TIMES OF ISRAEL IS LIVE BLOGGING
Mutual Ceasefire. Sa’ar and Mayor of Sderot are against it.
Hamas official: We received assurances on Israeli policies in Jerusalem
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan tells Al-Mayadeen that the ceasefire will go into effect at 2 a.m.
“The resistance has forged a new equation and a new victory,” Hamdan says.
Read more…
T. Belman. I find this very concerning. What troubles me is that such a bazaar notion as transgenderism has so many people who will go to the mat in support of it and no one who will stand up for this woman. To top it off the school itself joined in on the pile on. The same goes for every cause of the woke culture aka cancel culture.
This is nothing short of a revolution and the revolutionaries are winning. What is shocking is that such ideas are being supported by the Democratic Party, the MSM, Big Tech and the Deep State. No wonder they were able to flip society.
It all started when a fringe of the left started attacking religion some 60 years ago. One more sea change that I noticed at the same time was that educators were valuing cooperation as opposed to competition.
A female law student at Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland, is facing expulsion for stating the scientific fact that women have vaginas and are generally not as physically strong as men.
The brouhaha erupted during a video class on “gender feminism and the law” while students were discussing the appropriateness of a man who identifies as female fighting women in mixed-martial arts bouts, according to The Times of London.
Ted Belman
Israel has informed Egypt — which is mediating a ceasefire between the Jewish state and Hamas — that it is willing to halt its military campaign in the Gaza Strip, Al-Jazeera reports.
But that’s all they are prepared to do. No mention of a Ceasefire Agreement. Perhaps they are hoping for a mutual cessation of attacks.
6:33 P.M. Hamas official: If Israel announces unilateral cease-fire, we’ll assess how to proceed
Husam Budran, a member of the Hamas political bureau, told a radio station Thursday that no agreement with Israel has been reached and that if reports that Israel is preparing to announce a unilateral cease-fire prove true, Hamas will make an assessment of the situation and decide how to proceed. (Jack Khoury)
The Israeli cabinet is meeting now.
Perhaps it is Hamas that should announce a unilateral ceasefire. Why Israel.
T. Belman. Lets’s face it. A ceasefire resolution is not about bringing the fighting to an end but about condemning Israel and absolving the Palestinians. But for the latter, it would be much easier to achieve except that Israel isn’t ready for a ceasefire. Biden wants to avoid vetoing the resolution because it would alienate the EU, Iran and the Left in America. He much prefers to pressure Israel to wind down its offensive.
Israel does not want to accept a negotiated ceasefire as it, of necessity, would involve concessions to Hamas. She prefers to stop the offensive when she is ready and to not make a ceasefire agreement. I hope that Bibi hangs tough.
By JACOB MAGID, TOI Today, 9:05 am
The UN Security Council chambers in New York. (Norway Mission to the UN/Twitter)
The US indicated Wednesday that it intended to veto a UN Security Council resolution proposed by France calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, ending deadly fighting that has been ongoing since early last week.
The French proposal does not explicitly criticize either side for the fighting, but unlike previous drafts does include condemnation of “indiscriminate firing of rockets.”
By Vice Adm. (ret.) Eliezer Marom, ISRAEL HAYOM 05-20-2021 16:06
When the current round of violence broke out, it was a total surprise. It wasn’t just the firing of rockets at Jerusalem but Hamas’ ability to set additional arenas on fire. The rioting inside Israel in addition to the events caught the police off guard, making the surprise all that greater. Thankfully, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has an interest in maintaining quiet and preventing Hamas from recording any victories in Judea and Samaria. This is also an opportunity for Israel to bolster its ties to Abbas and weaken Hamas as a result.
By Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, May 19, 2021,
Hamas and war on terrorism
1. All pro-US Arab regimes – such as Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Morocco and Sudan – have refrained from tangible support of Hamas, which is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The latter constitutes an existential threat to each pro-US Arab regime, aiming to topple every Muslim/Arab regime, in order to establish a universal Islamic society through political, social and terroristic means. Eventually, it aspires to bring non-Muslims, and especially Western democracies, to submission.
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TOI Today, 2:38 pm
A ball of fire erupts from a building in Gaza City’s Rimal residential district on May 20, 2021, during Israeli strikes on the Hamas-controlled enclave in response to rocket fire (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)
A survey cited by Channel 12 news finds that the majority of Israelis do not believe Israel should negotiate a ceasefire now.
The poll finds that 72% say “the operation should continue,” with the number rising slightly in the south of the country to 73%.
Read more…
By Mordechai Ben-Menachem
Gaza is not a prison as many claim.
Israel does not, and never has kept people from leaving Gaza or any part of the Gaza Strip area, however, Israel does generally, though not always, limit freedom of movement of person that leave Gaza via Israeli territory. Of course, anyone is perfectly free to leave Gaza directly or through Egypt.
Unfortunately, Hamas, which in additional to being a terror organisation, is also a criminal organisation, does sometimes limit persons from leaving Gaza or demand from them payment of a large ransom to do so.
By Bassem Eid, INN May 20 , 2021
Building hit in Gaza Atia Mohammed,
I know that the past 10 days have been incredibly devastating and equally bewildering. Why is the world letting the Israelis do this to you? I am writing to you, my Palestinian brothers and sisters, to open your eyes from the disinformation that your real captor, Hamas, is feeding you.
To my Palestinian Arab brethren, I implore you: please do not let Hamas brainwash you into thinking it has “achieved” anything on our behalf.
Read more…
In her May 18 daily audit check-in, GOP Chair, Kelli Ward, said that Tuesday’s meeting represented “everything that is right with America’s audit.”
Click on the bird to watch the video.
Tierney’s Real News (5/19/21)
As predicted, the Democrat New York AG and the Manhattan DA announced they have joined together to open a criminal investigation into President Trump & his company. Mueller’s pit-bull and corrupt prosecutor, Andrew Weissmann, is advising the Democrats – their goal is to figure out a way to make it impossible for Trump to take back the White House. If they had anything REAL on Trump they would have taken him down when Mueller & Weissmann investigated his ENTIRE LIFE. All this witch hunt will do is make him stronger.
By Gary Willig, INN , May 19 , 2021 7:27 PM
air strike in Gaza<
Colonel Richard Kemp, the former commander of the British military forces in Afghanistan, spoke to Arutz Sheva on Wednesday about the ongoing conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the accusations that Israel has responded “disproportionately” to the over 3,700 rockets which have been fired at it by terrorists in the Gaza Strip over the last week and a half.
“It is a disgrace to say, as many journalists and others have, that Israel is being disproportionate,” Col. Kemp stated. “The casualties on both sides are uneven, but many commentators seem to be suggesting that it would be better if more Jews were dead to balance the books.”
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The MEMRI Daily: May 19, 2021
T. Belman. These expressions of support are very welcomed and appreciated. Even so I have a critical comment.
I do not like the idea that our friends are stressing that Israel has the right to defend itself. That is so axiomatic that it doesn’t need to be affirmed. I wish they would support Israel’s right to defeat Hamas totally and say that Israel has the right to continue their attacks until all their goals are realized.
Another thing they should stress is that America should continue to back the Abrahamic Accords rather than the failed Two-State solution as the correct path to peace. Biden should not be pushing the two state solution.
T. Belman. This article quotes diplomats from EU and elsewhere, Israeli officials and Psaki.
Surprisingly, Psaki said:
“we also fully recognize it is up to the parties involved to bring an end to the conflict. And our objective is, for every statement we make, every action we take, everything we sign onto is going to have that objective in mind. We continue to believe that Israel has the right to defend itself. There have been more than 3,000 rocket attacks from Hamas, and more overnight into Israel. Civilians have lost their lives. Palestinian civilians have also lost their lives. And our goal is to get to the end of this conflict. We’re going to evaluate day-by day with the right approaches.”
Right on. “Up to the parties”
By Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen, BESA
Israeli Border Police officers arrive at a residential building in Lod, to arrest an Arab suspected of involvement in violent attacks on Jews, on the night of May 14-15. (Image source: Israel Police)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The carnage wrought by Israel’s Arabs in support of Hamas, at a time when the Islamist terror organization is raining thousands of missiles on Israel’s population centers, is nothing short of a nationalist (and Islamist) attempt to subvert the Jewish state.
The Israeli government and politicians are afraid to characterize the hordes of Arab rioters rampaging across Israel’s cities and towns as an enemy. After all, they are fully-fledged Israeli citizens.
