Trump Freezes Obama's $221M Gift To 'Palestine'..What It means

President Trump took quick action to freeze President Obama's $221 million dollar  gift to 'Palestine' courtesy of the American taxpayers.The money was a last minute payout  from President Barack Hussein Obama to Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority in the last hours before President Trump's swearing in on January 20th. Apparently someone leaked this to someone in President Trump's circle, because he was about to act immediately.

Two congress members, Ed Royce of California, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Kay Granger of Texas, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee — had placed holds on it over moves the Palestinian Authority had taken to seek membership in international organizations as well as their incitement to violence against israel. Such holds are usually respected, but President Obama decided not to do so. This would have been added to the $250 million the PA received from the US government.

What happened instead is that newly sworn in President Trump froze the funds.  PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah was told by the U.S. State Department  that the funds were subject to an intensive review and that he should  not expected the money in the immediate future.

 
'Aiyee! No baksheesh? What will the Rais say?'



President Obama giving more more money to Hamas and the kleptocrat dictatorship of Mahmoud Abbas than any previous U.S. President was obviously a case of ideology rather than any attempt at peace. He simply wore a mask for 8 years to try and hide it.Any president actually interested in negotiations for peace would  have  used the money as an incentive to Abbas to negotiate and make meaningful concessions, since unlike the U.S. relationship with Israel, America gets absolutely nothing of value from 'Palestine.'

Instead  Obama gave them everything they wanted and more, including a key abstention at the UN with a resolution Secretary of State John Kerry helped write. And cynically, he gave it to them when it would no longer harm him or his party's nominee politically. His goal was obviously not peace, but Israel's surrender...from day one.

 

Perhaps President Trump actually showing 'Palestine' that there will be real consequences for their violence, incitement and refusal to negotiate realistically with Israel might just result in peace. We'll see.

Who's 'Responsible?'

Sometimes, a public figure makes a statement that simply defies the imagination in its blatant hypocrisy and ignorance of reality.

Those of you who have been following events in the region know that the Third Intifada against Israel is well underway, and that the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are doing their best to incite violence. Against this background, Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority AKA Hamas/Fatah recently went to the UN Security Council in an attempt to get a resolution declaring a Palestinian State along the pre '67 lines that would have called for forcing Israel back to indefensible borders, re-dividing Jerusalem and barring Jews from their Holy sites, ethnically cleansing 500,000 Jews, freeing all terrorists currently in captivity in Israeli jails and allowing any of the Arabs whom identify themselves as Palestinians to return to whatever they claim their homes were in Israel.

The resolution failed by one vote, but Abbas has promised to re-introduce it now that three pro-Israel nation's terms on the Security Council have finished and three anti-Israel countries terms on the Security Council started in 2015. And Abbas is also attempted to join the International Criminal Court, saying that if he's successful he will attempt to prosecute Israel there for war crimes.

Aside from violating both the Oslo Accords and The Road Map, this is nothing less than a hostile entity making a declaration of war against Israel.

In retaliation, Israel decided to take the measure of freezing $127 million in tax monies it gathered for Hamas/Fatah, and is considering other measures as well.

The EU immediately condemned this, and their reaction is worth looking at.

European Union foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said in a statement today that even this moderate pushback "runs counter to Israel’s obligations."

“An effective Palestinian Authority, committed to non-violence and a peaceful resolution of the conflict, is a key element for a two-state solution,” Mogherini said.

Mogherini said that “recent steps taken … could aggravate the already tense situation on the ground and bring them further away from a negotiated solution.”

“Both sides should refrain from taking actions which could raise obstacles to the rapid return to the negotiations,” she added.

She also threatened that the EU’s financing of 'Palestine' could be endangered by Israel’s withholding the money.

You have to wonder what planet the EU thinks it lives on.

Israel's 'responsibilities?' What about the Palestinian Authority?

In exchange for being gifted sovereignty by Israel in the Oslo Accords over some land it otherwise had no claim to, The Arabs whom call themselves Palestinians agreed to do three things...renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist and end anti-semitic incitement in its mosques schools and media. Those same three requirements were also part of the Road Map.

Not one of them has ever been adhered to, not by Arafat, not by Mahmoud Abbas and certainly not by Hamas.

While the PLO charter tepidly recognizes Israel, neither the Fatah charter or the Hamas charters do. Support for terrorism against Israeli civilians is a given, and not merely tolerated but rewarded. In the twenty years since Oslo, not a single person has ever been arrested by the PA security forces for killing a Jew. Financing of terrorist activity by the PA and Hamas is a long documented fact. Terrorist killers convicted of some of the most heinous murders by Israeli courts are called 'holy martyrs' by Abbas and receive a nice salary from the PA courtesy of Eu and American taxpayers, and these 'martyrs' are held up as heroes and role models to Palestinian society. They're glorified in its media, lionized in its mosques and have public buildings named after them.

Mahmoud Abbas's Moscow University treatise claiming that the Holocaust never happened and that the few Jews that were killed were the result of 'Zionists' collaborating with the Nazis is a required text in the PA's school curriculum.

And the PA itself is now allied in a unity government with the genocidal Hamas.For that matter, the PLO has already said that the Oslo Accords no longer apply to them.

And when Mogherini talks about a Palestinian Authority, committed to non-violence and a peaceful resolution of the conflict, does she even recognize the years of sustained and constant rejectionism and unwillingness to negotiate anything by Arafat and Abbas and the PA as the main contributor to the current impasse?

Responsibility also entails financial responsibility. 'Palestine' has received more aid money per capita than any other developing nation in history,and they aren't even a state yet. Only the Arabs whom identify themselves as Palestinians have their own lavishly funded UN organization, UNRWA, to administer to their needs.

Yet, in spite of all that aid, they still remain an international economic basket case. eEen former PA finance minister Salim Fayyad admitted that at least half of the donor aid to 'Palestine' has either been stolen or diverted, and the World Bank puts it at 60%. The supposedly bankrupt PA still supports Sufa Arafat in her lavish Paris lifestyle to the tune of $100,000 per month, while Mahmoud Abbas is fabulously wealthy (He personally 'diverted' $1.3 billion to himself if former Palestinian Security Minister Mahmoud Dahlan is to be believed) and Abbas's two sons are millionaires.

Not only that, but the aspiring state of 'Palestine' has spent nothing on even creating its own electrical grid. 'Palestine' instead relies on Israeli electricity and has racked up an unpaid bill of around $300 million to the Israel Electric Corporation, an indebtedness subsidized by Israeli consumers through higher rates. It's to the point where the IEC has informed the Israeli government that they're going to be forced to cut power to the PA simply because the continued supply of free electricity is unsustainable.

Is Israel obligated as part of its 'responsibilities' to continue to supply free power to a hostile entity? And is Israel responsible for the fact that Hamas/Fatah are more concerned with spending whatever money they have left over after stealing for themselves on Jew killing and incitement? Is it Israel's fault that 'Palestine' is simply one of the most successful con games in history,one that the international community and particularly the EU happily bought into?

Isn't it time the EU and the rest of the so-called International Community starting calling on the Arabs whom call themselves Palestinians to start shouldering their responsibilities and imposing real consequences when they don't? Or are Israel and the Jews simply a more convenient target?

 

No Honor Among Thieves - Fatah Accuses Hamas of Stealing Millions in Gaza Aid

In a further sign that the Hamas/Fatah entity are having their problems getting along, Fatah today accused Hamas of stealing over $700 million in aid money '“over the blood of the children of Palestine,” Israel’s NRG News reported.

Fatah spokesmouth Ahmed Assaf claimed that, during Operation Protective Edge, the Hamas’ leadership in Gaza took the money and stashed it away. And this time the money didn't come from western taxpayers for once:

“They raised funds from the Arab world in the name of the martyrs in Gaza, and on behalf of women, children and elders, and they talked about rebuilding the Gaza Strip and Israel destroyed mosques,” Assaf said in an interview with Arab media.

The Fatah spokesman insisted that Hamas’ leadership must “return the money they stole from the families of the dead and wounded refugee families whose homes were destroyed by the war,” and warned against the Islamist group “taking advantage of the circumstances of the war of destruction…”

The Arab states are notorious for making huge financial pledges to 'Palestine' and then not following through, so the fact that Hamas actually got cash in hand surprises me. But the accusation doesn't, because while Hamas is popular in the Arab occupied areas of Judea and Samaria under Abbas, they're not so popular right now with the home town crowd in Gaza, some of whom have taken some pretty horrendous risks to leave Hamas's little Islamo-reichlet.

Fatah, who has stolen far more than Hamas are merely playing politics here and posing as the 'good mafiosos' to gain some political capital. They know Hamas isn't going to return the moolah, at least not all of it.

 

As ousted Fatah official Muhammad Dahlan admitted, Abbas personally stole at least $1.3 billion from the Palestine Investment Fund, money Yasser Arafat skimmed off humanitarian aid and 'taxes' paid to Fatah from 'Palestinian' businessmen as a price for being allowed to operate. Abbas' sons Yasser and Tareq have similarly benefited, as have a number of other well connected Fatah cronies. Sufa Arafat still lives in her chic apartment in the best part of Paris on her 'allowance' from the PA of $100,000 per month.

 Arafat's own accountant, Fuad Shubaki sung like a bird and revealed the details behind how Arafat and his fellow thugs in Fatah skimmed aid money and stole millions.One method was the old mafia trick of no-show jobs. Gullible western donors paid the salaries of PLO government employees for years who simply didn't exist.One audit revealed over 30,000 of them on the PLO payroll.

The 'Palestinian' leadership even had its greasy fingers on things like valuable medicines donated to the Palestinians by groups like OxFam, the International Red Cross, the EU and the UN (and of course, the American taxpayer).




For years, senior Fatah officials controlling the aid distribution made a bundle by systematically stealing the medicines and replacing them with worthless placebo pills, and then taking the real medicines to warehouses in Ramallah and Shechem(Nablus) for sale at premium prices on the black market.

'Palestine', you see, is the most successful con game in history.

The $700 million Hamas sticky fingered will be used as one of the bargaining chips in the next mob style sit down between Hamas and Fatah, with Fatah working on negotiating a cut for themselves.

It's Time To Give Abbas What He's Asking For

 

Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority have what they think is a clever scheme up their sleeves.

Abbas and the Arabs who identify themselves as Palestinians have announced that the PA is going to go to the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly on Sept. 15 to demand a resolution that Israel be forced to provide “a clear and defined timetable for withdrawing from the Palestinian territories.”

By 'Palestinian Territories' , Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas/Fatah mean all of Judea and Samaria as well as half of Jerusalem, an area now inhabited by something like 500,000 Jews who would be forced to become refugees



And if the UN doesn't give Abbasa what he wants?  Threats and blackmail.

PA 'commissioner for international relations' Nabil Shaath said  that PA leader  Abbas has issued an order for the Palestinians to prepare the paperwork to go to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and demand that it try Israel for war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated against the Palestinians if they don't get the UN resolution they want.

 

In an interview on Palestinian television, Abbas said he insists on “bringing the Israeli occupation to an end” and establishing a Palestinian state that would exist alongside Israel in peace.

Sure it will. Especially with Hamas involved. You can trust Mahmoud Abbas's word on that.

“The only thing remaining for the negotiating teams is to outline the borders between the countries,” Abbas said. “We will not agree again to designating areas A, B, C. We want for every country to know what [its] borders are. Israel is the only country in the world without clear borders.”

 

Abbas is actually incorrect in that last statement ( there are numerous border disputes ongoing throughout the world) but I  actually like his idea, for once. In fact, I've been saying Israel ought to unilaterally delineate its borders for years.

I think it would be a great idea.

Israel should immediately announce that its going to give Abbas what he wants. Israel's  newly declared and annexed borders will include all of Area C, where only a few thousand Arabs live that's under full Israeli sovereignty anyway.. The borders will also  include the strategic Jordan Valley, again mostly populated by Israeli Jews, and essential for ensuring that Abbas can't import any nasty toys he shouldn't have from say, Iran. And they would also include any bits of Area B  necessary to demarcate a clear and defensible border between Israel and 'Palestine'..Jericho,  and part of the area surrounding Hebron perhaps. By the way, 98% of the Arabs whom identify themselves as Palestinians live in Areas A and B. Talk about your attempted land grabs! Abbas would be left with Area A, the part under Palestinian sovereignty per Oslo (which the PA never abided by anyway) where the majority of the Arabs whom identify themselves as Palestinians live, and the parts of Area B not necessary for Israel's security needs.

Jerusalem? How about the fifth of never?

Israel should announce this formal adoption of its new borders before Abbas goes to the UN on September 15th. And Israel should add three additional things:

As part of this arrangement, Israel will remove any Israelis on Abbas's side of the border to Israeli territory, and any Arabs who are not Israeli citizens on the Israeli side to the new  'Palestine'. Let's make this a real divorce.

Israel will remove all IDF troops currently patrolling any areas on Abbas' s side of the border and remove them to Israel's new borders. That should make for some entertaining moments as Abbas and the rest of the Fatah Old Guard break out their Jordanian passports and make a run for it to avoid being gunned down by Hamas, who have massive popular support now in all of 'Palestine'.

Since Abbas and Fatah are now partners with a genocidal terrorist group, Israel should let Abbas and his friends know that Israel now considers Hamas/Fatah a hostile entity. Any attacks on Israel or its citizens, terrorist, diplomatic or otherwise will be considered an act of war and dealt with accordingly...perhaps by further land appropriations in Judea and Samaria as a start.

So Abbas will get what he asked for..clearly designated borders and his Jew free reichlet, 'Palestine.' It won't be what he wants or says he can accept, but tough tahini.

And the UN? As I write this, Abbas and Hamas/Fatah are crying about how broke they are because no one, not even the EU let alone the Arabs has forked over more than a small amount of the funds pledged for the Hamas/Fatah government...and as we all know, 'Palestine ' has received more aid per capita over the years than any other developing nation in history, but virtually none of it has been used to build an economy. One of the longest  and most successful scams in world history may finally be coming to an end.Perhaps the PA can dip into its private multi-billion slush fund created by skimming and stealing donor aid and use it for the people it was intended for. I'm sure Abbas and his cronies from the Fatah Old Guard would gladly want to replace the money they umm..'borrowed' for 'Palestine'. Ri-ight.

If the 'international community' doesn't even trust Hamas/Fatah enough to fund them, do you actually think they're going to do anything concrete to enforce Abbas's attempt to blackmail Israel? For that matter, can you recall the last time the UN did anything really effective?  I can't. When it comes to pimping for  'Palestine' the international community relies on Israel taking them seriously. A simple 'no thanks'  would clarify things quite a bit, and given Israel's vibrant economy, any hot air and worthless paper that comes out of the UN would have a lot less of a negative impact on Israel than people imagine in the long term.You see, Israel has a future. And countries with a future don't need to live on their knees or in a perpetual defensive crouch.

And try as Abbas and his friends might, the fact that 'Palestine' is a dysfunctional kleptocracy with no future can't be blamed on Israel. It will always be one no matter how much aid money they get. So indeed, Israel should give Abbas exactly what he's asking for - end the so-called 'occupation' and all Israeli connection with this new 'Palestine' and let them make a go of it. Let Qatar pick up the tab as 'Hamas/Fatah's new mark if they're stupid enough to fall for the con.

I doubt Netanyahu has the stones to do it, but it's time someone called this superannuated mafioso's bluff. Long past time.

More Jizya For The Palestinians - Your Tax Dollars At Work

 

Sequester or no sequester, congressional holds or no congressional holds, the Palestinians continue to get their jizya from President Obama.

Ma'an is reporting that the latest jizyah is $148 million:

US consul general in Jerusalem Michael Ratney signed an agreement Sunday with Palestinian caretaker prime minister Rami Hamdallah upon which the US will pay the Palestinian Authority $148 million.

PA finance minister Shukri Bishara witnessed the ceremony along with the director of the United States Agency for International Development, David Harden.

Hamdallah applauded the US government for supporting the Palestinian people financially and noted that the latest grant would help Palestinian institutions continue to provide services to citizens.

Ratney, for his part, asserted that his country would continue to support the Palestinian people and the PA's efforts to develop state institutions.

In August, US President Barack Obama decided to waive restrictions set by Congress to allow sending money to the PA in order to bolster the Palestinian leadership after it resumed talks with Israel.

By the way, did you know that our State Department practices apartheid with its consulates when it comes to Israel? The one in Jerusalem was deliberately built in a predominantly Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem, is almost entirely staffed by Arabs except for a few senior personnel like Ratney and is exclusively designated for the use of the Arabs who identify themselves as Palestinians.

The embassy designated for use by Jews is located in Tel Aviv.

There is no other country in the world where a consulate in its capital is de facto off limits to the majority of its citizens.

Israel Cuts Cooperation With EU In Response To Sanctions On Judea And Samaria

In response to the EU decision to re-erect ghetto walls around Judea, Samaria, East Jerusalem and the Golan, Israeli defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon had a highly appropriate response. He instructed the IDF and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories to stop cooperating with EU representatives in the West Bank and Gaza:

The instruction came recently and included orders to halt any assistance the IDF might be granting EU representatives working in infrastructure projects in the territories.

The IDF cannot prevent EU officials from traveling in and out of Palestinian Authority-controlled territories, but it can prevent them from entering or leaving the Gaza Strip via Israel, as well as from promoting projects.

According to a defense establishment source, the decision was taken in a bid to send a clear message to the EU, stressing that any move to boycott Israeli actions beyond the green-line "turns the organization into a biased mediator in negotiations, and as such, it must accept the results."

Ya'alon decided the freeze in cooperation between Israel and the EU will include Area C as well as the crossing between Israel and Gaza.

A security source said: "We cannot prevent anyone from traveling freely; we cannot freeze their movement, but from now on they are tourists."

Area C is the part of Judea and Samaria that is directly under full Israeli sovereignty and is approximately 96% Jewish.

The EU,of course is howling about this:

Speaking in Brussels, spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said "We have not received any official communication from the Israeli authorities. Our delegations on the spot are seeking urgent clarifications," Kocijancic added.

A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Friday that due to the Israel's restrictions on EU activity in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, several European humanitarian aid staff had failed to receive permits to enter the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip.

What part of 'tourists' don't they understand? Maybe the Egyptians will let them into Hamasistan - not.

According to a defense establishment source, the Israeli decision was taken in a bid to send a clear message to the EU, stressing that any move to boycott Israeli actions beyond the green-line "turns the organization into a biased mediator in negotiations, and as such it must face the consequences."

Yasser koach.

Obama Moves To Protect The Muslim Brotherhood

As you can imagine, President Barack Hussein Obama has been quick off the mark to defend his pet Islamists in the Muslim Brotherhood.

Bernadette Meehan, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said July 4 in a statement that the White House has called on Egyptian leaders to pursue “a transparent political process that is inclusive of all parties and groups,” including “avoiding any arbitrary arrests of Mursi and his supporters” .

What exactly are they supposed to do with agitators like Morsi and Badie? Free them and allow them to incite further attacks like the ones of this morning?

And of course, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki weighed in,saying in a statement, "The voices of all who are protesting peacefully must be heard—including those who welcomed the events of earlier this week and those who supported President Morsi."

When Morsi's hired thugs were attacking protestors and raping demonstrators in Tahrir Square, did our State department utter a peep?

When the Brotherhood took over, the main opposition candidate Shaffik had to flee for his life and he was by no means the only one. And believe me, there was no call for “avoiding any arbitrary arrests" from the Obama Administration then. And when the Brotherhood was
brutalizing Coptic Christians and it's political opponents, we likewise heard nothing except how much financial aid we were going to give them:

The administration has urged the Egyptian military to stop using heavy-handed tactics, according to two U.S. officials who asked not to be identified commenting on private communications. They said the administration is concerned that some in the military may want to provoke the Islamists to violence and provide a rationale for crushing the movement once and for all.


Yes, if the genocidal Muslim Brotherhood were to be crushed, that would be such a tragedy, wouldn't it? It certainly would in Washington DC, where the Obama Administration is riddled with Muslim Brotherhood supporters and sympathizers.

Speaking of money, the president is citing a law as an excuse to cut off the $1.5 billion in aid to Egypt that bars the U.S. from giving “any assistance to the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by a military coup d’etat or decree,” or a coup “in which the military plays a decisive role.”

If my sources are correct, he's also going to do his best now to torpedo the $4.8 million IMF loan Egypt was on the verge of getting.

Yet niceties like lawfully elected governemnts or even material aid to terrorism never stopped him from giving money to Hamas,or to the Palestinian Authority, where where unelected dictator Mahmoud Abbas, whose term of office ran out four years ago refused to seat the Muslim Brotherhood parliament that was elected at that time.

And the Obama Administration has even gone to the extent of ignoring congressional holds when it comes to the Islamists, even when they burn our embassies.

But all of a sudden, this most lawless of president in insisting on observing the letter of the law!

Apparently the president still inhales the fiction that an Islamist Caliphate is still good for America somehow. He tried and failed to muscle the Egyptian military into knuckling under to an Islamist government even though the popular will wanted them deposed and the country was falling apart.

He's not taking this defeat gracefully.

The end result is that the Egyptian junta will get funding from Qatar of the Saudis as a new ally in the Sunni-Shi'ite war that has its main fighting front these days in Syria. And our influence will wane, along with that of our clueless president and the sycophants surrounding him.

Lurch In Action - Kerry Offers Pals $4 Billion In Aid For Concessions On Peace Talks And Gets Slapped

Our clueless Secretary of State stepped in it again.

Kerry, speaking at the World Economic Forum Aqaba, Jordan announced his bold new plan to build the Palestinian economy at the U.S. taxpayer's expense to the tune of $4 billion. Of course, this came direct from President Obama, who has given the corrupt Palestinian Authority more American jizya than any other administration.

Kerry promised that this new plan would be “bigger, bolder and more ambitious” than anything since the Oslo accords, more than 20 years ago. Of course we know how that worked out, but apparently nobody told John Kerry.

The prompt reply from the Palestinians? You'll pay us our jizya, infidel. But political concessions? Go pound sand:

The Palestinian Authority on Monday rejected the idea of economic benefits in exchange for political concessions put forward by US Secretary of State John Kerry one day prior.

“The Palestinian leadership will not offer political concessions in exchange for economic benefits,” PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s economic adviser, Mohammad Mustafa, said in a statement, according to the Palestinian Ma’an news agency. “We will not accept that the economy is the primary and sole component.”

The statement came a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry announced a $4 billion investment plan meant to jumpstart both the Palestinian economy and peace talks with Israel.

The Pals, of course, expect to get their money anyway out of President Obama, plus every single one of their demands...without giving up anything at all.

They're likely right. I think the Obama Administration's idea here is a plan for economic warfare against Israel...increased support for boycotting Israeli goods in the EU (and perhaps even in the US) while at the same time building up the Palestinian economy and handing them Israel's export market on a platter.

Never mind that it's $4 billion we don't have to spare at the moment.

The plan will likely fail because (A) a lot of countries want Israeli high tech, gas, oil and weaponry, and it will find markets regardless, even if it's CHina or India rather than the EU (B) The leadership of the Arabs whom refer to themselves as Palestinians is far too corrupt to avoid pillaging it to fatten their personal bank accounts and (C) Abbas and his corrupt crew aren't going to be arond all that much longer anyway as Hamas takes over.

In addition, no Israeli government is going to agree with the kind of territorial and strategic concessions the Arabs whom refer to themselves as Palestinians insist in.

What Is SecState Kerry Doing In Jerusalem and Ramallah?

 

Secretary of State John Kerry has been shuttling between Ramallah and Jerusalem in an effort to restart the moribund Arab-Israeli peace process, and there have been a number of conflicting stories on whom said what to whom and what's being offered.

Kerry has an additional problem - after President Obama's twists and turns and his attempts to please everyone and be all things to all people, any commitments the U.S. makes are, shall we say, suspect by both sides.

Kerry started out with the Arabs and the Palestinian Authority, spending over an hour with Abbas behind closed doors and meeting with PA prime minister Selim Fayyad.

What went on depends on whom you believe, but according to my sources ( one of whom works directly for the PA) Palestine's unelected dictator Mahmoud Abbas apparently took President Obama's declaration that there should be 'no preconditions' to peace talks with a grain of salt.

According to Ma'an, Abbas refused to retreat an inch from his position of wanting all of his demands agreed to before any talks occur. He wants Israeli PM Netanyahu to commit to the indefensible pre '67 borders including half of Jerusalem, and a  unilateral building freeze by Israel.And he's upped the ante. In addition, he now wants Israel to turn over part of Area C in Judea and Samaria (where the majority of Jewish communities are and only a small minority of Palestinians live) to PA control, that Israel promise to refrain from withholding Palestinians’ tax revenues in the future, and he wants all of the 'prisoners' convicted of murder and other terrorist related offenses in Israeli courts freed...before any negotiations start.

This is roughly equivalent to offering to play poker with somebody and asking to be dealt all the aces and picture cards before sitting down to play.

 For what it's worth ( and it's not worth much) Area C is supposed to be under exclusive Israel control according to the Oslo Accords, but since the Palestinians already have announced that they're no longer bound by the Accords,the Road Map or any other treaties and agreements they signed with Israel, it's nothing more than an indication of how th ePA is going to treat any future agreements.

According to my sources, Kerry made no real objections ( why bother?) but said he would convey Abbas' terms to Netanyahu. He did, however, float one trial balloon...a possible modification of the 2002 Saudi 'Peace' ultimatum which would include language saying the 1967 lines could be  modified through mutual agreement and include stronger security guarantees, whatever that means.

Abbas turned him down flat.

Saeb Erekat,  the PA's chief negotiator and formerly the right fork of Yasser Arafat's tongue confirmed this,  telling the Voice of Palestine radio station on Sunday, “Kerry asked us to change a few words in the Arab Peace Initiative but we refused.”

Kerry, in the meantime scuttled over to Israel on Holocaust Memorial Day, to lay a red white and blue wreath at Vad Yashem, Israel's memorial to the Six Million and talk to Netanyahu about what Abbas had to say. Kerry flew into Israel after a brief visit to President Obama's favorite foreign leader, the Islamist president of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan.

Apparently the pro-Hamas Erdogan wants Turkey to have a role in mediating future talks between Israeland the Palestinians, but the Israelis were understandably cool to the idea. Erdogan being involved was too much even for Tzipi Livni to swallow, which is saying quite a bit.

The real drama in the Palestinian Authority right now going on behind the scenes and it has nothing to do with the Israelis. It's a turf war between Abbas and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

It's more than 4 years since Mahmoud Abbas' term as president expired, but he's been able to stay on as the West's preferred conduit for Palestinian Jirzyah. One of the big reasons that continues is because of American educated Fayyad,who Abbas appointed after Hamas won the last elections by a 70% plus majority. Fayyad has a reputation for running a fairly clean and transparent ship, at least for an Arab government,  and Western donors have felt reasonably secure that with him in charge  not all of the money will be stolen or diverted.

However, Fayyad's relative honesty has earned him a lot of enemies in the corrupt PA. And he's holding up the Hamas Fatah unity agreement, since one of Hamas' conditions is that Fayyad be fired and someone they agree on be appointed in his place.

According to my sources,  Fayyad's been on shaky ground for awhile, but the latest conflict involves   the resignation of the Palestinian Authority's finance minister,  Nabil Qasis. 

Qasis is a Fayyad ally, and after he reported that the PA's budget deficit in 2013 was going to hit $1.4 billion, he proposed a number of austerity measures. When well connected members of the Fatah Old Guard objected and quashed his plans, he tendered his resignation. 

Abbas refused to accept the resignation and told Qasis he had to stay on... but Fayad agreed to let him resign.

This is a problem because like Fayyad, Qasis is a smokescreen for Abbas and the PA's blatant corruption.And it's a face saving measure as well.  So according to my sources, Abbas has given Fayyad an ultimatum - either Qasis returns as finance minister or he going to fire Fayyad.

According to some reports, Abbas is threatening to form a whole new government if Qasis quits. 

Just a coincidence, I'm sure, but Salam Fayyad has fallen ill suddenly since the fracas began  and  has been hospitalized with a mysterious infection. Perhaps he ought to employ a food taster.

Obama's Got Israel's Back All Right - Quietly Releasing $500M To The Palestinians

President Obama may have made some conciliatory noises to the Israelis, but the Palestinians are going to get their jizya from the American taxpayers, as the president bypassed COngress once again. ( h/t Sooper Mexican). Here's a presser with State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland:

QUESTION: Can I ask on Palestinian aid? There’s reporting out of the region that the funds have actually been unblocked kind of a bit quietly over the last couple of weeks, the 200 million that was held up in Congress, and that’s now been received by the Palestinian Authority.

MS. NULAND: Jo, I don’t – I’m just finding it here. I did go through this about a week ago in some detail. I can do it again for you. To date, we have moved $295.7 million in Fiscal Year 2012 money, 200 million of that – see, this – numbers don’t – oh, and 200 million in Fiscal Year 2013 assistance. So breaking that down again, 200 million in FY2013 ESF money was direct budget support for the Palestinian Authority; 195.7 million in FY12 Economic Support money went for development and humanitarian assistance implemented by USAID; 100 million in FY2012 for International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement; and then in February – at the end of February we notified Congress about another 200 million that we’d like to move.

QUESTION: So you’ve moved the 295 --

MS. NULAND: Total of 295.7 in FY12 and 200 in FY13. Why don’t we go through it again afterwards if you need to?

QUESTION: That’s been moved, okay.

MS. NULAND: Mm-hmm.

QUESTION: And then 200 is still – you want another further 200?

MS. NULAND: Correct. We’ve notified.

Sequestration? What sequestration? Congress? Who?

They're cutting tuition assistance for our military, control tower hours at a number of airports and kicking trained and experienced military out of the service with partial pensions. But the Palestinians will get their jizya just the same.Got to pay the salaries of those convicted terrorists is Israeli jails, and pass some along to Hamas, you know.

You can count on it with this president, come rain or come shine.

Narcissus In The Promised Land Redux: Obama Learns You Can't Fool All Of The People All Of The Time

I could almost pity President Obama for having his nose rubbed in the truth of Abraham Lincoln's famous statement if the mess wasn't so thoroughly of his own making.

President Obama got a friendly, if skeptical reception in Israel, because most Israelis are in fact pro-American.But Israelis, particularly sabras are noted for looking at deeds rather than words and schmooze.

While they appreciated President Obama's fine words on America's commitment to Israel as an ally, they also remember his previous hostility, his repudiation of agreements made with Israel by President Bush and his call for them to re-divide Jerusalem and retreat to indefensible borders.

And they notice that he chose to land in Tel Aviv rather than Israel's capitol Jerusalem, that he chose not address Israel's Knesset, that he was 'too busy' to meet personally with victims of Palestinian terrorism even if they hold American citizenship, that he refused to invite students at Ariel University to his speech to Israeli students...simply because their university is located in Judea ( AKA The West Bank), even though it's on land Jews purchased legally before Israel was even a state.

And many of them also noticed this map of Israel put out by Obama's State Department in spokesman Ben Rhodes' offical statement..that shows a map of Israel on the pre '67 lines, without the Golan, Judea and Samaria or East Jerusalem:

 



In the president's speech to Israeli students, he somehow forgot that over half a million Israelis (including a lot of the students he was speaking to) live in what he still refers to as 'settlements', saying that "Israelis must recognize that continued settlement activity is counterproductive to the cause of peace, and that an independent Palestine must be viable, that real borders will have to be drawn," and warning that Israel "must reverse an undertow of isolation".

In other words, Israel building homes and infrastructure for it's people - bad, hurts chances for peace. The Palestinian Authority's constant incitement against Jews, funneling donor aid to Hamas and using it to pay salaries to convicted killers in Israeli jails,  holding up the murderers of Israeli civilians as role models and heroes? The actions of a peace partner!

Yes, that's the looking glass world our Narcissus lives in, where his warped perceptions become 'what everyone knows'.

Trying as usual to have it both ways, the president also said it was time for the Arab world to "take steps toward normalizing relations" with Israel and that "Palestinians must recognize that Israel will be a Jewish state, and that Israelis have the right to insist upon their security".

How that's going to be accomplished with the borders he proposes the president did not elaborate on.And that's especially telling in view of the reception the president got in Ramallah from the Palestinians before he spoke to the students.

I'm not going to fault President Obama for speaking on a dais underneath a banner of Yasser Arafat, who had the blood of many Americans on his hands including two U.S. diplomats tortured to death on Arafat's orders.Everything was already in place, cancelling the speech unless the banner was removed would have been a moral decision of the kind President Obama has always avoided, and at least he didn't go to Arafat's grave and lay a wreath on it. But I have to wonder, in my heart of hearts whether the president realized the contempt this showed for America and for him personally.

President Obama admitted that what he calls settlements were "frustrating", but also said in a previous press conference that Israel has taken risks for peace and that Palestinian leaders "have at times missed historic opportunities".

And for the first time, President Obama actually criticized the Palestinian stance of demanding that all of their demands be met before any 'negotiations' take place.

"If the expectation is that we can only have direct negotiations when everything is settled ahead of time, then there's no point in negotiations. It's essential to work through this process even if we have concerns on both sides. We can push through these things, not use them as excuses not to do anything."

Abbas' response was to double down.

Abbas referred to the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as a "hurdle and ignoble" and that their existence was killing the two-state solution.

"Everybody considers settlements more than a hurdle toward a two-state solution," he said. The security council issued more than 13 resolutions, not only condemning settlements but demanding ending and removing them because they're illegal. We're demanding nothing other than the implementation of international law. The issue of settlements in clear."

Actually, it isn't at all clear unless you take a highly selective view of what constitutes 'international law' but let's move on.

Abbas is actually speaking out of his anger towards President Obama. Before the president made an issue out of construction in the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria and called for Israel to retreat to the indefensible pre '67 borders, it was never an issue that stopped negotiations  and Abbas and the PA never thought to make it a serious one.

However, once President Obama opened his mouth on the subject, Abbas saw no reason to be less demanding than President Obama. And because of President Obama's hostile actions towards Israel and his vastly increased jizya to the Palestinians, Abbas expected President Obama to deliver the Israelis on a silver platter:



These numbers also don't include $450 million that went directly to Hamas through USAid courtesy of the president, but you get the idea.

When President Obama wasn't able to deliver the Jews, Abbas angrily went public, saying President Obama had 'left him up a tree' and has ceased to trust him or even listen to him ever since. And why should he? The Palestinians have yet to suffer any consequences whatsoever from the Obama White House for their actions.

And it wasn't just Mahmoud Abbas.The Palestinians actually tried to wave away his helicopter, Marine One, as it landed in Ramallah and there was an anti-American demonstration, with Palestinians chanting hostile slogans, throwing shoes, burning President Obama in effigy and yelling that they wanted weapons to kill the Jews, not speeches or presidential visits. It's also notable that according to my sources on the ground, the PA security forces did absolutely nothing to curtail the demonstrators.They merely contained them.

Needless to say, you won't read that in the American ObamaMedia.

Let's just say that President Obama's charm offensive was even less effective with the Palestinians than it was with the Israelis.

President Obama seems to have belatedly realized exactly how badly he bungled things. In an interview this morning he admitted he might have made a few mistakes.

"I hope I'm a better president now than when I first came into office," Mr Obama said.

"I'm absolutely sure that there are a host of things that I could have done that would have been more deft and, you know, would have created better optics."

'Optics'? What this translates into when it comes to action is anyone's guess.

Is President Obama actually starting to belatedly realize that the Palestinians are not our friends, that they're essentially revanchist and not interesting in negotiating anything?

I strongly doubt it, but anything's possible.

UPDATE: Uh, no..Situation normal.  Aside from overriding Congress to give the Palestinians yet a another half a billion dollars, President Obama, as a parting shot, manipulated Israeli PM Netanyahu into a craven apology to the president's favorite Islamist leader, Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey for the attack on Israeli Naval commandos on the Mavi Mamara.

EU Will Not Boycott A Palestinian Government That Includes Hamas

 

The Arab newspaper al-Hayat is reporting that according to a source they characterize as a high level European diplomat, the EU would not boycott a new Palestinian government that includes Hamas.

Hamas, by the way, is currently an official recognized terrorist group by both the EU, the U.S. and most of the rest of the civilized world:

On the political issue, the European official said France and the UK are waiting for the next US move which they will back once it happens, but will display their special peace proposal in case it will not happen.

He pointed out that the French-British proposal will be based on re-launching the peace process “on new bases and without preconditions”, adding the features of this proposal have not be finalized yet and dialogue over it is ongoing.

However, the European diplomat said that any kind of proposal necessitates that Palestinians unify their ranks, adding: “there won`t be a peace proposal to one part of the Palestinians without the other”.

He emphasized “the world is moving and Palestinians should form one government in the West Bank and the Gaza strip to be their reference in the next stage”.

Just this week Hamas Prime Minister Haniyeh announced that the forming of a Palestinian unity government is dependent on non recognition of Israel.



According to Al Hayat the EU is also looking forward to play a political role in case the US role fails. Europe`s role will not be limited “only to financing and praying”, the diplomat said.

The same diplomat revealed that France is moving to hold a donors’ conference for the PA and that the EU will offer the PA an equal financial support to the one offered last year.

You have to wonder how many EU tax payers feel about their leaders shoving millions of Euros into a corrupt rathole like 'Palestine'.

Assuming this is an accurate reading of the mindset of the EU's governing class (and it probably is, especially in the UK, France, Spain, Ireland and Sweden), it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Having made Europe an increasingly difficult and dangerous place for Jews to live, they apparently plan to do as much as they can to repeat the process in Israel, even if it means collaborating with genocidal terrorists to do it. As I reported earlier, the EU has already signaled that it will not add Hezbollah, another entity with only genocidal intentions towards Jews to its official list of terrorist groups.

Not too different from how they behaved in the 1930's and 1940's, is it? The label on the bone in the cartoon above ought to be  'The Jews'.

SecState Kerry's New Priority - Unblocking $700M In Aid For The Palestinians

Our new Secretary of State is already hard at work.

America is $16 trillion in debt, but Secretary Kerry has his marching orders from President Obama..the Arabs who identify themselves as Palestinians must receive their jirzya:

Secretary of State John Kerry is working to try to free up almost $700 million in aid for the Palestinians which has been held up in Congress, a top U.S. official said Monday.

"The secretary feels extremely strongly that it is time now to get this support to the Palestinian Authority," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

The department was working with Congress "to get appropriated money released for the Palestinian Authority because we think it's very, very important that they remain effective in supporting the needs of the Palestinian people."

Some $495.7 million was set aside for the Palestinian Authority in the fiscal year 2012 which ended on October 1, while another $200 million for this fiscal year was notified to Congress last week.

The money is earmarked for specific things in the Palestinian budget such as security as well as administrative costs.

However, an additional $100 million has been released, but can only be used on narcotics and law enforcement.

The reason holds have been placed on the funds by Congress was because Mahmoud Abbas, the unelected dictator of the Arab occupied parts of Judea and Samaria (AKA The West Bank)chose to defy the U.S. and break the Oslo Accords and the Road Map agreements the PLO signed on to by unilaterally going to the UN General Assembly and have statehood declared.

Needless to say, President Obama has never seen it necessary to have the Palestinians pay a price for their actions, and he isn't going to start now. And Secretary Kerry is a willing helper.

It shouldn't be unnecessary, but I'll point out that this money, once it gets in the PLO's hands, can be used for anything..to fund Hamas, to personally enrich well connected PLO bosses, to pay for Sufa Arafat's $100,000 per month 'allowance' in Paris, to pay the monthly salaries of convicted terrorists incarcerated in Israeli jails or simply diverted to the right foreign bank accounts.

That's exactly where most of the money the PA has received over the years has gone before, which is why they're in such dire financial straits now. The usual donors are big on promises but see no future in continuing to throw their money down the PA rat hole.

In that, people like the Saudis are a lot smarter than the Obama Administration.

Let's hope Congress stands strong and keeps our wallet closed.

Arab States Pledge To Provide PA With $100 Million Monthly

 

This is actually pretty funny.

The Arab states met in Doha Qatar and agreed to implement something they agreed on last March, $100 million  per month as a safety net for the Palestinian Authority since Israel is now using the tax duties it collects and applying them towards 'Palestine's ' unpaid electrical bills.

Apparently there were a lot of pledges, but not much cash , as is the norm for the Arab nations when it comes to 'Palestine':

The statement did not give details of how the money would be paid or who would pay, but Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby said a mechanism has been agreed.

"The mechanism is that the chair of the committee (Qatar) and the
secretary-general will contact each country with the exact amount they have to pay," Elaraby told Reuters after the meeting. "I said I want an answer in 15 days," he added.

So the committee is going to figure out each nation's share, dun them and expect them to just fork over with arguing and fighting about it? Good luck with that!

In any case, the PA now says it needs $240 million every month to keep things going and pay its 153,000 employees.Of course, that includes salary payments to convicted terrorist murderers sitting in Israeli jails and Sufa Arafat's $100,000 per month allowance for the good life in Paris.

Now the Pals claim a population in th eareas they occupy in Judea and amaria of around 2.5 million, which includes 250,000 Arabs who are not Israeli citizens but live there. The PA is also notorious for overestimating their population, because donor aid is frequently figured on a per capita basis, and the overage provides a nice margin for siphoning off cash to well connected pockets. Let's err on the side of generosity and say 2 million. If we also eliminate the people who live in refugee camps on the UN's dime, something like one out of every ten or twelve Palestinians works for the government!

That's certain to produce a vibrant, self supporting economy.

In any event, we'll see if the current round of pledges actually net anything. My guess is that anything the Arabs give their Palestinian 'brothers' will be for services rendered, and in the end Abbas and company will try to work the usual scam and turn to America and the EU for their jirzyah

The Future of Palestine

 

With President Barack Hussein Obama's re-election, there's a great deal of speculation about increased movement towards the so-called 'two-state solution.

Much is being made of an interview Abbas gave to Israel's Channel 2 TV, implying that the people who identify themselves as Palestinians were now giving up the 'right' to swamp Israel with thousands of refugees.

Needless to say, Abbas' interview inspired a great deal of hostile  blowback among Palestinians, and he promptly walked it back saying to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, “I have not and will not forgo the right of return.”

Actually, Abbas has said repeatedly that he will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state, and that he will never make any concessions to Israel in negotiations whatsoever, including on the Palestinian 'right of return'.

Now, why Mahmoud Abbas or any other Arabs whom identify themselves as Palestinians should be allowed to return to a place most of them, like Abbas, left voluntarily while the almost one million Jewish refugees ethnically cleansed by the Arab world after 1948 get no compensation for the billions of dollars worth of property that was stolen from them is an interesting notion. Meanwhile, that one interview seems to have energized the anti-Israel left as to Abbas' stance as a peace maker. Of course, in spite of his track record, Mahmoud Abbas would never lie, right?

Rather than being fooled by one interview in English that Abbas quickly repudiated in Arabic, let's look at a few realities:

Demonization of Jews and Israel continues daily in Palestine's mosques, schools and media.

The PA continues to pay salaries to terrorist murderers of civilians convicted in Israeli civil courts, and insists that all these 'holy martyrs' be released as part of any peace deal.

The PA has never arrested a single person, let alone imprisoned them for killing a Jew. That includes the murderers of the Fogel family.

The PA continues to make heroes out of terrorists, including child killers Sami Kuntar, and Dalal Mughrabi and they name streets, squares and public buildings after these killers and hold them up as role models.

Abbas has already signed a unity agreement with the genocidal Hamas. Based on the last real elections that were held and the way the Palestinians have been indoctrinated since Oslo, that's who's going to be taking over and one need only look at the missiles being fired daily into Israel from Gaza to see what kind of 'peace' that means.

Abbas knows full well that the Israelis will never agree to divide Jerusalem again...especially after seeing how the Arabs treated Jewish holy sites during the 19 year occupation from 1948-1967. So his 'offer' is essentially a non-starter.

Meanwhile Abbas is adamant about foregoing negotiations anyway and going to the UN General Assembly to have them sign off on 100% of his demands as they grant 'Palestine' "super-observer" status in an attempt to have the UN General Assembly sign off on all his territorial demands and give 'Palestine' access to UN institutions and agencies.

Abbas reportedly turned down a direct appeal from President Obama to return to negotiations with Israel and forgo this move in the UN, which will likely happen towards the end of November.

So where does this leave us?

The so-called 'two state solution' was never alive to begin with. If it happened, it would mean(at least publicly)the end of the conflict, which is the Palestinian Authority and Hamas' raison d'etre. So the war has to continue...which is exactly how the Palestinians view it.As Arafat's old political commissar in Jerusalem Faisal Husseini famously said, Oslo was always just a Trojan Horse to fool the Jews, scam a great deal of aid money and get a base of operations on Israel's borders.

The unity deal with Hamas is another indication that Abbas is not seriously interested in the Two state vision of a couple of states living peacefully next door to each other. There is zero chance Hamas would ever sign on to any deal that recognized Israel's right to exist, an dthey've daid so many times. Read the Martyr's Oath sometime. Or even the Qu'ran.

Another thing to consider is what any deal with Abbas is worth. Abbas and his cronies are on the way out anyway. The PA ruling class all have Jordanian passports and citizenship, and the money they stole is squirreled away in Europe or the Emirates.

Any concessions Israel makes will simply be appropriated by Hamas, who will take over.

The future?

Neither Gaza or 'Palestine' is viable as they are, either economically of politically. So they'll morph into something different.

Gaza will gradually become part of Egypt's new Muslim Brotherhood regime, as Egypt abrogates the Egypt-Israeli peace treaty. War is a real possibility, especially if Israel goes in to Gaza stop the constant barrage of missiles and mortars on its territory.

A scenario of Egyptian 'volunteers' crossing the border to aid Hamas or even outright hostilities is quite possible, especially if the new regime feels the need to distract it's population from it's severe economic woes. Egyptian dictator Gamal Abdul Nasser used the same strategy prior to the 1967 War.

As for Judea and Samaria, once Abbas and the PA ruling class leave, Hamas will almost certainly take over the Arab occupied part of Judea and Samaria. Next door Jordan is ripe for a coup, and the Muslim Brotherhood is quite powerful there. King Hussein and his minority Bedouin regime are seen as American tools and are not popular with the Brotherhood, Hamas or a large portion of Jordan's majority Palestinian population. I'd say the chances are excellent for another Black September revolt, only this time with the Palestinians taking over Jordan and kicking out King Hussein.

There would be a great deal of poetic justice in that happening, since Jordan east of the river was originally supposed to be the Arab portion of the Palestine Mandate back in 1923 when the British created it... and then put their imported Hashemite clients in charge.

The people still touting the Two State solution are the same sort of people who thought Oslo and bringing Yasser Arafat in from Tunis as a 'peace partner' was just a dandy idea.

However, just like Oslo, the Two State solution is nothing but a mirage that would result in a lot of innocent blood being shed.

That's exactly why it isn't going to happen.

France Struggling Financially, But The Palestinians Will Still Get 10 M Euros In Jirzyah

 

Absolutely astounding.

France is financially struggling to make ends meet, the Socialist government has raised taxes to an unprecedented 75% and essentially declared war on private enterprise,  whole sectors of France's entrepreneurs and professionals are fleeing the country and fellow eurozone nations are desperately in need of bailouts.

La solution, according to the French government? Voila, gift 10 million Euros to the failed Palestinian kleptocracy of Mahmoud Abbas!

Yes, Fatah's unelected prime minister SalamFayyad and the Council General of France Frédéric Desagneaux signed the paperwork today in Ramallah:


"In this challenging times for the Palestinian Authority, this budgetary assistance is a new proof of the French support to the Palestinian institutions as well as to the action undertaken by Prime Minister Fayyad under the authority of President Abbas," Frédéric Desagneaux said.

"As it has been recently said in New York, France shares the analysis of the international financial institutions and the United Nations according to which the Palestinian Authority remains, despite its current financial difficulties, ready to establish a functioning State," he added.

Why do France and others who continue to support this scam still feel you can have a functioning state that still can't manage to support itself after receiving the highest amount of foreign aid per capita of any developing 'nation' in history?

Très simple, mes amis.

France has a restive population of Muslims, and their votes were decisive in putting French President Hollande and the Socialists in office according to most analysts. So this is a way for the French government to appease not only with demographic but to score points with other Israel hating members of their constituency on the left.

The French government is fully aware that a good portion of this money will be diverted, and that 'Palestine' is far from performing as a functioning state in the usual sense of the word.

But they'll come across with the jirzyah. As one frequent contributor to these pages has reminded us, it doesn't have to make common sense, just political sense.

'Jewish Voice For Peace' demands Apology to Palestinians Calls Romney's Comments 'Racist And Ignorant

Let's see..

An ultra Left, 'anti-Zionist' group too out there even for J Street hates Romney for 'insulting' Arafat's minions? Gee that's news:

A liberal Jewish organization is set to deliver 17,000 signatures to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's headquarters Monday afternoon urging him to apologize for remarks many have deemed insulting to the Palestinians.

Jewish Voice for Peace has called Romney's comments at a Jerusalem fundraiser last Monday “racist and ignorant.” Romney says he did not mean to denigrate Palestinians when he credited “the power of at least culture” and the “hand of providence” for Israel's superior economy.

The petition, addressed to “Governor Mitt Romney,” urges him to apologize.

“Your statements in Jerusalem regarding the growth of the Palestinian and Israeli economies were inaccurate and misleading,” the petition states. ”Israel's Occupation of Palestinian land makes it impossible for the Palestinian economy to succeed, not 'cultural differences'.

"Your comments were not a reflection of the values Jews, Americans, and our allies hold dear. We call on you to apologize to the Palestinian people for your willful lack of understanding of the facts on the ground and the racist assumptions behind them.”

A Jewish Voice For Peace 'liberal'? Not in this universe.But it's totally in character for these self-hating 'anti-Zionists' to essentially echo Saeb Erekat, the right fork of Yasser Arafat's tongue

The truth is that the real problem with the Palestinians(who have received more aid per capita than any other developing nation) is the same problem the rest of the Arab countries have..they're kleptocracies,where the leaders and those connected to them steal their people blind. That's why Abbas, his two sons and most of the rest of the Fatah Old Guard, including Erekat are millionaires and why Sufa Arafat lives the high life in the swankiest section of Paris.

Stealing the aid money from gullible western donors became a sport a long time ago. and the Palestinians are experts.

Also, just for the record, the 'occupation' is a myth, as I've explained previously. Area A is entirely under Palestinian control, not subject to Israeli checkpoints except where it's necessitated by threat of Palestinian terrorism. So is Gaza, which had no blockade in place until Hamas took over and started shooting missiles at Israel.The people identifying themselves as Palestinians rule these areas. There is no occupation of the Arab occupied parts of Judea and Samaria (AKA the West Bank) in any real sense of the word.

So Romney was entirely correct about a link between culture, prosperity and development.

You bet it's the culture . If it's the faux 'occupation', what's the rest of the Arab world's excuse?

Here's hoping Mitt Romney simply laughs in these people's faces. Trust me, they're not the kind of people who would ever vote for him anyway.

You're known by the people that hate you as well as by your friends.

Factchecking The AP On Romney's Israel Trip...Pure Horsemanure Disguised As Straight News

It's hard to believe that the Associated Press still considers itself a hard news outlet.

Today's story on Governor Romney's speech in Israel is a case in point.

The headline says it all:'Romney comments at fundraiser outrage Palestinians'...in big red letters.

Apparently the governor, looking at the difference between Israel's development and surrounding Arab countries drew some obvious conclusions about th epart culture plays in prosperity.

So they quote Saeb Erekat, the right fork of Yasser Arafat's tongue, who ought to know personally about how cultural elements have impacted the 'Palestinian' economy.

"It is a racist statement and this man doesn't realize that the Palestinian economy cannot reach its potential because there is an Israeli occupation," said Saeb Erekat, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"It seems to me this man lacks information, knowledge, vision and understanding of this region and its people," Erekat added. "He also lacks knowledge about the Israelis themselves. I have not heard any Israeli official speak about cultural superiority."

First of all, Area A is entirely under Palestinian control, not subject to Israeli checkpoints except where it's necessitated by threat of Palestinian terrorism. So is Gaza, which had no blockade in place (from both the Israeli and Egyptian sides,I might add) until Hamas took over and started shooting missiles at Israel.The people identifying themselves as Palestinians rule these areas. There is no occupation of the Arab occupied parts of Judea and Samaria (AKA the West Bank) in any realistic sense of the word.

Aside from the AP stacking the deck by linking Gaza and the Palestinian Authority ruled territory in the figures they site, here's a dirty little secret about why Israel is a developed, modern democracy while the Palestinian Authority and every other non-oil bearing Arab country isn't, and Saeb Erekat knows this pretty well, since he's one of the perpetrators.

All the Arab countries, including what passes for 'Palestine' are kleptocracies,where the leaders and those connected to them (including Erekat) steal their people blind.Fatah's Old Guard were gifted by the chief thief himself, Yasser Arafat,with monopolies on virtually every bit of economic activity worth mentioning, which is why Mahmoud Abbas, his two sons, and a number of others including Erekat are millionaires.

Stealing the aid money from gullible western donors became a sport a long time ago, which is where Sufa Arafat gets the money to live in the best hotel in Paris while a number of Palestinians still live in refugee camps.

"It's Israeli occupiers and Palestinians under occupation, and that's why Palestinians cannot realize their potential," Erekat is quoted as saying.

But if you look at the other Arab countries without oil wealth, you see the same pattern.It's not just the Palestinians. Call it the culture of corruption, if you like.

Even in the Arab countries with oil wealth, most of the money tends to stay 'in the family' shall we say.The Saudis are a classic example.

So Romney was entirely correct about a link between culture, prosperity and development: "And you look at Israel and you say you have a hard time suggesting that all of the natural resources on the land could account for all the accomplishment of the people here," Romney said, before citing another book, "The Wealth and Poverty of Nations," by former Harvard professor David Landes.

This book, Romney said in Jerusalem, concludes that "if you could learn anything from the economic history of the world it's this: Culture makes all the difference. Culture makes all the difference."

So what's the AP's response? Ra-aa-cism!

Another blatant whopper -

Romney flew to the Middle East from Britain, where he caused a stir by questioning whether officials there were fully prepared for the Olympic Games. A stop in Poland will complete his trip.

As I pointed out,Governor Romney never actually said the Brits were not fully prepared for the Olympics.

If this is where the dinosaur media buys it stories from to redact, is it any wonder so much of th emedia is so biased towards President Obama's re-election? And tilted against Israel?

The UN Builds Yet Another School Named After A Hamas Terrorist

Your tax dollars at work!

Earlier this month, a brand new school in Gaza was opened, near the former Netzarim junction in the northwest Gaza Strip. The money came from the former Libyan government, but the project was green lighted, funded, constructed and overseen by the United Nations Development Program,(UNDP) a UN agency that specializes in 'helping poor and developing countries.'

Apparently they also specialize in making heroes and role models out of Islamist terrorists.

The school is named after Adnan al-Ghoul, a top Hamas operative who specialized in IED's and was an important part in developing the Qassam rockets for Hamas. His honorific among his Hamas comrades was "father of the Qassam".

AL-Ghoul was also heavily involved in an attack at the Beit Lid junction in central Israel in 1995, in which 22 Israelis were killed, and he manufactured the explosive belt used in the 1996 Purim suicide bombing at Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv, which murdered ten Israeli civilian and injured dozens more.

All in all, quite a role model for the Hitler, um,...Hamas youth.

The opening ceremony was a gala affair, with Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah in attendance. He made some well received remarks, noting that al-Ghoul had been a prominent figure in the history of the "resistance" and that "he was not an ordinary jihad fighter or shaheed."

And the UNDP? They issued a press release that basically mimicked Eichmann's original defense of just being a 'transportation officer.'

UNDP implemented the construction of this school that was upon completion, handed over to the Ministry of Education.

The implementation was done under the “direct execution modality” without any involvement of the de-facto authorities in Gaza.

UNDP was also not involved or present at the opening ceremony and has no role whatsoever in naming or in any other activity related to the school.

Through its work, UNDP and the UN system at-large aims to build lasting peace and prosperity throughout the region.

They oversaw the construction of a school, handed it over to the Hamas-run Ministry of Education without a qualm and then claim they had no expectations of what was going to happen? As if they had no knowledge of whom Hamas is or their genocidal policies regarding Jews?

"Your Honor, I just followed orders to get those Jews on the trains. I had nothing to do with what was going to happen to them afterwards."

Increasingly it seems like the UN isn't about peace and prosperity in the least, but something far darker.

Another of those stories you won't see mentioned in your local media...

(H/T, the Elder)

Unbelievable: Israel Advances The 'Palestinians' 180 Million Shekels

All I could do when I heard this was shake my head in disbelief..

The Israeli government decided to 'advance' the Palestinian Authority 180 Million NIS against the approximately 100 million NIS in tax money it transfers to the PA on a monthly basis.

The deal was approved by PM Netanyahu and finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and the money was transferred over before Ramadan 'in an effort to ease the Palestinian Authority's financial crisis.'

The official explanation is that it's an attempt to improve relations with the PA, stave off a Hamas takeover and encourage its unelected dictator Mahmoud Abbas to renew some kind of dialogue with Israel.

Absolutely none of these official reasons hold any water whatsoever on closer examination. Relations aren't going to 'improve' because the vast majority of 'Palestinians' want Israel gone, Hamas remains popular because the overwhelming majority of 'Palestinians' despise the PLO Old Guard as crooked and inefficient in pursuing the War against the Jews and the deep seated corruption of the PA and the financial troubles of its EU donors that have cut down the dole to Europe's favorite terrorist entity are unlikely to change.

Nor is Mahmoud Abas interested in any sort of negotiation with the Jews short of their surrendering to all his demands, as he's said many times...repeatedly.

So once I realized that, I decided to find out what really happened.

According to one of my notorious Lil' Birdies, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was just in Israel, came there with a message from President Obama and leaned on Netanyahu to help bail Abbas out. In exchange, the Israelis were promised a quid pro quo of some kind that as yet I've been unable to uncover.

It might be something as simple as the Obama Administration looking the other way as Israel implements some of the recommendations of the Levy Commission, or a renewed committment to veto the 'Palestinian Authority's' effort to hit the UN up for statehood again.

Depending on what Israel was promised and even more importantly what leverage they have to be sure President Obama will actually deliver (let's be kind and just say that when it comes to Israel, he's been less than trustworthy) , this could either be a good deal or the Israeli government could very well end up as 'friers' ( suckers) and thus a fitting target for our friend Bugs Bunny's ridicule.

Time will tell. Stay tuned.