US embassy move to Jerusalem

Kushner: US Will Present Its Own Peace Plan for the Middle East Soon

The Trump administration’s senior envoy to the Middle East, Jared Kushner said that the United States will soon present its own peace plan for the Middle East after meeting with regional leaders.

He also slammed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for refusing to meet with him during the recent talks.

Kushner’s comments were published in the Sunday edition of the Arabic-language Al-Quds newspaper. Kushner has spent the week discussing the plan with leaders from Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Qatar.
Kushner did call on Abbas to join the talks: “If President Abbas is willing to come back to the table, we are ready to engage; if he is not, we will likely air the plan publicly.”
“However, I do question how much President Abbas has the ability to, or is willing to, lean into finishing a deal. He

has his talking points which have not changed in the last 25 years,” Kushner added.
Abbas has refused to meet with US officials following Trump’s decision last year to officially recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and relocate the US Embassy there. The US relocated its embassy to Jerusalem and opened it in May.
Palestinian leaders say the move confirms their long-held suspicions that the US is not an honest broker in the on-again, off-again peace talks, but is allied with Israel.
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat criticized Kushner’s effort on Saturday and accused him of trying to topple the Abbas-led government, which presides over the West Bank.
Erekat also slammed the Trump administration for trying to dismantle the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees. The negotiator doubled down on his criticism Sunday during an interview on Israeli television, saying the Washington negotiators were “not neutral” and predicting the US plan would fail.

Arab leaders want a two-state solution, but the Palestinians insist on having the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem completely under their control. But beyond that, the peace plan will ultimately fail as long as one side claims the other doesn’t have a right to exist.

To read the entire article from Deutsche Welle, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Israel, Backed Into a Corner, Had No Other Choice

Opinion: No one liked what they saw unfold on television earlier this week. Dozens of people dead, hundreds more wounded in violent clashes along the border between Israel and Gaza. And while the left-wing press continued the lie and called it a “protest”, it was anything but. What could Israel have done differently, everyone asked? Nothing.

This wasn’t a protest but in an invasion of thousands of people. When thousands of people try to cross the border of another country intent on doing the other harm, it isn’t a peaceful protest but an armed invasion, regardless of whether everyone was armed or not.

And the prevailing message that this was a protest about the United States moving its embassy to Jerusalem is the second biggest lie about this entirely orchestrated episode. The biggest lie will post below. Palestinian leaders have turned down several formal U.S. and Israeli offers (the last in 2008) for a permanent statehood in exchange for peace that would have given them a state with its capital in that portion of Jerusalem. But to do so would require that they acknowledge Israel has a right to exist.

Hamas isn’t interested in peace or coexistence but in the destruction of Israel. And they’ll use anything at their disposal to achieve that goal. If there is any doubt as to what the ultimate goal of Hamas was in the border crossing, don’t listen to what Israel or the United States says. Listen to what the leaders of Hamas had to say.

Perhaps cutting the hearts out of the people of Israel is considered “peaceful protest” in some circles. The Israelis know better. And they have every right to defend their border against people sworn to their destruction. If there is blame to be laid, lay it where it belongs, squarely on the head of Hamas.

Hamas doesn’t care about the plight of the Palestinian people. They are completely onboard with inflaming their passion and using women and children as human shields and have done so for a very long time.

When Hamas launches a rocket attack, (which they do frequently), this is why they do so between apartment buildings. They know, Israeli radar will immediately pick it up and their counter-battery artillery fire is on the way before the rockets ever touch the ground.

The Hamas “fighters” are long gone, left are the civilians. Useful pawns in the game for the ultimate goal. They then ensure there are plenty of video cameras to record the results of Israeli aggression. Are those the actions of an organization worried about the people?

Hamas doesn’t represent the best interest of the Palestinians. They represent the ayatollahs in Tehran. That is where the organization gets all of their rhetoric (and most of their money) from. Iran has stated that the state of Israel doesn’t have a right to exist. Iran is moving into Syria to get closer to the border of Israel and the IDF knows what their intent is. They are taking a beating there as the Russians, allies with the Assad regime, have not lifted a finger to protect them from Israeli air strikes. This is just a continuation of their policy.

The Israelis who have arguably the best intelligence services in the world have stated that Iran is funding these “protests” along the border with Gaza. Shin Bet, the intelligence service said they’ve intercepted documents and interrogated detainees stating that Hamas has warned its own members to stay away from the security fence during Gaza’s mass protests, lest they get shot, while actively encouraging Palestinian civilians — particularly children and teens to actively do so. Once the wall is breached, Hamas gunmen will enter Israel to carry out operations.

From the Times of Israel: Yahya Ijlah, a 19-year-old Hamas member who entered Israel on April 29, told Shin Bet interrogators that he had been sent to the border in order to steal a security camera along the fence.

According to the Shin Bet, Ijlah said Hamas “is working to make its activities look like a popular uprising in the media and not a violent operation by its members.”

Are the Israelis always right? Of course not. No one is, certainly not the United States or anyone else. It is imperative that the U.S. keep an open and honest dialogue with the Israeli government and offer constructive criticism. But the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are as strict, if not even more so about limiting civilian casualties than the US is.

Of the 62 dead, that are being reported, Hamas has said that 50 are their operatives. Against a massive influx of people intent on destroying Israeli property and killing its population, it is small wonder how that number isn’t far more than that.

The world, and Hamas must come to the realization that Jerusalem is not “occupied territory” but the capital of Israel and the rightful capital of the country. Can the Palestinians also claim this as their own capital in a sharing scenario? Of course. Will they? Not until they rid themselves of Hamas and recognize that Hamas doesn’t have their welfare at heart.

Which brings us to the biggest lie in this unfortunate series of events is the oft-repeated one, “this will interfere with the peace process.” How in the world can there be peace when one side of the equation wants the other side dead? The only way that Jerusalem will not be the Israeli capital is if the country of Israel ceases to exist and the people wiped from the map. But that is the true goal of Hamas in the first place right? Rewatch the video above and ask who is really to blame here?

Photo: Wikipedia

With the Islamic State on the Run, Al-Qaida Calls For Jihad

Al-Qaida’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri has urged followers to wage war against the US for opening an embassy in Jerusalem. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. While many Middle East experts claim the move is an attempt to capitalize on the fall of its main rival, the ISIS, it is the normal operating procedure to call for jihad against the United States.

President Donald Trump’s decision to move the US embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem “was clear and explicit, and he revealed the true face of the modern Crusade,” al-Qaida leader Zawahiri said in a recording circulated on social media this week. “Standing down and appeasement does not work with them, but only resistance through the call and jihad.”
But, despite al-Zawahiri’s new appeal, “reactions thus far don’t show any sort of organized online campaign from either side,” Rita Katz, director of SITE Intelligence Group, said in a tweet, referring to the social media channels of al-Qaida and the “Islamic State” (often abbreviated as IS or ISIS).
That silence may be indicative of a shift, according to Ian Oxnevad, a Middle East scholar at the University of California, Riverside. He told DW that while there wasn’t much of a backlash, “that does not mean that it is not present.”
“This is a chance for al-Qaida to reinvent itself,” Oxnevad said. “Al-Qaida can co-opt old IS networks and strategies while setting up new cells in Europe,” which provides a “base of potential recruits along with a social infrastructure removed from new realities in the Middle East.”

After the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011, Al-Qaida took a blow that it has been slow to recover from. But as the US has shifted its focus in counter-terrorism from them to ISIS, they’ve recovered and have looked to expand. And they have, in Asia and other places such as Algeria and Pakistan.

To read the entire article from Deutsche Welle, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Marines Beefing Up Security at US Embassies After Jerusalem Opening

In the aftermath of the violence in Israel over the moving of the United States embassy to Jerusalem, the Pentagon is ordering the Marines to augment and bolster security at all U.S. embassies in the Middle East and Africa.

The Marines have already begun adding security forces to their normal Embassy protective personnel because of the Jerusalem situation as well as the U.S. pullout from the Iran nuclear deal.

The Defense Department is not disclosing the number of Marines being deployed or their locations although it’s been known for weeks that security has been increased at US diplomatic installations in Israel including the new embassy in Jerusalem.
“DOD takes necessary steps to mitigate threats to U.S. personnel, embassies and consulates around the world. At the request of the Department of State, and in coordination with host nations, the Department of Defense has deployed additional Marine Security Guards to several U.S. embassies for the purpose of temporarily augmenting security,” Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich told CNN.
Escalating violence in the Gaza strip area has also led to increased concern it could spark demonstrations in other locations.
The Marines are being sent from a unit called the Marine Security Guard Security Augmentation unit which has advanced training beyond the routine Marine Corps embassy guard who protect installations inside their fence perimeter.
The additional Marines “are uniquely postured to respond expeditiously,” the Marine Corps statement said.
US embassies throughout the Middle East and Muslim countries are on alert because of three key events: the US embassy opening in Jerusalem on Monday, the beginning of Ramadan and the Nakba anniversary for Palestinians.
Palestinians mark what they call the “Nakba” or Catastrophe, in memory of the more than 700,000 Palestinians who were either driven from, or fled, their homes during the Arab-Israeli war that accompanied the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

This wasn’t unexpected, the Pentagon and the Marine Corps have been anticipating this development for several weeks and the plans have been in place to augment security for US personnel and property.

As of today, there is no specific terror threat against U.S. interests but rather just a heightened sense of preparedness that will prevent any untold incidents happening.

To read the entire article from CNN, click here:

Photo courtesy US Marine Corps

Two Dead in Protests at Gaza Border Over US Embassy Move

As the preparations were being finalized to officially open the United States embassy in Jerusalem, protests across the border in Gaza turned violent as thousands of Palestinians marched toward the border. Two were killed and at least 69 wounded in exchanges with the Israeli border guards.

Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank were being urged to come out and protest not only the U.S. embassy move but also the 70^th anniversary of what they call the “Nakba” or catastrophe…as they call the creation of the state of Israel.

Israel Police are preparing for the U.S. embassy move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem with thousands of policemen deployed through the city. At 4:00 P.M. (Israel Time), the official ceremony will take place at the U.S. Consulate in the Arnona neighborhood of Jerusalem, which will officially become the U.S. embassy this week.
Clashes erupted between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters marching from Ramallah towards the Qalandiyah security barrier near Jerusalem. Israeli Army is also confronting dozens of protest marchers in the north of Bethlehem.
A Palestinian, 29, was killed by Israeli live gunfire east of Jabaliya, the Gaza Health Ministry reports. This is the death reported from Monday’s protest.

The Arab League is meeting to condemn the “illegal” U.S. move of its embassy to Jerusalem, the site of its consulate until today. Not surprisingly, Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri released a video on Sunday condemning the U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem, calling on Muslims to wage jihad against the U.S.

He also called out Palestinian leaders for their “policy of appeasement.” He also called Tel Aviv, the land of the Muslims, however, the city was settled by Jewish immigrants early in the 20^th century.

To read the entire article from Haaretz, click here:

Photo screenshot of Reuters video, Palestinian protester drags burning tires to the border between Gaza and Israel