02/03 Links Pt1: Soft bigotry, Secretary Kerry, and the PLO; Kerry Abandons UNSC 242

From Ian:

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PMW: PA schools named after terrorists raise terror-admiring youth

The Palestinian Authority educates its children to view terrorists who have murdered Israelis as role models. One of the prominent ways the PA glorifies this terror, as documented repeatedly by Palestinian Media Watch, is by naming schools, cultural events, sporting events, streets and more after terrorists.
The educational impact of this practice on Palestinian youth was confirmed in a program on PA TV about a PA high school for girls named after the female terrorist Shadia Abu Ghazaleh. Many students interviewed said they admired the bomb-maker and saw her as a role model. Abu Ghazaleh was active in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization and involved in many attacks against Israel. She was preparing a bomb intended for an attack in Tel Aviv in 1968, when it accidentally detonated and killed her.

Elliot Abrams: Soft bigotry, Secretary Kerry, and the PLO

Bush once noted the "soft bigotry of low expectations" in our domestic context, and the term is useful here. For it is bigotry to believe that more cannot realistically be expected from the Palestinians. And it is very damaging to any hope for a decent, democratic, independent state some day. Neither the political culture nor the institutions of democracy can be built this way. That was the great error of the Clinton administration, which dealt with Yasser Arafat as if he would one day be the George Washington of Palestine instead of the corrupt terrorist he was. The error is being repeated now, as we ask Abbas for one thing only -- to sit at the table -- and overlook all else.

Why the Palestinians Refuse to Recognize Israel as a Jewish State

The core of the problem is that Palestinian recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish People would not only end the dream of the return to Palestine, but also of the destruction of Israel currently being implemented through the incitement and terrorist campaign waged by the Palestinian People in their institutions, mosques, schools, terrorist organizations and foreign propaganda centers. Their strategic intention is to perpetuate the conflict, not end it.
The real reason Mahmoud Abbas wants control of the bridges and crossings, and refuses to leave them in Israeli hands, is to duplicate the terrorism of the Gaza Strip -- to smuggle in arms and establish terrorist squads. Crossings left in Israel's hands would mean greater security for Jordan as well.

U.S. Security "Assurances" and the End of UN Resolution 242

Secretary John Kerry took Israel's primary requirement -- "secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force" (the language of UN Resolution 242) -- off the negotiating table.
Under Kerry's new formulation, Israel's sovereign legitimacy and secure boundaries do not have to be recognized by the Arab states, the Palestinians or anyone else; just determined, accepted and guaranteed by the United States -- and for how long is not clear… until about the time the U.S decides it wants to end another war "responsibly."

Netanyahu Still Betting on Palestinian “No”

Netanyahu understands that additional negotiations based on Kerry’s framework will mean another year of intense U.S. pressure that will add to the increased European efforts to isolate Israel. Agreeing to the framework is a dangerous game that leaves him little room to maneuver to defend his country’s rights or its security, since he knows the arrangements for guaranteeing Israel’s safety in the document won’t be worth the paper they’re printed on once a deal is in place. But he appears confident that the political culture of the Palestinians will once again determine the outcome of these talks in the same manner that it has sealed the doom of every other negotiation dating back to the 1930s. Judging by the tone and the content of the non-stop incitement to hatred being conducted by the PA, it’s difficult to argue with his conclusion. (h/t Norman F)

Ya’alon: Israel ‘will manage’ without a peace deal

His statements came a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that failure to reach an agreement in the allotted time frame would precipitate unprecedented economic and diplomatic pressure on Israel.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Ya’alon asserted that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was not about territory, but rather hinged on Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and its right to exist in peace after a deal is reached.

Jordan’s FM Rejects Recognizing Israel as Jewish State

The minister, Nasser Judeh, also rejected the idea of Jordan being an alternative home for Palestinian Arabs.
Speaking during a parliament session which dealt with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace plan, Judeh reiterated that Jordan will not be an "alternative home for anybody."

Abbas: IDF can remain in future Palestine for 5 years

While he was adamant about putting a cap on any IDF presence, Abbas expressed willingness to accept a NATO peacekeeping presence as long as necessary in order to put Israel’s security concerns to rest — “for a long time, and wherever they want, not only on the eastern borders but also on the western borders, everywhere…,” Abbas said. “For a long time, for the time they wish. NATO can be everywhere, why not?”
International peacekeepers “can stay to reassure the Israelis, and to protect us. We will be demilitarized. … Do you think we have any illusion that we can have any security if the Israelis do not feel they have security?”

Fatah Leader Jibril Rajoub: Armed Uprising Against Israel Not Ruled Out

Jibril Rajoub, a senior member of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party said on Saturday that if current negotiations between Israel and the PA fail then, “We have not ruled out an armed uprising as a solution,” Israeli daily Ma’ariv reported on Sunday.
Rajoub made his comments during an official visit to Tehran in an interview with Iran’s Al-Alam News Network. While visiting the Islamic Republic, Rajoub met with regime leaders.

John Kerry Solutions Inc. Israel Tour, February 2014 (h/t Yenta Press)


Israel offers $20m to Turkish flotilla victims

Israel has reportedly offered Turkey $20 million in compensation to the families of those killed and wounded in its 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.
Citing unnamed Western diplomats briefed on the ongoing negotiations with Ankara, the Haaretz daily reported on Monday that Turkey had yet to respond to the Israeli offer.

Israeli general reveals Qaeda bases in Turkey

Some of the al-Qaeda militants fighting in Syria have set up bases in Turkey, where they can also easily access Europe, Israel’s military intelligence chief said Wednesday.
Al-Qaeda fighters from around the world enter Syria weekly, but they “do not stay there,” Major-General Aviv Kochavi told a security conference, while presenting a map of the Middle East, which was marked with areas of al-Qaeda presence. The map showed three markings of al-Qaeda bases in Turkey.

IDF Blog: Terror Underground: How Hamas Is Digging Tunnels and Building Rockets in Gaza

Although 2013 saw fewer rocket attacks than previous years, terrorist organizations in Gaza are actively preparing to attack Israel. Under the guidance of engineering experts, Hamas continues to dig underground, building dozens of tunnels used to attack and kidnap Israelis. The terrorist organization is also manufacturing powerful weapons, producing rockets that can reach major Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

PA Considers Hiring Israeli PR Firms

As far as BDS fails go, this one could be a real doozy!
"Ramallah_ResidentialThe Palestinian Authority is considering hiring Israeli marketing firms for a campaign to attract young Israelis to what they are calling “the other Palestine,” Israel Radio reported on Friday."

Elliott Abrams: What to do in Egypt

It is a commonplace to say that U.S. policy in Egypt has managed to offend every political actor there, but it's also true. From the army to the Muslim Brotherhood, from the liberals and democrats to Islamists, all share a deep disdain for American policy.
In one way all their criticisms are justified, for American policy has been unprincipled and appears to have been aimed at currying favor with whoever is in power: first Hosni Mubarak, then the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, then Mohamed Morsi, and now the army again. As the ins and outs have changed position, they've all come to despise America's approach.

Egypt to Try Mossad 'Spies' in Absentia

Five alleged officers from Israel's Mossad spy agency and three Egyptians will stand trial in absentia on Wednesday in an Egyptian court, on charges of spying for the Jewish state, judicial sources said.
Egyptian prosecutors have accused the eight of espionage and supplying Israel with information impacting Egypt's national security, the sources said on Sunday.

Report: Assad hoarding WMDs in Alawite enclave

Syrian President Bashar Assad is hiding stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons as an "insurance policy" despite his commitment to destroy them, according to a Sunday Times report.
The report, which relies on Israeli and Syrian sources, claims that Iranian and North Korean experts are helping the regime upgrade its chemical weapons, and that Assad's regime has chosen to keep the chemical and biological weapons in case Syria is split into several parts -- one of the solutions suggested to end the country's ongoing civil war

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Top Islamic leader tells U.S. to Wage ‘Jihad for Allah’

A video of Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi calling on the U.S. government to wage jihad for Allah in Syria, is currently making the rounds on Arabic media and Facebook, to mockery and dismay.
In the recorded speech, Qaradawi—one of the most influential Islamic clerics in the world, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, author of over 100 books on Muslim doctrine, and head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars—sarcastically thanks the U.S. for supporting the “freedom fighters” in Syria, adding that “Allah willing, your [U.S.] aid will increase.”

World Food Program can’t meet demand in Syria

UN World Food Program chief executive Ertharin Cousin was in the Australian capital Canberra on Monday for talks with the new Australian government about the financial needs of the world’s largest humanitarian organization which she leads.
The Rome-based American said gaining access to besieged areas was the biggest challenge in feeding the 6.5 million people in need within Syria’s borders. Another two million Syrians who had fled the conflict relied on food aid in neighboring Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and Egypt.

Monitoring group: Over 1,800 people killed in Syria during 'Geneva 2' peace talks

At least 1,870 people died across Syria during the first nine days of the "Geneva 2" peace negotiations that began in Switzerland on January 22, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday.
The Britain-based monitoring group said more than 470 of the dead were civilians, including 40 people who died from inadequate access to food and medicine in areas besieged by government forces.

My what a charming book... ‘The Hallucination of Dominance' by Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei

‘The Hallucination of Dominance’ is the title of a new book which covers the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s statements about the Zionist Regime.
"Arranged in five parts and 23 chapters, the book considers topics like the history of the Zionist regime, the cancerous nature of the regime, Palestine, wiping out the regime off the map and ideological confrontation with the regime."
I wonder if Obama and Kerry have read it?

Rouhani orders executions of Iranian-Arab poet, rights activist

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani ordered the hangings last Monday of a poet and a human rights activist from Iran’s Arabic-speaking ethnic minority Ahvazis.
The internationally acclaimed Iranian journalist Amir Taheri first reported on Tuesday on the hangings of Hashem Shaabani and Hadi Rashedi.
According to Taheri’s report in Asharq al-Awsat, Shaabani, the poet, was arrested in February 2011, and subjected to torture.
Shaabani wrote in a prison letter to his family that he could not ignore the “hideous crimes against Ahvazis, perpetrated by the Iranian authorities, particularly arbitrary and unjust executions.”