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Bedouin tribes in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula implied on Thursday that they were better off living under Israeli rule and that they have been suffering since Israel withdrew from the region as part of the peace agreement with Egypt. The residents of the Sinai spoke to the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, after local tribesmen kidnapped seven Egyptian security personnel near the city of El-Arish. The seven were kidnapped by an unknown group in north Sinai while en route to Cairo. Local residents said the kidnapping was "retaliation" by Bedouin tribesmen for heavy-handed security policies adopted by the Egyptian interior ministry. Mohamed El-Asati,...

For six years, Rafat Shororo longed for the taste of a KFC sandwich he had eaten in Egypt. This week, he got his finger lickin' fix at home in the Gaza Strip after a local delivery company managed to smuggle it from Egypt through underground tunnels. "It has been a dream, and this company has made my dream come true," says Mr. Shororo, an accountant, as he receives his order from the delivery guy. The al-Yamama company advertises its unorthodox new fast-food smuggling service on Facebook. It gets tens of orders a week for KFC meals despite having to triple...

Junk-food starved Gazans can now order Kentucky Fried Chicken to go thanks to a new smuggling service which brings takeout from Egypt via a network of underground tunnels. It’s not exactly “fast”—taking several hours to arrive, with the Palestinian delivery company behind it charging hefty prices to cover the cost of fuel and transport. … Tight restrictions on Gazans entering Egypt mean those with a craving for chicken cooked to Colonel’s Secret Recipe cannot just pop over the border and pick up a bucket. Instead, some residents seem quite happy to shell out ₪130 (£23; $35) for just 20 pieces...

Israel has no right to exist, a radical Muslim cleric visiting Gaza declared on Thursday, encouraging rocket attacks on the Jewish State. Yusuf al-Qaradawi warned that nobody was allowed to cede “any part of Palestine” during his visit to the Hamas-controlled region, according to AFP. “No one is allowed to give up any part of Palestine,” the Egyptian-born Qardawi said during a meeting with Gaza’s prime minister Ismail Haniyeh and members of the government. Qaradawi, who is a citizen of Qatar and close to the Muslim Brotherhood, was heading of a delegation of 50 clerics from 14 countries. “Palestine was...

Israel’s army said Thursday that it would soon halt its use of white phosphorus shells after years of international criticism for using the incendiary munitions in crowded Palestinian areas. … White phosphorus can be used legally in some battlefield situations, but Israel’s use of it in Gaza drew war crimes allegations by the U.N. …

One of the larger drawbacks to having John Kerry as secretary of state is his inane statements now have worldwide impact, instead of being limited to a domestic audience as was the case previously. Even worse, what he says now can cause real damage, while as a senator Kerry’s bloviating was relatively harmless since he was part of large collection of publicity-seeking bloviators. Kerry’s latest occurred last Sunday when he compared the jihadists trying to break Israel’s Gaza blockade aboard the Mavi Marmara with the victims of the Boston bombing. .... Israeli commandos were lowered to the deck from a...

The United States asked Turkey's leader to delay a Gaza Strip visit so as not to upset U.S. efforts to revive Ankara's ties with Israel and Middle East peace talks, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who has for years spoken of his desire to visit the Palestinian enclave, said last week he planned to go in late May after an official visit to the United States. But Kerry said a Turkish visit to Gaza, controlled by the Hamas Islamist group which rejects Israel's existence, might distract from efforts to revive Middle East...

SNIP On a trip to Israel last month, Obama secured a pledge from Turkish and Israeli leaders to normalize ties that broke down after a 2010 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that killed eight Turks and a Turkish-American. But the rapprochement has been slow, fueling concerns that Turkey may be backsliding on its commitment. Israeli and Turkish negotiators plan to meet this coming week to discuss Turkey's demand for compensation for victims of the flotilla. U.S. officials hope the discussions will jumpstart the process of restoring full diplomatic relations and exchanging ambassadors between two countries that Washington sees...

As Independence Day celebrations were winding down Tuesday night, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made a guest appearance on Channel 2's left-wing satire show Eretz Nehederet. One of the final questions that the show's host Eyal Kitzis asked the premier was how he would like to be remembered after he leaves office. Netanyahu thought a moment and said, "I'd like to be remembered as the leader who preserved Israel's security." On the face of it, Netanyahu's stated aspiration might seem dull. In a year he'll be the longest-serving prime minister in the state's history, and all he wants is to...

On April 16, Palestinians in Gaza cheered. They danced in the streets and handed out candy and sweets to motorists and pedestrians alike. They were not however celebrating the inauguration of a new school or the completion of a hospital. Instead, they were celebrating death. On April 16, Palestinians of Gaza celebrated the Boston marathon atrocity. While our first responders were picking up severed limbs and tending to the wounded, Palestinians reveled in Boston’s misery. The Palestinian reaction to the horrific events in Boston was unsurprising and was in fact quite predictable. After the 9-11 attacks that killed 3,000 people,...

Israeli news outlets have ignored the imminent razing of an ancient Roman archaeological site by Hamas in Gaza, according to Israel Media Watch (IMW). The terror group is building a military training site for terrorist purposes. To this end, it is partially destroying the ancient Anthedon Harbor—which includes the ruins of a Roman temple and archaeological remains from the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras, and has been nominated as a World Heritage site. UN Watch has protested the silence of UNESCO on the matter, and IMW is asking why Israeli media is silent, too. No Hebrew language Israeli news...

End US aid to these savages. Now. "Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah Celebrate Boston Terror Attack," Israel News Agency, April 15: Jerusalem, Israel --- April 15, 2013 … Shortly after terror bombs exploded and murdered over 12 people at the Boston Marathon, members of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah were reported to be dancing in the streets of Gaza, handing out candies to passerbys. A number of Palestinians had danced in the street in celebration of the 9/11 attacks in 2001 on the World Trade Center and Washington resulting in the deaths of thousands of Americans.

Where did those arms come from? "U.S.-approved arms for Libyan rebels went to jihadis" -- Jihad Watch, December 5, 2012 "UN Warns Libyan Weapons Spreading to Gaza, Syria," by Chana Ya'ar for Israel National News, April 10 (thanks to Voice of the Copts): A United Nations panel says weaponry from Libya is spreading across North Africa to Gaza and Syria “at an alarming rate.” The five-expert committee said in a 94-page report sent Tuesday to the U.N. Security Council that illegal transfers of arms from Libya to armed groups and terrorists have been proven. The arms trafficking violations involved more...

Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday expressed sympathy for the families of nine Turkish activists killed during violent clashes with Israeli commandos who raided a ship trying to break the security blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Speaking in Istanbul, Kerry commented on a recent U.S.-mediated deal aimed at ending a diplomatic rift between Israel and Turkey, whose Islamist government is supportive of Hamas. The agreement entailed an Israeli apology for “any errors that could have led to loss of life” during the 2010 incident and a pledge to negotiate compensation. … Speaking alongside Kerry, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet...

Police in Hamas-ruled Gaza have started grabbing young men with long or gel-styled spiky hair off the streets, bundling them into jeeps, mocking them and shaving their heads, two of those targeted and a rights group said Sunday. It is the latest sign that the Islamic militants are imposing their strict practices on the population. Hamas has been slowly forcing its fundamentalist interpretation of the religion on already conservative Gaza since it overran the territory in 2007, but the new crackdown on long hair and tight or low-waist pants—in several cases accompanied by beatings—appears to be one of the most...

Egyptian maritime authorities have seized a ship with a crew of 14 and a cargo of 105 crates of unspecified weapons and ammunition, which belonged to an African security company, Egyptian security officials told AFP. The military's spokesman Colonel Ahmed Mohamed Ali said on his Facebook page the ship belonged to a company that secures maritime routes in the Red Sea, a haven of Somalia-based pirates. "The weapons and ammunition on this ship are related to its work and mission to secure commercial vessels," he said. But Israel's Channel 10 television contradicted the Egyptian military's version, reporting that the boat...

After an unusually long break from rocket attacks and military responses from a five-month cease-fire, rockets again began shelling southern Israel from Gaza the last few days. Israel didn’t wait long to deliver a response, attacking “two extensive terror sites� with air attacks of their own. Gaza answered back with two more rocket launches, once again highlighting the fragile status quo: Israel will not sit back while Palestinian militants attack the south of the country from Gaza, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said Wednesday, hours after the military retaliated for rocket fire for the first time since an eight-day exchange of...

The US State Department announced on Friday that nearly $500 million in aid had been unblocked for transfer to the Palestinian Authority, months after Congress froze the funds in late-2012. “To date, we have moved $295.7 million in fiscal year 2012 money… and $200 million in fiscal year 2013 assistance,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. The announcement came on the heels of US President Barack Obama’s first trip to Israel and the West Bank since assuming office in 2009. The Palestinian Authority has been in the grips of a deep economic crisis, largely due to promised aid going...

In a dramatic development that occurred just as US President Barack Obama was leaving the country, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke with Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan for the first time since the Israeli prime minister took power in 2009. Netanyahu voiced regret for the loss of life in the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, apologizing for any mistakes that led to the death of nine Turkish activists. Breaking a three-year deadlock, the two agreed to normalize relations. "Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed an apology to the Turkish people for any error that may have led to the loss of life, and agreed to...

Obama Speaks Peace As Gaza Rockets Fall On IsraelBy Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem, Israel --- March 21, 2013 … US President Barack Obama was awakened in Jerusalem early this morning with news that southern Israel was under rocket attack. Yet, Obama preceded with his day viewing the Dead Sea Scrolls, speaking with the PA in Rahmallah and giving a speech in Jerusalem. The Islamic terror organization Hamas, targeted innocent civilians firing 4 rockets of which two slammed into the Israel town of Sderot. Obama's speech at the Jerusalem Convention Center to hundreds of Israeli university students confused many. One...

U.S. President Barack Obama confers with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L), at an official state dinner hosted by Israel's President Shimon Peres (not pictured) in Jerusalem, March 21, 2013.

Two rockets fired from the Islamist-run Gaza Strip hit a southern Israeli border town on Thursday, drawing condemnation from visiting U.S. President Barack Obama. A group with links to al Qaeda, called Magles Shoura al-Muhahddin, claimed responsibility for the strike on Sderot near the Gaza frontier which wounded no one but damaged the side of a building. In an online statement, the movement said it had launched the rockets during Obama’s visit to show their attacks could not be stopped by Israeli air defenses—a possible reference to Israel’s partially U.S.-funded Iron Dome anti-missile battery. Obama, who was in Jerusalem about...

Who Killed The Baby - Hamas or Israel?By Alan M. Dershowitz Israel News AgencyJerusalem, Israel --- March 15, 2013 … The recent disclosure that Omar Misharawi, the baby son of BBC photographer Jihad Misharawi, was actually killed by an errant Hamas rocket rather than by an Israel missile, should have absolutely no moral implications. Of course the baby was killed by Hamas. He would have been killed by Hamas even if the missile that ended his life had been fired by Israel. Hamas is totally and wholly responsible for this death, as it is responsible for every civilian death in...

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Waiting until his second term, Barack Obama has finally decided to visit Israel in his official presidential capacity, beginning on March 20th. Obama will also be spending several hours in Ramallah to meet with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Freed by his re-election from domestic political constraints, Obama can be expected to vigorously renew his call for Israel to retreat back to the pre-June 1967 lines with minor land swaps and to continue to refer to “East Jerusalem” as the capital of the new Palestinian state. He hasn’t asked the Palestinians to give up their insistence on the so-called “right of...

Last week’s “under-the-radar” rocket attack on Ashkelon, Israel was the inevitable outcome of cumulative, distressing circumstances, foremost of which was the recent joint call by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal for a “peaceful Intifada.” Their promotion of a “popular resistance” manifested, initially, in mass protests in the West Bank, ostensibly against the detention of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners in Israel, but quickly devolved into a series of clashes between IDF soldiers and Molotov cocktail- and rock-throwing Palestinians. This “non-violence” intensified significantly after Arafat Jaradat, a Palestinian arrested during one of the demonstrations, died in Israeli custody....

Hagel, at Obama's bidding, plans to send troops to Judea andSamaria (the "West Bank") where they would soon be victims of Hamas terror. It's in writing. An investigative report. There is only one reason that Chuck Hagel was picked by President Obama to be US Defense Secretary, and why Obama will go nuclear to get him confirmed: Hagel is the only person alive now dumb enough to deploy US “peacekeeping” troops to what is surely a "West Bank" deathtrap. Don’t believe me??! Well, in early 2009, two years after Hamas violently took over Gaza, Hagel along with a ragged has-been...

As the civil war in Syria enters its third year, there is much discussion of the regimeÂ’s chemical weapons and whether SyriaÂ’s Bashar al-Assad will unleash them against Syrian rebels, or whether a power vacuum after AssadÂ’s fall might make those horrific tools available to the highest bidder. The conversation centers on SyriaÂ’s chemical weaponry, not on something vastly more serious: its nuclear weaponry. It well might have. This is the inside story of why it does not. Relations between the United States and Israel had grown rocky after IsraelÂ’s incursion into Lebanon in 2006, for Secretary of State Condoleezza...

President Obama’s actions in Libya were already suspicious for a number of reasons. First, during Obama’s presidential campaign, he asserted that his priority was to get America out of the two wars it was already fighting. Second, Obama was a staunch critic of the Bush administration for unconstitutionally embarking on a war without congressional approval — an action of which President Obama is now guilty. Finally, as the economy is teetering on collapse, one would assume the last thing the President would want is to have to fund a third war. And yet here we are. However, once we delve...

Hence the failure to mention Gaddafi by name. From July 17, 2010 (American Thinker): Remember as a kid drawing connect-the-dots pictures? Simply follow the dots and a clear picture emerges. As an adult, connecting the dots of Obama’s actions leads to an oxymoronic picture. A clear picture of a murky web. Obama’s actions continually link him to people and causes that the majority of Americans do not support. The recent event of another aid ship sailing to Gaza is an example of to whom and what the strands of Obama’s web link him, and unfortunately America. Last year, right around...

Swedish photographer Paul Hansen won the 2012 World Press Photo award Friday for newspaper Dagens Nyheter with a picture of two Palestinian children killed in an Israeli missile strike being carried to their funeral. The picture shows a group of men marching the dead bodies through a narrow street in Gaza City. The victims, a brother and sister, are wrapped in white cloth with only their faces showing. ... Hansen's Nov. 20 shot won top prize in both the spot news single photograph category and the overall competition. It portrays 2-year-old Suhaib Hijazi and her 3-year-old brother Muhammad, who were...

Up to 200 smuggling tunnels shut since Egyptian President Morsi took office; some 30% of all goods reach Gaza through tunnels. Egyptian forces have flooded smuggling tunnels under the border with the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip in a campaign to shut them down, Egyptian and Palestinian officials said. The network of tunnels is a vital lifeline for Gaza, bringing in an estimated 30 percent of all goods that reach the enclave and circumventing a blockade imposed by Israel for more than seven years. Reuters reporters saw one tunnel being used to bring in cement and gravel suddenly fill with water on...

The rich heritage of Tunisia, maybe the only place where the Arab Spring stands a chance Modern-day Tunisians, more Westernized than most Arabs, see themselves as descendants of the great Carthaginian general who invaded Italy. The Arab Spring began in Sidi Bouzid, a small Tunisian town, at the end of 2010. In a desperate protest against the corrupt and oppressive government that had made it impossible for him to earn a living, food-cart vendor Mohamed Bouazizi stood before City Hall, doused himself with gasoline, and lit a match. His suicide seeded a revolutionary storm that swept the countryside and eventually...

Asked in an interview on the Al Mayadeen news channel whether he would visit Gaza while in Cairo next week or before his term as president expires in June, he replied: "My wish is bigger than this. I wish to pray in Jerusalem after complete liberation." Iran does not recognize Israel. "If they allow it, I would go to Gaza to visit the people," he said, without saying whose authority he would seek.

Hamas is once again trying to punish the residents of Gaza by attempting to reduce the scope of Israeli goods entering the region. Hamas' Ministry of Economics announced this week its decision to ban the import of certain types of goods into Gaza through the Israeli crossings. These include office furniture, various types of foods, hygiene products, gas pipes, plastic, plastic bags and clothing. The local population in Gaza expressed its dissatisfaction with the decision, especially since the Israeli products that enter Gaza are considered to be of much higher quality than the goods that are smuggled into Gaza from...

Who said this about a world leader: He's a "political coward -- an essentially unchallenged leader who nevertheless is unwilling to lead or spend political capital to advance the cause of compromise"? Was it perhaps John Boehner describing Barack Obama? No, though the shoe would certainly fit. It was Barack Obama describing Binyamin Netanyahu. This insight into Obama's views comes from an interview with the Atlantic Magazine's Jeffrey Goldberg. Let's pause for second to consider the gall. Mr. Obama knows full well that the United States confronts an unavoidable debt crisis if our government does not reform entitlements. Rather than...

“When it was my turn, they took me blindfolded,” the thief said. “Suddenly I felt a pain in my right hand that was out of this world. My hand had just been chopped off.” This is Gao, once the seat of an empire, and then a glorified village, and now a city the size of Scranton under the boot of its Islamist conquerors. Gao has become a place where thieves have their hands cut off, where women are forced to wear the stifling Hijab in 113 degree heat or be lashed and where unmarried couples are stoned to death. Borders...

The number of migrants crossing the border between Egypt and Israel dropped to zero last week for the first time since 2006, as construction of the last small sections of a 150-mile fence is due to be completed in the coming weeks. A total of 36 migrants crossed into Israel from Egypt in December, all of whom were detained, compared with 2,295 in January. The numbers have steadily declined throughout 2012 as construction of the vast steel fence through the desert from Eilat to the border with Gaza has progressed. "We have succeeded in blocking the phenomenon of illegal infiltrators,"...

When looking back at the missile attacks against Israel last month by the Hamas Terrorist organization in Gaza, it is hard not to make a few observations. As rapidly as the unsolicited attacks began, they ended in the same fashion. We must ask ourselves, what was achieved by Hamas? There are certainly many valuable pieces of information that were inadvertently released by Israel to their enemies during Operation Pillar of Defense. Among these were Israel’s plan of response to a missile attack. This is understandable though because in any act of defense against your aggressor, your defensive posture will be...

Again and again, we see the true nature of the devout and the pious -- genocidal aspirations, ethnic cleansing, hatred and violence. There is a consistent thread that runs through all of this, no matter the country of origin (Austalia, France, UK, US, Germany, et al) -- the common thread is Islamic jihad. Country, language, border is of no import. "Islam is Islam" (to quote Turkish PM Erdogan). Mufti Of Australia And Delegation Meet With Hamas Prime Minister Haniya And Officials In Gaza MEMRI Following are excerpts from a report on a delegation of Australian Muslims to the Gaza Strip,...

Gaza militants violated laws of war by launching hundreds of rockets at Israeli civilians during last month’s fighting, Human Rights Watch said in a release Monday. … “Palestinian armed groups made clear in their statements that harming civilians was their aim,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at the New York-based rights group. “There is simply no legal justification for launching rockets at populated areas.” …

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip "violated the laws of war" by firing rockets at populated areas in Israel during an eight-day flare up last month, Human Rights Watch said on Monday. Citing Israeli army figures, HRW said that approximately "1,500 rockets were fired at Israel between November 14 and 21," of which "at least 800 struck Israel, including 60 that hit populated areas." These attacks "killed three Israeli civilians, wounded at least 38, several seriously, and destroyed civilian property," HRW said, noting that there were also rockets fired from Gaza "that fell short of their intended targets in Israel...

More than 40,000 people have been slaughtered during the rebellion in Syria, and the death toll rises daily. The European Union does not appear to be particularly concerned. North Korea’s rulers have launched a three-stage rocket, moving closer to their goal of developing a nuclear-tipped ICBM, and they’re sharing nuclear-weapons technology with the world’s leading sponsors of terrorism in Iran. The EU does not seem to be worrying about that either. Israel is considering building homes on barren hills adjacent to Jerusalem. The EU’s 27 foreign ministers said they were “deeply dismayed” and warned Israel of unspecified consequences if the...

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency has notified Congress that it intends to sell Israel some 6,900 tail kits which can turn "dumb" bombs into satellite-guided "smart bombs," including bombs capable of penetrating hardened targets, Bloomberg Business Week reported. Some of the hardened targets one would immediately think about are those underground nuclear plants the Iranian government has been so chatty about this past decade or so. According to BBW, the sale will includes 1,725 all-weather satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM tail kits with BLU-109 bombs, which are 2,000-pound, hard-target penetrators. Bombs delivered this way are among the most...

An alarming, must-see video at Big Peace shows prominent leaders of the Islamic community in the United States openly raising money for terrorism at a Saudi-funded mosque in central Florida. Organized by the Islamic Society of Central Florida’s Imam Muhammad Musri, the compelling video features leftist former UK MP George Galloway and three-time felon Mahdi Bray of the Muslim American Society’s Freedom Foundation raising at least $55,000 for Hamas. The fundraiser– held at Masjid Al-Rahman mosque in Orlando, Florida– was intended to raise money for Galloway’s Viva Palestina, then funneling money openly to the Islamist terrorist movement of Hamas in...

On August 23, 2011 the FBI arrested Imam Abu Taubah aka Marcus Dwayne Robertson. The charge was possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon, Case Number: 6:11-mj-1380 Attached to Imam Abu Robertson’s case is a Notice of Intent To Use Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Information (FISA). The U.S. Government’s intention to use its FISA powers signals probable cause to charge Imam “Taubah” Robertson “the target of such search is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power”. The facts presented in these filed charges leads this reporter to suspect an element of foreign intrigue may be...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Terry Waite, back in Lebanon for the first time since he was freed from years of captivity at the hands of Islamic militants, says he would gladly meet his erstwhile kidnappers. "I wouldn't mind meeting with them at all," the former Church of England envoy said on arrival at Beirut airport. "I'm sure that they have changed, that they have grown and developed, just as much as I have." Waite, who had helped free Western hostages held by extremists in Libya, Iran and Lebanon, came to Lebanon in 1987 to negotiate more releases. Accused of being a...

Tens of thousands of people have gathered to attend a rally in the Gaza Strip to mark the 25th anniversary of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal gave a fiery speech during his first ever visit to the territory. He said he would never recognise Israel, and insisted Palestinians would never cede any part of their land. Hamas removed Fatah from Gaza by force in 2007 after winning elections there. Fatah governs parts of the West Bank. 'Made in Gaza' The BBC's Yolande Knell in Gaza City says the event is intended to send a message...

Illustrating that the jihadist enterprise transcends all borders, American Islamist groups typically preoccupied with remaking the U.S. have been leaving their fingerprints on the campaign to exchange secular authoritarianism for religious authoritarianism in the Middle East. As these organizations labor stateside to nudge the governing class to embrace Arab Islamists at the expense of liberals — prompting Egyptian intellectual Essam Abdallah to lament that "the most dramatic oppression of the region's civil societies and the Arab Spring … is led by the powerful Islamist lobbies in Washington" — several of the groups' past and current officials have emerged as key...

The Egyptian army has set up barricades outside the presidential palace, after ordering protesters to leave the area. It follows violent overnight clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohammed Morsi that left five people dead and 644 injured. Most protesters left the palace by the 15:00 (13:00 GMT) deadline, though some opposition activists remained. Meanwhile, Egypt's top Islamic body has called on the president to suspend his decree claiming sweeping powers. The Al-Azhar institution also demanded an unconditional dialogue between the president and his opponents. The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says this move by one of the most...