Video - Hamas MP Marwan Abu Ras: "The Jews' Conspiracies and Treachery Led to the Holocaust"

In a recent speech, Hamas MP Marwan Abu Ras accused the West of providing Israel with weapons in order to atone for the Holocaust.

The Jews' "conspiracies and treachery are what led to their being burned. Their deception and their acts against humanity led to their being burned," he said in the speech, which was broadcast on the Hamas Al-Aqsa TV on January 23, 2015. Hmmmm......Another group of Obama 'Admin' 'Peace partners', i just wish they would once and for all agree if the Holocaust took place or not. 

HT and source:

#Hamas MP Marwan Abu Ras: The Jews' Conspiracies and Treachery Led to the Holocaust http://t.co/5a0fbxthBZ

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) February 10, 2015

Iranian nuclear delegation leave Tehran to keep 'Backroom' talks in Munich?

Iranian nuclear delegation leave Tehran to keep 'Backroom' talks in Munich? (Taz).

Iranian nuclear delegation headed by Mohamad Javad Zarif left Tehran to Germany to keep talks with P5+1 in sideline of Munich Security conference.

A delegation Abbas Araqchi, top nuclear negotiator who serves as the deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, Majid Takht-Ravanchi Iran's deputy foreign minister for European and American affairs, and three other diplomat left Tehran for Munich Feb. 6 to join Zarif.

Before leaving Tehran, Zarif told reporters that a Chinese delegation is not participating in the talks in the foreign ministerial level while Russia is still unsure about the level of its delegation.

"All other parties are sending their foreign ministers to the negotiations," IRNA quoted Zarif as saying.

Zaif noted that talks will be held on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference (February 6-8), and that he will also have meetings with other countries, which have requested bilateral discussions with Iran.

It was unclear whether a nuclear agreement could emerge from the talks in Munich because of absence of some of parties involved in the negotiations. However, Zaif believes they could advance the task a bit forward.

The U.S. State Department’s Persian Language Spokesperson Alan Eyre told Trend Feb.5 that “the exact schedule is still shaping up, and this will likely only be a brief meeting, with the discussion focused on the nuclear talks”.

Talks between Iran and the P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany) group have been extended until July 1, 2015 to reach a comprehensive nuclear agreement.

After the sides failed to meet the 24 Nov. 2014 deadline they also extended the Geneva nuclear deal, which was signed in November 2013 for providing Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities.

Eyre who has been a member of the US nuclear talks delegation since 2009 said that “the Secretary and his counterpart (Zarif) will take stock of where we are, and will use that conversation to instruct their respective negotiating teams going forward”.

Earlier this month, Zarif raised the possibility of another round of nuclear talks on the sidelines of the 51st Munich Security Conference.

The US and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies. Hmmm.......The odds they sign their 'treacherous' deal next week which coincides with the Islamic revolution birthday are great.

Related: EU officials reportedly complained 'we are excluded from U.S. and the Iran backroom negotiations'

Obama BFF Iran Takes Holocaust Denial to a Whole New Level - This Time with Cartoons

'Winner 2006 antisemitic cartoon contest'

Obama BFF Iran Takes Holocaust Denial to a Whole New Level - This Time with Cartoons. (BIN).

Iran’s House of Cartoon and the Sarcheshmeh Cultural Complex announced it is holding another international contest based on the theme of Holocaust denial.

According to a report in the Teheran Times the secretary of the contest, Masud Shojaei-Tabatabaii, told a press conference on Saturday that the reasoning behind this contest is to protest the caricatures of Mohammed, which have appeared repeatedly in the French Charlie Hebdo magazine.

Teheran is now fighting back with a cartoon contest aimed and invalidating Western society’s greatest travesty, and most inhumane moment.

“If freedom of expression knows no boundary, the issue of the Holocaust must also be critically and freely reviewed,” said the Sarcheshmeh Center.

The contest will award the first place winner for the best Holocaust denying cartoon $12,000. The prizes for second and third place winners will rake in $8,000 and $5,000 respectively.

The competition is the second of its kind with the first having taken place in 2006. Approximately 750 cartoons were submitted the first time around. The winning cartoon depicted a crane with a Star-of-David building a wall around the Dome of the rock. Upon the wall was a picture of Auschwitz.

Iran has a long history of Holocaust denial and has used the tactic to continually deviate from western ideology. According to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal,various voices have attempted to downplay this political ploy that has been a major part of Iranian foreign policy ever since the Ayatollah seized power.

“Many observers, including some within the Obama administration, have sought to play down the matter of Iranian Holocaust denial,” the report stated.

In 2005, then Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad famously supported a research mission to Poland to investigate whether millions of Jews could have died at Auschwitz, a request which the Polish government declined. Today, Holocaust denial is rampant amongst the higher up social echelons of the Iranian regime. Hmmm......And these are the BFF of the Obama 'Admin'...lets give these guys a nuclear weapon.....why stop at one?

Video - Palestinian Leader Farouk Qaddumi: We Supported the Nazis in WWII.

Video - Palestinian Leader Farouk Qaddumi: We Supported the Nazis in WWII.

In an interview with Russia Today TV on December 7, 2013, Farouk Qaddumi, former head of the PLO Political Bureau, said: "I don't think it would be wrong to say that we were enthusiastic supporters of Germany" in World War II.

Following are excerpts from the interview:

Interviewer: Were you sympathetic with Nazi Germany in WWII?

Farouq Qaddumi: I don't think it would be wrong to say that we were enthusiastic supporters of Germany.

Interviewer: You supported Hitler and his people.

Farouq Qaddumi: Germany, yes. This was common among the Palestinians, especially since our enemy was Zionism, and we saw that Zionism was hostile to Germany, and vice versa.

Interviewer: There was a Nazi radio station in Arabic at the time, right?

Farouq Qaddumi: I recall something like that.HT: Memri

Video - 'Moderate' Khamenei full speech to Basij, on 'nuclear rights' (6 parts - translated)

Video - Khamenei part 6 speech to Basij, on 'nuclear rights'




Video - Khamenei full speech to Basij, on 'nuclear rights' - 6 parts - translated can be seen here.HT: UskowiOnIran

Geneva talks a facade - US-Iran worked secretly on deal for past year, talks led by Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett.

Geneva talks a facade - US-Iran worked secretly on deal for past year, talks led by Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett.(TOI).

The Geneva negotiations between the so-called P5+1 powers and Iran are a mere “facade,” because the terms of a deal on Iran’s nuclear program have been negotiated in talks between a top adviser to President Barack Obama and a leading Iranian nuclear official that have continued in secret for more than a year, Israeli television reported Sunday. 

Despite ostensible full coordination between the US and Israel over strategies for thwarting Iran’s nuclear weapons drive, the administration did not keep Israel fully informed on those talks, Channel 10 news reported, but Jerusalem nonetheless has a pretty clear picture of what has been going on in the secret channel. White House spokesman Bernadette Meehan was quoted by Haaretz as saying that the report was “absolutely, 100 percent false.”

Feltman sure looks 'uncomfortable'

The report, which relied on unnamed senior Israeli officials, said the US team to the secret talks was led by Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. Her primary interlocutor, the report said, was the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi. The talks have been taking place in various Gulf states.

In the course of the talks, the report said, the Americans offered the Iranians a series of “confidence-building measures,” which underlined American readiness to conclude a deal and undercut sanctions pressure.

It was the deal discussed in these secret talks, the report said, that the Americans then brought to Geneva earlier this month, where it was largely adopted by the P5+1 nations — the US, Britain, France, Russia, China, plus Germany.

France has indicated that it raised objections to the proposed terms, while US Secretary of State John Kerry said the deal was so “tough” that the Iranians had to return to Tehran to take a decision on whether to sign it. The Geneva talks are set to resume on Wednesday.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly fumed at the terms that were offered to Iran at Geneva, including an easing of non-core sanctions under an arrangements whereby Iran would still be permitted to enrich uranium to 3.5%. Netanyahu wants all sanctions retained, and all enrichment to be frozen, as a first step toward the dismantling of Iran’s entire “military nuclear” program.

According to Channel 10, the secret channel marginalized Kerry, and was overseen by the president. 

The idea had been for Kerry merely to fly to Geneva, as he did last Friday, to sign a deal in which he had been a bit player. In the event, factors such as the French stance, and Israel’s very public objections, derailed this plan, and the talks broke up last Saturday without an agreement.

Nevertheless, the expectation in Jerusalem is that a deal is on the way in the near future. Kerry, with whom Netanyahu has been engaged in a public sniping match in recent days, is due back in Israel at the end of this week, after the Geneva talks resume.

Sunday’s Channel 10 report was not the first to assert a secret US-Iran channel involving Obama aide Jarrett. 

In November of 2012, the daily Yedioth Ahronoth said Jarrett — a Chicago lawyer born in Shiraz, Iran, to American parents, and good friend of Obama’s — was “a key figure in secret contacts the White House is conducting with the Iranian regime.”

That report said “Jarrett served as the personal and direct emissary of the president to secret meetings with the Iranians, which are understood to have taken place in one of the Gulf principalities.”Hmmm.......Let me guess.....'Qatar" the Muslim Brotherhood den?More here at Breitbart.

Davutoğlu says Turkey never supported al-Qaeda-linked groups in Syria, Syrian Kurd leader confirms Turkish Support to Al Qaeda.

Davutoğlu says Turkey never supported al-Qaeda-linked groups in Syria, Syrian Kurd leader confirms Turkish Support to Al Qaeda.(HD).

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has denied allegations of support for al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria, adding that Turkey did not contribute to the start of the crisis in the Arab country.

Davutoğlu, during a televised interview on Friday, said footage that appeared in the media showing al-Qaeda-linked groups crossing to Syria from Turkey was not real.
“The [Syrian] regime, which caused a quagmire [in Syria], the international community and the UN Security Council, who remained indifferent [to the crisis], and those circles which benefit from the quagmire in the country are not being held responsible [for the situation in Syria], but neighboring countries like Turkey, which is affected most, are being held responsible. It is not possible to make sense of this [dilemma],” Davutoğlu said.
Davutoğlu continued to say that Turkey has no relations with al-Qaeda-linked groups and has never supported them.

Meanwhile, the leader of Syria's most powerful Kurdish group has said Turkey recently cut support to al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria, which he believes is due to pressure from the international community.
Saleh Muslim, the leader of Syria's Democratic Union Party (PYD), an offshoot of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), in remarks that appeared in the Taraf daily on Friday, said Turkey was no longer providing logistical support to members of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, the extremist Ahrar al-Sham or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) by letting them cross into Syria from Turkish border provinces.

“The thugs [radical groups] are not attacking us after crossing to [Syria] from Turkey as [frequently as] before. This is very good news. We hope that Turkey will continue this stance [towards the extremist groups],” Muslim said.

The PYD leader had previously accused Turkey of having a hand in the atrocities committed by extremist groups that are fighting against the regime in Syria. Ankara has denied the claims several times, saying it will not take part in the ongoing fighting in Syria.

Muslim said Ankara's policy towards radical groups changed after Syria's extremist groups started to pose a threat to the security of Turkey. “Moreover, international pressure has also contributed [to the change of policy on radical groups],” Muslim added.

“We have always said and we will continue to say this: We want friendly relations with Turkey. We are not pursuing independence or a federal system [within the Syrian central government],” the PYD leader said.
Extremist militants have clashed with more moderate groups in mostly opposition-held northern Syria, and have battled PYD militants in northeastern border areas for months.
When Muslim was asked the next target the PYD wanted to take control of, the PYD leader replied it could be Tel Abyad, a northern town bordering Turkey.
The PYD has recently announced that Kurdish militias had seized Ras al-Ain, a key town a few hundred meters from the Ceylanpınar district of Şanlıurfa province in Turkey, and all its surrounding villages. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said the Kurds had seized at least 19 towns in the area.Hmmm....Just give it time and Al-qaeda will start targeting turkey, you harvest what you sow.

Is Obama's BFF Erdogan Out Of Control?

Is Obama's BFF Erdogan Out Of Control? HT: NationalReview. By Benjamin Weinthal.

President Obama has awarded a kind of most-favored-nation status to the Islamic government of Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, pushing at the outset of his first presidential term for a “model partnership” with Turkey.

And the seeds of Obama’s erratic and misguided Middle East policies can be partially situated in this desire to court Erdogan as a responsible leader in the region.

Meanwhile, as my FDD colleague Jonathan Schanzer recently showed, Erdogan’s administration harbors a Hamas terrorist, Saleh al-Arouri, and helps Iran’s clerical regime circumvent sanctions targeting its illicit nuclear-weapons program. Equally alarming, Erdogan permits southern Turkey to serve as an operational base for the al-Qaeda-linked groups al-Nusra and ISIS to flood into Syria. 

He flatly denied the allegations this week, saying, “It is out of question that organizations like al-Qaeda or al-Nusra could take shelter in our country. This is slander and [a pack of] of lies.”

My nearly two weeks on the Syria-Turkey border in late September and early October revealed the contrary to be true. In short, al-Qaeda jihadists have wide latitude in Turkey to access Syria’s territory.

Moreover, the American Enterprise Institute Middle East expert Michael Rubin’s article titled “Turkey, not Syria, to blame for sectarianism in Turkey” exposes the ways in which Erdogan stokes ethnic and religious divisions.Read the full story here.

Iran's Simorgh satellite carrier under construction, planned to be launched soon.

Iran's Simorgh satellite carrier under construction, planned to be launched soon.(Taz).

Iran's home-made satellite carrier Simorgh is under construction, deputy head of Iran Space Agency (ISA), Hamid Fazeli said, IRNA news agency reported.

He went on to note that, Simorgh is the main Iranian satellite carrier project and will be launched next solar year (will be started on March 21, 2014).

Iranian Zafar, Tolou, Autsat and Amirkabir satellites scheduled to be carried by Simorgh, Fazeli said.
Simorgh is an Iranian expendable small-capacity orbital carrier rocket, which has a length of 27 metres, and weight of 85 tons.

Its first stage is powered by four main engines, each generating up to 29,000 kilograms (64,000 lb) of thrust, plus a fifth which will be used for attitude control, which provides an additional 13,600 kilograms (30,000 lb).

Simorgh is capable of putting a 60-kilogram (130 lb) payload into a 500-kilometre (310 mi) low Earth orbit.
According to the ISNA news agency, the engine could be used in future rockets capable of carrying 700-kilogram (1,500 lb) satellites into 1,000-kilometre (620 mi) orbits.

Earli in October, Fazeli said that Iran plans to launch three indigenously designed and manufactured satellites into orbit in six months.Hmmmm.....Can you spell....ICBM?

Related: 

IRGC Denies ballistic missile range

IRGC Denies ballistic missile range

IRGC clarifies ballistic missile range.(UOI).

According to FARS News Agency:

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in a statement on Saturday rejected media reports claiming that Iran has developed missiles which could reach targets 12,000 km in distance, stressing that the maximum range of Iran's missiles is 2,000 km.

"Some media have made a mistake when quoting a part of the remarks of the IRGC Aerospace Force Commander (Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh) about IRGC's missiles and said their range is 12000 kilometers," the statement issued by the IRGC's Public Relations said on Saturday.

"Actually, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh has pointed to the IRGC Aerospace Force's defensive capabilities, and said 'at present, the range of our long-range missiles is 2,000km and the reason is that our enemies are within this range ... and they are not much worth to be targetted by costly missiles'," continued the statement.

This writer could not find the Western media report specifically citing a 12,000 km range, however the Iranians might generally be referring to ICBM ranges capable of hitting the United States. This potential capability is based upon speculation as to the ultimate intentions of Simorgh and Sepehr IRILV projects.*

This isn't the first time the Iranians have denied development of an ICBM; they did so also during the previous administration.

The Fars article identified three IRGC-ASF ballistic missiles with a range of 2000 km: Shahab-3, Ghadr-F and Sejjil-1/2, the latter cited as a "third generation" MRBM of slightly longer range.

*Hmmm.......TEHRAN, 2013, Jan. 31 -- The President of Iran Space Agency (ISA) says Iran will launch Nahid, Qaem, and Fajr satellites on February 2nd 2013, the anniversary of Iran’s National Space Technology Day. In a press conference, Hamid Fazeli, ISA president pointed to plans by Iran Space Agency for National Space Technology Day and said; “The President will inaugurate Iranian achievements in space, science and technology on National Space Technology Day.” He announced the launching of Nahid satellite during days of Fajr ceremonies and added: “Launching Engineering samples of Qaem, and Fajr satellites projects have been planned by the end of the next week.”

Fazeli answered Mehr News reporter’s question on launching SharifSat satellite by the end of the current Iranian New year (21th of March), saying that “SharifSat, manufactured by students in Sharif University of Technology will be launched, in addition to AUTSat, by Amir Kabir University of Technology and Zafar satellite into space by Simorgh rocket launcher, and will be operational by early June.” Fazeli asserted that “Toloo satellite will also be launched into space by Simorgh rocket launcher in the near future.”

TEHRAN, 2013, Februray 02 -- The President of Iran’s Space Agency (ISA) says Iranian Nahid satellite will be unveiled in February, 2nd 2013, Iran’s National Space Technology Day. The ISA would launch Nahid by Safir-1B rocket launcher to space. Fazeli pointed to Nahid’s main feature as being imaging. “Nahid is the only satellite with folding solar panels,” he added. “All Iranian made satellites had panels fixed on themselves. Nahid’s panels provide folding capability,” he asserted. He maintained that technology used in Nahid was unique, and that Nahid would have a perigee of 250 km, and an apogee of 370 km.

TEHRAN, 2013, February 28 -- Chancellor of Iran's Amirkabir University Alireza Rahayee announced Tehran is preparing to put a new home-made satellite, called Nahid , into orbit in the next four months. He said that Nahid is among those satellites which need more modern launchers, and Simorgh satellite launch platform is now being prepared to this end. He added that Nahid will be sent to the space on the back of Safir-B carrier (not clear: Safir-1B or Simorgh).

Knesset to hold historic gathering at Auschwitz-Birkenau on combating anti-Semitism.

Knesset to hold historic gathering at Auschwitz-Birkenau on combating anti-Semitism.(TOI).

On January 27, 2014, the largest ever delegation of Knesset members will convene overseas, on the grounds of Auschwitz-Birkenau, together with Holocaust survivors, for a historic gathering on combating anti-Semitism and preservation of death camps. 

The symbolism could not be any more striking — mere meters away from the gas chambers where millions of Jews were once murdered, the representatives of the parliament of the Jewish state will meet.

The event will be held on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a memorial day in honor of the 6 million Jews who perished during the Holocaust. 2014 will also mark the 69^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Soviet Army and Allied troops in 1945.

Asked why not wait another year for the 70^th Anniversary to hold such a symbolic commemoration, Daniels says, “There is never the right time to hold an event like this,” adding “there is no shortage of symbolic events that happened over the years, that any given day is a special anniversary.”

According to the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel, at least one survivor in Israel dies every hour. 

Daniels warns “there is no time to wait as we are getting very close to the point where there will be no more first-hand accounts left. The onus falls on us, not just as Jews and Israelis, but humanity as a whole, is to learn, to be with the survivors and to really understand what happened and to ensure it never repeats again.”

The Israeli delegation will include over half the Knesset, with at least 60 MKs from all the major parties, and will be led by Speaker of the Knesset, Yuli Edelstein. Each MK will be accompanying a Holocaust survivor, with a specially chartered plane flying the group from Israel.

In addition, the delegation will include senior representatives of the Israel Defense Forces, both Chief Rabbis of the State of Israel and former Chief Rabbi Meir Lau (a Holocaust survivor himself). Representatives of various student groups will also attend, signifying the living link between the past and the future.

According to Edelstein, the dramatic rise of anti-Semitism in Europe is “very worrying.” He says it has reached a level “unprecedented since the end of the Holocaust.”

Edelstein notes: “The Holocaust did not start with Auschwitz-Birkenau, but with boycotts, words and throwing stones at Jewish shop windows.” He is also particularly concerned about some of the “openly anti-Semitic” parties and politicians around the world today, especially in Europe.

The primary objective of the mission, according to Edelstein, is to highlight the importance of remembering the Holocaust and to “have a conversation with elected officials from around the world about what needs to be done to make sure nothing of the kind ever happens again, anywhere in the world, especially as far as Jews are concerned.”

Edelstein warns that anti-Semitism “is not just a Jewish or Israeli problem alone” and that while “it starts with the Jews, it doesn’t end with the Jews.”

Iranian station: opens new YOUTUBE channel after blocked.

Iranian station: opens new YOUTUBE channel after blocked. HT: IMRA.

Video-sharing site YouTube deactivated Press TV's official page without explanation after the Israeli-American Anti-Defamation League (ADL) ordered it to terminate the Iranian channel's live broadcast.

"We have not been able to upload new videos on our official YouTube page since July 25. Both YouTube and (its parent company) Google have declined to comment," said Press TV Newsroom Director Hamid Reza Emadi.

He added that YouTube was "in fact responding to an ADL order to stop us from revealing Israeli crimes to the world."

An article on ADL's official website has accused Press TV of bypassing the West's sanctions by broadcasting live via YouTube and other internet and mobile platforms.

"ADL has contacted YouTube regarding concerns about Press TV," reads the article, further noting that the station's "broadcast on YouTube comes at a time when the United States, the European Union and others in the international community are seeking to isolate Iran."

Since January 2012, Press TV has come under mounting pressure from European governments and satellite companies, which have taken the alternative channel off the air across the European Union.

In a statement published on the official website of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the pro-Israeli lobby has lauded Spain's efforts to ban Press TV, saying Madrid has pulled the plug on the Iranian channel following months of negotiations with the AJC.

"In recent years has emerged a channel that not only challenges the Zionists' long-time media dominance, but also has it questioned the West's silence on their (the Zionists') crimes against humanity. That's Press TV and they're determined to silence it," Emadi added.

He said Press TV had to create an alternative YouTube account to upload its videos. "Viewers can now watch our videos at www.youtube.com/user/PresstvNewsCast," he said.

Khamenei : "The U.S. is not a real mediator, it stands by the Zionists,"

Khamenei : "The U.S. is not a real mediator, it stands by the Zionists,"(UOI).

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said today that the United States is not a good mediator in Mideast peace talks because of its ties with Israel. Khamenei made the comments ahead of the second round of U.S.-brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace talks next week. The talks resumed after a five-year freeze.

The Islamic Republic has traditionally been against the principle of the two-state solution, the eventual goal of the Palestinian-Israeli talks. Ideologically, it prefers a single Palestinian state encompassing Muslims and the Jews. Pragmatically, it has said it would accept whatever solution the Palestinians agree with.

“The U.S. is not a real mediator, it stands by the Zionists,” said Khamenei. “Definitely, it is against the interests of the Palestinians.” (IRNA/AP, 9 August)

Khamenei added that the current U.S.-sponsored talks will damage the Palestinians and force them to “abandon their rights and encourage the occupier.” He did not offer any alternative to the current peace talks.

The Palestinians seek to establish a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in 1967. 

Netanyahu in Auschwitz blasts world for ignoring Nazi threat.

Netanyahu in Auschwitz blasts world for ignoring Nazi threat.(TOI).he world knew about the Holocaust and did nothing, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said from the Auschwitz death camp Thursday, vowing that Israel would take matters into its own hands to prevent a second Holocaust.

“The Allied leaders knew about the Holocaust as it was happening. They understood perfectly what was taking place in the death camps. They were asked to act, they could have acted, and they did not,” said Netanyahu. “For us Jews, the lesson is clear. We must not stand idle before the threats of annihilation. We must not bury our heads in the sand, or let others do our work. From here, the place that provides testimony for the will to eradicate us, I, the prime minister of Israel, the Jewish state, tell all the nations of the world: The State of Israel will do whatever is necessary to prevent a second Holocaust.”

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Netanyahu insisted the intentions of the Iranians are just as murderous as the Nazis and their helpers.

“The comparison is intentional. Does Iran want to destroy the state of Israel, first and foremost its Jews? The answer is yes,” he said in response to a question from The Associated Press. “Here is where the comparison diverges, since there was no State of Israel back then that could defend itself. The difference is not in the hatred of Jews and the will to destroy them. This is something that is pretty consistent in history and even modern history. The Holocaust didn’t change this situation.”

Netanyahu said the upcoming “so-called” Iranian presidential election would “change nothing” in the Islamic republic’s quest for nuclear weapons and that the regime would continue to pursue a bomb aimed at destroying Israel. Iran insists its uranium enrichment program has only peaceful goals.

“This is a regime that is building nuclear weapons with the expressed purpose to annihilate Israel’s 6 million Jews,” Netanyahu said. “We will not allow this to happen. We will never allow another Holocaust.”Read the full story here.

"Gone By The Wind" - Official Obama 'farewell' ceremony nixed due to sand storm.

"Gone By The Wind" - Official Obama 'farewell' ceremony nixed due to sand storm.(JPost). US President Barack Obama was on his way to Ben Gurion airport on Friday afternoon as his three-day visit to Israel came to a close.

The last stop on Obama's tour of Israel and the West Bank was the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where Christians believe Jesus was born. Obama's visit to the site is seen as a message of solidarity to dwindling Christian communities in a turbulent region.

Due to strong winds and sand storms Obama changed his plans to fly to Bethlehem in a helicopter, opting instead to travel in a convoy of cars. Highway 1 between Jerusalem was blocked between the hours of 13:30 and 16:00. Additionally, Obama's official farewell ceremony from Israel's Ben Gurion airport was cancelled due to a sand storm that has enveloped central Israel. Instead, there will be a small ceremony which will take place on the tarmac.

Earlier Friday, while visiting Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial Obama said the state of Israel does not exist because of the Holocaust, but because of its strong existence the Holocaust will never happen again.

The statement marked a significant corrective to his speech in Cairo in 2009, where he appeared to argue that the legitimacy of the Jewish state stemmed from the Holocaust.

Wearing a kippa, Obama rekindled an eternal flame next to a stone slab above ashes recovered from extermination camps after World War Two. "We have a choice to acquiesce to evil or make real our solemn vow - never again," Obama said.

Obama made clear he recognized that Jewish roots to the Holy Land were centuries-old. "Here on your ancient land, let it be said for all the world to hear, the state of Israel does not exist because of the Holocaust, but with the survival of a strong Jewish state of Israel, such a Holocaust will never happen again," he said.

The president said that one could visit the memorial 1,000 times, "and each time one's heart would break."

Obama began the third and final day of his first presidential trip to Israel with visits to the graves of Theodor Herzl and Yitzhak Rabin, accompanied by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres.

Obama laid a wreath and stone at the graves of the founder of Zionism, and the slain prime minister, who has become a symbol for the peace process, before touring Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. At Rabin's grave, Obama paid his respects to family members of the late prime minister, including daughter Dalia Rabin and his granddaughter Noa Rotman.

"Sometimes it is harder to embark on peace than to embark on war," Rabin's daughter, Dalia, quoted Obama as telling the family at the grave site.

Hmmmm........The Lord works in mysterious ways. Must be in a hurry to get him out of Israel before the Sabbath starts.Read the full story here.

More here on the Live blog of Times Of Israel

Iran says IAEA delegation’s visit to Parchin not planned

Iran says IAEA delegation’s visit to Parchin not planned.(TI).Head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) Fereydoun Abbasi Davani said today that IAEA delegation will not visit Parchin Military Base.
Abbasi told this ISNA an hour after beginning of negotiations between Iran and IAEA delegation in Tehran on Feb. 13.
However, Abbasi underlined that talks between Iran and IAEA will be continued until a logical result is achieved, adding that Parchin is a military base, not a nuclear site.
"IAEA should provide reliable evidences and documents regarding the alleged claims, but it refuses to do so," he said.
The IAEA wants to revisit Parchin, a military site in southeast of Tehran, to probe Western and Israeli allegations regarding the site's relation to Iran's nuclear program.
Iran has rejected the allegation of nuclear activities being carried out at Parchin.
Yesterday Abbasi announced that IAEA does not have sufficient security to prevent the leakage of sensitive information.
Iran allowed the IAEA to inspect the site twice a few years ago. Tehran says any new agency inspection must be governed by an agreement that lays out the scope of such a visit.
Abbasi said that a visit to Parchin is not planned, but the talks will be continued to find legal framework for IAEA's future inspections in Parchin.Read the full story here.

Video - Netanyahu: Iran Getting Closer to 'Red Line'.

Iran is taking steps that are bringing it closer to the “red line” in its nuclear program that Israel cannot tolerate, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned on Monday.
Speaking at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Netanyahu said, “The three external challenges that we face begin with Iran. I spoke about Iran’s plan to develop nuclear weapons. Its nuclear weapons program continues unabated. It’s focused on enrichment because if they can continue and complete the enrichment of high enriched uranium, then they’ll have enough to produce enough material to produce a nuclear bomb.
“I drew a line at the UN, last time I was there,” he added. “They haven’t crossed that line, but what they’re doing is to shorten the time that it will take them to cross that line. And the way they’re shortening that time is by putting in new, faster centrifuges that cut the time by one third, so that Iran is putting itself in a position to cross the red line and have enough material to produce one nuclear bomb’s worth of highly enriched uranium. This has to be stopped, for the interest of peace and security, for the interest of the entire world.”
Netanyahu said, “How do you stop it? Well, you have to put greater pressure on them. You have to upgrade the sanctions. And they have to know that if the sanctions and diplomacy fails, they will face incredible military threat. That’s essential. Nothing else will do the job. And it’s getting closer.Read the full story here.

Final Assault on Israel and Jerusalem in the make? OIC demands seat on top UN body to represent Muslims.

Final Assault on Israel and Jerusalem in the make? OIC demands seat on top UN body to represent Muslims.(Zawya).

The 56-member Organization of Islamic Conference, the largest Muslim organization in the world, should have a seat on the UN Security Council, said Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, its secretary-general.

"One of the important objectives for which I have been exerting a lot of efforts was to have a seat for OIC in the Security Council to represent 1.5 billion Muslims in the world," Ihsanoglu told reporters in Cairo.
Speaking about the challenges facing the Islamic Ummah, he said they include poverty, lack of economic integration, Jewish settlement in occupied Arab territories, and Judaization of Jerusalem (Al-Quds).
Asked about the new OIC presidency of Egypt for the next three years, Ihsanoglu said: "Egypt is a leading country in the Islamic world. It has a long history of defending Muslim causes."
He said the OIC has set out a plan to develop Jerusalem in cooperation with the Palestine Authority and the Islamic Development Bank.
He said more diplomatic efforts were required to mobilize international support for recognition of Palestine as a state by the United Nations. "UNESCO has recognized Palestine as a full member. This is a big achievement."
The OIC foreign ministers, meanwhile, held a meeting in Cairo to finalize the agenda for the Feb. 6-7 Islamic Summit.
Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, who attended the meeting, stressed the Kingdom's efforts for the success of Islamic causes.
"The summit is significant as it comes at a time when Muslim countries are going through sensitive and delicate crises," he added.Hmmmmm........OIC is now a state?Membership of the U.N. : 1.Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations. 2.2.The admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.Read the full story here.

More OIC 'Expansion' Plans here.

"You're on your Own" - Barak: Israel ‘learned a lesson’ from global failure to stop Assad.

"You're on your Own" - Barak: Israel ‘learned a lesson’ from global failure to stop Assad.(TOI).he international credibility of the United States, and its vital interests around the world, require that it honors its commitment to thwart Iran’s nuclear drive, outgoing Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Barak said America’s own interests mean it must be able to say, “We stood behind our policy and blocked Iran.”
He said he didn’t envision Iran being halted via diplomacy, and that sanctions need to be “much more drastic.”
Barak also said the atrocities in Syria had underlined to Israel, when it weighs the risks of territorial compromise and other challenges, that it cannot rely on international assurances that the world will step in at times of crisis. “The air force of a state attacks the civilians of its own population, tanks are shooting… and the world doesn’t move.” Even facing “unspeakable atrocities,” there is no guarantee that there’ll be “enough unity of [international] purpose to translate it into action.
“For us, that’s a lesson,” he said. Our friends tell us, ‘Don’t worry,’ promise support in times of crisis, says defense minister, but events in Syria show there are no guarantees of international action.Read the full story here.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warns Israel, West against attack on Iran.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warns Israel, West against attack on Iran.(JPost).MOSCOW - Russia warned Israel and the West on Wednesday against any military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities but suggested Tehran should be quicker to cooperate over inspections of its nuclear sites.
Speaking at his annual news conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov mixed words of caution over isolating Iran or attacking it with a gentle nudge to Tehran over the inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency. "Attempts to prepare and implement strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and on its infrastructure as a whole are a very, very dangerous idea. We hope these ideas will not come to fruition," Lavrov said.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has hinted strongly at possible military action to stop Iran from developing an atomic bomb. In an election victory speech on Wednesday, he said preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons would be the main challenge for a new government.
Referring to talks in which the IAEA has been trying to negotiate an agreement for inspectors to gain access to sites, officials and documents, Lavrov said: "The Iranians have said they want this document to be agreed in full. We think our Iranian colleagues could do this a little bit faster."Read the full story here.