Free Republic

I saw other threads about this story, but didn't see the video posted. Video is at the bottom of the story.

Hamas announced the sole power plant in Gaza went dark after it ran out of diesel on Tuesday. "The Gaza power plant has completely stopped working because of the shortage of fuel entering the Gaza Strip, and the depletion of diesel it needs to work," said Ahmad Abu al-Amrin, an official from Gaza's energy authority. He called on Egypt "to assume its historical responsibility in supporting the resistance of the Palestinian people by ensuring they had all the necessary fuel to operate the plant". .....

An Israeli Cabinet minister says his country will "settle the score" with the perpetrators of a bombing attempt in Bangkok. An Iranian man fleeing wounded from an explosion at a rented Bangkok house lobbed a grenade at police that rebounded and blew off one of his legs Tuesday in a series of blasts. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the explosion, which wounded four civilians, was an attempted terrorist attack backed by Iran. Israel has also blamed Iran for a pair of attacks on Israeli diplomatic targets in India and Georgia on Monday. Tehran has denied responsibility for those attacks.

The Iranian State media just announced that another high ranking Revolutionary Guard commander, Ahmad Sodagar, has died of a heart attack. Sodagar, a major general, had served as the head of security and intelligence of the Guards’ Khatam-al-Anbia Base and was the chief commander of the Guards’ Prophet Mohammad Division. He had served in the Iran-Iraq war and, at the time of his death, was the head of the program “Defaeh Moghadas” or Holy Defense. This is the fifth Guard commander to die because of a heart attack or stroke in the past month. Those reported to have died before...

The Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE) has announced that its President Chakib Ben Makhlouf has visited the Gaza Strip on an extended tour where he visited Hamas facilities, praised Palestinian “martyrs, and visited the grave of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yasine who was killed by Israel. According to the FIOE announcement: Mr Chakib Ben Makhlouf the president of FIOE visited Gaza Strip in an extended tour where he inspected the conditions of Palestinians and their civil institutions after three years since the Israeli war on the strip. During his visit, the FIOE president expressed the commitment of...

The Palestinian Authority wants UNESCO to declare the Patriarchs’ Cave and Rachel’s Tomb as its heritage sites while Israel is excluding them from its own list. A government committee headed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is meeting Tuesday morning to decide on adding 10 more sites to Israel’s official list of heritage sites, but the Bible-based Patriarchs’ Cave and Rachel’s Tomb are not among them Rabbi-Professor Daniel Hershkowitz, Science and Technology Minister and head of the Jewish Home party, issued an urgent appeal to Cabinet Secretary Tzvi Hauser that the two sites be included. The government committee on heritage sites...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Israel on Monday of potential economic instability, AFP reported. According to the report, the IMF said the instability was due to the high unemployment and deep poverty among Arab-Israelis as well as hareidi-religious Jews. The warning was made in an IMF report on the Israeli economy. “Severe poverty is concentrated in these groups,” the IMF report was quoted as having said, adding that only 40 percent of hareidi men have jobs, and only 20 percent of Arab-Israeli women are employed. The report noted that their wage levels are low compared to other Israeli groups....

For the second straight year, President Obama is seeking to decrease funding to joint U.S.-Israel missile defense programs. Tucked within Obama’s 2013 budget proposal is a request to reduce the amount of money Israel receives for its critical missile defense systems by $6.3 million relative to the 2012 budget proposal. Among these defense systems are Arrow and David’s Sling, both of which are jointly operated with the U.S. Publicly, the president has referred to himself as a stalwart champion of the U.S.-Israel military alliance. But administration efforts to reduce the amount of missile defense aid that Israel receives appear to...

In the context of the social justice movement, it is instructive to learn from Greece, a country facing economic collapse. Last summer’s demonstrations in Israel have brought to the forefront socioeconomic issues. It was largely due to an increased sensitivity to the somewhat nebulous concept of “social justice” that enabled the Histradrut labor federation to launch a general strike last week for contract workers’ rights. The horrid treatment of these outsourced, temporary employees has been going on for years. But it was only after the summer’s demonstrations, which managed to mobilize record numbers of average Israelis to take to the...

Jerusalem Police on Sunday again barred entry to the Temple Mount to all non-Muslims, citing the latest case of potential anti-Jewish incitement, according to Israel Radio. The announcement came after Moshe Feiglin, head of the Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) faction in the Likud party, said that he intended to go up to the Temple Mount on Sunday, something he claims to have done on the 19th of every Jewish month for the past 10 years. According to the Israel Radio report, police said they will not allow any religious representative to use the Temple Mount or Western Wall for political...

The Arab League has instructed its members to deny citizenship to Palestinian Arab refugees (or their descendants) “to... protect their right to return to their homeland”. Read how they are treated by their brothers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thcy2xDGmQc&feature=related

Assailants targeted Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia in near-simultaneous strikes Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed on archenemy Iran, and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah. Iran denied responsibility for the attacks. The bombs, which wounded four people, threatened to ratchet up already high tensions between Iran, which has been accused of developing a nuclear weapons program, and Israel, which says such a program would be an existential threat to the Jewish state. The violence came as recent comments by Israeli officials have raised concerns Israel might be preparing an imminent strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. U.S. and other...

As part of the "Academic Boycott of Israel," BDS professors speak about how to most effectively demonize Israel in "every classroom." In a breakout session of the “Academic Boycott of Israel” initiative, Amy Kaplan, professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania spoke about how teachers can most effectively demonize Israel in every classroom as well as the "positive aspects" of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

NEW DELHI –The wife of an Israeli diplomat in New Delhi and her driver were injured on Monday when the car they were traveling in was bombed, officials said. A second attempted bombing was defused outside the Israeli embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, at about the same time. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately blamed Iran, which has vowed revenge for the recent assassinations of several scientists involved in Iran’s nuclear program. Hezbollah, which receives funding and strong support from Iran, also had promised to avenge the assassination of one...

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that the PA will not meet Israel’s demand that it recognize Israel as the Jewish State, Kol Yisrael radio reported. According to the report, Abbas explained this statement using the reasoning that once that the PA agrees to this requirement, there would be no value to the million and a half PA Arabs living in Israel, and no refugee would be allowed to come back to Israel, in keeping with the PA demand that Israel allow millions of Arab refugees to return to their old homes in Israeli cities as part of...

Any good armchair general with a good search engine and time on their hands can figure out in a hurry that the song and dance about Iran being unable to close the Strait if Hormuz for long is just a plain crock. Worse than a crock. Yet, this big Orwellian lie persists, so once again I have to set the record straight. Iran has the capability of not only closing the Strait for some time, but creating a world of hurt for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. Iran possesses a build up of anti-ship weapons called Sunburn missiles, which it...

In case you thought the title was referring to the Palestinians living in Gaza, or even Judea and Samaria, you’d be wrong. From my vantage point, these Palestinians have it pretty good, whether in relation to Palestinians living elsewhere, even in Jordan, or to Arabs generally, living in Egypt or Turkey. “Palestinian” is a name given to Arabs after the ’67 War, who lived or did live in the area known as Palestine during the Palestine Mandate and afterwards right up to the present and includes their descendants even if such descendants never set foot in the area known as...

A new team is set to join the NASCAR racing league, a sport currently holding the number two spot in revenues and number of viewers (after football) – American Israel Racing (AIR). The goal behind the new initiative: "Promote awareness of and support by Americans for Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East." The new team is planning on having their car, adorned with an Israeli flag; participate in the Daytona 500 which is set to take place at the end of the month in Florida. The race is considered one of the most watched sporting events in...

Cairo (CNN) -- The first anniversary of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's dramatic ouster from office arrived unceremoniously Saturday amid strained relations with citizens and its longtime ally, the United States. Activists kicked off a general strike. Scattered and lightly attended protests occurred at universities in Cairo with activists demanding the swift transfer of power from the Supreme Council of Armed Forces to a civilian government. The Egypt Revolutionaries' Alliance, comprised of democratic and secular political groups, wants the immediate dismantling of the interim government and the appointment of leaders picked by the People's Assembly, the parliament's lower house. It also...

Iran will soon unveil "big new" nuclear achievements, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday while reiterating Tehran's readiness to revive talks with the West over the country's controversial nuclear program. Ahmadinejad spoke at a rally in Tehran as tens of thousands of Iranians marked the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that toppled the pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamic clerics to power. Ahmadinejad did not elaborate on the upcoming announcement but insisted Iran would never give up its uranium enrichment, a process that makes material for reactors as well as weapons. The West suspects Iran's nuclear program is aimed at producing...

Archbishop Atallah Hanna on Wednesday condemned an attack targeting a monastery in west Jerusalem, expressing anger after extremists defiled the holy site with anti-Christian messages. In a statement, the archbishop said that “what the settlers have done is rejected, and their racism is humiliating. … They didn’t harm us, they harmed only themselves,” he added during a visit to pray at the site. “We strongly condemn any attack against holy sites for any religion; it is totally prohibited.” “Death to Christians” was daubed Tuesday in Hebrew on the outer walls of the Monastery of the Cross, an 11th-century fortress-like holy...

On Monday afternoon, the Palestinians destroyed officially whatever was left of the concept of a peace process with Israel. When PA Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas signed a deal with Hamas terror-master Khaled Mashaal in Doha, Qatar, the notion that there is a significant segment of Palestinian society that is not committed to the destruction of Israel was finally and truly sunk. >>SNIP<< It is a testament to the weakened state of the US in the region that in his hour of distress, Abbas opted to turn to Hamas.

In the face of Iran's continued pursuit of a nuclear weapon, Israel tested the Arrow missile defense system on Friday in what officials said was a successful demonstration of the country's ability to defend itself in a future war. At 11 a.m., an F-15 Israel Air Force (IAF) fighter jet launched a Blue Sparrow, a missile developed by Raphael to impersonate long-range Iranian ballistic missiles. The Arrow's radar and detection system, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) detected the incoming "enemy" missile and tracked it together with the US X-Band radar deployed in the Negev dessert.

According to reports from the Free Syria Army, the Syrian military has moved forces stationed in the southern part of the Syrian Golan Heights closer to Israel. The Syrian military did not come close to the border with Israel. However, armored forces that were stationed along the Syria-Jordan border, which were recently reinforced, were moved and are now closer to Israel, according to the report. The Free Syria Army is the largest opposition group in Syria and is partly made up of defectors from the official Syrian Army. Israel has been concerned that Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad, whose regime is...

Police tore down Thursday a structure illegally built by Arabs near the northward bound Begin Route in northern Jerusalem, near Atarot Junction. The structure was built by several lawbreakers who fenced off a large plot of land without permission. The structure was located near the village of Beit Hanina, inside the area defined as Area C, under the responsibility of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria. Strangely, the Israel Electric Company agreed to connect the illegal structure to its power supply. The demolition is an achievement credited to Regavim, an NGO watchdog group for Jewish national property rights.

A report by NBC claims Israel's Mossad is backing an Iranian terror group in an assassination campaign against Iranian nuclear assets. US officials say deadly attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists are being carried out by an Iranian dissident armed, funded and trained by the Mossad, an NBC report claims. It is widely believed the The People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) has killed five Iranian nuclear scientists since 2007, and may have destroyed a missile research and development site. The attacks have been conducted in a dramatic fashion,with motorcycle-borne assailants often attaching small magnetic bombs to the exterior of the victims’...

In an address recently delivered to an AIPAC audience in New York, New Jersey governor Chris Christie articulated a responsible view of America’s role in the world, stressing the importance of us standing by our friends and taking action against our adversaries. “America should stand by its friends and its democratic allies, even, and sometimes especially, when it’s unpopular to do so,” Christie said, outlining his foreign policy vision. “And you know I know, that it may not be fashionable in some of the chancelleries, the foreign ministries, and salons around the world to talk about why America stands with...

On the campaign trail, presidential candidate Barack Obama once called for a "reset" policy with Iran. Supposedly, the unpopularity of the Texan provocateur George W. Bush and his administration's inability to finesse "soft power" had needlessly alienated the Iranian theocracy. After all, the widely quoted but highly politicized 2007 National Intelligence Estimate claimed that Iran had ceased work on a bomb in 2003 and would not have a weapon for the foreseeable future. That flawed analysis fueled another popular talking point: that the Bush-Cheney warmongers were looking for more phantom weapons of mass destruction in Iran of the sort that...

It's now quite clear that Obama is playing chicken with Israel on Iranian nukes. That is why Leon Panetta came out with a statement this week accusing Israel of planning to attack Iran. If that statement is true, it's the worst kind of sabotage, undermining the advantages of surprise. If it's false, it is intended to place Israel at the focus of Iranian rage. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. The goal of Obama's nuclear brinkmanship is to drive Israel into making dangerous territorial compromises. This is a Carteresque policy: blame the victim, and arm her enemy. Jimmy...

President Shimon Peres reached out to the Iranian people Wednesday evening, saying “there is no need for us to live as enemies.” In a special address to the Knesset marking its 63rd anniversary, Peres spoke about the peace process with the Palestinian Authority, but also talked about the Iranian nuclear threat. In direct remarks to the Iranian people, the Israeli president said, “We were not born enemies, and there is no need for us to live as enemies. Do not allow the flags of hostility to cast a dark shadow on your heritage. You are a sensitive people that aspire...

Contrary to recent misleading press reports, no Jew seeks a “right of return” to Arab states. Some years ago, a daughter of the wealthy Jewish Castro family from Egypt heard Anwar Sadat’s widow Jehan deliver a talk in New York. Congratulating her afterwards, the Egyptian Jewess exchanged pleasantries with Mrs. Sadat. “But you must come back to visit [Egypt] and to show it to your children,” Mrs. Sadat said, adding the traditional Egyptian courtesy, beti betak – “my house is your house.” Little did she appreciate the irony, but Jehan Sadat’s presidential villa had literally belonged to the Castro family,...

Pass this on. I am, although I haven't checked the website. Delta Airlines has a frequent flyer program and a website which tells you how many miles one must have to get a free ticket from one place to another. With regard to the Middle East, the site is: http://dmn.delta.com/skymiles/direct/charts/middleeast On this site, there is a chart which begins as follows: “For Travel From the Middle East: Bahrain; Egypt; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Israel; Jordan; Kuwait; Lebanon; Occupied Palestinian Territory; Oman; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Syrian Arab Republic; United Arab Emirates (composed of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras El...

Leading Norwegian newspaper 'Aftenposten' warns country on verge of becoming a country without Jews. Norway’s largest newspaper is afraid the country is losing its Jews. “Norway is in danger of becoming a country without a Jewish population,” the daily Aftenposten wrote in an editorial over the weekend calling on the state to provide more protection for the Jews in the country who are affiliated with the two synagogues there – one in Oslo, and the other in Trondheim. Related: •Apology to Norway•'Norway attack suspect had anti-Muslim, pro-Israel views'According to the paper, half of the membership fees from the Oslo synagogue...

Let’s say you’re Israel. An enemy dedicated to your destruction is developing the means to wipe you off the face of the earth, with the covert and overt help of world powers like Russia and China. It’s only a matter of months before that enemy achieves its goals – and when it does you will not be able to stop the mushroom cloud rising over your cities. So you come up with a sophisticated military plan to strike your foe in an extraordinarily targeted fashion. And you ask for the help of your longtime ally – virtually your only ally...

There is no idea so hateful or useless that some university somewhere won’t hold a conference on it. The latest example of this unfortunate truism is the recently announced “Israel/Palestine and the One-State Conference” scheduled for early March at the Harvard Kennedy School. Nineteen speakers and ten panels will spend two days explaining why “’two-states for two peoples’ is no longer a viable option for Israel/Palestine,” as the organizers assert, and discussing a “solution” to the Israeli-Arab crisis that has absolutely no chance of ever being implemented. The adherents of this veiled assault on Israel argue that the “two-state solution,”...

Israel embassies preparing for Iran strike? Diplomats stationed in Israel request gas masks, prepare contingency plans in case of missile attacks; envoys fear that thousands of dual-citizenship Israelis will seek evacuation Itamar Eichner Published: 02.08.12, 00:05 / Israel News Preparing for Iran strike? Foreign embassies in Israel have recently started to formulate contingency plans to evacuate their citizens from the Jewish State in case of a missile attack on Israel. Senior officials in Jerusalem said that several diplomatic missions have shown great interest in preparing for various emergency situations, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday. In the framework of the preparations for...

Republican presidential contender Rep. Ron Paul (Texas) said Monday that the sanctions put in place against Iran are "terrible" for the United States and its allies. "I voted against them and I think they're terrible and I think it's going to hurt the people who are trying to overthrow [President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad. People, when they're attacked from the outside and made to hurt, become more nationalistic," Paul said on Fox News's "On the Record" Monday night. President Obama issued an executive order Monday calling for new sanctions against Iran and its central bank, which were included in the defense authorization...

Israel's defence establishment has indicated it is prepared to take action should Syria's vast store of unconventional weapons fall into the hands of Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Tel Aviv has expressed grave concerns about the fate of Syria's weaponry should Bashar al Assad fall, saying they pose as great a threat to Israeli security as Iranian nuclear development. As the violent government crack down on Syrian civilian protestors enters its eleventh month, Israeli intelligence now regards the fall of the Assad regime as inevitable. Syria's massive stockpile of weapons includes surface-to-air missiles, high-trajectory long-range rockets and missiles, biological and chemical...

Israeli hackers took down a website run by Hamas on Tuesday, and warned that the web company which hosted the site will be their next target. The 'IDF Team' hacker group took responsibility for the attack. The affected website, www.qasssam.ps, is run by Hamas's Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades terrorist force, and often displays content celebrating rocket fire on Israeli civilians from Gaza. The website was unavailable after IDF Team said it would take the site offline. IDF Team added that it had first sent an email to the Nashirnet web hosting company asking them "to remove the Hamas terrorist site. But...

Report: Israel will ask to station IAF jets in Cyprus Israeli officials tell Xinua news agency possibility of offshore airbase will be raised during Netanyahu's upcoming visit to neighboring island Ynet Israeli and Cypriot officials are planning to discuss allowing the Israeli Air Force to station jets in the neighboring island, Chinese news agency Xinua reported Tuesday. The issue will be raised during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's scheduled visit to Cyprus later this month, Xinua quoted Israeli officials as saying. According to the report, an Israeli embassy official told the Cyprus Mail in January that Netanyahu "will come to Cyprus...

If you take the Obama administration’s statements at face value you are left scratching your head in wonder. The Obama administration is absolutely furious at Russia and China. The two UN Security Council permanent members’ move on Saturday to veto a resolution on Syria utterly infuriated the US’s President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN Ambassador Susan Rice. And they want us all to know just how piping mad they really are. Rice called the vetoes “unforgivable,” and said that “any further blood that flows will be on their hands.” She said the US was “disgusted.” Clinton...

The wave of protest in Syria has put to the test the strategic alliance between Iran (and Hizbullah) and Bashar Assad's regime. Syria is the main state component of the "resistance camp" and serves as a logistical hinterland for Hizbullah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Iran sees its unequivocal backing for Syria as a demonstration of its ability to stay loyal to its allies despite the regional turmoil. Iran believes that ultimately the "Islamic mantle" will supplant the region's pro-Western regimes as part of the Islamic awakening. This would offset the possible loss of Syria and reconsolidate the resistance camp...

The wave of protest in Syria has put to the test the strategic alliance between Iran (and Hizbullah) and Bashar Assad's regime. Syria is the main state component of the "resistance camp" and serves as a logistical hinterland for Hizbullah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Iran sees its unequivocal backing for Syria as a demonstration of its ability to stay loyal to its allies despite the regional turmoil. Iran believes that ultimately the "Islamic mantle" will supplant the region's pro-Western regimes as part of the Islamic awakening. This would offset the possible loss of Syria and reconsolidate the resistance camp...

Defenders of the president’s Iran policy declare that Israel should remain patient and forgo attacks. Because, hasn’t the president already said Iran shouldn’t be permitted to acquire nuclear weapons? Yesterday, the Obama administration did move to implement the Iran sanctions passed by Congress, and specifically key parts of the Menendez-Kirk amendment that the administration initially opposed. A senior congressional aide involved in Iran sanctions legislation e-mailed me that “the president’s executive order does two things: 1) it carries out the first section of the Menendez-Kirk amendment that made it the law for the president to block all Iranian financial institution...

Speaking over the weekend on CNN, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said he would seek to discourage an attack on Iran by Israel, citing a comments from Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, who said a nuclear Iran wouldn’t necessarily be an “existential threat”. “You don’t go to war over these kinds of things,” said Mr. Paul. “I would try to use the foreign policy and military experts who say this would be a fallacy and use the people in Israel who are saying these things as well to show that people should stop and think before they start a war.” The...

The Iranian government, through a website proxy, has laid out the legal and religious justification for the destruction of Israel and the slaughter of its people. The doctrine includes wiping out Israeli assets and Jewish people worldwide. The article, written by Alireza Forghani, a conservative analyst and a strategy specialist in Khamenei’s camp, now is being run on most state-owned conservative sites, including the Revolutionary Guards’ Fars News Agency, showing that the regime endorses this doctrine.

Former US congressman Robert Wexler is a man worth listening to. Wexler served as then-senator Barack Obama’s chief booster in the American Jewish community during the 2008 presidential campaign. He appeared everywhere and said anything to convince the American Jewish community that the same man who sat in the church pews listening to Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s anti-Semitic vitriol for two decades, and listed among his closest friends and associates a host of Israel-haters as well as former terrorists, was the greatest friend Israel could ever have. Once Obama was elected, Wexler continued to serve as his Jewish shill. Wexler traveled...

President Obama said Sunday he is determined to work with Israel in “lock step” to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and tried to allay concerns that Israel is preparing to carry out a unilateral military strike. “I don’t think that Israel has made a decision on what they need to do,” Mr. Obama said during an interview at the White House during NBC’s Super Bowl pre-game show. “We are going to make sure that we work in lock step, as we proceed to try to solve this — hopefully, diplomatically.”

“I don’t think that Israel has made a decision on what they need to do,” Obama said during a six-minute, live interview from the White House during NBC’s Super Bowl pre-game show. “We are going to make sure that we work in lockstep, as we proceed to try to solve this — hopefully, diplomatically.” Obama told NBC’s Matt Lauer that he believes expanded international sanctions on Iran are hurting the regime. “They are feeling the pinch. They are feeling the pressure,” the president said. “But they have not taken the steps that they need to diplomatically to say ‘We will...