Jackson Diehl, "Building barriers to peace in Israel": Misleading

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In a Washington Post opinion piece entitled "Building barriers to peace in Israel," Jackson Diehl concludes with respect to "the latest wave of Palestinian violence" (my emphasis in red):

"Israel has contributed to the trouble by preventing the rise of Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem, even though they would likely echo the moderate views of city residents. Now, in response to the violence, the Netanyahu government is constructing barriers dividing Arab from Jewish neighborhoods, which have the effect of punishing those Palestinians who just a few months ago were saying they’d be content to become Israeli citizens. Incitement, indeed."

Yet, as reported in Israel, the barriers and roadblocks are in the process of being removed. An October 19, 2015 Times of Israel article entitled "PM halts placement of barriers between Jewish, Arab areas of Jerusalem" by Judah Ari Gross and Adiv Sterman informs us:

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday ordered a halt to the placement of any more portable concrete slabs between the predominantly Jewish area of Armon Hanatziv and the adjacent southeastern Arab neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber, after several MKs criticized the construction of a temporary wall as a de facto division of the unified city.

Netanyahu’s decision came after authorities already erected parts of a planned 300-meter long wall between the neighborhoods, in a bid to stem a series of terrorist and Molotov cocktail attacks carried out in the area over the past weeks. Six slabs of concrete were placed in the neighborhood Sunday. The move followed the placing of concrete blocks in roads leading out of many Arab East Jerusalem neighborhoods."

And in an October 21, 2015 ynetnews article entitled "Roadblocks removed in East Jerusalem" by Roi Yanovsky we learn:

"Wednesday afternoon barriers were removed from the neighborhoods of Wadi Joz and Sheikh Jarrah. These checkpoints were erected last week in the wake of the security cabinet's decision allowing police to impose closures on the exits of neighborhoods according to operational needs.

'In light of the quiet that has returned the roadblocks have been removed,' Jerusalem police said. 'We call on local leadership to demonstrate responsibility and leadership. Everywhere leadership is shown and quiet is returned – barriers will be removed.'

Police checkpoints are still deployed in neighborhoods such as Jabel Mukaber, Sur Baher and Isawiya, which, according to security assessments, have not yet calmed down and where there remains an operational necessity for them.

Acting Chief of Police Commander Benzi Sau said in a press briefing that he does not 'use the term closure. Our mission is to secure the country's citizens. We want to create security circles that eventually will stop those who pose a threat to the citizens in the city center.'"

Although there are those who have criticized the erection of roadblocks and checkpoints in East Jerusalem as "collective punishment," these barriers are currently being removed as quiet is restored, and they are not being "constructed" as Jackson Diehl writes.

I have asked The Washington Post to correct Diehl's opinion piece.

Kerry Visiting Egypt and Qatar but Will Steer His Swift Boat Clear of Israel

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US Secretary of State John Kerry will be traveling to Egypt and Qatar next week, to sell Obama's controversial nuclear deal with Iran, but he plans to steer his swift boat clear of Israel. Why not Israel? As reported in a Ynetnews article entitled "Kerry to visit region to discuss Iran deal, but skip Israel" by Yitzhak Benhorin:

"When asked why Kerry won't be visiting Israel, [US State Department spokesman John] Kirby said the secretary has spoken to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu many times over the past few weeks to discuss the agreement.

The latest phone call between the two was on July 16, after the agreement was signed."

The real reason why Kerry is not coming to is Israel is because of overwhelming disapproval of the nuclear deal among Israelis and the likelihood that he would be met in Israel with massive protest demonstrations.

In all fairness to Kerry, however, he also declined another dinner engagement in Damascus with his "dear friend" Bashar al-Assad.

Hezbollah Faces Disaster in Syria

As we were informed earlier this month by ynetnews in an article entitled "Report: Hezbollah leader being treated for heart attack" by Roi Kais, there were rumors throughout the Muslim Middle East that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah suffered a heart attack or stroke. However, even if he did not suffer a heart attack, it is more than likely that Nasrallah was indeed admitted to the hospital with chest pains, owing to the stress he has been enduring.

Over the course of the past few days, Hezbollah has been trumpeting its "victory" over al-Nusra forces in the Qalamoun hills situated on the border between Lebanon and Syria (Hezbollah has not mentioned that it received combat intelligence during the battle from American drones). Nasrallah claimed that only 13 Hezbollah fighters were killed in the battle (the number is closer to 250). However, Hebollah's true casualties are a closely guarded secret: Many of its fighters are being buried in Syria, and their families are being told that they were involved in fatal automobile accidents. My "best guess" is that at least 1,500 Hezbollah fighters have died in Syria, and twice that number have been wounded. This represents an extraordinarily large percentage of Hezbollah's military wing and also places a significant financial burden upon the organization, which is obligated to support the families of its "martyrs."

Just how bad is the current situation for Hezbollah? As reported in an April 28, 2015 New York Times article entitled "An Eroding Syrian Army Points to Strain" by Anne Barnard, Hwaida Saad and Eric Schmitt:

"Hezbollah is not in a position to bail out Mr. Assad the way it did in 2013, when it sent hundreds of fighters to crush the insurgent hub of Qusayr, near the Lebanese border.

Hezbollah now has more fighters and advisers in Syria than ever, about 5,000, American intelligence officials said. But, said the Syrian with security connections, they “only interfere in areas that are in their own interests.”

The official sympathetic to Hezbollah said it has 'maybe thousands' of fighters along the Lebanese border [e.g., the Qalamoun Hills], hundreds in the south, bordering Israel, and only dozens around divided Aleppo, Syria’s largest city."

However, a better indication of the difficulties facing Hezbollah is to be found in the very recent pronouncements of Nasrallah, who earlier this week declared that Hezbollah is fighting an "existential battle" in Syria. Moreover, as reported by The Jerusalem Post in an article entitled "Nasrallah: Downfall of Assad would mean fall of Hezbollah":

"Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime must be preserved, as its collapse would mean the end of Hezbollah and the 'axis of resistance,' the Lebanese movement’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has said, according to a Lebanese paper close to the Islamic group.

He went on to assert that Assad would not be overthrown, but that it would not be possible for his forces to recover control over all of Syria.

Nasrallah was speaking on Thursday night during a meeting with Free Patriotic Movement party head Michel Aoun, a Christian leader and former Lebanese army chief allied with Hezbollah, Al-Akhbar reported on Tuesday."

Can Assad and Nasrallah survive? In fact, much depends upon whether Obama frees up some $50 billion of frozen Iranian bank accounts as a signing bonus to Khamenei for reaching a nuclear agreement with the P5+1 by the June 30 deadline. No small part of these funds will be used to support Iran's proxies in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, i.e. Assad, Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels.

Obama, laboring to establish a presidential legacy by way of detente with Iran, is willfully ignoring Khamenei's duress to obtain these funds to finance Shiite dominion over the Middle East.

Stay tuned.

"Joining" Obama's Coaltion Against ISIS, Qatar Pays $20 Million to Al-Nusra to Free 45 Fijian UN Peacekeepers

As reported by Ynetnews in an article entitled "Qatar paid ransom for release of Fijian peacekeepers" by Roi Kais:

"Syrian opposition sources said on Saturday that Qatar paid militants from the Nusra Front in Syria a ransom of $20 million in exchange for the release of the 45 Fijian UN peacekeepers, the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported.

The report comes a day after the Qatari Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that it had helped to secure the release of the peacekeepers following 'the request of the government of Fiji'."

How kind of Qatar, whose citizens have been financing the al-Nusra Front and ISIS, to pay this ransom directly to al-Nusra, a branch of al-Qaeda that has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States.

In July, the Obama administration agreed to sell Qatar $11 billion in advanced armaments, including Javelin anti-tank missiles. I can promise you that some of these missiles will find their way into the hands of the al-Nusra Front, the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) and Hamas.

Of course, Qatar has agreed to participate in Obama's newly announced coalition to fight the Islamic State. As reported by The Guardian in an article entitled "Middle East countries sign up to Obama's coalition against Isis" by Spencer Ackerman (my emphasis in red):

"A day after Obama told the US public that the latest war in the skies above Iraq will soon cross the border into Syria, he received a major diplomatic boost from the leaders of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and the Gulf Cooperation Council - an alliance of the Sunni Arab Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – who pledged to 'stand united' against 'the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.'

In a document known as the Jeddah Communique, issued after intense diplomacy from US secretary of state John Kerry in the Saudi city, the signatories agreed to staunch Isis funding and influx of foreign fighters, critical priorities for Washington. They expressed openness to contributing directly to the war effort, saying they would be 'as appropriate, joining in the many aspects of a coordinated military campaign' against Isis."

Qatar is going to stand in the way of funding for the Islamic State and contribute "as appropriate" to Obama's military campaign? Needless to say, John (Assad is "my dear friend") Kerry is blissfully unaware of the Islamic principles of taqiyya and kitman, which permit Muslims to lie to unbelievers.

Jackson Diehl, "When Gaza fighting is over, there is a way to change for the better": Keep Kerry Far Away!

In a Washington Post opinion piece entitled "When Gaza fighting is over, there is a way to change for the better" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jackson-diehl-when-gaza-fighting-is-over-there-is-a-way-to-change-for-the-better/2014/07/20/a597a540-0dc1-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2_story.html?hpid=z2), Jackson Diehl writes:

"A smart U.S. strategy would aim at brokering a deal between Israel, Abbas and Hamas whereby prisoners are released and the blockade on Gaza eased in exchange for Hamas’s commitment to a long-term cease-fire and free and fair elections for a unified Palestinian government. The result could be a new generation of Palestinian leaders with a genuine mandate from their people. The new crowd might turn out to be more or less willing to negotiate with Israel or to lay the groundwork for statehood. But they would, at least, end a dismal era in which one set of Palestinian leaders dodged multiple peace proposals and the other engaged in futile wars."

Ease the blockade on Gaza, so Hamas can import more concrete for building tunnels into southern Israel and acquire more advanced missiles from Iran? No way.

Diehl, whom I respect, needs to have another look at the Hamas charter:

"But even if the links have become distant from each other, and even if the obstacles erected by those who revolve in the Zionist orbit, aiming at obstructing the road before the Jihad fighters, have rendered the pursuance of Jihad impossible; nevertheless, the Hamas has been looking forward to implement Allah’s promise whatever time it might take. The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!

. . . .

For Zionist scheming has no end, and after Palestine they will covet expansion from the Nile to the Euphrates. Only when they have completed digesting the area on which they will have laid their hand, they will look forward to more expansion, etc. Their scheme has been laid out in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and their present [conduct] is the best proof of what is said there. Leaving the circle of conflict with Israel is a major act of treason and it will bring curse on its perpetrators."

Israel should enter into a brokered deal with Abbas and Hamas? Diehl is ignoring Hamas's raison d'être.

Meanwhile, John Kerry is planning a trip to Cairo to implement a ceasefire. Caught on a hot mic yesterday, (see: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/20/politics/mideast-kerry-hot-mic/index.html?hpt=hp_t1), Kerry discussed the Israeli military operation in Shejaiya with a State Department aide, Jonathan Finer:

Kerry: "It's a hell of a pinpoint operation. It's a hell of a pinpoint operation."

Finer: "Right. It's escalating significantly. It just underscores the need for a cease fire."

Kerry: "We've got to get over there."

Finer: "Yup, yup."

Kerry: "Thank you, Jon. I think, Jon, we ought to go tonight. I think it's crazy to be sitting around. Let's go."

Well, how about not going, John. What is it that you hope to accomplish? As noted by Jackson Diehl today, "this is the third mini-war between Israel and Hamas in less than six years," and Gaza needs to be demilitarized in order to free Israel from an incessant missile threat and to ensure that hundreds of millions of dollars being given to Gaza be used for the social welfare of its some 1.8 million inhabitants, instead of for armaments and tunnels.

What should Kerry, whose negotiations involving the Ukraine, Iran, Syria and the Palestinian Authority have come to naught, do instead with his time? How about a few more Botox injections, John?

The IDF's need to continue its current ground operation was highlighted by two incursions into Israel this morning by Hamas terror squads. As reported by Ynetnews (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4547287,00.html):

"The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said two terror cells infiltrated into Israeli territory Monday morning through a tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip.

Observation units identified the terrorists; Israeli Air Force planes attacked and hit the first cell. An IDF force deployed to the area killed some 10 terrorists from the second cell. IDF forces are continuing to scan the area.

The terrorists infiltrated into Israeli territory Monday morning between two kibbutzim, Erez and Nir Am. After two hours, in which residents were directed to remain indoors and lock their doors – roads were even closed to traffic south of Ashkelon – IDF forces killed the terrorists."

A video of one of the attempted infiltrations this morning:



Bottom line: Notwithstanding the tragic loss of life on both sides, there is still work that needs to be done to prevent future Hamas terrorism.

Support for Israel from the international community? Although Obama and Kerry are providing Israel with wavering support at best, Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, John Baird, yesterday told it like it is (http://www.international.gc.ca/media/aff/news-communiques/2014/07/20b.aspx?lang=eng):

"Canada condemns in the strongest terms Hamas’s shameful decision to continue its cowardly and indiscriminate violence that has today cost the lives of 13 soldiers. Yet another breach of a ceasefire by Hamas in Shejaiya confirms that it has no interest in peace.

Hamas’s continued aggression, combined with cowardly tactics that endanger civilians, has resulted in the tragic deaths of approximately another 87 Palestinians. Innocent civilians living in Gaza deserve far better than the reckless actions of this terrorist organization."

God bless Canada!