Video - Hamas Official Mahmoud Al-Zahhar: The Quran Tells Us to Drive the Jews Out of Palestine in Its Entirety.

Video - Hamas Official Mahmoud Al-Zahhar: The Quran Tells Us to Drive the Jews Out of Palestine in Its Entirety. (MEMRI).

Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, one of Hamas's leaders in Gaza, said that "removing the Jews from the land they occupied in 1948 is an immutable principle" appearing in the Quran, and said:

"Our position is: Palestine in its entirety, and not a grain of soil less." Speaking on Al-Aqsa TV on March 8, Al-Zahhar advised Hamas and the Islamic Jihad never to mention the 1967 borders, as "this becomes like part of a joint plan."

Jewish politicians dispute NYPD finding cemetery damage 'NEGLECT' not vandalism.

Jewish politicians dispute NYPD finding cemetery damage 'NEGLECT' not vandalism. (ToI).

Local officials cast doubt on police assessment that neglect was to blame for 42 toppled headstones at Brooklyn graveyard.

Jewish leaders in New York are disputing the New York Police Department’s finding that 42 headstones in a Brooklyn cemetery toppled due to neglect and not vandalism.

police determined after an investigation on Sunday that the headstones had fallen off of their bases due to neglect and bad weather conditions.

New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind told the New York Post late on Sunday that the people who reported the damage to him had never noticed it before despite walking by the cemetery every week to go to synagogue services.

“The people who first reported this to us were individuals who walk by … on the way to synagogue on Shabbos, and they were the ones who saw something that looked wrong to them,” Hikind told the newspaper. “If they had seen the [toppled stones] before,” they would have reported it, he said.

He added: “We’re not talking about stones that are down, that they want to repair. We’re talking about tombstones where if you look at it, you say, ‘Someone vandalized it.’”Read the full story here.

Video - Palestinian Ambassador to Iran: I Pray that Iran Will Produce 1,000 Nuclear Bombs

Palestinian Ambassador to Iran: I Pray that Iran Will Produce 1,000 Nuclear Bombs. (MEMRI).

In a February 20 interview on Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV, Palestinian Ambassador to Iran Salah Zawawi warned against what he called the "Western enterprise" to establish the Greater Israel and to turn the Arabs into "servants, if not slaves in our region." 

"I pray to Allah that Iran will produce 1,000 nuclear bombs," he said, adding that they would not be directed against Arab or Islamic countries, but "would be used to defend the Islamic Republic and its principles."Hmmm.....So much for the 'Nuclear Fatwa'

Video - Fatah Official Sultan Abu Al-Einein: Transfer of U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem Will Lead to Renewed Bloodshed

Video - A day in the life of a Palestinian boy named Ali, narrated by Israeli PM Netanyahu.

Video - Secrets of the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron

To combat the recent United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) resolution declaring Judaism has no connection to the holy sites in Israel and educate the growing wave of Bible deniers, the Jews of Hebron have made a simple video with a powerful message: the story of Abraham’s purchase and his covenant with God stand as solid as the stones surrounding the cave.

Hebron is the city of the patriarchs as written in the Bible. This claim should be obvious, but a global trend is developing in which history is being rewritten, and basic tenets of the Bible are erased. Yishai Fleisher, the international spokesman for the Hebron Jewish community, explained how this happened.

“100 years ago, everyone knew the stories of the Bible,” Fleisher told Breaking Israel News. “There was no way anyone could say these lies back then. Because the Bible has lost its media presence, it is now possible to pull the wool over people’s eyes about these basic truths.”

For those who accept the Bible, the Jewish claim to Hebron is self-evident. For those who reject it, this basic truth is not so clear.

“Outside of the Bible, there is very little clear information about the holy places,” noted Fleisher, “Which allows organizations like UNESCO to create a false narrative. UNESCO is a legitimate arm of the jihad.”

Read the full story here.

Video - "Hate Spaces" Film Exposes Campus Intolerance.

Hate Space Trailer 11.16.16 from Ralph Goldwasser on Vimeo.

Read the full story here.

Vatican and Israel criticize UNESCO: no one can deny biblical history.

Vatican and Israel criticize UNESCO: no one can deny biblical history. (AN).

The Vatican has joined the critics of the UNESCO decision to use only the name Arabic name of holy places in East Jerusalem, leaving out their Hebrew version.

The Joint Commission of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel's Delegation for Relations with the Catholic Church and the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews issued a joint statement noting that the UNESCO decision’s denies on political and polemical grounds the relationship between Jews and Temple Mount and the biblical story.

The communique states that it is necessary now more than ever to promote peace at a time when violence is perpetrated in the name of religion. In view of today’s challenges and human tragedies, it goes on to emphasize the importance of religious leaders setting an example for tolerance and respect.

The parties also promised that they would try to persuade more effectively their respective authorities to act in the most tolerant and humane ways towards “others” and the weak.

Pope Francis’s recent remarks to representatives of various religions are particularly appropriate. "May we reject the aimless paths of disagreement and closed-mindedness. May it never happen again that the religions, because of the conduct of some of their followers, convey a distorted message, out of tune with that of mercy. Sadly, not a day passes that we do not hear of acts of violence, conflict, kidnapping, terrorist attacks, killings and destruction. It is horrible that at times, to justify such barbarism, the name of a religion or the name of God himself is invoked.

May there be clear condemnation of these iniquitous attitudes that profane the name of God and sully the religious quest of mankind. May there instead be fostered everywhere the peaceful encounter of believers and genuine religious freedom." (Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to representatives of different religions, Vatican, 3 November 2016).

After more than half a century of Jewish-Catholic reconciliation and fruitful dialogue, Christians and Jews are called to work together to help create peace for the whole human family, fulfilling the words of the psalmist: "Love and truth will meet; justice and peace will kiss” (Psalm 85:11).

The parties also stressed the importance of educating the new generations to promote peace and mutual respect.

CNN Blatantly lies about FBI hate crime statistics falsely claim Muslims most targeted group.

Source

CNN Blatantly lies about FBI hate crime statistics falsely claim Muslims most targeted group. (CNN).

The latest FBI annual hate crime report shows a sharp spike in the number of hate crimes nationwide, with attacks against Muslims increasing the most sharply.

In one year, anti-Muslim hate crimes in the United States rose 67%, from 154 incidents in 2014 to 257 in 2015, according to the latest numbers released in the bureau's Hate Crime Statistics report on Monday.

In sheer numbers, anti-Jewish incidents (664) were higher in 2015, but the percentage increase was much higher for incidents involving Muslim victims.

"That is the highest number since 2001, when the al Qaeda attacks on New York and elsewhere drove the number to its highest ever level, 481 hate crimes," according to Mark Potok with the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

Update: CBCNews:

Mark Goldberg points out in tweet that the '67% increase' is in volume not Percentage of Hate crimes:

@MFS001 That is proportions of crimes. Headline spoke to volume. 257 was 103 more than 2014 (154), an increase of 67% @ezralevant @CBC

— Mark Goldberg (@Mark_Goldberg) November 16, 2016

Hi @ezralevant @MFS001, pls see underlined. Numbers are for "total" and "overall" hate crimes (targeting multiple groups), not just Muslims pic.twitter.com/7Q8V2lrl5X

— Matt Kwong (@matt_kwong) November 16, 2016

1. Compared to 2014 there is a 05,9 % rise in anti Muslim hate crimes in 2015.


2. There were 664 anti-Semitic offences reported last year — the highest of any religious group and a rise of nine per cent compared to 2014 numbers.

The simple facts are: 

  1. Anti-Jewish religion hate crimes still is the Number One religious hate crime in the U.S.

 2.  The number of Anti-Jewish religion based hate crimes went up by 09 percent.

 3. The number of Anti-Muslim religion based hate crimes went up by 05,9 percent. 

As usual the Jewish victims don't seem to be worthy of a headline. 

UN passes Canadian-led resolution advancing nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament

UN passes Canadian-led resolution advancing nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.  (gc.ca)

The Honourable Stéphane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today welcomed the overwhelming support a Canadian-led resolution advancing a fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT) received at the UN General Assembly’s First Committee.

The resolution, which passed with the support of 177 UN member states, establishes a high-level preparatory group mandated to recommend elements of a treaty banning the production of fissile material. It was co-sponsored by Germany and the Netherlands.

A fissile material cut-off treaty would restrict production and access to the materials necessary to create nuclear weapons. It is almost universally regarded as the next logical step in nuclear disarmament.

The work of the high-level preparatory group, which will be composed of 25 states, including states possessing nuclear weapons, will stand as the only current nuclear disarmament initiative bringing together both nuclear and non-nuclear weapons states. The high-level group will advance preparations for the negotiation of this treaty over the next two years.

“Canada attaches enormous importance to making concrete progress on nuclear disarmament. The passage of this resolution, with the support of both nuclear weapons states and non-nuclear weapons states, sets us on this path.

“Future negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty will not be easy. However, progress on an FMCT in the near term is possible, and Canada will spare no effort to ensure its success.” - Stéphane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs


The possibility of extending verification procedures to India, Israel, North Korea and Pakistan is viewed by many as crucial, as it would legally bring them into the international nonproliferation regime  More on the FMCT here

'Antisemitic' House of Lords event condemned after audience 'blames Jews for Holocaust'.

'Antisemitic' House of Lords event condemned after audience 'blames Jews for Holocaust'. (JCA).

The Israel Embassy in London has condemned an event at the House of Lords at which audience members compared Israel to Daesh terrorists and suggested Jews were to blame for the Holocaust.

One man said Zionism was a “perversion of Judaism”, and then implied an American rabbi had provoked Hitler into murdering six million Jews in the Shoah, using quotes reportedly taken from a neo-Nazi website.

"If anybody is antisemitic, it's the Israelis themselves"; panel applauds; hard to believe, but this happened this week at House of Lords pic.twitter.com/L8v4cARnK8

— Yiftah Curiel (@yiftahc) October 26, 2016

Another speaker is shown announcing, to applause: "If anybody is antisemitic, it's the Israelis themselves."

The session was run by the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) and hosted by Baroness Tonge, the Liberal Democrat member and former MP who now sits as an independent peer.

It launched what the organisation calls the Balfour Apology Campaign, ahead of the centenary of the Balfour Declaration next year.

Video footage of the event shows Baroness Tonge listening to the audience member’s comments about Rabbi Stephen Wise, a leading figure in the United States in the 1930s.

The man – reportedly a member of the anti-Zionist strictly Orthodox Neturei Karta sect – claims Hitler was “pushed over the edge” by the rabbi’s comments, and goes on to talk about boycotts.

Baroness Tonge responds: “Thank you very much. I think it’s very important that the word boycott has come up. The BDS, the campaign to boycott Israeli goods and services, and divestment from Israel, most of us think is very, very important indeed.”

David Collier, a blogger who attended the session, said he was later physically sick.

He wrote: "I witnessed a Jew-hating festival at the heart of the British estate." Read the full story here.

UK baroness quits party that suspended her over anti-Israel rhetoric https://t.co/j15aP6bkVZ via @timesofisrael

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) October 28, 2016

'Hamas, LTTE should be dropped from terror list': European Court of Justice advocate general.

'Hamas, LTTE should be dropped from terror list': European Court of Justice advocate general. (DS).

The European Union's top court took a step toward confirming the removal of Hamas, as well as the Tamil Tigers, from an EU terrorism blacklist despite protestations from Israel and the Sri Lankan government.

An advocate general at the European Court of Justice, whose advice is usually followed by judges, recommended Thursday that they reject an appeal by the Council of EU member states against the lower EU court's decisions in late 2014 to remove both movements from the sanctions list due to flaw procedures.

The United States has urged the maintenance of sanctions on Hamas. The Sri Lankan government had said in 2014 that it would provide the evidence which the court found lacking to support sanctions against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

In both cases, judges of the EU's General Court ruled that EU leaders relied too heavily on media reports rather than their own investigations when they imposed asset freezes and travel bans dating back 15 years on members of Hamas and the LTTE.

Both organizations argued that they were engaged in legal wars against Israel and the Sri Lankan government respectively.

Her advice, which also said some elements of the appeal were justified, is not binding. But judges' rulings typically follow closely the recommendations of the advocates general.

The ECJ said its justices were beginning their deliberations on the case and there was no set date for a ruling. Read the full story here.

Video - Top international law expert Amb.Alan Baker takes down "Occupied Palestinian Territories" meme.

Amb.Alan Baker, who participated in negotiations on the Oslo Accords and today is Director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs explains how the OPT concept has no basis in international law.

Video - Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone: The Establishment of Israel 'Fundamentally Wrong', In '32, Hitler Wanted to Deport the Zionists, Not to Kill Jews.

Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone: The Establishment of Israel 'Fundamentally Wrong', In '32, Hitler Wanted to Deport the Zionists, Not to Kill Jews. (Memri).

Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said, in an interview with Al-Ghad Al-Arabi TV, that when Hitler came to power in 1932, he did not want to kill the Jews. He just wanted to "deport all the Zionists to Israel," said Livingstone, who further claimed that Britain and the U.S. should have absorbed the Jewish refugees following WWII, rather than enabling the establishment of the state of Israel, which was "fundamentally wrong." Livingstone added that he never buys Israeli products and that the failure to resolve the Palestinian problem leads Muslims to join ISIS. The interview was conducted on May 4, 2016.


Following are excerpts

The creation of the state of Israel was fundamentally wrong, because there had been a Palestinian community there for 2,000 years.


[…]


The creation of the state of Israel was a great catastrophe. We should have absorbed the post-WWII Jewish refugees in Britain and America. They could all have been resettled, whereas 70 years later, the situation is still very tense, and there is potential for many more wars, potential for nuclear war.


Interviewer: Do you support the global movement for boycotting Israel?


Ken Livingstone: I never buy anything [that comes from Israel]. I could make mistakes sometimes. I like dates, but I don't buy dates that come from Israel.


[…]
Interviewer: Europe decided that the solution, in order to get rid of the Jews, was to establish their own national state in Palestine. Is this not unjust?


Ken Livingstone: This is the interesting thing. There was a lot of antisemitism in Europe. The Christians were very hostile toward the Jews. When Hitler won the elections in 1932 and came to power, his policy was not directed toward killing the Jews. He wanted to deport all the Zionists to Israel [sic]. If you look at the Arab world at the time, there were large Jewish communities that never suffered threats or attacks. They lived in peace alongside their Arab neighbors. But all of this was destroyed with the establishment of the state of Israel, and all the Israeli [sic] communities in the Arab world were deported to Israel. This is unparalleled. If you examine the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad - he recognized Moses as a divine messenger. He also recognized that the Jews could live alongside the Arabs in the Middle East. All of that was destroyed, and I think it was catastrophic.


[…]


I have always believed that the failure to resolve the [Palestinian] problem fuels the terrorist attacks. What makes a 15- or 16-year-old boy go and fight with ISIS, or carry out the barbaric attacks that we saw in Paris or Brussels? They don't do it because they enjoy killing, but because they believe that they are the victims of injustice. The West must deal with the injustice, or will continue to fuel terrorism.

Video - latest antisemitic crime figures from police forces throughout the UK Show 2015 worst Year.

Video - latest antisemitic crime figures from police forces throughout the UK Show 2015 worst Year.

The latest antisemitic crime figures from police forces throughout the UK show that 2015 was the worst year on record for hate crime against Jews. Get the full picture at antisemitism.uk/crime, and please support our work to tackle the rising tide of antisemitism at antisemitism.uk/.

UN Security Council rejects Israel’s PM claim to the Golan Heights.

UN Security Council rejects Israel’s PM claim to the Golan Heights. (INN).

UNSC rebuffs PM's declaration that Golan Heights will remain part of Israel 'forever' - but with a relatively tame statement.

The UN Security Council on Tuesday issued a rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's assertion that the Golan Heights would remain part of Israel "forever," but did not go as far in denying Israeli claims as Arab states had demanded.

The The 15-member council agreed that the status of the Golan, which Israel liberated from Syria control in 1967, "remains unchanged," said Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi, who holds this month's council presidency.

Liu recalled a 1981 resolution which states that Israel's "decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights was nul and void and without any international legal effect."

The council statement followed remarks made by Netanyahu earlier this month when his cabinet held its first meeting in the Golan.

Council members "expressed deep concern" over the Israeli statements and "stressed that the status of the Golan remains unchanged," said Liu. The Arab League and the European Union have also criticized Netanyahu over the remarks.

Notably, however, the Security Council resolution stopped short of any drastic statements such as a call for Israel to withdraw from the 1,200 square kilometer (460 square mile) region, despite pressure from Arab states to do so.

The Golan's once-thriving ancient Jewish community was wiped out by the Arab conquest in 636 CE, but since 1967 has seen a major revival, with dozens of thriving Jewish communities. Read the full story here.

Netanyahu to Putin: Israel Will Keep Golan “With or Without Deal”

Netanyahu to Putin: Israel Will Keep Golan “With or Without Deal”. (JN).

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a face to face meeting in Moscow on Thursday that Israel would not relinquish the Golan Heights. The meeting marked 25 years of Israeli-Russian relations.

“Israel has clear red lines for self-defense,” Netanyahu told Putin according to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office. “We act to the best of our ability to prevent the transfer of advanced weaponry from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon,” he said.

“I came here with one central goal: to strengthen the security coordination between us in order to prevent accidents, misunderstandings, and unnecessary conflict,” Netanyahu told Putin.

“As for the Golan Heights,” Netanyahu continued, “we will not return to the days when they fired on our communities and children from the heights of the Golan. Therefore, with or without a deal, the Golan Heights will remain under Israeli sovereignty.”

After Putin offered a blessing for the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins on Friday night, Netanyahu replied that “during the holiday, the people of Israel will sit at the Seder table, including over a million Russian-speaking Israelis, who form the living bond between our peoples.” Read the full story here.

Video - Al-Aqsa Mosque Address: King Abdallah, "Traitor of Jordan," Fights "So-Called Terrorists" Instead of Sending His Army to Humiliate the Jews.

Jordan Says to Install Cameras at Jerusalem al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Days.

Source: Preacher at Al-Aqsa Mosque: Jews “prepare their matzah… with the blood of children

Jordan Says to Install Cameras at Jerusalem al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Days. (Naharnet).

Jordan said on Sunday it will set up security cameras around Jerusalem's flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque compound in the coming days to monitor any Israeli "violations."

In October, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry endorsed a plan to install cameras at the site in a bid to calm repeated disturbances, after talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed.

But the Jordanian-run trust or "Waqf" that administers the site -- which houses the famed golden Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque -- then complained that Israeli police had blocked them from installing the cameras.

A "control center" will be set up to monitor round-the-clock video surveillance of the compound, Jordan's Islamic Affairs Minister Hayel Daoud said.

The footage will be broadcast online to "document all Israeli violations and aggressions," he said in a statement, adding that no cameras would be installed inside mosques.

Clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces erupted at the compound in September amid fears among Muslims that Israel was planning to change rules governing the site in annexed east Jerusalem. 

The Israeli prime minister has said repeatedly there are no such plans. Hmmm......"The footage will be broadcast online": online to whom? With sound and to be switched on and off at convenient times?

Canadian Conservatives call on Trudeau to disqualify leading anti-Israeli candidates for UN rapporteur for Palestine.

Canadian Conservatives call on Trudeau to disqualify leading anti-Israeli candidates for UN rapporteur for Palestine. (Cijnews).

MP Tony Clement, the Official Opposition Critic on Foreign Affairs, and MP Peter Kent, the Official Opposition Deputy Critic on Foreign Affairs, sent on March 15, 2016 an open letter to the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking him to strongly advocate for the disqualification of two of the eligible candidates for the position of “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967”.

Clement and Kent noted that the two leading candidates, Penny Green and Michael Lynk, have both promoted extreme anti-Israeli views. Here are excerpts of their open letter:

“According to UN Watch, Ms. Green has posted tweets accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and “apartheid” and has compared Israel to the Islamic State.

“Michael Lynk, a Canadian who is currently the second ranked candidate, plays a leading role in the Canadian Palestinian Education Exchange (CEPAL), a group which promotes “Israeli Apartheid Week” events, addresses “One State” conferences which seek to eliminate Israel, and calls for the prosecution of Israel for war crimes. Mr. Lynk also blamed the events of 9/11 on “global inequalities” and “disregard by Western nations for the international rule of law.”

The rules of the UN Human Rights Council are clearly defined in resolution 5/1 and 16/21 – the criteria of “impartiality” and “objectivity” are to be of “paramount importance” when selecting and appointing mandate-holders. 

Ms. Green and Mr. Lynk should have been disqualified from the outset. Read the full story here.