Archive for Mid-East News

Arab politics; Palestinians suffering draws int’l aid & political clout

Pressure for peace exerted by the int’l community seems to fall only on Israel. Achieving peace will require putting more pressure on many Arab gov’ts to make them willing to share the burden for regional stability in the form of support for their fellow Arabs.

By MUDAR ZAHRAN

 

Several Arab countries have expressed passionate support for direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Still, this verbal support is compromised by apparently questionable practices on the ground executed by many Arab countries with a Palestinian population. Those countries have been emphasizing their refusal to integrate them.

Arab League conferenceThis stance has posed a major obstacle to peace talks for years, as many of the Arab countries with Palestinian populations still officially insist that they must exercise “the right of return to Palestine.” Continue Reading »

Newest Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theory Simply ‘Too Absurd’

“It would seem that no allegation made against Jews & Israel is too absurd,” says ADL of latest anti-Semitic conspiracy theory coming out of the Gulf States.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

 

Amid the protests and violence that have roiled Egypt in the past few days, a bizarre new anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish conspiracy theory has emerged claiming that the Muslim Brotherhood is tainted by a secret allegiance to the Jews and the State of Israel.

anti-Israel and anti-American propaganda in Egypt“It would seem that no allegation made against Jews and Israel is too absurd when it is used to discredit others,” said the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of the latest anti-Semitic conspiracy theory to emerge from the Arab world. Continue Reading »

Gaza Nazi-Style Youth Movement Prepares Palestinians for Jihad

by Khaled Abu Toameh

 

Thousands of Palestinian schoolchildren have been receiving military training in the Gaza Strip to prepare them for jihad against Israel.

Emulating the Nazis

According to Mohamed Siam, a senior official with the Hamas-run ministry, some 9,000 high school children have already joined 36 camps throughout the Gaza Strip and are being taught how to use various types of weapons and handle explosives. Continue Reading »

Israel seeks initialization of buffer zone inside Syria

‘The Sunday Times’ quotes military planners as saying a ‘buffer-zone’ plan to protect Israel from global jihadists, much like that of the southern Lebanese security zone (1982-2000), has already been shown to Netanyahu.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

Israel is considering creating a buffer zone reaching up to 10 miles inside Syria, The Sunday Times quoted sources close to military planners as saying.

Netanyahu surveys Syrian borderThe Times reported that the proposal, intended to protect itself from rebels across the northern frontier, has been presented to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

“A buffer zone set up with the co-operation of local villagers lies at the heart of the plan.

Continue Reading »

Iran Promises Israel ‘Payback’ Through Syrian Proxy

Iran has threatened to attack Israel via Syria and “render the Zionist regime comatose” for attacking the convoy and chemical instillation.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

Iran has threatened to attack Israel in retaliation for the destruction of a chemical weapons processing center near Damascus, using Syria as its proxy.

IAFIranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Deputy Chairman, Brigadier-General Masoud Jazayeri condemned last Wednesday’s air strike on the Jamraya Scientific Research Center, which most of the world assumes was carried out by the Israeli Air Force.

Jazayeri said in a bellicose statement broadcast Sunday on official Iranian Press TV that Syria’s response to the attack on the military research center will “render the Zionist regime comatose.” Continue Reading »

U.S. intel official: Israel targeted multiple targets in attack on Syria

American intelligence official says White House gave Israel ‘green light’ to continue such air strikes in the future.

Israeli jets attacked several targets in Syria Tuesday night in addition to the Scientific Studies and Research Center in Jamarya, outside Damascus, Time Magazine reported Friday.

Launch of SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles during drill by Syrian army - Reuters

Launch of SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles during drill by Syrian army. – Photo: Reuters

In the hours and days after the airstrike allegedly carried out by the Israel Air Force, conflicting reports surfaced regarding the nature of the strike. Syria accused Israel of attacking a research center in Jamarya, but denied that an attack on a convoy transporting SA-17 surface-to-air missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon had taken place as was previously reported. Continue Reading »

Israel-Unofficial: IAF Struck Missiles Before They Left Base

Syrian TV program shows charred remains of  SA-17 missiles convoy that the IAF destroyed when it was about to leave for Lebanon.

By Gil Ronen

 

Israel explained on Friday, unofficially, what happened on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, when its planes allegedly attacked a target in Syria. It also explained why Syria gave a false version of what had happened.

convoyMeanwhile, a video posted on a Syrian pro-Assad Facebook page apparently shows the aftermath of the IAF raid, as shown on Syrian television.

According to the unofficial Israeli version presented on the televised newscast, the target was a convoy of SA-17 missiles that was preparing to leave a base at Jamraya, near Damascus, in order to deliver the missiles to Lebanon’s Hizbullah. Continue Reading »

Israel will have to strike Syrian convoys again

Syria threatens to retaliate against assumed Israeli aggression

Iran, which supplies arms to Syria, Hamas & Hezbollah said the airstrike would have significant ramification for Israel.

By The Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

 

 

An Israeli air attack reportedly staged in Syria this week may be a sign of things to come.

Israeli military officials appear to have concluded that the risks of attacking Syria are worth taking when compared to the dangers of allowing sophisticated weapons to reach Hezbollah guerrillas in neighboring Lebanon.Nasrallah

With Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power weakening, Israeli officials fear he could soon lose control over his substantial arsenal of chemical and advanced weapons, which could slip into the hands of Hezbollah or other hostile groups.

Continue Reading »

Norwegian Muslim cleric: Jewish-run media ‘ruins’ Muslims’ reputation

“People are ignorant because they get their information from the media, and the media only write negatively about Islam,” said Ali Shah. “Judaism has a better grip on the media.”

By JTA

 

Two leading Norwegian Muslims blamed Jewish influence for Christian hostility to Muslims.

screenshot

The problem is not that Muslims hate Jews and pray for their annihilation, It’s that the ‘arrogant media’ have the audacity to translate their hateful chants into English. – MEMRI-TV screenshot

Nehmat Ali Shah, the imam at Norway’s largest mosque, and Ghulam Sarwar, the mosque’s chairman, told the daily Dagsavisen that the fear Jews instilled in others explained fraught Muslim-Jewish relations as well as the Holocaust. Continue Reading »

Ahmadinejad unveils Iran’s newest stealth fighter jet

Islamic Republic reveals 1st generation indigenous stealth fighter-bomber, capable of evading enemy’s radar; indicative of Iran’s will to ‘capture peaks,’ according to Iranian president

By AP

 

New fighter jet Photo: IRNA

New fighter jet – Photo: IRNA

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has unveiled the country’s newest fighter jet, which officials claim can evade radar.

Ahmadinejad said at a Saturday ceremony broadcast on state TV that Qaher-313, or Dominant-313, showed Iran’s will to “capture peaks.”

Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi says Qaher is “fully indigenous,” designed and built by Iranian aerospace experts.

אחמדינג'אד ליד המטוס (צילום: AFP)

President Ahmadinejad presents the jet – Photo: AFP

Photos released by the official IRNA news agency show Qaher as a single-seat jet, described as a fighter-bomber that can combat both other aircraft and ground targets. Continue Reading »

Turkey’s FM ridicules Assad’s regime for not responding to alleged Israeli attack

Because Israel allegedly carried out an air raid on Hezbollah’s weapons convoy at Syria’s border with Lebanon earlier this week, Turkey’s FM Ahmet Davutoglu asks: Why didn’t Assad even throw a pebble when Israeli jets were flying over his palace?

 

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu came out against the alleged Israeli strike on the Syria-Lebanon border earlier this week, as well as criticizing President Bashar Assad’s for inaction over the attack, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported on Saturday.

Ahmet Davutoglu

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. – Photo by AP

The foreign minister, who was traveling to Belgrade, Serbia for an official visit, told reporters, “Why didn’t [Bashar] al-Assad even throw a pebble when Israeli jets were flying over his palace and playing with the dignity of his country?” Continue Reading »

Arabs…Learn from Israel!

Lebanese journalist explains how Israel’s ‘melting pot policy’ made it strongest country in the Mideast

By Talal Salman

 

BEIRUT – I assume many people throughout the Arab world were glued to their television sets as the results of the Israeli elections were being reported and analyzed the “democratic process” that unfolded. In my opinion, the event underscored the dismal situation of the Arab nations compared to the “Jewish ethnic groups” that gathered from all over the world to establish a Jewish state on Palestinian land.

Supreme Court

True, Israel is an enemy state to us. It is also true that it is racist – in its path, principles and political structure. Continue Reading »

F-16s to Egypt an undeserving qualitative upgrade for the Muslim Brotherhood

The present sale represents a qualitative upgrade for Egypt, which until now has only received older models of the F-16. However, it would be more advisable to build up Egypt’s ability to assure its internal security in places like Sinai, where al-Qaeda affiliates have built up for themselves a substantial foothold.

By Dore Gold

 

The latest American crisis with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood president, Muhammad Morsi, came out into the open on January 14, 2013, when the New York Times published a report on its front page that three years earlier he used blatantly anti-Semitic motifs for describing “Zionists” as “…bloodsuckers who attack the Palestinians, these warmongers, the descendants of apes and pigs.”

Continue Reading »

Lapid to ‘Time’: “You make peace with foes, not with friends.”

Yesh Atid chief Lapid says he believes Netanyahu wants a 2-state solution, but until now, hasn’t had the right coalition to advance any peace process.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid voiced his support for resuming peace talks with the Palestinians in excerpts of a Time magazine interview released Thursday, stating that “you make peace with foes, not with friends.”

Yair Lapid“Israelis convinced themselves that there is no use in talking to the Palestinians because they’re not to be trusted. I think they’re wrong. I think the Palestinians are not to be trusted and this is exactly why we should talk to them,” Lapid said in the interview. Continue Reading »

UK’s Foreign Secretary Hague, ‘not right to criticize Israel over Syria strike’

British foreign secretary says real issue is a 2 year Syrian civil war, but does criticize int’l community and U.N. for its failure to address the crisis.

By Ynetnews

 

British Foreign Secretary William Hague commented on reports of an Israeli airstrike in Syria and stressed he will not condemn Jerusalem over the matter, the BBC reported Thursday.

William Hague“I’m not going to give any condemnation of Israel or rush into any criticism,” he said in an interview. “There may be many things about it that we don’t know, or the Arab League or Russia don’t know.”

The British secretary said that the real issue is Syria’s civil war which has been raging in the country for the past two years killing a reported 60,000 people. Continue Reading »