EU ups its pledges to €200M aid for the Palestinians

EU to double its aid package to PA; development funds earmarked for infrastructure & rehabilitation

Reuters

 

EU headquarters – Photo: AP

The European Union will double its aid for Palestinian development and the Palestinian Authority to €200 million in 2012, the EU executive said on Friday.

The development aid will be focused on water, sanitation and support for refugees. A further €100 million aid credits unspent last year will be also spent in 2012, the European Commission said in a statement.

“The decision shows our commitment to help the people of Palestine in the areas which are vital to their everyday lives,” said Stefan Fuele, EU commissioner for enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy. Continue Reading »

Israeli official signals that no war with Iran is imminent

An Israeli official signaled that there would be no unilateral attack on Iran in the coming weeks, saying that int’l pressure kept Tehran’s nuclear program in check.

Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Kevin Liffey

 

(Reuters) – Speculation that Israel might attack Iranian atomic facilities alone, and soon, has soared given an unusually public dispute with the United States about how much time to allow for negotiations and sanctions to run their course before considering military action.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint news conference with his Bulgarian counterpart Boiko Borisov (not pictured) in Jerusalem September 11, 2012. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at news conference in Jerusalem September 11, 2012. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool

Amos Gilad, top aide to Defence Minister Ehud Barak, was asked in a television interview whether the Jewish high holidays, which begin on Sunday and end on October 9, would be “quiet in terms of any initiative taken by Israel”. Continue Reading »

Netanyahu & Obama Rumored to Meet as West Deploys in the Persian Gulf

Netanyahu & Obama will meet in an unannounced meeting, reported Sunday by the London Telegraph. Still no confirmation.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will meet on Sunday in an unannounced meeting, The London Telegraph reported Sunday. There has been no confirmation or denial from Washington – but the Prime Minister’s spokesman Mark Regev told Arutz Sheva on Sunday that the newspaper’s report they will meet on Sunday is “incorrect.”

Obama and Netanyahu at UN in September 2012

Obama and Netanyahu at UN in September 2012 – Reuters

Concerning a meeting in the near future, he issued a “no comment” response.

The reported meeting is to take place as 25 countries deploy warplanes and warships in the Persian Gulf (Strait of Hormuz) in annual maneuvers, in the largest exercise ever. Continue Reading »

Ahmadinejad accuses his enemies of destroying Iran’s rain clouds

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran’s enemies hatched sinister plan to prevent rain clouds from reaching Iran, causing drought

Reuters

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused his country’s enemies of enacting a sinister plan to create a drought by somehow destroying the rain clouds before they reach Iran, several Iranian websites reported on Tuesday.

Ahmadinejad Photo: AFP

Ahmadinejad Photo: AFP

Well-known for his anti-American and anti-Israeli rhetoric, Ahmadinejad has made similar remarks before and last year accused the West of devising a plot to cause drought in the Islamic republic.

“The enemy destroys the clouds that are headed towards our country and this is a war Iran will win,” Ahmadinejad said, according to several websites including the BBC’s Persian-language site. Continue Reading »

Two U.S. Marines Killed, but Prince Harry is Safe

Prince Harry was at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan during an assault by the Taliban where 2 U.S. marines were killed

By Uzi Baruch and AFP

 

Taliban armed with suicide vests, guns and rockets stormed a heavily fortified airfield in Afghanistan where Prince Harry is deployed, killing two U.S. Marines and attacking aircraft in a major security breach.

Prince Harry

Prince Harry – Israel news photo: AFP

The militia, which is leading a 10-year insurgency against 117,000 NATO troops, said it carried out the assault to avenge a U.S.-made film deemed insulting to Islam that has sparked deadly riots across the Middle East and North Africa. Continue Reading »

IDF intercepts $2.5M Egyptian drug smuggling attempt

IDF troops discover 700 kilograms of hashish on Egyptian border, making this the biggest drug smuggling bust in 2012

By Ilana Curiel

 

IDF troops on Saturday uncovered some 700 kilograms of hashish near the IsraelEgypt border, making what was deemed to be the biggest drug smuggling bust this year.

The drugs, worth over $2.5 million, were divided into 28 packages and placed inside two off-road vehicles, which were deserted in the Ezuz region. The authorities were looking into the possibility that the vehicles were waiting to be picked up by smugglers on the receiving end of the deal. Continue Reading »

Caroline Glick: The 9/11 attacks on the US embassies were not about a movie

The attack in Libya was well planned & executed. It wasn’t a spontaneous protest against some movie of Muhammad. The assailants came armed to the teeth, including RPG 7s.

 

Here are a couple of facts:

On June 4 the White House confirmed that the US had killed Abu Yahya Al-Libi – OBL’s Libyan lietenant who had moved into Al Qaeda’s #2 spot after Ayman Zahawiri after the Navy SEALs whacked OBL.
assault on US embassies.jpg

Assault on US embassies – Caroline Glick’s Blog

On Tuesday 9/11, a tape was released of Zawahiri announcing that Libi had been killed earlier this year by a US drone attack.
Continue Reading »

Palestinian Authority accuses Hamas of exploiting protests to export its coup

Hamas PM Haniyeh says recent wave of protests prove Oslo Accords have failed. PA spokesman: Hamas working to “export its coup” to the West Bank in order to overthrow Abbas

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

The Palestinian Authority on Saturday accused Hamas of exploiting peaceful protests against the high cost of living to spread chase and anarchy in the West Bank.

Adndan Damiri, spokesman for the PA security forces, also accused Hamas of working to overthrow the PA regime in the West Bank.

Palestinians stage economic protest in Hebron - Photo: REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

Palestinians stage economic protest in Hebron – Photo: REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

Damiri claimed that the PA security forces have received information about Hamas’s efforts to destabilize the situation in the West Bank.

Continue Reading »

Porn director behind the film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ that sparked anti-U.S. protests in Muslim World

Ties found between ex-convict, Christian charity  & insurance salesman, who produced the film over a belief that radical Islam threatens the world; cast & crew believed they were participating in film on ancient Egypt, had no idea of its Islamophobic nature.

 

A schlock softporn director named Alan Roberts has been identified as the director of the film that ridicules Muslims and the prophet Muhammed and has incited violent protests across the Middle East, according to a report by Gawker published Saturday.

A screenshot of the film 'Innocence of Muslims.'

A screenshot of the film ‘Innocence of Muslims,’ which incited protests throughout the Muslim world.

Continue Reading »

Muslims Terrorists Attack Int’l Peacekeeping Base in Sinai

At least 3 hurt as dozens of armed Muslims Attack the int’l peacekeeping force base in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

At least three people were hurt on Friday as dozens of armed terrorists, affiliated with the Salafi movement of Islam, stormed the international peacekeeping force base in the Sinai Peninsula, near the Gaza-Israel border. They were protesting the controversial film mocking the prophet Mohammed which has resulted in protests throughout the Arab world.

Egyptian soldiers in Sinai

Egyptian soldiers in Sinai
AFP photo

Channel 10 News cited reports in the Egyptian media which said the Muslims broke into the base and torched it.  Continue Reading »

Dore Gold on Jerusalem and US politics

Jerusalem had a profound influence on Carter’s re-election campaign: On March 1, 1980, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 465, which also called for dismantling Jewish neighborhoods that had been built in Jerusalem. Carter lost the Jewish vote.

One of the strangest episodes at the Democratic Party convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, was the controversy that erupted over how Jerusalem would appear in the party’s platform. Unlike the Democratic party platform in the last three presidential elections, the platform initially this year dropped any reference to Jerusalem being the capital of Israel. New York Senator Charles Schumer said that it was a mistake to take Jerusalem out of the platform.

Continue Reading »

Only Islamic State Can Calm the Rage Chant Arab Protesters in Northern Israel

Arab protesters in the northern Israeli city of Akko say that “only a large and strong Muslim state can calm the rage.”

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

A group of Arab protesters in the northern Israeli city of Akko had one message for the world on Friday, Channel 2 News reported.

Burnt pick-up truck during clashes between protesters and riot police in Cairo

Burnt pick-up truck during clashes between protesters and riot police in Cairo- AFP/Khaled Desouki

“Only a large and strong Muslim state can calm the rage,” the report quoted several dozen Arab demonstrators in the city as having said.

The Arabs were part of a group who demonstrated after Friday prayers in Akko against an anti-Islam film that has sparked outrage in the Muslim world. Continue Reading »

Lebanon Maronite Christians feel besieged ahead of Pope Benedict’s visit

Pope Leo X in 1510 called Lebanon’s Christians a “rose” among “infidels, schismatics & heretics”; Excitement over the Pope’s visit have replaced fear among Christians for now.

By REUTERS

 

BEIRUT – In 1510, Pope Leo X thanked Divine Providence for having preserved the Maronite Christians through the hardest of times, “planted among infidels, schismatics and heretics as in a field of error.”

Pope Benedict XVI waves as he gives Urbi et Orbi - Photo: REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

Pope Benedict XVI waves as he gives Urbi et Orbi – Photo: REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

He described them as a “rose among thorns, an impregnable rock in the sea, unshaken by the waves and fury of the thundering tempest.”

Continue Reading »

Retired Jordanian Colonel: No tension between Israel & Jordan

Rateb Amro, retired Jordanian colonel says PA’s bid at UN is ‘unreasonable’ but relations between Israel and Jordan are still good. Amaro warns however that not one Arab country will allow Israel or the US to attack Iran

Roi Kais

 

“When I was in the army, I fought against Israelis but those who suffered from war the most, were those who were convinced we must work towards peace. I do my job and I don’t care what others say,” Rateb Amro, a retired colonel in the Jordanian army told Ynet at the annual conference on counter terrorism held in Herzliya. Continue Reading »

‘No Regrets’ Says Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, Alleged Maker of Mohammed Film

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, (not Sam Bacile, who claimed to be an American-Israeli who had Jewish financial backing) a 55-year-old Egyptian Copt living in California, is “saddened” by the U.S. envoy’s murder.

By AFP and Gil Ronen

 

A man who claims to be the producer of an anti-Islam movie that has sparked violent protests across the Arab world and in several Muslim-majority countries says he has no regrets about making the film.

Protest in Bangaladesh

Protest in Bangaladesh – Reuters

“No, I do not regret it. I am saddened by the killing of the ambassador but I do not regret making it,” Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a 55-year-old Egyptian Copt living in California, told American Arabic-language Radio Sawa. Continue Reading »