MEMRI

On February 1, 2016, Ahmad Al-Sarraf, wrote in his column in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabasabout Israel’s advantages over the Arabs in a wide variety of fields – democracy, military, science and technology, human rights and freedom of worship, and economics. He called on the Arabs to look at the reasons for Israel’s success and superiority, instead of viewing it as a political-religious foe about which they know nothing at all.

Following are excerpts from his article:

“In theory, Arabs have [only] one enemy in the region – except that recently we have made additional enemies, such as Iran. Some went even further, stepping up their hatred of Iran, while at the same time becoming more accepting of Israel [than in the past], to the point where it has become more friend than foe…
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By Nick Hallett, BREITBART

In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Oxford academic Sir Paul Collier said that Merkel’s actions were “morally reprehensible” and it was unlikely the huge number of new arrivals would integrate into German society.

Sir Paul, who previously worked as director of the Development Research Group at the World Bank, told the paper: “Inviting all refugees to Germany was a colossal mistake by Angela Merkel, especially since she had obviously made no preparations for the resulting influx.”
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T. Belman. This article focuses on one particular headline “Three Palestinian teenagers shot dead on West Bank”.. The Guardian defends the headline by saying it is factually true. And so it should be and so it is. It says that such headlines are “oversimplified” but don’t constitute anti-Israel bias. It boils down to this. Is the story about Israelis killing three teenagers, which they did, or about three teenagers attempting to kill Israelis resulting in their deaths. How can you not be biased by going with the former?

The Guardian has admitted that some of its headlines reporting on the conflict between Palestinians and Israel have been “oversimplified”, but has rejected accusations of “bias”. It claims the headlines, which some pro-Israel activists have claimed are misleading, are simply a hang-over from the days of print journalism.

By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDS, BREITBART

In recent months The Guardian, along with other news outlets, has come under increasing fire from campaigners who insist that headlines which report the deaths of Palestinians without making reference to the fact that they were terrorists are misleading.
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For them, the Palestinians whose rights they claim to champion are nothing more than means to another end. They are all about demonizing Israel and her supporters

By Caroline Glick, JPOST

Last Thursday, yet again, we learned that pro-Palestinian activists couldn’t care less about Palestinians.

For them, the Palestinians whose rights they claim to champion are nothing more than means to another end.

Our latest lesson came from the University of Chicago.

Last week, Palestinian human rights activist Bassam Eid was abused and threatened by supposedly pro-Palestinian and pro-peace activists as he tried to inform his audience about the state of Palestinian human rights today.
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“…countries in the Arab world are preparing to acquire nuclear weapons…”

by Yochanan Visser, WESTERN JOURNALISM

One month ago, the nuclear deal with Iran was implemented, and relief from sanctions for the regime in Tehran kicked in.

Since the implementation of the deal, news reports have focused on a long list of business deals Iran closed with Russia, Europe and other countries. Sunday, Iran shipped its first oil delivery to Europe in five years. Tuesday, news broke that the stock market in Tehran has jumped 25 percent in the past 30 days.

Needless to say, business is booming in Iran.
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By Asaf Romirowsky and Benjamin Weinthal, The National Interest

In a move uncharacteristic of U.S. policy as it has been carried out for decades, the Obama administration recently endorsed Europe’s version of a soft Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment (BDS) campaign targeting Israeli merchandise.

In late January, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency changed its policy on imports from the West Bank, imposing, in effect, a sanction on such goods.

The penalty states that products must no longer be labeled “Made in Israel,” because the United States views the West Bank as territory illegitimately controlled by Israel.
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T. Belman. The way I see it is that the US, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, who are not prepared to take on Russia, should cut their losses and work toward a divided Syria; Alawite Syria, Kurdish Syria and Sunni Syria. Under no conditions should Assad with the backing of Russia and Iran be allowed to restore Syria under his control.

I believe that the present attempt to achieve a ceasefire has this as a goal. Although Assad recently talked about recovering all of Syria, Russia squelched that idea immediately.

By Jonathan Spyer, MEF

Over the ruined landscape of northern Syria, a number of core factors that today define the strategic reality of the Middle East are colliding. Close observation of that blighted area therefore offers clues as to the current state of play more broadly in the region – who is on the way up, who on the way down, and what might this imply for Israel in the short to medium term.

Let’s identify the factors interacting discernibly in the north Syrian maelstrom:
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T. Belman. Plus ca change, plus la meme chose.  To pledge to both support Israel and create a Palestinian state is a contradiction in terms. Cruz is right, alleged neutrality will achieve nothing. Why do the Palestinians deserve a state of their own. What have they done to deserve it?

Read Barry Shaw’s The dangerous hope of Two-Staters

Former Secretary of State says she’ll do everything she can to support Israel but the Palestinians “deserve a state of their own”.

By Elad Benari, ARUTZ SHEVA

Former Secretary of State and current Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton believes both Republican candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz “missed the mark” with their approach to the Israel-Palestinian Arab conflict.

Speaking Sunday to CNN, Clinton vowed to support Israel but also said she would insist on the “two-state solution”, that is the formation of a Palestinian state, in order to bring an end to the conflict.

In the interview, Clinton was asked about Trump’s and Cruz’s comments last week. While Trump indicated he would be “sort of a neutral guy” on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, Cruz said, “I have no intention of being neutral” and stressed he would be standing by Israel.
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DEBKA

While Syrian war reporting focused over the weekend on the battles around Aleppo and along the Turkish border in the north, Russia since Saturday, Feb. 20 has ramped up its air bombardment of southern cities and towns, especially Daraa and Nawa. Thousands of fleeing rebels with their families and other civilians have meanwhile been turned away from the locked Jordanian border and are heading towards the Golan opposite the Israeli border.

The heaviest Russian air strikes seen hitherto in Syria have two strategic goals.

1. To retake the key southern town of Daraa from rebel hands and restore it to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s full control.

2. To crush rebel resistance in the South and force them to accept surrender, collapse or escape in the direction of the Jordanian or Israeli borders.
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T. Belman.  This is a very detailed interview which highlights how the UN would like to deal with the “negotiations”.  The problem is that they are unwilling to consider alternate solutions. Its the TSS or bust. Furthermore they ignore that the gaps are as wide as they are and somehow think with a little tinkering, the parties will come to an agreement. Pure fantasy. The divide is fundamental.  Why not stop interfering and financing the PA. Let the PA sink or swim.

Israel is partly to blame because she hasn’t made it clear to them that the division of Jerusalem and ’67 lines plus swaps is totally unacceptable. This is not an oversight on Israel’s part. Israel limits their demands so that the international community thinks tinkering will do the job.

The international community is perpetuating the problem, not solving it.

UN envoy Mladenov tells ‘Post’ that very soon the two-state solution will not be realistic any more.

By Herb Keinon, Tova Lazaroff, JPOST

It is not an easy job that Nickolay Mladenov stepped into a year ago when he was appointed the UN special Mideast envoy, not the least because Jerusalem has but very little trust in the UN.

Yet, Mladenov had a couple things – at least from Jerusalem’s perspective – working in his favor. First, he was a former Bulgarian defense and foreign minister who had worked closely in the past with Israel in those capacities. Second, he was not Robert Serry.
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By Salomon Benzimra, AMERICAN THINKER

Backing the French initiative to convene an international conference in the near future on the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” a group of eleven prominent French ambassadors published an appeal in Le Monde on February 3, 2016, urging Paris and Brussels to “save the Palestinian state.”

Their 900-word opus can be summarized as follows:

The ongoing “knife-intifada” is an expression of the “frustration and humiliation” of the Palestinians “after nearly 50 years of occupation,” and the “spontaneous violence” it produced has nothing to do with Islamic terrorism as practiced by the Islamic State (ISIS). Besides, “Israel’s repression” has produced “a far greater number of victims” than Israeli casualties.

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The grandmother of one of the administrative detainees in the Duma story tells her side.

By Libby Kahana,  ARUTZ SHEVA 

On July 31, 2015 a house in Duma, an Arab village in Samaria, was firebombed by unknown persons and a child was tragically killed. The entire gamut of Israel’s “Who’s Who” condemned the unknown persons, whom they labeled “Jewish Terrorists” because of questionable grafiti in Hebrew.

The condemnation was not enough to satisfy theNew York Times, which quickly published an article titled, “Israeli Justice in West Bank Is Seen as Often Uneven.” This was picked up by all the foreign media and our government was pressured into taking hasty, precipitate action.
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By Adam Turner, AMERICAN THINKER

This week, UK Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond asked, “Is Russia really committed to a peace process or is it using the peace process as a fig leaf to try to deliver some kind of military victory for Assad that creates an Alawite mini state in the north-west of Syria?”

Obviously, the Russians are not committed to the Syrian peace process and want an Alawite state. Their national interest is in keeping their client state, Syria, and the Russian bases within it, in existence. The Russians have little interest in a peace process to create a more democratic — and certainly Sunni Arab (74% of the population) dominated — Syria, where they would probably lose both their client and their bases. The easiest way for the Russians to do this now is to cut off the Alawite portions of the state and thereby create an Alawite majority/plurality state.
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RT

After saying US cooperation with Russia in the Syrian conflict doesn’t extend beyond basic flight safety rules, the Pentagon has revealed it gave the Russian military the locations of US special forces in Syria, in the hope Russian aircraft would avoid the area.

The disclosure reveals a modest breakthrough in military–to-military communication and cooperation between the US and Russia beyond the very basic “memorandum of understanding” (MOU) signed in October last year which focused on safety protocols for both Russian and American air crews operating in Syrian airspace.
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By Daniel Siryoti, ISRAEL HAYOM

London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Israeli jets hit facilities belonging to Unit 155 of Syrian army, where Scuds earmarked for Hezbollah are stored • According to report, three missiles struck outpost, causing damage but no casualties.

Israeli fighter jets carried out an airstrike against targets inside Syria late Wednesday night, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed Thursday.

The alleged attack was the second airstrike attributed to Israel in Syria over the past week. Senior Damascus officials denied the reports, as did Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV. Israeli officials had no comment on the matter.
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By Ben Kamisar, THE HILL

Ted Cruz blasted Donald Trump on Friday for saying he wouldn’t wade into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Just this week, Donald Trump said on a TV program that he would be neutral between Israel and the Palestinians,” Cruz said at a town hall in South Carolina.

“Let me tell you this: As president, I have no intention of being neutral. As president, I will be unapologetically alongside the nation of Israel.”
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T. Belman. My take is that we stand alone. Why would we go to a conference at which every participant wants us to capitulate. Our position is only direct negotiations will suffice. Why violate that principle by attending such a conference.

Many will argue that it is better to participate in a conference that is doomed to fail then to reject such a conference. At least while doing so, we alleviate some pressure and eat up some time. Also our participation may help to avoid the threatened French resolution at the UN recognizing Palestine.

According to a Channel 2 report on Friday, the French government has submitted details of its diplomatic plan to members of the UN Security Council.

JPOST

There appears to be a move afoot to bring Israeli and Palestinian leaders together in a bid to revive the moribund peace process – with France leading the way.

According to a Channel 2 report on Friday, the French government has submitted details of its diplomatic plan to members of the UN Security Council.
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Ankara wants to lead Islamic world, says Panos Kammenos, adds that Jerusalem-Athens defense alliance second only to that with US

TOI

There is little chance that Israel will be able to rehabilitate its ties with Turkey, Greece’s defense minister told Israeli journalists on Thursday.

“The fact the Turkey trades with Daesh [Islamic State], as Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has described, funds Daesh, and allows its fighters to enter and leave Syria raises questions in both Israel and Greece,” Panos Kammenos told Israel Radio in an interview while on a visit to Israel.
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