(April 30) Israel tells UN of 'concern' at Palestinian unity: "Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Saturday told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of 'Israel's concern' over the unity accord struck Wednesday between Hamas and Fatah.... 'Hamas is a terrorist organisation that fires rockets and missiles' at Israel. He recalled the death of a young Israeli who was seriously injured on April 7 when an anti-tank missile was fired at a school bus by the armed wing of Hamas operating in Gaza....'We expect world leaders and especially the United Nations to attach conditions to any cooperation with a Palestinian unity government...' Barak said.

     "As part of its 'roadmap' to peace, the Quartet -- the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations -- set certain conditions so far rejected by Hamas."

(April 27) Most Egyptians favor annulling peace with Israel: "Only 36% would maintain treaty, while 82% of Egyptians view US unfavorably."

(April 25) Palestinian Authority Police Kill Israeli near Joseph's Tomb: "Palestinian Authority police Sunday morning shot and killed one Israeli and wounded four others after they prayed at Joseph's Tomb (Kever Yosef) around 6 a.m. Sunday (11 p.m. Saturday night EDT). The murder victim was identified as 24-year-old Ben Yosef Livnat, a nephew of Likud Minister Limor Livnat and father of four children. Arabs attacked the funeral procession with rocks as it proceeded...to Jerusalem....One of the four who were wounded in the shooting attack is in serious condition, and Army helicopters evacuated the injured to a hospital for emergency care."

(April 12) Tough decisions for the ditherer-in-chief: "The Arab League, on whom the United States and the 'great powers' of Europe depend for the moral authority to impose the no-fly zone over Libya, now wants the United Nations to impose a similar no-fly zone over Gaza, whence the Palestinians fire their rockets at Israeli schoolchildren. The Israelis, naturally, fire back with airstrikes. This inconveniences the Palestinian rocket batteries no end, of course, and the Arab League is eager for someone, since the Arabs have never been able to do it, to make the Israelis submit to their own destruction."

(April 7) Teen critically injured in attack on Negev bus: "A 16-year boy was critically injured after a [school] bus... was hit, apparently by an anti-tank missile, fired from the Gaza Strip on Thursday. He is currently being treated for severe trauma to the head.... An hour later the fire from Gaza continued, with more than 15 mortar shells launched at Israel. One of the shells exploded inside a town in Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported. Afterwards three rockets were fired towards Ashkelon, and witnesses reported seeing one of them explode in midair, apparently due to interception by the Iron Dome defense system."

 

(April 1)  UN to Israel: Surrender: "UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday reiterated that the world body expects Israel to immediately surrender to internationally-backed Arab demands that it relinquish all claims to the Jews’ biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria and half of their ancient capital of Jerusalem. The Jewish presence in the so-called 'West Bank,' which includes the eastern half of Jerusalem, is 'morally and politically unsustainable, and must end,'Ban insisted... Meanwhile, the Palestinians are moving forward plans to unilaterally declare an independent state with the support of the UN, outside the framework of a land-for-peace deal with Israel."

(April 7)  Gaza violence: Hamas declares ceasefire with Israel: "The militant wing of Hamas earlier hit an Israeli bus with an anti-tank shell, injuring two people. Israeli forces replied with air strikes and tank fire, killing four and wounding 30, Palestinian doctors say. The bus attack was condemned by the US, which said it was particularly concerned by reports that the Gaza militants had used an advanced anti-tank weapon to target civilians. The bus had been dropping off schoolchildren near the Nahal Oz kibbutz, and was carrying only one passenger when it was hit, Israeli medical sources said. A 16-year-old boy suffered a serious head wound... After the attack, witnesses said more rockets and mortars were fired from the Gaza Strip." See The Nazi/Arab plots to exterminate Jews

In Israel, Time for Peace Offer May Run Out: "With revolutionary fervor sweeping the Middle East, Israel is under mounting pressure to make a far-reaching offer to the Palestinians or face a United Nations vote welcoming the State of Palestine as a member whose territory includes all of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority has been steadily building support for such a resolution in September, a move that could place Israel into a diplomatic vise. Israel would be occupying land belonging to a fellow United Nations member, land it has controlled and settled for more than four decades and some of which it expects to keep in any two-state solution. 'We are facing a diplomatic-political tsunami...' said Ehud Barak....

     "But Palestinian leaders...dismiss the expected offer as insufficient....'We want to generate pressure on Israel to make it feel isolated and help it understand that there can be no talks without a stop to settlements,' said Nabil Shaath, who leads the foreign affairs department of Fatah, the main party of the Palestinian Authority."

(April 1) Under siege: Israel fears its Arab citizens: "The international mainstream media has a fixation with presenting Israeli and Palestinian Arabs as living under siege from the 'oppressive' Jewish state. The reality is that Israeli Jews are the ones living under siege....But even within their own borders, Israeli Jews live under siege from an Israeli Arab population that does not fear, but is feared by, the Israeli police. It is no secret to anyone living here that Arabs in Israel can go where they please, when they please, with little or nothing to fear from Israeli Jews. This is evident by the fact that public venues in Jewish-dominated towns and neighborhoods are always so full of Israeli Arabs. The converse is not true. Israeli Jews must be extremely careful entering Arab-dominated areas, and are even barred from going into some towns and neighborhoods (particularly in Jerusalem) for fear they would be lynched." See Revolution

February 2011

(Feb. 21)  2 Iranian naval vessels cross Suez Canal to Mediterranian: "Two Iranian naval vessels began crossing the Suez Canal Tuesday, Suez Canal authorities said. The ships were on their way to dock in Syria."

(Feb. 21) Hamas thrilled at opportunity in change in Egypt: "Egypt's revolution brought sudden and unintended freedom to Ayman Nofal. During the chaos in Cairo, the senior Hamas commander broke out of an Egyptian jail with thousands of other prisoners, traversed the Sinai desert in a series of getaway cars, crawled through a smuggling tunnel at the border and emerged back home in the Gaza Strip to a hero's welcome. Now Nofal has one thing on his mind. 'I'm anxious to get back to fighting Israel,' the 37-year-old Palestinian militant said in his home, surrounded by several of his six children and a plastic flower bouquet...The man accused by Egypt of plotting terrorist strikes against vacationing Israelis in the Sinai added, 'I'm ready for the next battle.'"

(Feb. 20) 'Israel views Iran ships crossing Suez with utmost gravity': "Netanyahu said ... 'I think that today, we can see what an unstable region we live in, a region in which Iran tries to exploit the situation that has been created in order to expand its influence by passing warships through the Suez Canal'....'Israel's security needs will grow and the defense budget must grow accordingly.

(Feb. 17)  Hezbollah's Nasrallah: 'Prepare to Invade Israel': "'I tell the holy warriors of the Islamic resistance to be ready for a day when, if war is imposed on us, your command might ask you to control the Galilee area,' Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech Wednesday."

In sharp reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council: "The U.S. informed Arab governments Tuesday that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that the 15-nation body 'does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity,' a move aimed at avoiding the prospect of having to veto a stronger Palestinian resolution calling the settlements illegal.... But the Palestinians rejected the American offer... and said it is planning to press for a vote on its resolution on Friday."

(Feb. 14) A sign of desperation: "[Abbas] is worried that the tsunami that swept the Tunisian and Egyptian presidents from office could hit Ramallah....In the eyes of many Palestinians, Abbas is not much different from Hosni Mubarak and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Like the two ousted dictators, Abbas has also been accused of being a 'puppet' in the hands of the Americans. The events in Tunisia and Egypt have taught Abbas that US backing alone is not a guarantor for the survival of his regime in the West Bank....Almost immediately after it was announced that Mubarak had stepped down, Abbas convened PLO leaders in Ramallah and declared his intention to hold long overdue presidential and parliamentary elections by September."

(Feb. 10) Netanyahu warns [400 European lawmakers and dignitaries that] Islamic radicals want to build "a New Caliphate": "Netanyahu warned of several serious threats to world peace and Western civilization: 1.The expressed ambition of Shia and Sunni Radical Muslims to build a Islamic kingdom or 'caliphate' that will encompass the Middle East and North Africa, and then Europe, and then North America, and then the entire world.

    "2. The rise of an Iranian regime with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that can not only reach Israel but more and more of Europe.

    "3. An Egypt that doesn’t develop into a peaceful, moderate, secular democracy with a prominent role for the military to provide stability and security but into one of two other scenarios: A) one in which 'the Islamists exploit the[ir] influence to gradually take the country into a reverse direction.... B) one in which 'Egypt would go the way of Iran, where calls for progress would be silenced by a dark and violent repression that subjugates its own people and threatens everyone else.'”

Quartet urges Israeli-Palestinian peace pact, citing Egypt: "The diplomatic Quartet -- made up of the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States -- issued a statement Feb. 5 following a meeting of high-level representatives in Munich. In its statement, the Quartet 'emphasized the need for the parties and others concerned to undertake urgently the efforts to expedite Israeli-Palestinian and comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, which is imperative to avoiding outcomes detrimental to the region.' ...

     "The confidence-building measures include allowing new Arab housing projects in eastern Jerusalem; the extension of a PA presence in the West Bank; the building of Palestinian schools and health clinics in the West Bank; the granting of West Bank identity cards to 5,000 Gaza-registered residents of the West Bank....The Palestinian Authority rejected the measures....Erekat said a cessation of Israeli construction in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem is the only way to build confidence and achieve peace." [Not surprising when the goal is to eradicate Israel and banish any Jewish right to its historical sites!

(Feb. 7) Israeli cmdr. urges readiness for war: "The Israeli army chief has urged Tel Aviv to make preparations for an all-out war over the recent developments across the Middle East....Ashkenazi warned of the transpiration of a 'radical camp' in the Middle East, adding that 'the moderate camp among the traditional Arab leadership is weakening.' 'Because of this spectrum, we must prepare for a conventional war…"

(Feb. 6) Egypt blames Hamas for dramatic gas explosion: "Militants working on behalf of Hamas were responsible for the dramatic explosion at a gas terminal that disrupted the supply of fuel to Israel.... Egypt supplies Israel with some 30 percent of its gas needs, while Jordan relies on Egypt for up to 80 percent of its fuel needs."

Muslim Brotherhood demands that Mubarak government goes: "The Muslim Brotherhood, seen as Egypt's biggest organised opposition group, said on Thursday that President Hosni Mubarak and his government had to go... 'We demand that this regime is overthrown and we demand the formation of a national unity government for all the factions,' the Brotherhood said in a statement broadcast by Al Jazeera. (Reuters)

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Nazi/Arab plots to exterminate Jews [Updated]: "Like many leaders today, Hitler knew how to use every crisis as an expedient opportunity. So did his anti-semitic Muslim partners: the rising Muslim Brotherhood and Mohammad Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem."

Soros has Spoken: Toe the Leftist Line on Egypt: "[George Soros] is taking aim at all the rigid and ideological supporters of Israel' and 'the religious right' for standing in the way of democracy for Egypt. [Soros says] '...the best-organized political opposition that managed to survive in that country’s repressive environment is the Muslim Brotherhood. In free elections, the Brotherhood is bound to emerge as a major political force, though it is far from assured of a majority. Some have articulated fears of adverse consequences of free elections, suggesting that the Egyptian military may seek to falsify the results; that Israel may be adamantly opposed to a regime change; that the domino effect of extremist politics spreading to other countries must be avoided; and that the supply of oil from the region could be disrupted. These notions constitute the old conventional wisdom about the Middle East – and need to be changed, lest Washington incorrectly put up resistance to or hesitate in supporting transition in Egypt."

Israeli military's disarray adds to fears over Egyptian uprising: "Israel's top military leadership was in turmoil Wednesday, lacking an army chief or even the prospect of an early appointment as the Arab world continued to erupt in upheaval around it....

    "On Wednesday night, Israel's two leading television news broadcasts led their programming with images of protesters in Egypt chanting anti-Israel slogans. The four-minute segment highlighted anti-Israel fervor among some protesters.... 'It's frightening. They make us feel like Egyptians are going to come marching over the border and attack us as soon as they are done overthrowing Mubarak,' said Dan Oved, a 25-year-old student in Tel Aviv. "Then I watched Al-Jazeera English and it was a very different picture." See God's promises to  Jerusalem

(Feb. 2) Egypt now fears Obama a 'Manchurian President': Top members of the Egyptian government say they feel betrayed by President Obama, charging that he is acting against American interests...'I told him none of this should be a surprise,' said Klein, 'that the Obama administration has developed an extensive relationship over the last few years with allies of the Muslim Brotherhood. ...Obama has been closely associated throughout his political career with radical-left elements who have long petitioned for policies many believe are aimed at weakening the American enterprise both domestically and internationally."

     "Some Muslim clerics are already calling the riots in Egypt simply an extension of 1979's Islamist conquests. 'Thirty-one years after the victory of the Islamic Republic, we are faced with the obvious fact that these movements are the aftershocks of the Islamic revolution,' said Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami.... 'The fate of those who challenge [our] religion is destruction.'...
    "The leader of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, Hammam Saeed, warned that the unrest in Egypt will spread across the Mideast until Arabs succeed at toppling leaders allied with the United States.
    "...prominent Salafi cleric Abu Mundhir Al-Shinqiti issued a fatwa on the website Minbar Al-Tawhid Wal Jihad encouraging the protests in Egypt, claiming Islamist jihadis are now on the verge of a historic momen....

    "'The Muslim Brotherhood seeks to spread Islam around the world, in large part using nonviolent means. Hamas and al-Qaida are violent Brotherhood offshoots. In November, the Brotherhood's new supreme guide, Muhammad Badi, delivered a sermon....'Resistance is the only solution,' stated Badi. ...the U.S. is easy to defeat through violence, since it is 'experiencing the beginning of its end...."
     "The Obama administration also has evidenced a working relationship with several U.S.-based Islamist organizations that are listed by the Brotherhood as 'likeminded' organizations. One such group is the Islamic Society of North America, or ISNA, a radical Muslim group that was an unindicted co-conspirator in a scheme to raise money for Hamas. ISNA was named in a May 1991 Muslim Brotherhood document...as one of the Brotherhood's likeminded organizations of our friends who shared the common goal of transforming countries into Muslim nations."

(Feb. 2) Netanyahu: Iran Wants Egypt to be ‘Another Gaza’: [Excerpts from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech in the Knesset on February 2] "The Iranian regime is not interested in seeing an Egypt that protects the rights of individuals, women, and minorities....They want Egypt to become another Gaza, run by radical forces that oppose everything that the democratic world stands for. We have two separate worlds here, two opposites, two world views: that of the free democratic world and that of the radical world. Which one of them will prevail in Egypt?

    "...recent history shows us many cases in the Middle-East when extreme Islamist elements abused the rules of the democratic game to gain power and impose anti-democratic regimes. It happened in Iran; it happened in Lebanon; and it happened when the Hamas took over the Gaza Strip. Does Iran enjoy freedom? Is there a real democracy in Gaza? Does Hezbollah promote human rights? ....

    "For over 30 years we have enjoyed peace on two fronts. One is a peaceful border with Egypt, and the second – the peaceful border with Jordan....[We] are in a turbulent situation....We must identify things as they are, not as we’d like them to be. We must not try to force reality into a preconceived pattern. We must accept that a huge change is taking place, and while it is happening – keep a watchful eye....

     "I have said numerous times that we need real security arrangements. Not only because they sustain peace, but also because they ensure our security in the event that peace unravels — and in the Middle-East no one can guarantee the survival of any regime....Israelis and Palestinians have many differences between them. But there is only one way to resolve those differences – a negotiated settlement, not through unilateral steps....I hope President Abbas will join me in a sincere effort to explore the possibility of a practical peace with practical security arrangements in the reality in which we find ourselves..."

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Nazi/Arab plots to exterminate Jews [Updated]: "Like many leaders today, Hitler knew how to use every crisis as an expedient opportunity. So did his anti-semitic Muslim partners: the rising Muslim Brotherhood and Mohammad Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem."

Israel 'fears' post-Mubarak era: "Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, has said that he was following events in Egypt with 'vigilance and worry'. At a news conference...Netanyahu said Egypt could wind up with a radical Islamic regime as in Iran.... Israel's primary concern is that the uprising could be commandeered by Egypt's strongest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, and its allies, who would presumably move Egypt away from its alignment with the West and possibly cancel the peace agreement with Israel....

      "Eli Shaked, a former Israeli ambassador to Cairo, offered a grim assessment.... 'The assumption at present is that Mubarak's regime is living on borrowed time, and that a transition government will be formed...until new general elections are held....If those elections are held in a way that the Americans want, the most likely result will be that the Muslim Brotherhood will win a majority..."See Tiny Israel vs. huge Islamic region 

Red Carpet for Islamists: "All signs from Egypt and U.S. leadership now point to an increased role for the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in Egyptian politics — a terrifying reality that has just been given a blessing by the Obama administration, no less. In a highly disturbing departure from American foreign policy, Washington officially accepted a Muslim Brotherhood presence in a new Egyptian government, meaning that a U.S. president has publicly embraced a faction in Egypt that is intent on establishing a Khomeini-like Islamic Republic....Officially banned under Mubarak, it is no secret that the MB wants to establish an extremist Islamic regime in Egypt similar to the one Khomeini set up in Iran after that country’s 1979 revolution....

     ”.. the Muslim Brotherhood also has the blessing and support of informal opposition leader, Mohamed ElBaradei, who is almost assured to play a significant (if not leading) role brokering a new coalition government.... ElBaradei likens the group...to evangelical Christians in the U.S. and Israeli Orthodox Jews. ElBaradei, who the MB supported to lead the opposition against Mubarak, is a Nobel Prize laureate and has had amicable relations with President Obama in the past....

     "...Egypt resembles, in some respects, Russia after the fall of the tsar. Until they seized power by force several months later, the extremist Bolsheviks played at being democrats, calling for free elections to a national assembly and seducing the impoverished, uneducated masses with the powerful slogan: 'peace, land, bread.' But instead of freedom, democracy and prosperity, Russia’s downtrodden classes instead got the Red Terror and murderous totalitarianism....

     "...while MB sympathizers say the Islamist organization only wants the peace deal renegotiated, in reality, it wants Israel destroyed. ...Mohamed Ghanem, an Egyptian MB member...said: 'Prepare for war with Israel.'...

    "Monday’s White House statement is also less than shocking. It is simply in keeping with what one has come to expect from a president who in the past has exhibited destructive anti-Israeli and pro-Muslim tendencies."

Obama muddles ahead: "Obama never mentioned the..Internet 'kill switch,' but claimed to 'stand for universal values,' such as 'freedom of assembly...speech and...access to information.' Midway through the address, the always predictable Obama accidentally slid into campaign mode and spoke out on 'behalf of the need for change.' ...Obama shared that President Mubarak recognized that 'the status quo is not sustainable and that a change must take place,' which coincidentally are the same words Obama uses whenever referencing health care reform, the war in Afghanistan, or when out promoting new/justifying old failed policies.

     "...he told Mubarak, 'Now, it is not the role of any other country to determine Egypt's leaders. Only the Egyptian people can do that.'....Despite the fact that an overconfident Muslim Brotherhood told 'Egyptians [to] prepare for war with Israel,' President Obama vowed that throughout Egypt's transition process, 'the United States will continue to extend the hand of partnership and friendship to Egypt.' ...Obama ended by sharing his opinion that 'truth' is defined as a 'sense of community.'"

Will the dominoes continue to fall? Jordan's king sacks Cabinet; protests possible in Syria: "The dramatic political unrest in Egypt, long a pivotal nation in the Arab world, has intensified demands for change across the region and spurred attempts at reform by nations long ruled by autocrats. On Tuesday, Jordan's King Abdullah II fired his Cabinet and ordered his new prime minister to pursue political reforms to 'correct the mistakes of the past' after massive anti-government protests regionwide and smaller demonstrations at home....

     "The government of Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir in the Arab nation of Sudan has announced a 'dialogue' with political parties following protests throughout in the capital in recent days. And political activists in Yemen, where huge protests broke out last week, have declared Thursday a 'day of rage' against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, according to local media. ....

     "A 45-year-old teacher from a village southwest of Damascus said he fears a change in Syria's political system would adversely affect the country's largest minority, the Christians. 'The president is important for Christians. If something ever happened to cause him to go, the Muslims would get in and we (Christians) would be in big trouble.'"

Israel 'fears' post-Mubarak era: "Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, has said that he was following events in Egypt with 'vigilance and worry'. At a news conference...Netanyahu said Egypt could wind up with a radical Islamic regime as in Iran.... Israel's primary concern is that the uprising could be commandeered by Egypt's strongest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, and its allies, who would presumably move Egypt away from its alignment with the West and possibly cancel the peace agreement with Israel....

      " Eli Shaked, a former Israeli ambassador to Cairo, offered a grim assessment.... 'The assumption at present is that Mubarak's regime is living on borrowed time, and that a transition government will be formed...until new general elections are held....If those elections are held in a way that the Americans want, the most likely result will be that the Muslim Brotherhood will win a majority..."