Archive for Mid-East News

Bosnia: 2 Iranian diplomats expelled for violating diplomatic rules

Bosnian Minister of Security declares 2 Iranian embassy secretaries “persona non grata” and must exit country.  

Israeli intelligence officials had tracked  them in Thailand, Georgia & India – all the places where Israeli citizens have been attacked in the past year.

 

 

The government of Bosnia ordered two Iranian diplomats to leave the Balkan country by the end of the month because they violated diplomatic protocol.

Police investigate site of blast in Bangkok

Police investigate site of blast in Bangkok – Photo: REUTERS

A Serbian-language paper in Sarajevo, Voice of Serbia, reported on Friday that Bosnia’s Security Ministry sent a request to the Foreign Ministry to expel the second- and third-ranking diplomats at the Iranian Embassy in Sarajevo. Continue Reading »

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Behind Downed Drone

IDF believes Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Hezbollah’s patrons, was behind UAV launch  which penetrated Israeli air space Thursday only to be downed by Israel Air Force.

By Yoav Zitun

 

 

Assessments that Iran is behind the launch of the unmanned drone into Israel airspace Thursday is gaining popularity among Israel’s senior military and political echelons.

ספינות חיל הים מחפשות אחר שברי המל"ט בצהריים (צילום: עידו ארז)

Navy vessels search for wreckage near Haifa – Photo: Ido Erez

According to current assessments, the drone, which was downed by an IAF F-16 jet a few kilometers west of Haifa’s shore line, was sent by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, in contradiction to previous assessments that Hezbollah was behind the launch. Continue Reading »

No criminal charges against Israelis as Flotilla deal becomes Turkish law

Israel-Turkey agreement will become binding int’l treaty once approved by the Turkish gov’t & parliament.

Turkish paper reports Israel also to compensate 70 Turkish citizens injured aboard the Marmara.

 

The agreement between Israel and Turkey over reparations to the Gaza flotilla victims’ families is slated to be brought before Turkey’s parliament in Ankara for approval. According to senior Israeli officials, once it passes, the agreement will be legislated into a law that will prevent Turkish citizens from filing of criminal charges against Israel Defense Forces soldiers and officers involved in the Gaza flotilla incident.

Pro-Palestinian activists wave Turkish and Palestinian flags welcoming the Marmara.

Pro-Palestinian activists wave Turkish and Palestinian flags during the welcoming ceremony for cruise liner Mavi Marmara at the Sarayburnu port of Istanbul December 26, 2010.

Continue Reading »

Bulgarian gov’t conducts reenactment of Burgas terrorist bombing

Bulgarian authorities hope to acquire some answers from the execution of the Hezbollah terror attack that claimed the lives of 5 Israelis last July.

By Ynet

Sappers and teams of the fire department examined the area, so as to ascertain whether the damages are identical to those of the bombing attack at the Sarafovo Airport. Bulgarian authorities conducted a reenactment of the Burgas bus bombing which claimed the lives of five Israelis and a Bulgarian bus driver last July, Bulgaria‘s state radio reported Friday. The two suspects, Hezbollah operatives, are still at large.

הציבו בובות כדי לדמות את הנפגעים. השחזור, הבוקר (צילום: AFP)

Reenactment of bombing – Photo: AFP

Dummies were placed inside and around the buses with maximum precision, following thorough examinations of security cameras and witness accounts, it was reported. Continue Reading »

U.S. President: Syrian gov’t use of chemical weapons a ‘game changer’

In a White House meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Obama says ‘We cannot stand by and permit the systematic use of weapons like chemical weapons on civilian populations.’

By Reuters

 

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday that the deployment of chemical weapons by the Syrian government was a “game changer” while noting that intelligence assessments proving that such weapons had been used were still preliminary.

 

Obama and King Abdullah - AP - April 26, 2013

U.S. President Barack Obama listens to Jordan’s King Abdullah II during their meeting – Photo: AP

 

“Horrific as it is when mortars are being fired on civilians and people are being indiscriminately killed, to use potential weapons of mass destruction on civilian populations crosses another line with respect to international norms and international law,” Obama told reporters at the White House. Continue Reading »

Lebanese Army Strengthens its Presence on Lebanon-Israel border

The day after Israel shot down a UAV, the Lebanese gov’t increases its military presence along their border with Israel.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

The Lebanese army has increased its presence along the Lebanon-Israel border, the official Lebanese National News Agency reported on Friday.

A Lebanese soldier looks at an Israeli army patrol across the border - Photo AP

A Lebanese soldier looks at an Israeli army patrol across the border – Photo: AP

 

According to the report, the IDF increased its presence along the border as well, and IAF aircraft were seen flying over Lebanese territory.

The news comes a day after an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) penetrated Israeli air space from Lebanon. Continue Reading »

Hezbollah’s Media Machine

The media has not paid attention to credible political attacks on Hezbollah by Sunni elements in Lebanon. Questions are being asked about Hezbollah’s military force and whether the group is more loyal to outside entities than it is to Lebanon.

By Yoav Limor

The conventional wisdom in the Israeli defense establishment on Thursday night was that Hezbollah’s launch of a drone into Israel earlier in the day was a sign of the group’s distress. Hezbollah has been facing growing criticism for its military involvement in the Syrian civil war and the drone launch was meant to divert attention from that and serve as a reminder to those who have forgotten that Hezbollah is “Lebanon’s shield.”

Continue Reading »

Turkey trucks its goods via Israel to Jordan

In avoiding Syrian unrest, Turkish shipping has been docking at Haifa Port over the past 5 months, unloading its

cargo onto trucks bound for Jordan

By Lior El-Hai

The relationship between Turkey and Israel had been in a downward spiral up until a few weeks ago; now it seems that at least where trade is concerned, Middle East realities trump politics.

בדרך לעימות הגדול? נמל חיפה  (צילום: רויטרס)

Haifa port – Photo: Reuters

Just recently, the opposition party in Turkey attempted to embarrass its country’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, by revealing that a Turkish shipping company owned by his son was moving its cargo via Israel, in spite of the tensions between the two countries. Continue Reading »

Gaza Rulers Blasts PA for Postponing Anti-Israel Resolutions

Hamas condemns PA compromise which allows the PA to postpone anti-Israel resolutions in exchange for a UNESCO ‘investigation’ on Jerusalem.

By Elad Benari

 

Gaza’s Hamas terrorist rulers condemned on Thursday a decision by the Palestinian Authority to postpone five UNESCO resolutions against Israel.

David's Citadel - IsraelandStuff-PP

David’s Citadel, Jerusalem – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

“This step is like a reward to the occupation for its crimes and violations,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement quoted by the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency.

“It is a contribution in erasing the Arabic and Islamic identity of Jerusalem, and it encourages the occupation to continue its Judaization program,” Barhoum said. Continue Reading »

UN Watch leads protest calling on Ban Ki-moon to condemned Richard Falk

Below is email I received from UN Watch:

Victory: UN reverses course, condemns Richard Falk * Now his defenders are attacking UN Watch

Hillel Neuer, UN Watch (briefing@unwatch.org)

 

To: Phillip Pasmanick
Picture of Hillel Neuer, UN Watch

 

Dear Phillip,

Good news: Thanks to a firestorm sparked by UN Watch, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon — after initially refusing to act — has finally accepted our demand and condemned UN Palestine expert Richard Falk for justifying the Boston terrorist attack as a form of resistance to the sins of America and Israel. As a result, UN Watch is now under attack.

Here’s how it all happened. Continue Reading »

Sunni cleric calls on Lebanese Youth for ‘Jihad’ Against Hizbullah

Sunni cleric Ahmad Assir, said it was a “a religious duty” for Sunni followers to join “armed Jihad in Syria” against the Hizbullah & Syrian regime.

By Elad Benari

 

Lebanese youth from the city of Saida, south of Beirut, began on Wednesday to sign up for “armed Jihad in Syria”, Al Arabiya reported.

Hezbollah terrorists - Photo by EPA

Hezbollah terrorists – Photo by EPA

The youth were responding to a call a day earlier by Sunni cleric Ahmad Assir, who called on Lebanese youth to fight the Hizbullah terrorist group.

Individuals in charge of enlisting the youth told Al Arabiya that “hundreds” have signed up so far and that the number is expected to reach thousands. Continue Reading »

Mayor of Tehran: Holocaust denial hurt Iran

Possible upcoming presidential candidate says Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust denial became excuse for Israel, harmed Iran & the Palestinians.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s denial of the Holocaust has harmed Iran’s foreign relations, and did nothing to benefit the Palestinians, Tehran mayor and a potential candidate for the Iranian presidential elections said in an interview with the Tasnim News Agency this week.

Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. – Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in excerpts translated from Farsi by Al-Monitor that Ahmadinejad’s statements denying the systematic extermination of six million Jews by Nazi Germany during World War II became an “excuse for our biggest enemies, which are the Zionists, and affected the goals of the Palestinians.”

Continue Reading »

Amb. Rice: UN Official Falk ‘Spews Vitriol’, Has ‘No Place at UN’

American Ambassador to UN calls for dismissal of UN official who blamed Boston bombings on Israel.

By Arutz Sheva staff

 

United States ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, called on Wednesday for the dismissal of Richard Falk, a top official on the United Nations Human Rights Council, who attempted to explain the Boston Marathon bombings as a reaction to US policy in the Middle East.

Falk, whose official title is the “U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories,” implied that the Boston Marathon bombings were payback for America’s “geopolitical fantasy of global domination” and its continued affiliation with the international body only serves to undermine its credibility.  Continue Reading »

Egypt Reports: Mossad pays $1,000 per photo to ‘Israeli spy in Sinai’

Egyptian security source says Israeli ‘spy network’ discovered just days after Grad rockets fired from Sinai on Eilat

By Roi Kais

 

An Egyptian security source relayed on Wednesday to the Palestinian Maan news agency new details which he claims surfaced in the interrogation of the man arrested a few days ago in the Sinai Peninsula. The man allegedly stood at the head of a spy network, working in Israel’s favor there.

Egyptian SecurityThe source said that the accused is a 35-year-old Bedouin who admitted in his interrogation to passing along military, political and economic information to the Mossad.

The source told the Palestinian news agency that the information the man supplied revolved around protests that occurred in Egypt. Continue Reading »

A ‘Palestinian’ Museum: What 200 years of history?

Palestinians building a museum claiming their national history goes back at least 2 centuries, but will that actually convince all the Regional Arabs?

By Aviel Schneider

 

Last week, the laying of the cornerstone of the new “Palestinian Museum” made headlines worldwide. The museum is a private initiative that aims to tell a 200-year-old Palestinian history.

 

Established adjacent to Birzeit University near Ramallah, the museum will be build in two stages and eventually encompass an area of almost 100,000 square feet.

Palestinian sources said a museum is one of the things every proper state needs. “I hope that the museum gives the Palestinians the opportunity to present their story to the world,” said museum director Jack Persekian. Continue Reading »