Archive for Mid-East News

| February 17, 2014
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Chief Arab negotiator: If peace talks fail, Palestinian blitz at Int’l Court with 50 petitions ready

Palestinian chief negotiator

, Saeb Erekat threatens that the PA will take Israel to ‘int’l tribunals & join calls for economic sanctions’ should Kerry’s initiative fail, but warns worst result would be ‘collapse of Palestinian Authority’ which would mean Netanyahu will have to take control of the West Bank.

By Attila Somfalvi

 

The chief Palestinian negotiator says that if US-brokered peace talks fail to result in an accord, then the Palestinian will call for an economic boycott of Israel, in contradiction to conciliatory statements made by Palestinian president before a group of Israeli students.

Saeb Erekat (Photo: EPA)

Saeb Erekat – Photo: EPA

Saeb Erekat made the comments during an interview given to Al-Jazeera last Friday before an audience of hundreds of students at Britain’s Oxford University. Continue Reading »

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| February 16, 2014
Comments Off on Pro-Israel, Jordanian Palestinian sentenced to life in prison, for advocating Jordan is Palestine

Pro-Israel, Jordanian Palestinian sentenced to life in prison, for advocating Jordan is Palestine

 

The British gov’t has granted Mudar Zahran asylum and he reports that a source inside the palace told him that King Abdullah is pushing for control of Jerusalem.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
 

 

Mudar Zahran, a Palestinian writer and academic from Jordan who has written op-eds for The Jerusalem Post, was sentenced last week to life in prison with hard labor.

Mudar Zahran

Mudar Zahran – Photo: Courtesy

He also says that he has learned that the Jordanian government may seek to have him extradited to Jordan to serve his sentence.

Zahran told the Post in an interview form the UK, where he has sought refuge, that a source inside the palace told him that King Abdullah, on his visit to the US, pushed for control of Jerusalem so that Jordan would become its key ally in the region, even bypassing Israel in importance. Continue Reading »

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| February 16, 2014
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Taba Terror: Egypt Rejects Israeli Ambulances Entry into Sinai

After a terrorist attack in the Sinai, Egypt refused entry to Israeli MDA emergency medical response teams into Taba, where 3 Korean tourists & the Egyptian driver were killed, along with 33 wounded. 

By Gil Ronen

 

Egypt has refused to allow Israeli Magen David Adom ambulances and emergency teams to Taba, where four people are dead and 33 injured after a terror bombing Sunday. Three of the dead are tourists from Korea and one is a bus driver.

Israeli MDA ambulances awaiting Egyptian permission to enter Taba to render assistance in Sinai terrorist attack - Photo courtesy Magen David Adom

Israeli MDA ambulances awaiting Egyptian permission to enter Taba to render assistance in Sinai terrorist attack – Photo courtesy Magen David Adom (Facebook)

An Egyptian security official told Egyptian newspaper Al-Youm a-Saba that Egypt is on the highest alert following the attack. Continue Reading »

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| February 16, 2014
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Egypt Making Buffer Zone, Destroys 10 Newly Discovered Hamas Tunnels on Gaza Border

Adapting IDF protocols in security, Egypt continues its crackdown on Hamas’ treachery by destroying 10 smuggling tunnels and blowing up buildings that concealed them in it’s decision to create a sterile buffer zone on it’s border with Gaza.

By Elad Benari

 

Egypt is continuing its crackdown not only on Sinai terrorism but on Gaza’s Hamas rulers as well.

The Bethlehem based Ma’an news agency reported that Egyptian border forces destroyed 10 tunnels and seven homes in the Sinai on Saturday, as part of new campaign to create a buffer zone along the border with Gaza that would extend 500 meters in some places. Continue Reading »

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| February 16, 2014
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Assad regime blames Israel & US for continued Syrian stalemate

2nd round of peace talks in Geneva reach impasse, accusing Israel of undermining

 the negotiations

. Syria’s envoy to the UN says the U.S. helps rebels ‘escalate militarily.’

By AFP

 

Syria’s regime on Saturday accused Israel and the United States for undermining UN-brokered peace talks and blamed the opposition’s refusal to settle the issue of “terrorism” for the deadlock.

Syria’s Ambassador to the UN Bashar Ja’afari – Photo: PressTV

“Everybody is trying his best to undermine the whole process, either Israel or unfortunately the Americans, or even the sponsors of the so-called coalition and the opposition,” Syria’s top negotiator Bashar Jaafari told reporters after a second round of talks wrapped up fruitlessly. Continue Reading »

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| February 15, 2014
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Hamas: Abbas’ PA has no authority to invite NATO forces to West Bank

 

Hamas leaders calls on Fatah chief Abbas to end peace talks with Israel: ‘No one has authorized him to speak for the Palestinian people.’

Elior Levy

 

Hamas has vowed to treat the deployment of any international force in Palestinian territory under the auspices of a peace accord with Israel as an occupying force, the organization’s spokesman said on Friday, Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported.

The Palestinian Authority president, Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas (right) and the prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas. - Photo: Khalil Hamra/AP

The Palestinian Authority president, Fatah’s Mahmoud Abbas (right) and the Gaza prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, of Hamas. – Photo: Khalil Hamra/AP

Speaking at a rally in the Gaza Strip organized by Palestinian factions opposed to the talks with Israel, Sami Abu Zuhri said Hamas would work to “defeat this initiative.” Continue Reading »

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| February 15, 2014
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Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood Islamists Protest Against Israel-Palestinian Peace

1200 Muslim Brotherhood supporters demonstrated in Jordan against Kerry’s peace initiative, burning Israeli flags.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

Hundreds of Islamists rallied in Jordan on Friday against a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), The Associated Press (AP) reported.

Jordanians protests against Kerry’s framework – Photo: Reuters

The largest protest in months came hours before Jordan’s King Abdullah was scheduled to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in California.

The 1,200 protesters affiliated with Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, who demonstrated against Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace framework, also burned the Israeli flag, reported AP.

The protesters also demanded that King Abdullah II “revoke the peace treaty with the Zionists,” the report said, referring to the 1994 peace treaty signed between the two countries. Continue Reading »

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| February 14, 2014
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Hezbollah cancels annual rally after security concerns for its chief

 

Following a number of suicide bombings targeted Hezbollah’s stronghold, Shiite group cancels annual public rally, choosing instead for closed-circuit televised speech by Nasrallah from his hidden underground bunker.

By News agencies

The radical Shiite terror group Hezbollah says its leader will give a televised speech later this week to speak, but will not hold its annual public rally.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah gives an interview to local television station OTV at an undisclosed location in Lebanon, Dec. 3 2013. – Photo: AFP

The terrorist group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah used to give a speech every year in mid-February marking the death of three of the group’s leaders including Hezbollah’s top military commander Imad Mughniyeh who was killed in 2008 by a bomb that ripped through his car in Damascus, Syria. Continue Reading »

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| February 14, 2014
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Hamas rejects UN textbooks promoting human rights in Gaza schools

The Hamas gov’t believes the UN curriculum does not represent the ‘ideology & philosophy’ of the Palestinian population, reports Hamas spokesman for the Education Ministry.

By

 

Gaza‘s Hamas authorities have blocked a UN refugee agency from introducing  into local schools, saying it ignores Palestinian cultural and focuses too heavily on “peaceful” means of conflict resolution.

Students in classroom in Gaza school

Students in Gaza school.- Photo: Reuters

Motesem al-Minawi, spokesman for the Hamas-run Education Ministry, said Thursday that the government believes the curriculum does not match the “ideology and philosophy” of the local population.

He said the textbooks, used in grades 7 through 9, did not sufficiently address Palestinian suffering and did not acknowledge the right to battle Israel.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , , ,
| February 13, 2014
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Interview with Former CIA Director James Woolsey: Only IDF Can Stop Iran

Ex-CIA chief says Obama administration has zero military credibility with Iran.

By Ari Soffer

 

Former CIA Director James Woolsey has reiterated his call to release Jonathan Pollard, who is now in his 29th year behind bars in the US on charges of spying for Israel.

James Woolsey – Arutz Sheva

Speaking exclusively to Arutz Sheva, Woolsey noted that the time Pollard has served already is unprecedented for the crimes he was convicted of; namely, spying for a US ally. In the shady world of espionage, even friendly nations spy on each other, he pointed out – an argument Israeli leaders have made particularly ardently since revelations late last year that the US was spying on its closest allies, including Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Continue Reading »

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| February 13, 2014
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Palestinian 2014 budget: $46 million for terrorists, released prisoners’ salaries & pensions

 

 

This is in addition to tens of millions the PA already gives in salaries and other benefits to terrorists in prison.

Abbas’ Palestinian Authority funding of terrorists is enabled by unrestricted monetary aid the U.S. & the EU  countries continue to give the Palestinians for gov’t salaries and the PA’s ‘general budget’.

 

By Itamar Marcus & Nan Jacques Zilberdik

 

Most Western countries have laws and regulations prohibiting support for terrorists or former terrorists. The US, the UK, Holland, Norway, Sweden and others have debated, proposed and/or passed laws or motions in parliament against giving the Palestinian Authority money that ends up in the hands of terrorists. Continue Reading »

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| February 13, 2014
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Lebanon Distracted From Local Violence by Topless Photos of Lebanese Olympic Skier

Topless photos and YouTube clip of Lebanese Olympic skier is causing a national scandal back home.

By Aryn Baker/ Beirut

 

Topless photos and racy video footage of Lebanese Olympic Skier Jackie Chamoun have gone viral in Lebanon, prompting a potential government inquiry just days before the Olympic veteran is due to compete in the women’s giant Slalom in Sochi. But government claims that the revealing footage may have damaged Lebanon’s “reputation” have precipitated an enormous backlash in a country that has suffered far worse than the publication of  images that wouldn’t look out of place in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Continue Reading »

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| February 12, 2014
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Gaza patients denied entry into Israel over ‘State of Palestine’ letterhead

 

IDF official says Israel denied entry to 50 Palestinians because unrecognized paperwork were marked ‘State of Palestine’.

Urgent cases were allowed entry into Israel.

By Reuters

 

Israel has denied entry permits to some 50 Palestinian medical patients from the Gaza Strip because the words “State of Palestine” appears on the letterhead of their application, officials said on Wednesday.

Palestinian patient who was denied access to Israel.

Suhad al-Katib, a Palestinian woman patient who suffers cancer sits inside her house after she was not allowed to enter Israel, in Gaza City February 12, 2014.- Photo: Reuters

Israel does not recognize a Palestinian state, whose creation it says should stem from peace negotiations. Continue Reading »

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| February 12, 2014
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Lebanon Arrests Palestinian Al Qaeda Leader

 

Terrorist Naim Abbas, the Palestinian leader of am Al Qaeda-linked group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, was arrested by the Lebanese army after setting a car bomb.

By Tova Dvorin

 

The Lebanese Army arrested a senior Al Qaeda leader Wednesday – Naim Abbas, who is the deputy chief of the Al Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades.

A Lebanese soldier stands at the site of a car bombing in Beirut, Aug. 16 – Photo: Reuters

“After he came out of the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilwen near Sidon in the south, the army intelligence in Beirut made the arrest of Naim Abbas, who is being questioned under the supervision of the judiciary,” the Lebanese army said, in an official statement. Continue Reading »

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| February 12, 2014
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Jordanian MP: Secret ‘Right of Return’ deal excludes Palestinians with dual citizenship

 

Jordanian lawmaker Mohammad al-Qatatsha says U.S. Secretary of State Kerry’s proposed guidelines include secret terms, not conducive to Palestinian desires.

By Ynetnews

 

The proposed American framework agreement has secret terms, one of which determines that Palestinians who have foreign nationalities are ineligible for the right of return, a Jordanian lawmaker told Palestinian news agency Ma’an on Wednesday.

King Abdullah II (right) and (left) U.S Secretary of State John Kerry - Photo source: Google

King Abdullah II (right) and (left) U.S Secretary of State John Kerry – Photo source: Google

US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Jordanian King Abdullah II on Monday to discuss the peace process and update him on the details of the negotiations. Continue Reading »

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