%20(1)%20(4)%20(1).jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
By Mark Davis
++++++
This is what happens when you feed bullies:
Palestinians Are Going to End Up Starting a Third Intifada
Posted by Ruth King
After a slew of deadly terrorist attacks this month and now rioting in Jerusalem, it’s increasingly starting to look like there’s a coordinated effort by Palestinian authorities to spark another Intifada. It’s unsurprising. Every time Abu Mazen needs more funding to prop up his kleptocracy, he triggers new bloodshed and takes his case to the international community. The traditional way to accomplish this is by fanning false rumors about Jewish plans to appropriate Islamic holy sites.
Back in 1929 — before the modern state of Israel was formed or “occupied territories” existed — the father of Palestinian nationalism, Amin al-Husseini, used the Holy Mount site to spread blood libel and whip up violence that resulted in the murder of 133 Jews. In nearby Hebron, an ancient neighborhood was destroyed and 67 Jews were slaughtered by their neighbors. This same strategy has been implemented numerous times since. The pretext for the Second Intifada was an Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount area. Any openly Jewish presence near Al-Aqsa is considered a “provocation” by Palestinians. And international organizations help fuel their grievances by attempting to erase the religious and historical connection between the city and the Jewish people.
There has never been a shred of evidence to back the claim that Israel wants to eject Muslims from the Temple Mount. Indeed, after taking back the site from Jordan in 1967, Israel handed custodianship to the Hashemites and Waqf Muslim religious trust. To put that act into context, it’s worth remembering that before 1967, Jewish holy sites that were occupied by Arabs were treated as garbage dumps — and not much better today in Arab-controlled areas.
“With our souls, with our blood, we sacrifice for Al-Aqsa,” gullible Palestinian pawns shouted this week as they again threw stones and defended a compound that no one wants to take from them. Jews are forbidden from worshipping at the Temple Mount. They can only pray nearby. But that won’t do either. Nearly every year, stones are launched at those worshipping below, forcing Israeli police to raid the site or temporarily limit access — usually for very brief periods.
The New York Times calls this “confrontations between the Israeli police and Muslims at the Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.” But “confrontation” is merely a euphemism for the needless violence initiated by a side that is unwilling to live peacefully with others. Though all will suffer, the violence — that could spiral out of control — never brings the Palestinians any closer to their own state. It only hardens Israeli resolve.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
White House won’t condemn Palestinian terrorists, but it will fund them
When Arabs murder Jews or Israelis, the “who” is always missing from the classic “who, what, where, when and how” needed to accurately inform readers.
By Morton A. Klein and Elizabeth Berney/ JNS
Sadly, it is again time to mourn for more murdered innocent Jews and pray for the wounded in Israel. On April 7, a Palestinian Arab gunman from Samaria slipped through a hole in the security fence, traveled to Tel Aviv, murdered three Israeli Jews and injured another 11 people, several of whom are fighting for their lives. The three who died were were Barak Lufan, 35, a father of three, Olympic kayaker, Paralympics coach and head Olympic kayaking team coach; Tomer Morad, 27, a recently graduated mechanical engineer; and Tomer’s recently engaged childhood friend, Eytam Magini, 27, whose family attended Eytam’s funeral instead of his wedding.
In just two weeks, Palestinian Arabs and Islamist Israeli Arabs murdered 14 innocent victims—10 Jews, an Israeli Druze, an Israeli-Arab Christian and two Ukrainians—in shooting, car-ramming and knife-stabbing attacks.
Unfortunately, it’s also again time for more empty U.S. condemnation statements that fail to identify the victims as Jews or Israelis; fail to identify the perpetrators as Palestinian Arabs or Islamist Israeli Arabs; and fail to change U.S. policies that contribute to anti-Jewish terror, such as sending $500 million to Palestinian Arabs in the past year.
Remarkably, every statement by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides follows this same pattern. These officials have no problem falsely accusing Jewish “settlers” of provoking violence by building Jewish homes, as Blinken did on March 27—the same day that Palestinian Arab terrorists murdered two Israelis at a bus stop in Hadera. Similarly, on March 15, Nides immorally denounced Israelis building homes in and around Jerusalem, and Judea and Samaria, as “stupid” and “infuriating.” But men studiously avoid accurately identifying actual terrorists: the Palestinian Arab murderers of innocent Jewish and Israeli victims.
When Palestinian Arabs murder Jews or Israelis, the “who” is always missing from the classic “who, what, where, when and how” needed to accurately inform readers.
This is the same pattern that the Obama-Biden administration adopted. In 2016, we documented that U.S. State Department condolence statements consistently omitted both the Jewish and/or Israeli identity of the victims, and the Palestinian Arab identity of the terrorists that perpetrated murderous attacks in Israel. Similarly, the Obama-Biden administration’s statements about terrorism in Nigeria omitted identifying that the terrorists were Islamists and that their innocent murdered victims were Christians. By contrast, that same administration identified those involved in terror attacks in other countries whenever doing so fit with the administration’s political agenda.
After the April 7 terror attack on Israeli Jews, Nides tweeted: “Horrified to see another cowardly terror attack on innocent civilians, this time in Tel Aviv. Praying for peace, and sending condolences to the victims and their families. This has to stop!”
Yes, this has to stop!
The Biden administration has to stop avoiding identifying Palestinian Arab terrorists, and ignoring innocent Jewish and Israeli victims.
And the Biden administration has to stop sending hundreds of millions of U.S. taxpayer funds to Palestinian Arabs, which frees up money for the Palestinian Authority to pay Arab terrorists “pay for slay” rewards of $400 million per year to murder Jews.
Unfortunately, at a press conference on March 27—the same day that Palestinian Arab terrorists murdered two Israelis in Hadera—Blinken boasted about increasing U.S. assistance to Palestinian Arabs.
Also, on March 16, Nides tweeted: “Pleased to see lots for Palestinians in the budget just signed by @POTUS Biden: $144 million increase (now $219 million) for Economic Support Funds, $40 million for security forces training in the WBank, and $50 million for 2nd year of the Nita Lowey MEPPA Fund.”
This has to stop!
And the Biden administration has to put an end to the looming disastrous Iran nuclear deal and potential delisting of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Giving Iran more than $90 billion in sanctions relief will cause countless terror attacks against innocent Jews and against friendly Muslim nations across the Middle East.
The Biden administration also has to stop ignoring the P.A.’s repeated incitement to murder Jews and start actively opposing this horror.
The Palestinian Arab governor of Jenin, Akram Rajoub, just praised the Tel Aviv shooter as a “Fatah warrior” and not a terrorist. PMW documented an enormous increase in P.A. incitement leading to the recent terror attacks, including false accusations that Israel was sending “settler herds” to invade Al-Aqsa mosque and that Israel adopted a policy of “summary executions” against Palestinian Arabs. On April 3, the first day of Ramadan, P.A. Supreme Shari’ah Judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash incited terror on official P.A. television, declaring that Ramadan is “a month of jihad, conquest and victory.”
This has to stop!
The Biden administration also has to stop its other demands that encourage more Palestinian Arab terror and lawlessness, including the administration’s calls for a Palestinian Arab state; encouragement of more work permits for residents of the Gaza Strip to enter Israel; and demand that Israel not enforce valid court orders against Arab squatters who failed to pay rent on Jewish-owned properties for many decades.
This has to stop!
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Bret Stephens, not The NYT's, admires Zelenskyy.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Has Putin made several miscalculations which caused the West's backbone to re-occur? If so, who wins?
+++
How to Deter Nuclear War in Ukraine
It’s crucial for the U.S. to make Russia understand the consequences of an unthinkable escalation.
By Robert C. O’Brien
The most sobering briefing I received as White House national security adviser came on my third day in office, Sept. 20, 2019. I sat in the Situation Room with military officers and ran through the what-ifs and procedures for continuity of government and retaliation options in the event of a nuclear attack on the U.S. or one of our treaty allies.
The idea that in 2022, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council would use nuclear weapons to conquer a neighboring country is unthinkable. Yet here we are. For months, Russian officials and commentators have been rattling their nuclear saber and touting Moscow’s doctrine of “escalating to de-escalate”—in other words, if Russia is losing a war, even one it started, it reserves the right to use a nuclear attack to end it.
Today, after nearly two months of heavy combat in Ukraine, Russia appears to be losing. The dramatic sinking of the Moskva, flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet, is only the latest setback to befall Vladimir Putin’s forces. With dark irony, a commentator on Russian state-controlled media denounced the sinking as an act of war and urged Moscow to “bomb Kyiv” in response.
If Ukrainian forces push Russia out of the Donbas and even Crimea, there would be no way for Mr. Putin to hide Russia’s humiliating loss from its people. If such an outcome became likely, would he use one of his thousands of “tactical” or “battlefield” nuclear devices to take out Kharkiv, Odessa or even Kyiv in an attempt to save face and end the war on terms he dictates? This possibility is surely on the minds of President Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and his staff.
The time is now to deter Russia from “escalating to de-escalate.” The U.S. must unambiguously communicate to Moscow what lies ahead if it goes down this terrible path. Mr. Putin and his supporters need to understand that if he detonates a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, the U.S. response will be swift and significant—far exceeding the limited export sanctions under consideration around the world in response to Russian atrocities in Bucha.
America and its allies shouldn’t retaliate in kind, with nuclear weapons. The U.S. should, however, be prepared to take other serious actions quickly. Among the options:
• Clear the Russian navy’s two remaining Slava-class cruisers, their escort ships and submarines from the Mediterranean. This could be accomplished by a diplomatic démarche followed by more-forceful action if necessary to enforce compliance.
• Eliminate Russian air and military assets in Syria and Libya on the same basis. The U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have the ability to do so fully within hours if Russia refuses to withdraw its forces to its homeland.
• Entirely dismantle all pipelines used to transport Russian oil and gas to the West, quashing even the hope of future sales to Europe. Military assets could assist civilian engineering companies to accomplish this task with dispatch.
• Advise all non-Western nations, including China, that purchasing Russian oil would result in massive punitive tariffs by the U.S., Japan and the European Union that would effectively decouple their economies from the industrial world.
• End Russian dreams of earning hard currency by servicing Iran’s nuclear industry. The idea that the West would stand by while Iran develops its own tactical nuclear capacity should be dismissed. The U.S., Israel and their Arab allies would be positioned to give the ayatollahs a short window to completely dismantle Iran’s nuclear program under an intrusive inspection regime. If the ayatollahs decline, as they likely would, the key elements of Iran’s nuclear program could be dismantled by the full air power of the regional alliance arrayed against them.
These are only some of the steps that could be taken if Mr. Putin employs nuclear weapons in Ukraine. The urgent priority is to communicate them to the Kremlin now. The same strong and well-messaged deterrence that kept the free world safe from nuclear attack during the long years of the Cold War must be restored to avert a nuclear tragedy in Ukraine. If it isn’t, the risk of Russian miscalculation will rise—as will the even greater risk of nuclear escalation beyond Ukraine.
Mr. O’Brien is chairman of American Global Strategies LLC. He served as White House national security adviser, 2019-21.
++++++++++++
Vladimir Putin’s Gift to NATO
Finland and Sweden may join the Western alliance after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Editorial Board
Vladimir Putin hoped that invading Ukraine would make NATO splinter, but the alliance has been energized and is now set to expand. This is a reminder that the bloc’s growth is a response to—and not the cause of—Russia’s aggression.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said last week that Helsinki would decide whether to apply for NATO membership in the coming weeks. The country’s parliament is scheduled to debate this week. Nearby Sweden appears likely to apply too, with local media suggesting Stockholm could pursue membership within months.
Russia isn’t taking it well. “If Sweden and Finland join NATO, the length of the alliance’s land borders with Russia will more than double,” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said last week. He warned Russia would retaliate by deploying “Iskanders, hypersonic weapons, and nuclear-armed ships literally at arm’s length from their own homes.” Such threats underscore the case for joining.
Sweden and Finland are members of the European Union, but as historically neutral nations they preferred to keep a distance from NATO. For years about a third of Swedes wanted to apply, and Finns were even more skeptical. But support for accession has grown since the invasion. More than two-thirds of Finns showed support in a recent survey.
Some Swedish and Finnish elites are more hesitant. Last month Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson suggested that joining NATO “would further destabilize this area of Europe and increase tension.” Many Finnish politicians also have been ambivalent. But the public sees the devastation in Ukraine and realizes it could happen to them. As democracies, the governments will eventually reflect the will of the people.
Finns and Swedes are moving toward the alliance because they believe it’s the best path to peace in the long run. The Baltic states know they would be under even greater threat if they had not joined NATO. So do the Poles.
The U.S. Senate will have to approve accession, and the case for approval is overwhelming. The debate should be instructive, and expect opposition from the small but persistent isolationist wing of the Republican Party. In 2019 Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee were the lone votes against accepting North Macedonia to the alliance, and other Trump-aligned Senators could join them this time.
Yet Finland and Sweden wouldn’t be alliance freeloaders. Their strategic location in the Baltic Sea could be critical in a wider conflict with Russia. Finland already punches above its weight militarily, and wealthy Sweden can afford its announced defense-spending increases. A secure Europe better capable of defending itself serves American interests.
Some conservatives argue that Washington should focus on China and the Pacific rather than make new security commitments in Europe. We’re all for doing more to deter China. But the rulers in Beijing and Moscow are working together, and the U.S. will need allies in both theaters to deter them. Successful aggression by one revanchist state encourages the other to do the same.
The U.S. will have to spend more on defense no matter what NATO does. Adding Sweden and Finland spreads the burden of deterring Russia and reduces the risks of war.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No comments:
Post a Comment