T. Belman. The report when issued will be no less condemnatory then if he had issued it but will be more credible without him. I see no victory here.

NETANYAHU SAID: ”

“After the resignation of the committee head, who was biased against Israel, the report – which was written at the behest of the UNHRC, which has proven itself to be an anti-Israeli body that has nothing to do with human rights – should be shelved,”

“The terror organizations and the terror regimes are the ones that should be investigated,”

William Schabas says he will resign immediately to prevent overshadowing the report and its findings over Israeli allegations of bias due to consultancy work he did for the PLO.

YNET 

William Schabas

The head of a United Nations Human Rights Commission inquiry into last summer’s conflict between Israel and Gaza said he would resign following Israeli allegations of bias due to consultancy work he did for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Canadian academic William Schabas was appointed last August by the head of the UN Human Rights Council to lead a three-member group looking into alleged war crimes during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.
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T. Belman. Yes, boycott the NIF but why not also boycott Haaretz. Is there any meaningful difference between them?

By Lahav Harkov, JPOST

Likud and Bayit Yehudi9 candidates withdrew their involvement from a Haaretz conference Monday, upon finding out the New Israel Fund is one of its cosponsors.

Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett, faction chairwoman Ayelet Shaked and candidate for Knesset Yinon Magal, as well as Likud deputy ministers Tzipi Hotovely and Tzachi Hanegbi and MK Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) canceled their appearances in Haaretz’s February 17 “Israeli Democracy Conference,” saying that they were not informed of the NIF’s sponsorship when they agreed to participate.
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T. Belman.

“Article 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute prohibits “[t]he transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” There are some difficult interpretive issues involved in the war crime, particularly concerning whether the settlers themselves violate the provision by settling in occupied territory. But the idea that (many of) the settlements constitute war crimes is anything but frivolous. Indeed, scholars agree that the inclusion of that part of Article 8(2)(b)(viii) in the Rome Statute was one of the primary reasons Israel refused (and still refuses) to ratify the treaty.”

This inclusion makes settlement construction a war crime. But Israel is not bound by the provision except that by virtue of the Court’s “universal jurisdiction” the court may be able to rule on it. Universal jurisdiction only applies over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Israel to release paper on Gaza operation to preempt ICC and blunt UN criticism.

By Herb Keinon, JPOST

Israel is expected to release a paper in the coming days giving its legal position regarding Operation Protective Edge, as part of an effort to preempt an investigation by the International Criminal Court and before the release of what is expected to be a highly critical report by the UN Human Rights Council.

The paper is an intergovernmental project that was drawn up with representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office, the IDF, and the Justice, Foreign Affairs, and Defense ministries. According to one official, it will be an overview from a legal perspective of the summer’s events.
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In an address to an Israel Bonds gala dinner in Boca Raton, Florida, Dermer gives all the reasons that Bibi Netyanhu will take the risk of upsetting President Obama by coming to address the US Congress.

This is not just the right of the Prime Minister of Israel. It is his most sacred duty — to do whatever he can to prevent Iran from ever developing nuclear weapons that can be aimed at Israel.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As purchasers of Israel Bonds, you have been true partners in building Israel.

And in the nearly 67 years of Israel’s independence, we should be grateful for many things.
We should be grateful that we have signed peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan that have endured decades of challenges.

We should be grateful that Israel has transformed itself from an agriculturally based economy to a global technological power.

We should be grateful that Israel is a world leader in medicine and science, and can boast of a dozen Nobel Prize Winners.
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By Tabitha Korol

January 29, 2015, was Hijab Day at NP3 High School, in Sacramento, California.  One student who is interning for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) gave a presentation on Islamophobia and in no time at all, the befuddled faculty, staff and students were “encouraged” by principal, Tom Rutten, to wear a hijab – a veil that covers the woman’s head and chest.

What began as the seventh century Bedouin woman’s attempt at privacy and protection from the desert has become a veil symbolic of a woman’s indignity and servitude.  As Nonie Darwish so aptly explained in her book, Cruel and Usual Punishment, women have come to represent the totality of evil and inferiority in Islamic teaching.
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The survival of the Assad regime should no longer be a factor in Israel’s strategic calculations

By Prof Inbar, ISRAEL HAYOM

As the Assad regime is losing its grip over the country, Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah?, both active defenders of the regime, are gaining greater freedom of action and trying to change the status quo along Israel’s northern border. Both are ideologically committed to the destruction of Israel and are trying to establish a new operations stage against Israel on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights — something that Assad has resisted for years.

Hezbollah? seeks an additional arena from where it can harm Israel because conducting operations against the Jewish state from Lebanon is problematic, due to domestic political constraints (primarily fear of escalation and spillover effects on the Lebanese economy). Iran has a perennial interest in bleeding Israel. Creating a new threat from Syria serves this purpose. A new front in Syria will also to enhance its ability to deter an Israeli attack on its nuclear installations.
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By James Lewis, AMERICAN THINKER

We are in the middle of a hot war in the Middle East, with constant terror attacks all over the world, including the United States, Europe, and Asia.  The enemy is called violent Islam, or radical Islam, or fascist Islam, or reactionary Islam, or merely “orthodox Islam.”

We constantly waste time quibbling about the name.  But we know the enemy by now.

(And yes, there are plenty of Muslims who want peace, but who are too scared to speak out, with some brave exceptions I mention below.  As long as the West colludes with violent Islam, peaceful Muslims will be too scared to speak out.  As long as we fail to stand for freedom, we will be supporting the worst of the worst, who always terrorize their own populations first.
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by Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaacov Amidror
February 2, 2015

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 285

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:  The recent tensions on the Israel-Syria border, and the Sunni attacks in Sinai and Suez against the Egyptians may seem unrelated, but they actually have several factors in common. These attacks attest to the impending collapse of regimes and nations in the region, and prove that radical groups are ready to exploit this. Israel must therefore act quickly to recognize any major threat along its borders and thwart it. The strike against Hezbollah last week clarifies to Israel’s enemies that there are red lines, and anyone crossing them must take into account Israel’s response.
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Avoid reliance on NGOs that are not credible or promote antisemitism

Jerusalem – In a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict (“the COI”), NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based research institute, warned the COI of the implications of failing to apply the principles of objectivity, non-selectivity, balance, and universality, and the history of the HRC’s disregard for legal and ethical standards. The submission also noted that the UN projected a $3 million budget for the politically motivated investigation of Israel. William Schabas, the head of the Commission, in alliance with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Palestinian Authority, seek to use the CIO as part of the campaign seeking to exploit the International Criminal Court (ICC) for “lawfare” attacks against Israel.

“While the Government of Israel has justifiably decided not to participate in another biased UN pseudo-investigation, as members of Israeli civil society we have a duty to communicate our concerns to the UN,” said Anne Herzberg, NGO Monitor’s Legal Advisor. “Our submission is a forceful reminder to the Schabas Commission: In order to avoid the abject failures of the past, particularly the 2009 Goldstone Report, the principles of impartiality, objectivity, and transparency must be applied. Unfortunately, we have no evidence or reason to expect that this COI will be any different from its predecessors in these core dimensions.”
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DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 2, 2015

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has launched a new terror offensive against Iranians, their followers and other Shiites.  It was kicked off Sunday, Feb. 2 with an attack on a Damascus bus carrying Lebanese Shiite pilgrims to shrines in Syria. Nine people were killed and at least 20 injured. ISIS has set its sights next on the Muslim Shiite heartland, Iran and its cities – especially the capital Tehran.

The Damascus bus attack is ascribed by some sources to a Saudi suicide bomber by the name of Abu al-Ezz al-Ansari. The claim that the Syrian rebel Jabhat al-Nusra was the perpetrator was false, say DEBKAfile’s intelligence and counter-terrorism sources. This group does not go in for Saudi recruits and certainly not suicide bombers of that ilk.
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By Rob MIller, TOI

President Barack Obama and his minions in the White House and the press have had a lot to say about how ‘disrespectful’ it was for Congress to invite Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of congress without informing the White House. And how wrong it was for Netanyahu to accept when he knew the White House hadn’t been informed.

Read this correction, from The New York Time’s own website.

Correction: January 30, 2015
An earlier version of this article misstated when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel accepted Speaker John A. Boehner’s invitation to address Congress. He accepted after the administration had been informed of the invitation, not before.

Omri Ceren first spotted the correction and explained on Twitter:
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By David Bender, ALGEMEINER

A new report from a local pro-Israel NGO, Im Tirtzu (IMTI)charges that pro-Palestinian human rights monitor, B’Tselem, gets funding from a Palestinian foundation in Ramallah, the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat, which also backs terrorist groups, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

IMTI, in a letter seen by the The Algemeiner, called attention to what it contended were “serious questions regarding the relationship between Israeli organizations and Palestinian funds that sponsor terrorism and Boycott Divestment and Sanctions as well as the enormous amount of European money that comes to them to portray Israel as a perpetrator of war crimes and to delegitimize Israel.”

A recent B’Tselem report entitled “Black Flag” alleges that the IDF perpetrated war crimes during the course of last summer’s 51-day Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, which was meant to end intense rocket fire into Israel, and destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
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Demands injunction against U.S.-linked group trying to swing Israeli election

By Aaron Klein, WND

EILAT, Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party hit back Sunday at a U.S.-linked organization staffed with former Obama campaigners now working to defeat Netanyahu in an upcoming general election.

Victory 2015, or V15, attracted U.S. media attention after it hired 270 Strategies, a consulting firm whose senior leadership is comprised mostly of former top staffers for President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.

During a press conference Sunday, the Likud Party officially accused V15 and other related nonprofits of being supported “through millions of dollars funneled from Europe, the U.S. and the New Israel Fund and international factors interested in bringing down Prime Minister Netanyahu” who think “that all means are appropriate.”
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by David P. Goldman

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 284

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: China’s “New Silk Road” is Beijing’s latest project aimed at creating a belt of railroads, highways, pipelines and broadband communications stretching through China to the West, and a “maritime Silk Road” combining sea routes with port infrastructure from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. This project comes at a point where the role of the US in the Middle East is declining, and it is likely that China will aspire to adopt a larger role in the region. Israel’s geographical position and technological advances makes it possible for Israel to play a bridgehead role in the project, and the opportunity to shape Chinese thinking and strategy in the region for decades to come.
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The phenomenon of Israel hatred has complex psychological roots. Israel would not be hated if it were not Jewish, even if it acted exactly as it does today.

By Fred Skolnik, INN

An editor of the Cambridge Histories once remarked that when a nonspecialist reads history he can only choose arbitrarily from among conflicting versions of events. This is obviously true. The general reader, unequipped to evaluate or verify what he is reading, will naturally be influenced by the quality of the writing, maybe even by thebiography of the writer or his photo on the dust jacket. It is a little like voting for a political candidate.

All this is true when the subject is neutral. When it isn’t, an additional factor comes into play, and that is the bias of the reader. In what pertains, for example, to the historical enmity between the French and the English, it is natural for a Frenchman to be pro-French and an Englishman to be pro-English. Likewise, it is also natural, in the Arab-Israel conflict, for a Jew to be pro-Israel and an Arab to be pro-Arab or pro-Palestinian. Conversely, it is unnatural for a Jew to be pro-Arab and for an Arab to be pro-Israel.
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Ted Belman. Tobin said that Netanyahu’s decision to speak to Congress, “brought down on his head the scorn of the American political establishment and press”. The Administration, yes, but the political establishment, I din’t think so. But Tobin is closer to the situation than I am. He goes so far as to say that “there’s no way to sugarcoat what has become a disaster for Israel and the prime minister”. Nevertheless, I don’t share his take on this.

By Jonathan S. Tobin, COMMENTARY

It’s been a bad couple of weeks for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His decision to accept House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to address a joint session has brought down on his head the scorn of the American political establishment and press. But all is not lost for Netanyahu. There may be no good solution to his dilemma with respect to the speech to Congress and little hope that the Obama administration will do the right thing with respect to Iran, he remains the most likely person to emerge from Israel’s March election as the next prime minister. Though some may think that would be an even bigger disaster for his country considering that administration sources are spreading rumors that President Obama will never again meet with Netanyahu, no one should think such an outcome will be the end of the alliance or even such bad news for the prime minister.
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JNF chief Meir Spiegler says breakaway for ‘purely professional’ reasons, stemming from frequent state violations of agreements; split includes land swaps between the sides.

By Yael Darel, YNET

The Jewish National Fund is in the practical stage of parting ways with the State of Israel and the Israel Land Administration, due to what the JNF says are repeated infractions by the state.

Over the past few days, JNF director general Meir Spiegler and the director of the JNF’s Land Conglomerate, Alex Hefetz, have held a series of meetings with senior Housing Ministry officials, including Minister Uri Ariel and his director general, Shlomo Ben Eliyahu, with the objective of setting up teams to coordinate the process and supervise the transfer of information between the parties. According to Spiegler, the process will be completed by July 29 this year.

Calcalist has learned that during the course of the negotiations between the parties, and in an effort to smoothen the process, the JNF, founded in 1901 by the World Zionist Organization, has agreed in principle to give up land it owns and for which plans are already in the ILA pipeline, in return for land in other areas of the country, in the Negev and Galilee in all likelihood.
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By Caroline B. Glick, JWR

Israel’s reported strike January 18 on a joint Iranian-Hezbollah convoy driving on the Syrian Golan Heights was one of the most strategically significant events to have occurred in Israel’s neighborhood in recent months. Its significance lies both in what it accomplished operationally and what it exposed.

From what been published to date about the identities of those killed in the strike, it is clear that in one fell swoop the air force decapitated the Iranian and Hezbollah operational command in Syria.

The head of Hezbollah’s operations in Syria, the head of its liaison with Iran, and Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of Hezbollah’s longtime operational commander Imad Mughniyeh who was killed by Israel in Damascus in 2008, were killed. The younger Mughniyeh reportedly served as commander of Hezbollah forces along the Syrian-Israeli border.
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Outstanding speech by Matti Friedman former AP journalist about Israel given at a BICOM dinner in London on January 26.

His speech is an absolute must-read. It is long but worth every minute you take to read it.

 Live Leak

HIGHLIGHTS

• I gradually began to be aware of certain malfunctions in the coverage of the Israel story – recurring omissions, recurring inflations, decisions made according to considerations that were not journalistic but political,
• we sought to hint or say outright that Israeli soldiers were war criminals, and every detail supporting that portrayal was to be seized upon.
• But an Israeli peace offer and its rejection by the Palestinians didn’t suit OUR story. The bureau chief ordered both reporters to ignore the Olmert offer,
• Neo-Nazi rallies at Palestinian universities or in Palestinian cities are not — I saw images of such rallies suppressed on more than one occasion. Jewish hatred of Arabs is a story. Arab hatred of Jews is not.
• Our policy, for example, was not to mention the assertion in the Hamas founding charter that Jews were responsible for engineering both world wars and the Russian and French revolutions, despite the obvious insight this provides into the thinking of one of the most influential actors in the conflict.
• 100 houses in a West Bank settlement are a story. 100 rockets smuggled into Gaza are not.

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Court holds its not a crime to trash Islam as opposed to trashing Muslims which is a crime.

by Andrew Harrod, FrontPageMagazine
http://www.legal-project.org/4341/french-free-speech-victory

A French appeals court on December 18, 2014, overturned a hate speech conviction involving Christine Tasin’s condemnation of Islam. Tasin’s encouraging victory, won with Legal Project aid, demonstrates that not all threats to free discussion of Islam are violent like the subsequent Paris jihadist Charlie Hebdomassacre.

The retired classics teacher Tasin had appeared on October 15, 2013, in a parking lot before a temporary tent abattoir in use by local Muslims in the French city of Belfort near the Swiss border. During the ritual animal slaughter for the Eid al Adha (“Festival of Sacrifice”) Muslim festival, Tasin before Muslim bystanders had criticized Islam’s halal slaughter as unsanitary and cruel to animals. In an ensuing argument filmed and uploaded to the internet, she received “Islamophobe” accusations.
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