israel, and the UAE openly supported by Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco, gives an institutional structure to a pro-American regional bloc of moderate, anti-jihadist governments all with proven track records of action against the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran and their surrogates.
Based as it is on shared interests, the Israel-UAE alliance is likely to persevere in the years to come. But America's continued participation in the alliance is significantly tied to the outcome of the presidential elections.
In 2014, the UAE published a list of 82 designated terrorist groups. Nestled between al-Qaida and ISIS was the Council on American Islamic Relations, or CAIR, a group with deep ties to the Democratic Party.
The UAE designation was not a slander. As former US prosecutor Andrew McCarthy chronicled in his 2010 book, The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America, CAIR was founded in 1994 as a front organization for the Muslim Brotherhood and its Palestinian branch Hamas. In conjunction with other Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood front groups and fundraising arms, CAIR's job was to promote political Islam. Its operations, based in Washington, were to focus on political influence. To achieve this end, it presented itself as a civil rights organization.
As McCarthy and terror experts Daniel Pipes and Steve Emerson have copiously documented, CAIR's ties to terrorism are legion and continuous. After 9/11, CAIR refused to condemn Osama bin Laden until after he acknowledged that he ordered the attacks. CAIR denied that al-Qaida was behind the bombing of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and demanded the removal of billboards in Los Angeles describing bin Laden as "the sworn enemy," of the US claiming the depiction was "offensive to Muslims."
Likewise, CAIR consistently refuses to condemn any terror attacks committed by Hezbollah or Hamas. Making this refusal explicit, in 2004, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad said, "If they want us to condemn a liberation movement inside Palestine or inside Lebanon they should condemn Israel dozens of times on all levels at all times, and we will not condemn any organization."
Former Prisoner of Zion Natan Sharansky and history Prof. Gil Troy are admittedly "a very unlikely duo," said Troy on a recent Behind the Headlines video interview with The Times of Israel. But ideologically, he said, the pair of optimistic Zionists are on the same page. On over 450 pages, actually, the length of their newly published book, "Never Alone: Prison, Politics, and My People."
"Never Alone" is what Troy tongue-in-cheekily calls a "memoirfesto." It is part Sharansky memoir — recounting the three main periods of his life: prison, politics, and as head of the Jewish Agency — and part manifesto. Through the framework of Sharansky's nine years in Soviet prisons, nine years in the Knesset, and nine years in the Jewish Agency, it's also a rallying cry to every Jew to get personally involved in the Jewish story and push for unity.
"Never Alone" is a book of gratitude and great expectations. But it's also an inside look at top Israeli, US and Russian leaders that portrays them as the flawed individuals they are. Readers gain not only Sharansky's gulag anecdotes and behind-the-scenes insight into the Knesset, but also reap US historian and author Troy's rich knowledge of the historical and personal context of the presidents who aided and abetted Sharansky in finding freedom for himself, and Israel.
It is the story of an immigrant who faced sabra disdain and changed a system, but also warns against rising anti-Semitism and broken communications among the Jewish peoples, especially on campuses. And finally, it's a story of an undying love of democracy and an optimism that peace will prevail.
The Times of Israel spoke with Troy and Sharansky as part of the ongoing Behind the Headlines series. The interview was streamed exclusively for The Times of Israel Community earlier this week. (To join the ToI Community and to catch future video interviews as they happen, please click here.)
Both authors are based in Jerusalem and while Sharansky is enjoying his so-called retirement (by speaking internationally and writing prolifically), Troy, who was formerly based at McGill University in Canada, is still teaching at a variety of institutions in Jerusalem and elsewhere.
Many Gulf citizens described the Palestinian leaders as "merchants of the Palestinian issue" and accused them of financial corruption and embezzlement of public funds.
"The enemy of the Palestinian cause is not Israel, but the [Palestinian] comrades, the disgraceful merchants of Palestine, who don't want the Palestinian issue to be resolved. Before you [Palestinian leaders] criticize others, you need to take a look at yourselves and your miserable situation and the condition of your people, whom you have destroyed." — Shuja Al-Hothli, Saudi journalist and author, Twitter, September 7, 2020.
Palestinian leaders have accumulated huge personal fortunes, possibly in part thanks to donations from Western taxpayers and their unenquiring governments.
Some Gulf Arabs interpreted Hamed's remarks as incitement to carry out terrorist attacks against the Gulf states. "The funny thing is that Mueen Hamed called for armed actions against the Gulf, not Israel." — Saudi social media user who calls himself inthe_shade911, Twitter, September 6, 2020.
By alienating the Gulf Arabs, the Palestinian leaders are further ravaging their own people, especially those who live and work in these countries. Abbas has already wrecked the Palestinians' relations with Israel and the US. By offending the Gulf states and depicting their residents as backward illiterates, Abbas and the leaders of the Palestinian factions are convincing yet more Arabs to stay as far away from Palestinians as they can.
Last Friday, the phone rang in former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's office. It was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was calling his old friend to tell him one thing: Thank you. Blair, as Israel Hayom is the first to reveal, played a key role in the historic breakthrough between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
Relations between Israel and the Gulf Emirates began to thaw back in 2015, from nothing. In 2010, the Dubai police exposed the targeted execution, supposedly by Mossad agents, of arch-terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. The Emiratis were outraged. They ceased to trust the few Israelis with whom they had secretly maintained ties. Cooperation was frozen. The Emirati police, via Interpol, issued an arrest warrant for 33 Mossad personnel whom they suspected of carrying out the mission.
The affairs caused waves in the Mossad. Its tactics had been exposed, its people were grounded and at risk of arrest. No less serious – Israel had lost a vital relationship with an Arab nation. Not only were defense ties severed, so were the quiet business dealings that had been going on for years.
Change became possible when Netanyahu addressed the US Congress in March 2015 and spoke against the Iran nuclear deal. Like other Gulf states, the Emiratis felt bet rayed by then-US President Barack Obama. The stance Netanyahu took, against the deal and against Iran, as well as against the US administration, impressed Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed Bin Zayed. Since taking over in 2005, Bin Zayed has spearheaded a process of modernization, increased openness to the world, and tolerance in the UAE. He has labeled Iran, as well as radical Sunni Islam, dangerous.
'A life of their own'
It was Blair who identified an opportunity to build cooperation with Israel based on this shared outlook. When he stepped down as British prime minister in 2007, he said it was his life's dream to bring peace to the Middle East. He was appointed envoy to the Middle East Quartet (representing the US, Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union), but it 2015 resigned, having reached a clear conclusion.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden railed against US President Donald Trump's record in the Middle East during a Thursday campaign event, but acknowledged that the administration's brokering of a normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates was a positive development.
"I think Trump is going to accidentally do something positive here, in terms of this issue of… other Arab states" acknowledging Israel, Biden said during a virtual fundraiser organized by the liberal, pro-Israel lobby J Street. The Times of Israel received a recording from the private event.
Biden said conditioning the normalization agreement on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vow to shelve plans to annex parts of the West Bank was "not a bad thing either."
"Even our brethren in the Arab world… have come to realize that it is in their interest that there be a two-state solution [and] that Israel is able to live in peace and be recognized," he added.
Biden said he was glad annexation was off the table for now, but acknowledged that Netanyahu could move forward with the plan in the future.
"I don't know how much is off the table in terms of Bibi's notions. But he knows and the Israelis know my position," Biden said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.
He highlighted his longstanding relationship with Netanyahu, but did not shy away from sharply criticizing the premier.
At the same time, Biden said responsibility for the conflict's stalemate lies with the Palestinians as well.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday spoke with Oman's leader, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, about ways to enhance regional security and strengthen economic ties between the two countries, the White House said in a statement.
Trump thanked the Omani leader for his statements of support following a US-brokered agreement by the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize relations, the White House said.
"President Trump highlighted the importance of the United States-brokered Abraham Accords announced on August 13th and thanked the Sultan for Oman's comments in support of the Israel-United Arab Emirates deal," the statement said.
Oman has been mentioned by Israeli officials as another country that could follow the UAE lead in normalizing ties with Israel, but there was no mention of that in the White House statement.
White House adviser Jared Kushner last week said he hoped another Arab country would normalize ties with Israel within months.
Israel's neighbors Egypt and Jordan reached peace deals with it decades ago, but other Arab states have long held the position that Israel must agree to give more land to the Palestinians for a state before ties can be normalized.
Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Jerusalem's Deputy Mayor, is looking forward to her first trip to Dubai. The British-educated leader is planning to make the most of the business opportunities that will come with the historic Abraham Accord, marking an era of more open relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
As co-founder of the UAE Israel Business Council, she has plans to boost tourism between the two nations, bring UAE funding into key projects in East Jerusalem and even lead a women's delegation to promote female business relations in both countries.
"It feels like our countries are dating," Hassan-Nahoum says. "We both see each other as exotic birds. There's such excitement in the air, both sides are thirsty for peace. I really hope other nations will follow with this accord, from Morocco to Oman.
"It's a very good shidduch, because the UAE have the largest sovereign wealth fund and know that in the next 20 to 30 years oil is over. They're looking for new horizons for investment and we Israelis are generators of game-changing solutions that could lead us into a brand new era.
"There are Emiratis who want to pray at Muslim sites in Jerusalem and there are tonnes of Israelis who want to go on holiday to Dubai.
"No one expects this to happen next month, but you have to start laying down the infrastructure. We could start tour guides and who knows, there could be a kosher hotel in Dubai in Pesach."
Israel's biggest hospital expects to see an influx of medical tourists from the United Arab Emirates, following a deal with a large Emirati investment fund.
Seizing on opportunities opened up by the new Israel-UAE normalization agreement, Sheba Medical Center has just signed a memorandum of understanding with Abu Dhabi-based APEX National Investment. There will be a special ceremony in Abu Dhabi later this month which will be attended by the UAE's minister of health and members of the royal family.
The signing is a "great indicator of the potential of the Abraham Accords," said Avi Berkowitz, White House Special Representative for International Negotiations, referring to the Israel-UAE treaty.
US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said: "It is fitting that the first significant partnership between Israel and the UAE is in health care. The Abraham Accords are already making the Middle East safer and more prosperous."
Yoel Hareven, director of Sheba's international division, told The Times of Israel that the agreement with APEX has provisions for the establishment of significant medical tourism from the UAE to his hospital, which is expected to begin in earnest when travel restrictions enacted for the pandemic are relaxed.
Group 42, an Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence and cloud computing company, will open a wholly-owned subsidiary in Israel.
The new office will allow it to access technologies and talents available in Israel and assist Israeli companies to expand their operations in the Middle East region, state news agency Wam reported on Thursday.
"The establishment of the new Israeli office will strengthen Group 42's presence in the region and give us access to one of the most vibrant and mature tech ecosystems in the world," Peng Xiao, the company's chief executive, said.
"It also reaffirms our ideals of openness and inclusiveness as we engage with international partners to harness best ideas and capabilities and solve problems in every sector for the benefit of society," he added.
Group 42 will use its new office to focus on areas including healthcare, Covid-19 diagnostic solutions, artificial intelligence, smart cities, renewable energies, agri-tech and water supply solutions.
The UAE and Israel agreed to normalise relations last month. Businesses in both countries have since announced partnerships in different sectors. This is the first time a UAE company establishes an office in Israel.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the UAE's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, is leading a high-ranking delegation to Washington for the signing ceremony of the UAE-Israeli accord on September 15.
In the past couple of months, Group 42 has partnered with various Israeli companies to conduct research.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has broken new ground in the region with the introduction of a Moral Education curriculum designed to teach morality to enable students to navigate the modern world successfully. Remarkably, it is the first curriculum in the region to separate moral education from religious education.
The finding came in an initial report by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), a research and policy institute that analyzes schoolbooks and curricula within the prism of UNESCO-defined standards on peace and tolerance.
Well-versed in the content of school textbooks throughout the region, IMPACT-se found that the Moral Education curriculum was unique in the region for its willingness to embrace an outward-looking, inclusive worldview.
"The fact that this Moral Education curriculum is independent of religious education makes it unique to the Arab world, IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff said, adding: "It is a highly visible result of Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan's stated aim to take back control of the education ministry from the Islamists who originally wrote the country's textbooks. The material we have reviewed so far is a roadmap for young Emiratis towards moderation, respect for the 'Other', peace-making and tolerance."
In the weeks since U.S., Emirati, and Israeli leaders announced a historic normalization agreement on August 13, Qatari media has leveled major criticism of the deal. Yet the motivations for this criticism seem to reflect direct competition between Qatar and the UAE as much as genuine critique.
The direct competition between the UAE and Qatar, combined with the broader boycott of Qatar by the Arab Quartet—the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Bahrain— helps contextualize vocal, conflicting media responses to the deal, as Qatari, Saudi, and Emirati media have some of the broadest reach and largest influence regionally.
In Qatar, both semi-official and government-backed media have come out strongly against the deal, emphasizing Palestinian outrage and criticizing the UAE directly for the diplomatic move. Pro-Qatari government Al-Sharq newspaper mischaracterized the accord with a headline quoting Turkish President Erdogan, "History won't forgive the UAE for signing a deal with Israel." The same newspaper also ran the headline, "MbS is ready to establish open relations… The mediator is the Jew Haim Saban."
State-owned Qatar TV claimed that Israel had deceived the UAE and is not planning to stop annexation, featuring images of Israeli police forces stopping Palestinian protesters from burning the Emirati flag and images of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed (MbZ) inside Al-Aqsa mosque to claim that Israelis are protecting Emiratis from Palestinian outrage. Additionally, the Al-Jazeera channel aired tens of political shows in which interviewees from different Arab nationalities condemned the deal aggressively. Most of the coverage was directed specifically against the persona of the Emirati leadership, and the wording of these programs sought to delegitimize them.
In contrast, Arab Quartet media has pushed hard in the opposite direction as Emirati, Saudi, and Bahraini channels—with the notable exception of those channels affiliated with Bahrain's Shia opposition—have defended the normalization deal. The fourth member of the Quartet—Egypt—has been notably quiet.
Why the U.N. targets Israel - Hillel Neuer on Sky News
While visiting Melbourne in February 2020, ?UN Watch's Hillel Neuer was interviewed by Sky News Australia's Andrew Bolt, on U.N. hypocrisy and anti-Israeli bigotry. The Bolt Report.
Erdogan's Turkey about to take over as President of the U.N. General Assembly https://t.co/F7Nn65qWE8
Seriously @haaretzcom? For all of Israel's issues, comparing us to Hezbollah-run Lebanon? You guys really have no shame in publishing anything, as long as it's hostile to Israel. pic.twitter.com/GiRKDa7n4m
It's been an honour and privilege to serve as Australian Ambassador to Israel since June 2017. Thank you to all those who have contributed in so many ways to our growing bilateral relationship. 🇦🇺🙏🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/D5jAG5NSUK
Israeli aircraft launched a number of missiles at targets near the Syrian city of Aleppo in the early hours of Friday morning, Syrian state media said.
Syrian news outlets reported the strikes hit unspecified targets in the town of al-Safirah, southeast of Aleppo, an area that once contained a Syrian regime missiles production facility.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Israel Defense Forces did not comment on the reported strikes, in accordance with its long-standing policy to neither confirm nor deny its activities in Syria.
Aleppo is a major city in northern Syria, near its border with Turkey, and is an uncommon — but not unprecedented — site for reported Israeli airstrikes.
It was not immediately clear what was hit in the reported airstrike.
Syrian state news agency SANA cited a military source as saying that Syrian air defenses downed most of the Israeli missiles before they hit their targets. Syrian war analysts generally dismiss the military's regular claims of interceptions as false, empty boasts.
A series of massive explosions that rocked Jordan's second largest city early on Friday was caused by mortar shells stored at an army munitions depot warping in an intense heat wave, the army said.
The government had earlier blamed an electric short circuit for the dawn blasts, which lit the desert sky and could be seen in the capital Amman, 35 km (22 miles) to the southwest. Both it and the army command said there were no reports of injuries.
Army spokesman Brigadier General Talal al Ghobain said investigations now indicated the intense heat caused the "thermal expansion of mortar shells" in the arms depot on the eastern outskirts of the sprawling city of 1.5 million people.
The blast site lies within a high security zone where some of the country's major US-equipped army bases are located, military sources say. "We felt like an earthquake had struck. Our windows shook and glass shattered. My kids started crying," said Zarqa resident Nabila Issa, a housewife and mother of five children.
Government spokesman Amjad Adailah said earlier that mortars stored at the facility were old and not usable. An army source said on condition of anonymity that some of the weapons at the site were precision-guided anti-aircraft missiles; an army spokesman said no such missiles were stored there.
The ITIC has published an updated analysis of Palestinian Authority text books and teachers' guides. PDF
"As far as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was concerned, three fundamentals were found prominent in the examined schoolbooks: De-legitimization of the State of Israel's existence, demonization of Israel and the Jews ("the Zionist enemy"), and advocacy of a violent struggle for the liberation of the Land of Israel ("Palestine"). Not a single call for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, or for co-existence with Israel, was found in any of the PA's schoolbooks and teachers' guides. During the year 2019, new editions of these schoolbooks appeared, with some changes, which necessitated an updating research. The examination of 133 books published in 2019 revealed that quite a few changes had been made there. But a thorough review of these changes made it clear that they strengthened the general picture regarding the conflict, as crystalized on the basis of the former studies, and that they did not change it."
Feeding the libel that Israel deliberately spreads weapons among Palestinians so they can shoot each other and not attack Israelis, the spokesman of the Palestinian Authority Security Forces, Adnan Al-Damiri, claimed that Israel is turning a blind eye to and even encouraging those Israelis who sell weapons to Palestinians:
PA TV caption: "Gunfire at events – a dangerous phenomenon that disturbs the residents"
Official Spokesman of the PA Security Forces Adnan Al-Damiri: "The aims of these weapons are not defined by those carrying them, but rather the occupation – the enemy – is the one that has defined them. They have defined them as not harming their security and not harming their interests. They have been silent about them and allowed the Israeli merchants and discharged soldiers to sell them."
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Aug. 30, 2020]
This is a classic example of the PA's way of rationalizing and disclaiming all responsibility for problems within PA society. Be it the problem of drug abuse, natural disasters, or the spike in the number of Palestinians infected with the Coronavirus – the PA is never at fault. Israel is always to blame!
Earlier this year, Palestinian Media Watch reported that the PA blames Israel for the rise in violence within the PA and for accidents caused when Palestinians use fireworks at celebrations. In general, the PA is always quick to accuse and blame Israel, as it did recently after the explosion in Beirut.
One genuinely assumes that the people of Lebanon have experienced the worst they can, especially after the August 4 Beirut port explosion, the destruction of which still echoes in the sleepless nights of many Lebanese as they try to confront their trauma.
Yet the visit of Ismail Haniyeh, deputy head of Hamas, to Lebanon this week clearly shows that Lebanese' trouble and suffering is far from over.
Haniyeh's visit to Beirut comes as Lebanon tries to muster international support to salvage what remains of its economy and rebuild its ravaged capital. Lebanon is currently at a crossroads and is trying to woo Western donors to bail it out, many of which designate Hamas as a terrorist organization. The US has designated Haniyeh as a terrorist and has sanctioned him.
The fact that Haniyeh arrived in Lebanon from Turkey where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received and granted the Hamas leader Turkish citizenship makes his Lebanon incursion even more perilous, as it clearly reflects the extremist nexus between Turkey, Qatar and Iran – all of which have shares in Hamas.
The real story of Haniyeh's visit is not that Hezbollah welcomed him warmly, nor that Hamas used his visit to reaffirm its dominance over the Ain al-Hilwi camp, one of the biggest Palestinian refugee camp, but rather that Haniyeh received a royal reception by the Lebanese state and from a member of the political elite, Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri.
Haniyeh's meeting with Nasrallah is somewhat expected as both are member of the same pro-Iran axis. But the question remains why would the Lebanese state grant Haniyeh and his delegation a visa to tour the country, and why would Berri and the outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab extend to Haniyeh the honors reserved for the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, Mahmoud Abbas, which Hamas continues to undermine and challenge thus, dividing the ranks of the Palestinian people.
Perhaps more importantly, while the Lebanese state treated Ismail Haniyeh as a statesman, his actions reflected that of a militia leader that has no respect for Lebanon nor its frail sovereignty. At Ain al-Hilwi, Haniyeh was hoisted up by his supporters who were armed to the teeth, in a blatant disregard to the Mahmoud Abbas' brave commitment to "abide by Lebanon's decision on arms in refugee camps." Lebanon historically has not involved itself with security inside the camps, saying that the matter will be left to Palestinians living there.
Earlier this summer, Italian port authorities in the city of Salerno announced that they had discovered a hidden shipment of 84 million pills of Captagon, an illegal amphetamine drug worth 1.4 billion Canadian dollars, in one of the largest drug seizures ever.
While Italy has remained quiet about the likely culprit, given the size of the find, it didn't take long for Middle East analysts to identify a main player in the drug trade: Hezbollah. The Iranian-terror proxy Hezbollah has been connected in recent years to the trade of Captagon, including recent busts in the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere in Europe.
While most Canadians' images of Hezbollah may be that of a Lebanese terrorist group banned by the Canadian government and occasionally mentioned in the news media as a group fighting in Syria and against Israel, Hezbollah is in fact one of the world's most foremost paramilitary forces.
Founded in 1982 as the extremist Shiite "Party of God" aimed at attacking Israel, Hezbollah quickly became one of the main allies of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in his civil war, forced displacement and genocide of hundreds of thousands of Syrians. Throughout the last nine years, Hezbollah has been an active combatant defending the regime, losing thousands of its fighters in the process, but gaining far more valuable combat skills and know-how as a result.
While Hezbollah is closely allied with the Islamic Republic of Iran and receives funding, training and weaponry from its patron in Tehran, Hezbollah also actively raises funds for its terrorist activities all over the world to finance its estimated 1.3 billion dollar (Canadian) annual budget.
Iran removed illustrations of girls from the front covers of a third-grade math textbook, prompting dozens of Iranians to take to social media platforms to call out the Ministry of Education.
As schools in Iran reopened following months-long closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, Iranian parents noticed that the cover of the latest edition of a textbook was different.
In previous years, an illustration of three boys and two girls playing under a tree was sketched on the front cover. This year, however, only the three boys remained.
"I think I drew this in the year [1992] for the third grade math textbook… it is unbelievable to me that they would take [someone's] drawing so easily and remove the girls!" the drawing's illustrator, Nasim Bahari said in an Instagram post of an earlier version of the book alongside the latest copy.
According to Bahari, the illustration was changed because one girl was drawn sitting on a tree while another looked as if she was reaching out to hug one of the boys.
"Iran's Department of Education removed picture of girls from 3rd grade Math book cover! Just a reminder that Iranian Mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani who was the first women in the world that received the highest award in math! You can delete female pictures but not their success!" one Twitter user said.
Iran's department of Eduction removed picture of girls from 3rd grade Math book cover! Just a reminder that Iranian Mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani who was the first women in the world that received the highest award in Math! You can delete female pictures but not their success! pic.twitter.com/gjJucqKYCA
Iranian Religious Scholar Praises Child Martyrdom: 7,070 Of Our Iraq-Iran War Martyrs Were Under 14
Iranian religious scholar Mohammad-Bagher Heydari Kashani said in a September 8, 2020 lecture that aired on Channel 2 (Iran) that children should aspire to be martyrs, and that each and every one of Iran's offspring can become like Qasem Soleimani. He also said that 36,000 Iranian primary school students had been killed in the Iran-Iraq War, and that these students, 7070 of whom had been under the age of 14, are a source of Iran's pride and are God's favorites.
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