Obama on Wrong Side of UNRWA and Israel

Posted on October 16, 2015October 16, 2015 by Denise Simon

Palestinians Set Fire to Joseph’s Tomb Ahead of ‘Day of Rage’

JERUSALEM — Hundreds of Palestinians entered the Joseph’s Tomb compound in the West Bank town of Nablus late Thursday and set it on fire, severely damaging the Jewish holy site in what Israel called a “despicable” act.

The overnight violence came amid calls for another “day of rage” in the region and looked set to further escalate tensions in which at least 40 people have been killed over the past two weeks.

On Friday, an Israeli soldier was stabbed and lightly wounded at a Jewish settlement near the West Bank city of Hebron, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The attacker had disguised himself as a news photographer and was shot dead, the IDF added. Security officials pledged to hunt down those behind the attack on the tomb, which is said to contain the remains of the biblical patriarch, Joseph.

IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said: “The burning and desecration of Joseph’s tomb … is a blatant violation and contradiction of the basic value of freedom of worship. The IDF will take all measures to bring the perpetrators of this despicable act to justice, restore the site to its previous condition and ensure that the freedom of worship returns to Joseph’s Tomb.”

He said the IDF would “make the necessary repairs in order to allow worshipers to visit the holy site.”

Masked Palestinians and a Palestinian flag were seen at the site. Palestinian firefighting teams extinguished the blaze.

The WAFA news agency reported Friday that Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the incident and created a committee to investigate the tomb’s torching. He also ordered that it be repaired immediately.

Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad called for a “day of rage” in the region Friday following afternoon prayers in the mosques.

Demonstrations were also planned at West Bank points of friction, including Rachel’s Tomb, the Kalandiya checkpoint, and the Judea and Samaria intersection near Ramallah. Hamas also called for protests in Hebron, Tulkarm, and Nablus.

SUBJECT: U.N. 16 Oct.meeting re Jerusalem unrest:

QUOTE:”Uptick in weeks of violence has raised fears that a third Palestinian intifada, or uprising, might erupt. (Reuters)”

FULL TEXT:The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Friday[16 Oct. to discuss an upsurge of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, diplomats said.

The urgent talks were requested by council member Jordan following a meeting on Thursday of Arab ambassadors who expressed alarm at the escalating situation.

The meeting comes as another attack took place on Friday after Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian who they say was “disguised as a news photographer” and who allegedly stabbed and wounded a soldier in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, the army said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has repeatedly called for calm following weeks of violence that have left at least 30 Palestinians dead. Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour told reporters that the situation was “very explosive” and called on the Security Council to “shoulder its responsibility” with action to quell the violence.

Israeli security forces deployed massively in occupied Jerusalem on Thursday as Jews armed themselves with everything from guns to broomsticks. The uptick in violence has raised fears that a third Palestinian intifada, or uprising, might erupt.

UNRWA employees:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GENEVA, October 16, 2015 – UN staffers are using the imprimatur of their official positions to incite Palestinian stabbing and shooting attacks against Israeli Jews, with one UN-identified employee calling on Facebook to “stab Zionist dogs,” according to a new report issued today by UN Watch, the Geneva-based non-governmental organization that is accredited by the United Nations with the mandate to monitor the world body’s compliance with its charter.

UN Watch submitted the report today to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UNRWA chief Pierre Krähenbühl, and U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power, whose government’s $400 million annual grant makes it the largest funder of UNRWA.

“The UN and top funders of UNRWA such as the United States government must act immediately to terminate employees who are inciting murderous anti-Semitism and fueling the deadly pandemic of Palestinian attacks against Israeli Jews that have claimed innocent men, women and children, aged 13 to 78,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.

“Despite UNRWA’s promise, in wake of our previous report, to take action and dismiss UNRWA perpetrators of incitement, there has been no accountability whatsoever,” said Neuer. “On the contrary, UNRWA’s main response has been to try and intimidate UN Watch.”

“We call once again on Ban Ki-moon and UNRWA to immediately terminate their employees who incite to murder. Moreover, we call for the establishment an independent commission of inquiry, to include representatives of the U.S., the EU (gave $139 million), the UK ($95 million), and other top UNRWA funders, to investigate the culture of impunity for perpetrators of racism and incitement that pervades UNRWA.”

“UNRWA’s strategy of impunity, denial and deflection only enables more incitement and violence. It’s time to put an end to the pattern and practice of UNRWA school principals, teachers and staff members posting antisemitic and terror-inciting images, indicating a pathology of racism and violence within UNRWA that must be rooted out — and not buried, as UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness has attempted to do by calling for boycotts of newspapers or NGOs that dare to report these incidents of hate,” said Neuer.

“We’re urging the UN to finally recognize that these despicable posts, published on Facebook accounts run by people who openly identify themselves as UNRWA officials, constitute a gross violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence,” said Neuer.

Report on UNRWA Teachers
and Other Officials
Inciting Violence & Antisemitism

UN Watch Report
October 16, 2015

1: “STAB ZIONIST DOGS,” SAYS U.N. EMPLOYEE HANI AL RAMAHI

Hani Al Ramahi, who identifies himself on Facebook as a “Projects Support Assistant at UNRWA” (screenshot here), posted the violent image below last Thursday, on October 8th, in which a keffiyeh-clad man stares down the camera as he grasps a knife, bearing the Palestinian colors, daubed in blood. “Stab Zionist dogs,“ reads the caption.

Recommendation: UNRWA should fire Hani Al Ramahi for using the name of UNRWA on an account that incites violence and terrorism.

_________________________

2: U.N. EMPLOYEE IBRAHIM ALI GLORIFIES
KNIFINGS, MOLOTOV COCKTAIL ATTACKS

Ibrahim Ali, who lives in Hebron and identifies himself as an UNRWA employee on his Facebook page (screenshot here), posted this video on his timeline on October 6th (screen captures below), which glorifies a gruesome series of terrorist attacks, including shootings and stabbings, of Israeli Jews.

Recommendation: UNRWA should fire Ibrahim Ali for using the name of UNRWA on an account that promotes violence and terrorism.

_________________________

3: HIBA MIARI, UNRWA TEACHER, CELEBRATES STABBINGS

Hiba Miari, identifying herself on her Facebook page as an UNRWA teacher (screenshot above), celebrated the recent Palestinian stabbing attacks against Israeli Jews with a cartoon that she posted online on October 11th. A masked Palestinian is shown playing music on a violin made of a giant knife — the kind used for stabbing. The picture was deleted after it was first exposed by the blogger Elder of Ziyon, though UNRWA has never condemned the incitement or announced any punitive action.

Recommendation: UNRWA should fire Hiba Miari for using the name of UNRWA on an account that glorifies and romanticizes violent acts of terrorism.

_________________________

4: UM KARAM, UNRWA TEACHER, GLORIFIES STABBING SERMON

Um Karam, who identifies himself on his Facebook page as a teacher at UNRWA (screenshot above), posted the infamous video of mosque sermon in which Sheikh Abu Rajab pulled out a knife and, with violent stabbing motions, exhorted Palestinians to murder Jews in the name of Islam.

Recommendation: UNRWA should fire Um Karam for using the name of UNRWA on an account that promotes murder and terrorism.

_______________

5: SOUHAIB FAYYAD

Souhaib Fayyad, who identified on Facebook as part of UNRWA, celebrated the stabbing of Israeli Jews by turning his Facebook profie picture, on October 12th, into an image of a dagger, morphed out of the Facebook “Like” icon. UN Watch captured the image below before it was removed. Fayyad’s actions were documented by the blogger Elder of Ziyon, and his UNRWA-linked Facebook page has since been deactivated. UNRWA has never condemned its employee’s incitement or announced any punitive measures.

Recommendation: UNRWA should fire Souhaib Fayyad for using the name of UNRWA on an account that promotes and condones murderous acts of terrorism.

_______________

6: MAHMOUD ABU ZAKARI

Mahmoud Abu Zakari, identified on his Facebook page as an UNRWA social worker, celebrated the stabbing of Israeli Jews on October 11th, by turning his profile picture into an image of a hooded youngster clutching a large knife, ready to strike (below).

Recommendation: UNRWA should fire Mahmoud Abu Zakari for using the name of UNRWA on an account that promotes and condones acts of violence and terrorism.

___________

7: MAEN DAJANI, U.N. TEACHER, DEFENDS STABBER

Maen Dajani, identifying himself on his Facebook page as a teacher with UNRWA, joined in the PA-Hamas campaign to demonize Israeli self-defence against stabbings as “executions of teenagers,” when he shared a post on October 14th (screenshot below) purporting to illustrate that Israeli media had photoshopped a knife into the hand of a 15-year-old “martyr” who attempted to stab an Israeli. Dajani, who failed to reply to another user’s comment on his post in which the photoshop claim is conclusively refuted, was first exposed by the blogger Elder of Ziyon.

Recommendation: UNRWA should fire Maen Dajani for using the name of UNRWA on an account that excuses violence and terrorism.

_________________________

8: UNRWA’S SALEH MOHSEN ADVOCATES VIOLENCE

Saleh Mohsen, identifying himself on his Facebook page as an UNRWA employee, celebrated the outbreak of Palestinian stabbing attacks against Israelis by calling, on October 4th, for a “West Bank Intifada”:

On October 9th, this UN employee shared a post on his timeliine calling for a “Third Intifada” (see three hashtags below) and then, on the same day, turned his profile picture into the violent image of a masked stone-thrower (see below), as first exposed by the blogger Elder of Ziyon.

Recommendation: UNRWA should fire Saleh Mohsen for using the name of UNRWA on an account that promotes violence and terrorism.

______________

9: UNRWA’S “ARAB IDOL” MOHAMMED ASSAF
ADVOCATES “WEST BANK INTIFADA,” GLORIFIES VIOLENCE

Mohammed Assaf, UNRWA’s “Youth Ambassador” and most famous personality — an “Arab Idol” winner who is a key fundraiser and face of the organization, appointed by UNRWA’s Commissioner-General — has been using his UN imprimatur to glorify violence throughout his Facebook timeline. In the image above, Assaf glorifies three Palestinian youths who attacked Israeli Jews as holy “martyrs” (Shahid).

Recommendation: UNRWA should fire Mohammed Assaf for using the name of UNRWA on an account that promotes violence and terrorism.

Iran’s Mullahs Say Thank You to Obama

Posted on October 15, 2015October 15, 2015 by Denise Simon

MEMRI October 15, 2015 Special Dispatch No.6187 Senior Iranian Negotiators Salehi, Kamalvandi: On October 19 President Obama Will Announce Lifting Of American Sanctions http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8799.htm

According to senior Iranian negotiators, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and an architect of the nuclear agreement (JCPOA), and Beherouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, on October 19, 2015 President Obama will announce that sanctions will be lifted and not merely suspended, contrary to the July 14,

2015 text of the agreement to which Iran is obligated.[1]

If this report proves accurate, it means that President Obama surrendered to the threats and demands of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to amend the nuclear agreement (JCPOA) on this critical point, because lifting sanctions instead of suspending them will not allow their automatic reimposition (“snapback”). In this way, President Obama’s promise that the agreement incorporates the security mechanism of restoring the sanctions in the event of an Iranian violation, has been broken.

It should be emphasized that Salehi’s statement has not been verified at this stage by any Western or American source.

Khamenei issued his demands and threat on September 3, 2015 in a public address before Iran’s Assembly of Experts[2] and the Iranian Majlis incorporated them in the text that it approved on October 13, 2015.[3]

Following Khamenei’s address in early September 2015, contacts between Iran and the US and the P5 +1 powers took place September 28, 2015, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly but their results were not published[4] and subsequently Khamenei issued a guideline on October 7, 2015 banning contacts with the US.[5]

Endnotes:

[1] Fars (Iran), October 15, 2015; ILNA (Iran), October 15, 2015.

[2] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 6151, Khamenei Declares That He Will Not Honor The Agreement If Sanctions Are Merely Suspended And Not Lifted, September 4, 2015.

[3] See MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 1192, The Iranian Majlis Has Not Approved The JCPOA But Iran’s Amended Version Of It, October 13, 2015.

[4] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 6162, Expected September 28 NY Meeting

Between P5+1 Foreign Ministers And Iran Could Signify Reopening Of Nuclear

Negotiations To Address Khamenei’s September 3 Threat That If Sanctions Are

Not Lifted, But Merely Suspended, There Will Be No Agreement, September 21,

2015.

[5] Twitter.com/khamenei_ir, October 7, 2015.

Quote of the Day:

President Obama and his foreign-policy admirers—a dwindling lot—hoped that the nuclear deal would make Iran more open to cooperation in the Middle East and with the U.S. Mark this down as another case in which the world is disappointing the American President.

–Wall Street Journal editorial headlined “The Mullahs Say Thanks”

The Iran deal seemed to be predicated on the notion that if we made all sorts of concessions to Iran it would become a different kind of regime. It would play nicer with President Obama’s imaginary friend “the international community.”

It hasn’t gotten off to a good start. For starters, Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, held captive for more than a year, was just convicted of espionage. Reporters keep referring to the Iranian “justice” system, as if there had been a fair trial open to the public. Sure.

The verdict was announced on Monday. As the Wall Street Journal notes:

The timing of the conviction won’t escape students of history. Friday was the 444th day of his captivity. That was the number of days U.S. diplomats in Iran spent as hostages following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Mr. Rezaian’s conviction three days later is the mullah equivalent of mailing a dead fish to an adversary.

Mr. Rezaian’s brother has said that he thinks our government should let the Iranians know that “there will be consequences.” Strongly worded letter to follow. But even if our government responded (and it won’t), the mullahs aren’t listening.You see, the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei just banned further diplomatic negotiations with Washington.

In other news from our Iranian friends, the regime tested on Sunday a guided ballistic missile that code-named Emad (“Pillar”), which the Journal notes is in violation of the nuclear deal. This is also in violation of a recent U.N. Security Council resolution banning any Iranian tests of guided missiles for eight years. It will be difficult for Secretary of State John Kerry’s crack team to glean further information directly, however, because of that Iranian ban on talking to Washington.

If Iran were not a regime bent on nuclear power and destruction and if this were not so dangerous for the world, particularly our mistreated ally (?) Israel, you’d almost have to cheer the mullahs for their gutsiness. But the regime is a totalitarian monstrosity and Israel is in danger of annihilation, which makes it all very unfunny. The Wall Street Journal comments:

The more likely outcome is that the Obama Administration will find a way to explain that the missile test doesn’t violate the nuclear accord that Mr. Obama considers a crowning achievement. Meanwhile, Iran’s government will bank up to $150 billion that it can deploy to back its militia proxies in the Middle East. Add the new Iran-Russia offensive in Syria, and Tehran would appear to have taken the nuclear deal as a signal that it can now do whatever it wants without consequence.

The American recessional continues apace with word that the U.S. is pulling our Patriot missile defense systems from Turkey. This is a nice bookend to one of President Obama’s earliest foreign affairs initiatives, scrapping the missile-defense system for Poland, which would actually be rather nice to have just now as Vladimir Putin is raging through the neighborhood.

Don’t worry, though. President Obama is heading for a climate change conference. Hat tip for this post.

Meanwhile, the IAEA completed it’s first report on an inspection site:

VIENNA (AFP) –

The UN atomic watchdog said Thursday it has completed on schedule gathering information in its probe into Iran’s alleged past efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said that, in line with a plan agreed with Iran in July, its chief Yukiya Amano will now provide a “final assessment” on the investigation by December 15.

The IAEA keeps close tabs on Iran’s declared nuclear facilities to ensure that no atomic material is diverted by Iran to any covert weapons programme, an aim denied strenuously by Tehran.

Under a landmark July deal between Iran and six major powers, Iran will dramatically scale down its nuclear activities in order to render any effort to make an atomic bomb virtually impossible.

But the IAEA also wants to probe claims that at least until 2003, Iran conducted research into making nuclear weapons, including with explosives tests at the Parchin military base, something it also denies.

On July 14 — the same day as the wider deal with major powers — Iran and the IAEA agreed a separate “road map” agreement aimed at completing an investigation into these activities by December 15.

The plan included Iran providing the IAEA with information by August 15, which happened on schedule although the IAEA said that there remained “ambiguities” to be resolved.

Thursday’s announcement by the IAEA also helps clear the way for preparations to begin for the implementation of the wider deal between Iran and major powers.

The accord, hailed as a massive diplomatic achievement after over decade of rising tensions, won final approval in Iran on Wednesday as a top panel of jurists and clerics gave it the green light.

Members of the US Congress failed in September to torpedo the deal, with President Barack Obama securing enough support in the Senate to protect the agreement.

In return for downscaling its programme, painful UN and Western sanctions on Iran are due to be lifted. Iranian officials have said this should happen by the end of 2015 or January at the latest.

Iran to Obama and Kerry, in Your Faces Dudes

Posted on October 14, 2015October 14, 2015 by Denise Simon

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1929 stipulates that Iran cannot engage in any activities related to ballistic missiles.

U.S. to refer Iran missile test to U.N. over possible violation

Washington (CNN) The State Department said Tuesday it would refer Iran’s firing of a new surface-to-surface ballistic missile to the United Nations Security Council for review to determine whether the test violated a U.N. resolution.

“It’s deeply concerning that this latest violation does appear to be a violation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1929, and we’ll obviously raise this at the [Security Council] as we have done with previous launches,” State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

“We’ve seen for the past years that Iran has consistently ignored U.N. Security Council resolutions,” he added.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Tuesday that while the launch was likely a violation of a Security Council resolution, it was distinct and separate from the nuclear accord reached with Iran earlier this year.

“In contrast to the repeated violations of the U.N. Security Council resolution that pertains to their ballistic missile activities, we’ve seen that Iran over the last couple of years has demonstrated a track record of abiding by the commitments that they made in the context of the nuclear talks,” he said.

Iran entered a final nuclear deal with the U.S. and five other world powers in July that is focused on restricting Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1929 stipulates that Iran cannot engage in any activities related to ballistic missiles.

A newer U.N. Security Council resolution, number 2231, implementing the deal and banning Iran from engaging in activities related to ballistic missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads is not yet in effect.

Over the weekend, state-run media reported that Iran successfully test-fired a new precision-guided, long-range missile.

The Emad (Pillar) surface-to-surface missile, designed and built by Iranian experts, is the country’s first long-range missile that can be precision-guided until it reaches its target, said Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehqan, Iran’s defense minister.

The Emad would be Tehran’s first precision-guided missile with the range to reach its enemy, Israel.

Israel is bitterly opposed to Iran’s nuclear program, and observers have speculated that it could be prepared to launch pre-emptive strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in an effort to derail their progress.

Dehqan said after the launch that the Emad would greatly increase Iran’s strategic deterrence capability, state media reported.

“To follow our defense programs, we don’t ask permission from anyone,” he said, according to state-run news agency IRNA. *** Due to regional fighter jet activity and testing missiles, commercial flights either get canceled or rerouted.

Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific said Wednesday it has stopped flying over Iran and the Caspian Sea following an air safety agency warning about Russian missiles fired at Syria.

The airline’s decision to reroute flights comes after Russia stepped up its military campaign against Islamic State group fighters in Syria. It started firing cruise missiles from its military warships in the Caspian Sea on Sept. 30.

“In view of the situation in the region, Cathay Pacific suspended all flights over Iran and Caspian Sea since last Thursday until further notice,” the airline said in a statement. “We continue to monitor and review the situation on a daily basis.”

The European Aviation Safety Agency issued a safety bulletin to airlines last week about cruise missiles targeted at Syrian rebels fired by Russian warships in the Caspian Sea. It said the missiles must cross Iran and Iraq below flight routes used by commercial aircraft.

Cathay added that it has had a long-term policy of not overflying Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Syria.

The agency said it was not making specific recommendations with its bulletin, which was issued to inform airspace users about the potential hazard. Air France said earlier this week it was taking special measures regarding overflying Iran and the Caspian Sea following the agency’s warning.

Airlines are more cautious about flying over conflict zones since the downing of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 last year amid a conflict between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces. Two-thirds of the 298 people who died were Dutch and a Dutch Safety Board report released this week said the jet was destroyed by a Buk surface-to-air missile fired from an area controlled by Russia-backed separatist rebels.

Not finished yet, it gets worse:

JPost: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Wednesday revealed an underground bunker in which it stores long-range ballistic missiles, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported.

Footage of the underground missile bunker was aired on Iranian state television. According to Fars, a number of ballistic missiles were shown in the underground tunnel including a model with a range of 2,000 kilometers.

Fars quoted Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace branch, as saying that the missiles represented the next generation of Iranian long-range missile technology.

The missile bunker shown is one of many that are buried as deep as “500 meters below the high mountains,” Fars reported.

Iran state television showed on Sunday what it said was a successful launch of the new Iranian missile, named Emad, which appears to be Tehran’s first precision-guided weapon with the range to strike its regional enemy Israel.

A total of 220 of Iran’s 290 lawmakers praised the missile test on Wednesday, announcing their full support of measures that “strengthen Iran’s defense capabilities.”

The US State Department said that the missile test was an apparent violation of a UN Security Council resolution and Washington will raise it at the United Nations.

“We’ll obviously raise this at the UNSC as we have done in previous launches,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters, noting the test appeared to be a violation of U.N. Security resolution 1929.

He and White House spokesman Josh Earnest both said the issue was separate from a deal Iran struck in July with six world powers, which seeks to curb Tehran’s atomic program in return for having sanctions against it eased.

Ballistic missile tests by Iran are banned under Security Council resolution 1929, which dates from 2010 and remains valid until the July 14 nuclear deal goes into effect.

Once the deal takes effect, Iran will still be “called upon” not to undertake any ballistic missiles work designed to deliver nuclear weapons for a period of up to eight years, according to a Security Council resolution adopted in July.

The resolution says that when the deal is in effect countries will be allowed to transfer missile technology and heavy weapons to Iran on a case-by-case basis with council approval.

However, at the time the resolution was drafted, a U.S. official called this provision meaningless and said the United States would veto any suggested transfer of missile technology to Iran.

Speaking on Tuesday, White House spokesman Earnest made clear countries could more to stop the flow of ballistic missile technology to Iran.

“That is work that requires international cooperation,” he said, adding that Washington was ready to work with Gulf allies to counter Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Putin’s Coalition Forces in Syria vs. Obama’s

Posted on October 14, 2015October 14, 2015 by Denise Simon

Iran: Iranian MPs arrive in Damascus before joint offensive ~ A delegation of Iranian lawmakers arrived in Damascus on Wednesday in the build-up to a joint operation against insurgents in northwest Syria, and said U.S.-led efforts to fight rebels had failed.The visit, led by the chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, came as Iranian troops prepared to bolster a Syrian army offensive that two senior officials told Reuters would target rebels in Aleppo.
The attack, which the officials said would be backed by Russian air strikes, underlined the growing involvement in the civil war of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s two main allies, which has alarmed a U.S.-led coalition opposed to the president that is bombing Islamic State militants.

“The international coalition led by America has failed in the fight against terrorism. The cooperation between Syria, Iraq, Iran and Russia has been positive and successful,” Boroujerdi was quoted as saying by Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB as he arrived at Damascus airport.

The delegation was due to meet Assad, said officials.

Iran has sent thousands of troops into Syria in recent days to bolster the planned ground offensive in Aleppo, the two officials told Reuters. More here.
China: China’s Syria Connection ~A 2011 report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service highlighted the role China has played in arming Assad’s military, providing $300 million worth of arms from 2007 to 2010.
For proof of continuing support, February 2013 saw the United States impose sanctions on China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation, a state-owned company, for allegedly conducting military transfers to Syria in violation of nonproliferation legislation.

China seems happy to let Russia and Iran take on the role as Assad’s main supporters. Even though China is less obvious than the other two nations, it is nonetheless far from neutral.

Despite Chinese rhetoric of supporting a political solution, its actions suggest otherwise.

China’s selective use of its “noninterference” policy has seen them (alongside Russia) veto three Western-backed Security Council resolutions seeking to bring Assad to the negotiating table. As a permanent member of the Security Council, any international solution would require Chinese acquiescence.

Furthermore, in an interview given to the Financial Times in June, Kadri Jamil, Syrian deputy prime minister for the economy, boasted that China has joined Iran and Russia in delivering $500 million a month in oil and credit to Syria. The majority of Syria’s oil is in the largely rebel-held north and northeast of the country, and the network of pipelines connecting the wells to the population centres are vulnerable to rebel attack. As a result, Syrian oil production has fallen by as much as 95 percent during the ongoing conflict, and the importance of Chinese aid should not be underestimated. Chinese financial and material support supplements Russian and Iranian aid and has allowed the Assad war machine to remain militarily effective. More here.
Cuba: Cuban Troops Join the Russian Offensive in Syria ~ Russian President Vladimir Putin has made waves of late with his military offensive in Syria, and now he has on-the-ground backing of the Cuban variety. One of the world’s leading centers for research on Cuba has released breaking details of the Castro regime’s presence in the war-torn Middle Eastern nation.+
The Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami shared via email on October 13, 2015, that General Leopoldo Cintra Frías, head of the Cuban Armed Forces, had already landed in Syria. He is, they write, “leading a group of Cuban military personnel … in support of Syria’s dictator Assad” and, in Cold War fashion, the Russian contingent.+

The ICCAS researchers shared with the PanAm Post that the intelligence came directly from a spokesman of the US Defense Department, and is corroborated by an unnamed but friendly military in the Middle East. They report two Russian-made planes arriving in Syria carrying approximately 300 Cuban soldiers.+

They further detail that the Cuban soldiers will man Russian tanks that have been provided to Syrian head-of-state Bashar al-Assad. Their duty will be to fight Islamic State forces and others who threaten Assad’s grip on power. More here.

Back in 2014, Obama announced his member nation coalition to take on Islamic State and the Khorasan Group:

President Barack Obama on Tuesday morning called the U.S.-led attacks against terrorist targets in Syria a sign that Arab nations in the Middle East and Congress at home are committed to destroying the Islamic State, the terrorist group that occupies large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Eremites, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar all joined the U.S. in the attacks against the Islamic State that included a strike package of stealth fighters, bombers, drones and Tomahawk missiles, Obama said.

“America is proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with these nations as part of our common security,” the President said in brief remarks from the South Lawn of the White House, just before departing for New York City. “The strength of the coalition makes clear that it is not America’s fight alone.”

In addition to hitting Islamic State targets, Obama said the coalition operation in Syria was meant to disrupt a plot “against the United States and our allies by seasoned al-Qaeda operatives [there] known as the Khorosan Group.”

Rashid Khalidi, Palestinians and Death

Posted on October 13, 2015October 13, 2015 by Denise Simon

Shocking moment Palestinian drives his car into crowd of Israelis at bus stop and then hacks one of them to death before he is shot by police

As Palestinians Stab Jews, Obama Friend Khalidi Says US Should Stop Supporting Israel

BenShapiro: Rashid Khalidi, President Obama’s favorite Palestinian terrorist apologist, has a piece defending the latest spate of Palestinian terrorism in The New Yorker today.

Khalidi made his name as an advisor to Yassar Arafat’s terrorist Palestine Liberation Organization. He then got a job as a professor at the University of Chicago before moving onto Columbia University, where he took over as chair of the Middle East Studies program, named in honor of terror apologist Edward Said. Khalidi has been a longtime Obama friend and ally; Obama infamously attended a 2003 dinner in honor of Khalidi, tape of which was obtained by the Los Angeles Times. The Times then suppressed the tape.

In today’s New Yorker, Khalidi argues that the Oslo Accords should never have taken place – that somehow, Israel handing over guns and land to Palestinian terrorists, as well as paying all their water and power bills, has been a boon for Israel. Khalidi called Palestinian Authority dictator Mahmoud Abbas’ declaration of an end to Oslo at the United Nations “long overdue” and said that Oslo had resulted in “the current upsurge in violence against Palestinians and settlers in the occupied territories.”

Actually, Jews are being stabbed to death in Jerusalem, the Jewish capital of the State of Israel. And Oslo’s main result was the legitimization of an international terrorist group on the world stage. But Khalidi explains that Oslo was never designed as part of a peace process; instead, it was all a sophisticated Jewish ruse to keep those innocent Palestinians under their thumb. In fact, says Khalidi, “The only part of Oslo that was faithfully implemented, in fact, is the protection that the P.A. provides to Israel by policing its own people.”

If by “policing its own people,” Khalidi means using the guns Israel gave the PA to pursue terrorist activities against Jews, that’s exactly correct. But Khalidi says that now that Abbas has disowned Oslo, it’s time for the United States to embrace a “new paradigm.” That paradigm would follow the lead of “young people, people of color and progressives,” who “oppose unconditional US support for Israel.” Khalidi enthusiastically embraces the possibility of sanctions on Israel, and cheers new polls showing that Democrats only favor Israel over Palestinians by ten points.

Khalidi concludes:

It is time for American politicians and policymakers to stop hiding behind the fictions of Oslo. If they really wish to avoid more of the same, they must abandon bankrupt strategies and meaningless platitudes and act vigorously to end a system of military occupation and colonization that would crumble without their support.

The Khalidi family used to babysit the Obama children. They are ideologically and philosophically aligned. Obama said at the 2003 bash for Khalidi – a bash at which a Palestinian likened Zionists to Osama Bin Laden – that Khalidi’s conversations provided “consistent reminders to me of my own blind spots and my own biases….It’s for that reason that I’m hoping that, for many years to come, we continue that conversation — a conversation that is necessary not just around Mona and Rashid’s dinner table, [but around] this entire world.”

Khalidi told The Los Angeles Times that Obama took a pro-Israel position in 2008 in order to win the election.

The mask is off now, however. President Obama’s ideological allies, from Jeremiah Wright to Khalidi, have spent this week attempting to rip down Israeli self-defense even as Palestinians stab Jewish children in the streets of Israel’s capital. And Obama’s administration says and does nothing. Why would they? They’re on Rashid Khalidi’s side.

Category Archives: #StopIran

Obama on Wrong Side of UNRWA and Israel

Report on UNRWA Teachers
and Other Officials
Inciting Violence & Antisemitism

1: “STAB ZIONIST DOGS,” SAYS U.N. EMPLOYEE HANI AL RAMAHI

2: U.N. EMPLOYEE IBRAHIM ALI GLORIFIES
KNIFINGS, MOLOTOV COCKTAIL ATTACKS

3: HIBA MIARI, UNRWA TEACHER, CELEBRATES STABBINGS

4: UM KARAM, UNRWA TEACHER, GLORIFIES STABBING SERMON

5: SOUHAIB FAYYAD

6: MAHMOUD ABU ZAKARI

7: MAEN DAJANI, U.N. TEACHER, DEFENDS STABBER

8: UNRWA’S SALEH MOHSEN ADVOCATES VIOLENCE

9: UNRWA’S “ARAB IDOL” MOHAMMED ASSAF
ADVOCATES “WEST BANK INTIFADA,” GLORIFIES VIOLENCE