By Evelyn Gordan

Hundreds of Palestinian refugees demonstrated outside the Canadian Embassy in Beirut on Sept. 5 to request asylum in Canada or the European Union, the second such protest in the last month. The most surprising aspect of these demonstrations is that they have been so long in coming. Only now, after more than 70 years, are Palestinians publicly protesting the fact that they alone, of all the world’s refugees, are denied the most basic of refugee rights—the right to seek resettlement in a safe third country.

All other refugees worldwide are handled by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, which resettles tens of thousands of refugees in third countries every year. But Palestinian refugees aren’t allowed to apply to UNHCR; they are handled by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, an agency created exclusively for them. And UNRWA hasn’t resettled a single refugee in its 70 years of existence.
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Hanan Melcer cites ‘tight schedule’ two days before ballot in refusing PM’s call to discuss claims of voter fraud in Arab towns, panned by opponents as Likud campaign stunt

By TOI STAFFToday, 3:27 pm  0

Justice Hanan Melcer, chairman of the Central Elections Committee. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The elections chief has turned down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for an “emergency” meeting to discuss the premier’s claims of rampant voter fraud in the Arab community.

Supreme Court Justice Hanan Melcer, who chairs the Central Elections Committee and has overall responsibility for ensuring the fairness and accuracy of the vote, explained that he would not be meeting with Netanyahu or any other party leader before the election.

In a Sunday statement refusing the meeting, the committee cited its “tight schedule” just two days before the September 17 vote, “and the fact that the committee is not an investigative body and does not have any concrete authority to instruct the police.”
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https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-washington-may-be-ready-for-talks-post-bolton-but-iran-is-still-hesitant-1.7835223

Changing alliances make negotiations with Iran pressing for the Trump administration, and Israel is becoming less and less of a consideration

Zvi Bar’el, HAARETZ

Iranian President Hassan Rohani and U.S. President Donald Trump. Vahid Salemi / AP, Leah Millis / Reuters

The much-tweeted dismissal of John Bolton has inspired a wave of optimism worldwide among Iran watchers: It even brought oil prices down by 21 cents a barrel. Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran haven’t begun yet, but some are already laying bets that the removal of the main obstacle blocking contact between Washington and Tehran is a promising start.

America will make concessions and ease the sanctions, which would mean Iranian oil coming back to the market, these gamblers assess. Remarks by Iranian President Hassan Rohani’s adviser Abbas Araghchi, who said that the U.S. had been demonstrating some flexibility over the oil issue after the G-7 summit, probably comfort their view.
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Defense Ministry submits opinion to undo Jordanian law forbidding purchase of land in Judea and Samaria by Jews as private individuals.

Arutz Sheva Staff,

Judea and Samaria

Legal advisers in the Ministry of Defense and the IDF compiled an opinion that Jews should be allowed to buy land as individuals in Judea and Samaria, Haaretz reported Sunday.

According to the report, the precedent-setting opinions are now on the desk of Deputy Attorney General Erez Kaminitz, who is expected to approve them with the backing of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.

The opinion also recommends easing the requirement for a permit for any land deal in Judea and Samaria, a requirement that also constitutes a heavy barrier to land acquisition by Jews.
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After US President Donald Trump spoke to Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there was “no evidence” the large attack came from Yemen.

BY SETH J. FRANTZMAN, JPOST

US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (R) attend the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 21, 2017.. (photo credit: REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST)

Less than twenty-four hours after a major attack by at least ten drones or cruise missiles on key Saudi oil facilities, the rhetoric in the Middle East is heating up and the region appears on the brink of conflict. After US President Donald Trump spoke to Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there was “no evidence” the large attack came from Yemen.

This now means that Saudi Arabia, which is investigating how the attack happened, is positioned to defend itself, but must choose wisely how. Saudi Arabia’s oil production and exports have been disrupted. The facility at Abqaiq, which was struck, is one of the world’s largest processing facilities. According to Reuters the attacks have impacted 5 million barrels per day.
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“Tehran is behind nearly 100 attacks on Saudi Arabia while Rouhani and Zarif pretend to engage in diplomacy.”

BY REUTERS,  SEPTEMBER 15, 2019 01:27

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday accused Iran of leading attacks on Saudi oil plants that have cut the kingdom’s output roughly in half, as he ruled out Yemeni involvement and denounced Tehran for engaging in false diplomacy.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group claimed credit for the attacks on two plants at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry, including the world’s biggest petroleum processing facility.

Pompeo, however, said on Twitter that there was no evidence the attacks came from Yemen.
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By Dogan Akman

A fundamental principle of law

One of the fundamental principles governing the administration of criminal law in the English common law tradition, adopted by the ICC, is not to interfere with the manner in which prosecutors exercise their discretion in handling the cases that reach their desk.

Among others, this quasi-sacred principle applies to the manner in which prosecutors exercise their discretion a) to determine in any given case whether or not to lay any charges; b) if charges are to be laid, to select the charges and the persons to be charged; and c) to decide the way in which the prosecution will be carried out.
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By Richard M. Reinsch II, NATIONAL REVIEW

His hands are tied by Parliament, but perhaps not completely.

A  coalition of Labour, Liberal Democratic, and Conservative rebels voted last week to force U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson to extend the deadline for the British exit from the European Union from October 31 to Jan. 31, 2020. As an alternative, the bill stipulates that the prime minister must accept whatever other exit date the European Union’s representatives propose and the House of Commons accepts. Johnson responded by removing from the Conservative party the 21 Tory rebels who voted for the so-called Benn-Burt bill, including luminaries such as Kenneth Clarke, the longest-serving member of Parliament, and Nicholas Soames, grandson of Winston Churchill. Jo Johnson, the prime minister’s brother, preemptively resigned, and now Amber Rudd has resigned as a member of Johnson’s cabinet.

Johnson also called for a general election under the norm that defeat of a key measure of the government triggers a call for new political leadership. He was refused by Parliament, which under the 2011 Fixed-term Parliaments Act must provide a two-thirds assent to such a plea. The prime minister has lost his majority and sits atop a nearly impotent government. Johnson has vowed that he will not follow Parliament’s order to delay Brexit, opining that he would rather be “dead in a ditch” than agree to an extension with the EU. What are his options, though?
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Given the major departures of pro-Israel figures like the now former national security adviser and the upcoming resignation of US special envoy Jason Greenblatt, questions remain as to the direction of the Trump administration.

by Jackson Richman, ISRAEL HAYOM  JNS , Israel Hayom Staff

In this new Glazov Gang episode, Jamie speaks with Clare M. Lopez, the Vice President for Research & Analysis at the Center for Security Policy.

Clare discusses: Post-9/11 – Helping Saudis Slip Away, unveiling  the highly disturbing facts about an eerie evacuation.  

Don’t miss it!

And make sure to watch our 2-Part-Series with Clare below:
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PM summarizes his meetings with Russian President Putin and Defense Minister Shoigu.

By Ido Ben Porat, Sochi,  INN

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who returned early Friday morning from a diplomatic visit to Russia, discussed his meetings with President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, which focused on the Israeli campaign to prevent Iran’s establishment in Syria.

“There was a great meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu followed by a long and excellent meeting with Putin that was delayed because he came from Dagestan,” Netanyahu told Israeli journalists who accompanied him on the visit.

He added that during these two meetings that took place in the city of Sochi and lasted a total of five hours, “we went into the security issue in great detail. Very detailed work. They always asked if our freedom of action would be preserved. And it is indeed preserved and grounded in understanding.”
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By Capital Research Center (Sponsored)

A largely unknown, massively funded strategy company pushing the interests of wealthy leftist donors has been quietly funding successful efforts to ensure the federal government’s role in control of the Internet.

The secretive Arabella Advisors is a centralized hub that runs nonprofit arms that in turn have spawned a nexus of hundreds of front organizations outwardly designed to appear grassroots but actually working against ordinary people by expanding government control in the lives of Americans.

Arabella’s vast network was unmasked in an extensive exposé by conservative watchdog Capital Research Center, which documents the shadowy system developed by, housed in and staffed by the for-profit, privately held Arabella Advisors.
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