THE TIMES OF ISRAEL REPORTS THAT THE "KERRY PLAN" INCLUDES A SHARED JERUSALEM WITH JEWISH STATE RECOGNITION!

‘Kerry Plan’ said to include shared Jerusalem, Jewish state recognition

Top US diplomat’s proposal reportedly gives no ‘right of return’ to Palestinians; calls for land swaps to compensate for settlement blocs

BY JTA AND TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF January 30 

US Secretary of State John Kerry (photo credit: AP/Charles Dharapak/File)

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WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State John Kerry’s pending framework for Israeli-Palestinian peace will include a shared capital in Jerusalem and recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, a newspaper columnist reported.

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Kerry will unveil the proposal “soon,” Thomas Friedman, a foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times, wrote in Wednesday’s newspaper.

The “Kerry Plan,” as he called it, would also include land swaps based on the 1967 lines, security arrangements in the Jordan Valley, and no “right of return” to Israel for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

Such parameters have previously been reported piecemeal in the Israeli and Palestinian media. Friedman’s column is datelined Tel Aviv, and he does not say who his sources are for the plan, although elsewhere in the column he cites anonymous Israeli and US officials.

The outline meets a key Netanyahu demand, recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

But it is not clear whether the sides would accept such a plan.

Netanyahu has previously rejected using the 1967 lines as the basis for a border with a Palestinian state and opposes relinquishing Israeli sovereignty within Jerusalem. He also wants Israel to maintain a dominant security presence in the Jordan Valley for the foreseeable future.

Regarding Kerry’s proposal for the Jordan Valley, Friedman describes only “unprecedented security arrangements.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said that he will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state or negotiate away the rights of Palestinian refugees.

Several Israeli politicians and a host of pundits have said they believe Israel will be blamed if the current round of talks with the Palestinians fails to produce an agreement.

Senior Israeli officials, including Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid, have warned that absent an agreement leading to two states, Israel will face a severe backlash and be isolated economically and politically from the international community.

On Wednesday, Lapid addressed the Institute for National Security Studies’ annual conference, and said that a boycott of Israeli products by European countries would constitute a dramatic blow to the economy.

Based on an evaluation prepared by the Finance Ministry’s chief economist, Lapid said that even a low-scale boycott would “hit every Israeli citizen directly in his pocket.” The cost of living would rise, and education, security, health, and welfare budgets would be slashed, he said.

Furthermore, exports would face a loss of NIS 20 billion ($5.7 billion), GDP would likely be lowered by NIS 11 billion a year, and 9,800 workers would be laid off immediately.

“We must recognize that if the talks fail — and the world will believe they failed because of us — there will be a price, and it’s best we know what that price is,” Lapid said.

Lapid also dismissed claims by Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett Tuesday that a Palestinian state would be an economic burden on Israel. A peace agreement would result in an added NIS 20 billion annually to the state budget, and potential growth of NIS 16 billion in exports, he maintained.

“Today Israel is more exposed economically than it’s exposed from a security perspective,” he added. “The security debate makes us forget occasionally the fact that our military is not a goal, it is a tool. It’s a tool that is meant to allow us to reach an agreement that will strengthen Israel’s economy and guarantee its future as a Jewish state.”

The finance minister’s remarks echoed those of Kerry last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Kerry pointed to the economic benefits Israel would reap from reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians, stating that Israel would have immediate diplomatic recognition and economic ties with the Arab and Muslim world and would potentially see a six percent increase in GDP per year.

Lapid’s address came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting with senior ministers to discuss European boycotts of Israeli companies.

This was the first time Netanyahu’s government sat down to seriously debate strategies to counter European boycotts. A senior government source told Haaretz that the meeting was spurred by the announcement earlier this month from the Dutch firm PGGM, one of the 20 largest pension asset managers globally, that it had divested from five Israeli banks because they are involved in financing the construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories.

Numerous pension funds in Scandinavia and the Netherlands have already divested in Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems over concerns about its activities in the occupied territories.

Up until last month, the European Union had been considering measures to clearly label products made in the settlements, a move that could harm sales. But discussions on labeling have been put on hold for now, because Europe is working closely with Kerry to support ongoing Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

WHAT A SURPRISE! NO JEWS WILL EVER BE ALLOWED TO REMAIN IN A NEW PALESTINIAN STATE ACCORDING TO THE P.A.!!

Palestinians: No Jews Will Ever Be Allowed To Remain In A Palestinian State

01/28/2014ICALeave a commentGo to comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

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According to the Palestinians, Jews will never be allowed to remain in a Jewish state, either …

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Hadith, Tabari 7:97, “The morning after the murder of Ashraf, the Prophet declared, ‘Kill any Jew who falls under your power.’”

Washington Free Beacon – “Palestinians dismissed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s suggestion that Judea and Samaria settlers should be able to remain in their homes even if they fall within a possible future Palestinian state, Israel Hayom reports.

On Sunday, a Prime Minister’s Office official was quoted as saying that Netanyahu believes all settlers should have the right to remain in their homes in a future Palestinian state.

“The prime minister believes that in peace, just as Israel has an Arab minority, there is no logical reason why the Palestinian state could not contain a Jewish minority and that Jews living in Judea and Samaria would be given the option to stay,” the official said. “It should not be accepted a priori that in peace the Palestinian state must be ethnically cleansed.” [...]

High-ranking officials in the Palestinian Authority outright rejected the idea. “Anyone who says he wants to keep settlers in the Palestinian state is actually saying that he doesn’t want a Palestinian state,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Sunday.

“No settler will be allowed to stay in the Palestinian state, not even a single one, because settlements are illegal and the presence of the settlers on the occupied lands is illegal.”

Source – Washington Free Beacon.

Flashback: “Kill Any Jew Who Falls Under Your Power” – Mohammed

• Gaza Islamists Promise Nothing But Bombs, Spears & Swords
• Hamas: Killing Jews Is Worship That Draws Us Close To Allah
• Hamas: ‘Destroy The Throne Of Zion, The House Of Absolute Evil’
• PA Chairman Abbas Applauds Call For Violent Jihad In Jerusalem
• Crowd Chants ‘Killing the Jews Is A Duty’ During Hamas PM Speech
• PA Chairman Abbas: Palestinians Who Kill Jews Cannot Be Punished
• PA Official Publicly Calls for Genocide Of Jews As A Religious Islamic Goal
• Gaza TV: The Best Way To Expel Jews Is Through War And Death-Seeking
• PA Security Spokesman: Terror Attack Killing 37 Israelis An ‘Honorable’ Event
• Gaza Militants: Allah’s Teachings Are the Fire with Which ‘We Harvest the Skulls of the Jews’, ‘We Are a People That Moves Closer to Allah Through Blood, Body Parts, and Martyrs’

ASTEROID SHAVES THE EARTH, AND THERE IS MORE ON THE WAY!!

Asteroid shaves Earth, more on the way 2014/01/27 09:40:06 AM Cape Town - An asteroid dashed close by the Earth on Sunday, but experts were watching it to ensure that it  stayed on the predicted course. On Sunday, the Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory watched as an asteroid, dubbed 2014 BP8, whizzed by the  planet at 9.3km/s (kilometres per second). The asteroid is between 11m and 24m in diameter and passed 1.4 million kilometres, or just under four lunar  distances from the Earth. According to the JPL, Tuesday will bring the closest approach of 2014 BM25 which is travelling at 6.8km/s and  between 6m and 14m in diameter. It will pass even closer than 2014 BP8, at 2.7 lunar distances, and followed by the bigger 19m 2014 BK25,  at 11.9km/s on the same day. Catastrophic damage Nasa and other space agencies have accelerated their NEO (Near Earth Object) observation capability in an  effort to quickly map the orbit of the objects which could cause catastrophic damage should they impact the planet. The agency recently activated its Wise (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) programme (NEOWISE) which  in just 25 days of operation, discovered 857 bodies in our solar system. While some were known, the programme discovered three new objects hundreds of metres in diameter. The European Space Agency recently set up the NEO (Near-Earth Object) Co-ordination Centre located at  Italy. The facility will monitor objects that could threaten the Earth and is part of the European Space  Research Institute. While asteroid 2014 BP8 missed the Earth it is concerning that it was only first observed on 23 January 2014,  indicating that a small percentage of NEOs that could potentially collide with the planet are well analysed. Should an asteroid more than 10m in diameter enter the Earth's atmosphere, it could create a brilliant fireball  and cause a sonic boom, similar to the Chelyabinsk meteor of 2013.

AN EXCELLENT ARTICLE HERE TITLED "MY LIFE IN APARTHEID ISRAEL" BY MEIR ABELSON.

Hashkama #46 - My Life in 'Apartheid' Israel

By Meir Abelson

In 1971 my family and I arrived in Jerusalem from England and moved into a newly-built apartment. The first thing we needed was an electrician.  I spoke to one of my neighbours, and he warmly recommended an East Jerusalem Arab.  When the latter arrived, we found that he spoke excellent English; apparently he worked during the British Mandate in an army store.  We were very pleased with his work; and after he finished and left us, he often took the opportunity to drop in and visit us when he was in the neighbourhood.

One morning in 1972, he appeared with a sheepish grin on his face.  He said: “You know….I’m a Palestinian.”  It was quite clear that he had only just heard of this – and it wasn’t surprising; for it was only after the Six Day War in 1967 that Arafat created the “Palestinian people” as an additional weapon against Israel.

Next on the list was a carpenter.  At the Ulpan I encountered into an acquaintance from our district in London; he gave me the telephone number of an Arab from Bethlehem who had his own furniture factory there.  One day, he telephoned to say that his car broke down. I offered to drive over and bring him and two of his workers.  After they had finished working I drove them home.  On the way we passed the Museum of Islamic Art in HaPalmach Street; “What’s that impressive building?” he asked? I told him.  “Ah!” he said; “I suppose that was built during the Mandate.”  Not at all,” I replied; “The museum was founded by Vera Bryce Salomons, daughter of Sir David Lionel Salomons, in memory of her professor, Leo Aryeh Mayer, rector of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a scholar of Islamic art who died in 1959.”   He couldn’t and would not believe it…

Soon after I arrived I bought a car through a garage in south-west Jerusalem.  Most of the mechanics were Arabs from east Jerusalem.  One of them – from Bethlehem – was especially helpful; and when from time to time the work was carried out by someone else, we sat together and chatted over a cup of coffee.  One day I asked him: “How are things now in Bethlehem?”  He froze; with a look of terror on his face, he looked around furtively to see if any of the others were within earshot; there was no one …..But he didn’t say a word.  Later, I realized what had happened: he was a Christian, and all the others were Muslims.  A few years before our conversation, in 1995, Yasir Arafat and his PLO had taken over Bethlehem.  When he made his debut Christmas appearance in Manger Square, he addressed an overwhelmingly Muslim crowd under huge banners with his own picture and that of the late ‘Engineer,’ revered bomb-maker Yihye Ayyash. “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill towards men,” Arafat declared.  “In spirit and in blood we will redeem thee, O Palestine!” answered the crowd.  Arafat had already declared Jesus to be a Palestinian Muslim.

From that time on, there were no festivities in Bethlehem – no illuminated giant tree in Manger Square, no carols by visiting choirs – practically no tourists at all…..and practically no Christians!  The Palestinian Authority has been Islamizing Bethlehem since Arafat’s takeover in 1995; 60 percent of its Christian families have fled, and Muslims are now 75% of the population. They have intimidated and maltreated the Christian population, extorted money, confiscated land and property, and left them to the mercy of street gangs, with no protection.  The Press squarely blamed Israel.

Over the years I have had occasion to visit various hospitals.  Once in Jerusalem I was in a waiting room with 11 other people – all Arabs.  To pass the time I took out my Arabic homework and starting working.  The others, fascinated to see me scribbling in Arabic, crowded around to help me.

A few years later I was in an emergency room.  The first doctor to examine me was a lady doctor: an Arab.  When I was discharged a few days later, her superior – also an Arab – examined me and signed the necessary documents.  More recently I had to see an orthopaedist at the Sick Fund in a strictly Orthodox neighbourhood in Jerusalem; he too was an Arab.

Three years ago, I had a nasty fall, and had to go to a clinic to have a wound stitched up; it was done by an Arab doctor; and when I returned a few days later for the wound to be cleaned, I was attended to by the same Arab doctor.

Over the years, I have visited a good number of Israel’s shopping centres and places of entertainment; in all of them, Arabs mingle with the crowds without any problem or comment.

Today I live in a retirement home in the Judean Mountains; it houses about 100 souls.  Helpers for those who cannot help themselves come from all over the world: Vietnam, Japan, Nepal, Eritrea, Switzerland, Ceylon and South America.  Most of the cleaning staff are Ethiopians, and the kitchen staff, Arabs and Jews; all get on extremely well together. 

But what happened recently, when I spent 12 days in hospital after a heart attack, is well-nigh incredible.  Shortly after I arrived in the ward, a new patient arrived – an Arab from Ramallah.  As he made himself comfortable in the bed, I silently gave him a "thumbs-up" sign.  The same afternoon, one of his sons arrived – a young man aged about 22 – and sat by his father.  I reached for my book, which was at the foot of the bed, but just couldn't reach it.  The boy sprang up and brought the book to me.  That was just a beginning; during the afternoon, be brought me a cold drink; darted forward when my book fell to the floor; and when evening came, he came over and arranged the bed covers for  me.  His father was no less attentive – asking me continuously if I felt better.  He received a never-ending stream of visitors – including young women – possibly members of the family, because they all wore suitable dresses with head and shoulders covering; from every one I received a cordial smile.  When I left the hospital, they parted from us with bear hugs and kisses.  It is superfluous to add that all in the hospital were treated alike.

Finally, I remember that in the 1970’s Israel gave political asylum to about 300 Vietnamese refugees; they were given immediate citizenship, and were settled in the centre of the country.

To sum up: I doubt whether many of those who call Israel an “apartheid state” know the meaning of the term: it is: “A policy or practice of segregating groups.”  It is clear from the reality that this label applied to Israel is without foundation; it is just another of the innumerable libels invented to defame and delegitimize the Jewish state.

- See more at: http://www.kesherweb.com/core/resource/hashkama-46-my-life-apartheid-lsrael#sthash.gNjoxQKI.dpuf
http://www.kesherweb.com/core/resource/hashkama-46-my-life-apartheid-lsrael

SAEED ABEDNI MOVED FROM BRUTAL IRANIAN PRISON TO THE "POLITICAL PRISONER WARD" - AN IMPROVEMENT BUT NOT YET A VICTORY.

Abedini now among Iran’s political prisoners

Thu, Jan 23, 20141 Comment

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TEHRAN, Iran (BP) — Saeed Abedini, held in a brutal Iranian prison because of his faith, has been transferred from the murderer ward to the political prisoner ward, something a key supporter called “an improvement, but not a victory.”

Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, said Jan. 22 the Iranian-American pastor remains in the deadliest prison in Iran, Rajai Shahr Prison, facing deteriorating medical conditions.

Still, Sekulow called the move the first positive step since Abedini’s transfer from Evin Prison last November.

“For the first time in six weeks, Pastor Saeed’s Iranian family was able to visit with Pastor Saeed today in his new prison ward,” Sekulow wrote in an update to supporters.

“No reason was given for the move and his family reports that this new ward, still within the dangerous walls of Rajai Shahr, represents a slight improvement in his treatment. Pastor Saeed is now receiving better meals,” Sekulow wrote.

Abedini still is throwing up regularly and coping with severe abdominal pain, according to his family, but he was allowed finally to be examined by a prison doctor. The physician, who reportedly was “very concerned about his internal injuries,” recommended surgery.

In conjunction with his transfer to the political ward, the pastor was given pain medication for the injuries he endured from beatings at Evin Prison, but he still has not received the medicine prescribed earlier for his condition. Sekulow said Abedini’s family in Iran has formally petitioned the Iranian government to allow him to receive the necessary surgery.

Naghmeh Abedini, the pastor’s wife, who lives in Idaho with the couple’s two young children, said she received a small bit of comfort in knowing her husband had been transferred out of the murderer ward, “but my heart aches to know the pain he continually suffers and that his injuries necessitate surgery.”

“As a family, it is difficult to be so far away and unable to comfort him in his pain,” Abedini said through the ACLJ. “Though we are encouraged by the transfer to the new ward, such a small step is far from an unconditional release where Saeed is reunited with our family. While this development is welcomed, we desperately await his return home.”

Sekulow warned that while the political prisoner ward should be safer for Abedini than the murderer ward, authorities have placed two violent criminals in the political ward who “consistently threaten any semblance of peace.”

Also, Sekulow learned that the prison closed recreational facilities and the library that had been available to political prisoners.

The ACLJ, which represents Naghmeh Abedini and has persisted in efforts to free her husband for well over a year, continues to work with world leaders and urge the U.S. government to make releasing Abedini a priority.

More than 67,000 people have signed a petition asking Congress to impose tighter sanctions on Iran until Abedini is released. The petition can be found at beheardproject.com/saeed.

Naghmeh Abedini is scheduled as a keynote speaker for the sixth annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy Feb. 25, ahead of the annual session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. She continues to speak in various venues on behalf of the persecuted church and her husband in particular.
–30–
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FATAH ARE NOT MODERATE AT ALL! THEY ARE AS BAD AS ALL OF THE OTHER PALESTINIAN FACTIONS!

SO MUCH FOR THE "MODERATE" FATAH, WHO STATE THAT THEY WILL TURN GAZA INTO A GRAVEYARD FOR JEWISH SOLDIERS, AND TEL AVIV INTO A BALL OF FIRE!!!

‘Moderate’ Fatah To Israel: We Will Turn Gaza Into ‘A Graveyard For Your Soldiers’, Tel Aviv Into A ‘Ball Of Fire’

01/23/2014ICALeave a commentGo to comments

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So says the wicked. But the Lord God who lives forever says otherwise …

Zechariah 9:5-6, 9-15a, “Ashkelon will see it and fear; Gaza will writhe in agony, and Ekron too, for her hope will wither. Gaza will lose her king and Ashkelon will be deserted. Foreigners will occupy Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines…. Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you… He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners… I will bend Judah as I bend my bow and fill it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, O Zion… Then the LORD will appear over them; his arrow will flash like lightning. The Sovereign LORD will sound the trumpet; he will march in the storms of the south, and the LORD Almighty will shield them.”

By Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch – “‘Of course, Israel cannot be expected to negotiate with anyone who is dedicated to its destruction. But while I know you have had differences with the Palestinian Authority, I believe that you do have a true partner in President Abbas…’ —Barack Obama, March 21, 2013

‘Fatah publicizes threats to bomb Tel Aviv on its official Facebook page,’ by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik for Palestinian Media Watch, January 22:

Once again Fatah has chosen to post threats of terror against Israel on its official Facebook page. Yesterday, the movement posted a video in which Fatah’s military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, threatens to turn Tel Aviv into a “ball of fire”:

“We swear to you that we will turn the beloved [Gaza] Strip into a graveyard for your soldiers, and we will turn Tel Aviv into a ball of fire.”

These threats are made by a masked man in uniform standing in front of a group of other masked men, all of whom are holding weapons. The full video is eight minutes long and shows footage of masked men in military training, arsenals of weapons, missiles being launched, as well as footage of Israelis running for shelter during missile attacks.

Fatah is headed by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Its military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, has been declared a terrorist organization by the US, Canada, the EU and others.

Palestinian Media Watch recently reported on another terror promotion video that Fatah publicized, which included threats to kidnap, kill, and bomb Israelis. That video was also produced by Fatah’s military wing, the terror organization Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades….

Source – Jihad Watch.

Zephaniah 2:5-9, “Woe to you who live by the sea, O Kerethite people; the word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines. ‘I will destroy you, and none will be left. The land by the sea, where the Kerethites dwell, will be a place for shepherds and sheep pens. It will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; there they will find pasture. In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon. The LORD their God will care for them; he will restore their fortunes. I have heard the insults of Moab and the taunts of the Ammonites, who insulted my people and made threats against their land. Therefore, as surely as I live,’ declares the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, ‘surely Moab will become like Sodom, the Ammonites like Gomorrah–a place of weeds and salt pits, a wasteland forever. The remnant of my people will plunder them; the survivors of my nation will inherit their land.’”

A DWARF PLANET WITH MORE FRESH WATER THAN EARTH AND EVEN SOME LIFE???

A dwarf planet positioned right next to us in the asteroid belt may contain more freshwater than earth and even some life

By Shepard Ambellas

(INTELLIHUB) — Touted as the only dwarf planet in the solar system, Ceres, which is made up of about one-third the mass of the asteroid belt itself, has been shown by a European Space Agency research team to harbor vast supplies of freshwater.

While it it is currently not yet known how the water is distributed onto or inside the planet, some speculate ice volcanoes could be a source.

The NASA spacecraft “Dawn” is expected to arrive at Ceres in Feb. 2015 to gather more information pertaining to the water and life on the tiny planets surface.

The Raw Story reported:

“We’ve got a spacecraft on the way to Ceres, so we don’t have to wait long before getting more context on this intriguing result, right from the source itself,” said Carol Raymond, deputy principal investigator for Dawn at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Dawn will map the geology and chemistry of the surface in high resolution, revealing the processes that drive the outgassing activity.”

Dawn, which launched in 2007, had previously orbited the protoplanet Vesta, the second-largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that’s littered with rock left over from the formation of the solar system some 4.6 billion years ago.

The discovery puts Ceres in a special class of solar system objects with active water plumes, a key ingredient for life, and includes Jupiter’s moon Europa – which may have an ocean beneath thick surface ice – and Saturn’s moon Enceladus, where water jets have been spotted on the surface.

So why would NASA spend so much money, time and effort to visit such a world? Did they already suspect the possibility that Ceres houses water and possibly life?

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THE UNPREDICTABLE MIDDLE EAST CAN STILL COUNT ON MORE CONFLICT BETWEEN HEZBOLLAH AND ISRAEL!!

Unpredictable Middle East Can Still Count On More Conflict Between Hezbollah And Israel

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The Middle East remains a cauldron of unpredictability. Mere months ago, a fundamentalist regime, openly hostile to Israel, ruled in Egypt. Almost overnight, a group of military officers seized power, and remarkably, they managed to do so while maintaining the popular support of the Egyptian people. Then, remarkably, passed a new Constitution via national referendum, and pulled Egypt back from what some analysts believed was inevitable conflict between Egypt and Israel.

Just last summer, the Syrian civil war was nearing its end and the Assad regime was on the ropes. Now Assad seems as firmly entrenched as his army, and it is his enemies who are on the ropes, even if he is losing his supply of chemical weapons. Into the power vacuum created by the faltering Assad opposition, al-Qaeda-related Jihadist groups are rushing in, further destabilizing the region, and presenting a host of new challenges for Assad.

Added to this chaotic landscape, Hezbollah and Israel, while remaining unmistakably enemies, suddenly find themselves facing a common threat and enemy in the shape of radical Sunni Islam. Over the past week, a group linked to al-Qaeda have taken responsibility for no less than four bombing attacks.
The group, whose leader Majid al-Majid died two weeks ago under mysterious circumstances while in detention in a Lebanese hospital, promised to continue in the path of its commander: “We will strike Iran and its party [Hezbollah] and the aggressive Jews in order to protect the Sunnis.”

This is most assuredly not empty rhetoric. Israeli security forces on the ground have come into the possession of hard evidence of attempts by jihadist groups based out of Lebanon to attack both Israeli and Hezbollah targets, and when and where possible, to attempt to create rising tensions between the two groups.
For the moment, at least, the greater bulk of the global jihadist groups’ efforts are firmly focused on Hezbollah. But it is not impossible that in the future, members of these groups will shift their targets, putting Israel firmly in the crosshairs, in part at least, to further increase tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. In the worst case, this could even cause the two sides to be dragged into another military conflict that neither side wants just now.

Digging in along the Israeli border Hezbollah members don’t move around in uniform, or in organized fashion, but also, they don’t make much of an effort to hide their presence, and it is plain to the IDF forces stationed at the border that they are present. The Israelis know the vehicles they move in, and are wise to the game; when a “Television crew” arrives on the scene, and yet, fails to act in any way even remotely resembling a television crew, it isn’t hard to work out what’s going on.

More than once, Hezbollah activists have patrolled the area dressed as shepherds. But when three “shepherds” move around with just a handful of sheep, and have limited success in controlling them, they tend to stand out. It is clear that Hezbollah still enjoys strong support from the local population, but it is no longer as popular as it was at the end of the 2006 war.

The war it is waging in Syria has been waged at a cost measured in more than just body count. In some non-Shiite villages, the organization has become non grata. Recently, its members were chased out of the Sunni village of Marwahin. Nonetheless, the organization endures. Despite pressures from many fronts, it is clear that Hezbollah is preparing.

It has sent fully one-third of its fighting force to Syria, but more than a third continue to prepare for another round of hostilities against the IDF. It makes no attempts to hide the large scale excavation projects underway in Shiite towns and villages in the south. Current intelligence on the matter suggests that these efforts are aimed at digging a tunnel it can use to launch an attack inside Israel itself, and with more than 100,000 rockets at their disposal, such an attack would be deadly indeed.

For Israel, the threat represented by Hezbollah is sadly not limited to just “the next war.” A recent promise to avenge the blood of its senior commander Hassan Laqis, killed in Beirut last month — Hezbollah blames Israel — by one of the organization’s spokesmen, Ibrahim al-Amin, editor of the newspaper al-Akhbar, is not regarded as an empty threat. “Wait and see,” he wrote. “I expect blood on the southern border.”

No doubt there are a number of high ranking figures pressing Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah to respond to the assassination, in order to send a message to Israel that might deter them from carrying out similar attacks in the future. Nasrallah said in one of his recent speeches that Hezbollah “has an old, new, and renewed score to settle” with Israel.

Given its current condition, it is likely not seeking a broad, long running confrontation with the IDF, but it certainly seems prepared to initiate limited attacks of a kind designed to inflict maximum pain on Israel, without prompting them to engage in full scale war. "

Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2014/January22/222.html#JKA833lRQ1m7fRwe.99

"THE THREAT OF THE SALAFI CRESCENT" BY SHAUL HAY FROM THE BALFOUR POST.

The Threat of the “Salafi Crescent”

By Bpost on January 22, 2014 inShaul ShayTerrorismWorld

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JERUSALEM, ISRAEL-Shaul Shay

There is a notion that a hegemonic Iran is attempting to dominate the crescent-shaped part of the Middle East where the majority population is Shiite or contains a strong Shiite minority, through an array of Shiite proxies: Iraq, Alawite-dominated Syria, and the powerful Shiite militia Hizballah in Lebanon.

Yet, the growing involvement of Sunni Salafi jihadis in Iraq (since 2003), among the rebels in Syria (since 2011), and in Lebanon has created a “Salafi Crescent.” This reflects a Sunni ambition to establish a caliphate controlling much of the Middle East and form the Islamic State “from Diyala [in eastern Iraq] to Beirut.” Al-Qaeda’s hatred of the Shiites was expressed by its founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who called them “the insurmountable obstacle, the prowling serpent…the enemy lying in wait” and ordered his followers to “fight them.”

Al-Qaeda in Iraq

Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), a jihadist group of predominantly Sunni fighters, rose to prominence after the US-led invasion of Iraq. The ensuing insurgency provided the group with fertile ground to wage a guerrilla war against coalition forces and their domestic supporters. In the face of successful US counterterrorism efforts and the Sunni tribal awakening, AQI’s violent campaign has diminished since the peak years of 2006-2007, though the group remains a threat to stability in Iraq and the broader Levant. Since the withdrawal of US forces in late 2011, AQI has accelerated the pace of attacks on predominantly Shiite targets in an attempt to reignite conflict between Iraq’s Sunni minority and the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Meanwhile, AQI has expanded its reach into neighboring Syria. In April 2013, AQI announced that it was changing its name to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and that the Syrian group Jabhat Nusra would join it. Jabhat Nusra’s leaders objected, however, and the two groups have remained independent.

Much of the violence in Iraq is blamed on ISIS, which has launched a vicious bombing campaign in Iraq as part of an anti-Shiite insurgency that claimed more than 8,000 lives in 2013. On January 3, ISIS asserted control over the western Iraqi city of Fallujah, declaring it an Islamic state. The capture of Fallujah came amid a campaign of violence across the western desert province of Anbar, in which local tribes, Iraqi security forces, and al-Qaeda-affiliated militants have been locked in fighting. The ISIS fighters have steadily asserted their control over Anbar’s desert regions for months, and resisted assaults by both Iraqi government forces and local tribal leaders to maintain control of all of Fallujah, and perhaps as much as half of Ramadi, Anbar’s capital.

The sectarian tensions between Iraq’s Sunnis and the Shiite-led government have been further inflamed by the war in Syria. Al-Qaeda’s growing influence in Syria has given terrorists control over the desert territories spanning both sides of the ­Iraqi-Syrian border, enabling them to readily transfer weapons and fighters between the two arenas.

Al-Qaeda in Syria

Syria has become a magnet for al-Qaeda and other jihadi recruits, as the Assad regime has been an ally of Iran since the 1980s. Al-Qaeda’s direct involvement in Syria includes ISIS, Abdullah Azzam Brigades, al-Qaeda-affiliated Fatah al-Islam, and Jordanian Salafi jihadists. Highlighting the widening regional Sunni-Shiite schism, influential Sunni Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi called on all those who can perform jihad to head to Syria to fight the Alawites and Shi’ites, who are “worse than Christians and Jews.”

Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s leader, called upon Syrians to “rise against the criminal Alawite regime” of Bashar Assad. In June 2013, between 30 and 60 Shiite civilians were killed by rebel forces in Hatla, a village near Iraq that was invaded by thousands of foreign-backed jihadists this week. Rebel fighters denounced the “pug-nosed” Shiite “dogs” and burned dozens of homes.

ISIS has been active in Syria since 2012, fighting to control major outposts and the provincial capital of al-Raqqa in northern Syria. The group is fighting both Assad’s forces and the secular Syrian rebels who once had viewed the group as an ally in the fight to topple the embattled leader. Fierce fighting between ISIS and Syrian rebel groups was reported in December 2013 in a dozen locations, with ISIS taking control of the strategic Idlib province town of Saraqeb, which sits on the Aleppo-Damascus highway.

Jabhat Nusra, Syria’s homegrown Salafi-jihadist group, has important links to al-Qaeda affiliates and demonstrates a higher level of effectiveness than many other rebel groups. The group has shown sensitivity to popular perception and is gaining support within Syria. The emergence of indigenous Salafi jihadist groups such as Jabhat Nusra is far more dangerous to the long-term stability of the Syrian state than foreign jihadist groups, as they represent a metamorphosis of a Salafi-jihadist ideology into a domestic platform that can achieve popular resonance.

Al-Qaeda in Lebanon

Lebanon has been roiled by tensions and clashes over both Hizballah’s strong military support for Assad and a number of rebel-supporting Sunni communities. Car bombings, rocket attacks, and kidnappings have targeted both parties, and armed clashes have been frequent. Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah has publicly justified Hizballah’s involvement in Syria to stop al-Qaeda-style Sunni radicals, or takfiri, in their tracks. He sees Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq as part of the same battlefield.

On January 4, ISIS claimed credit for a suicide car bombing that took at least four lives and wounded dozens in a Hizballah-controlled suburb of Beirut, marking the first attack by the group in Lebanon. The group warned that the bombing was the start of a campaign against the “wicked criminals” of Hizballah for its role in helping the Syrian regime.”

Another al-Qaeda affiliate, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, claimed responsibility for November’s suicide bombing of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. Group leader Majid al-Majid blasted Nasrallah’s characterization of killed Syrian regime members as martyrs as “an insult to millions of Muslims.” He didn’t hesitate to threaten all of Lebanon should Hizballah continue to support the Assad regime, and hinted that his organization would plan an attack on Lebanese tourists, should the state continue to strengthen Hizballah and its leaders. Al-Majid was captured by the Lebanese security service, and on January 4 died in custody.

Conclusion

In the last decades an Iran-dominated Shia Crescent was considered the main threat to Israeli and regional security. The growing involvement of Salafi jihad in the region has produced a new threat. The latest operations of al-Qaeda and its affiliates in the three countries of the Shia Crescent – Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon – highlight the group’s growing regional influence and ambitions.

The Sunni jihadist groups might destabilize the whole area and transform it into an unstable, ungovernable conflict zone. Such an uncontrolled region would become a safe haven for Islamic terror groups and training center for militants from the Sinai, Arabian Peninsula, and elsewhere, and a platform to launch jihad against Israel and moderate Arab countries in the region. A positive outcome of this scenario, however, will be the decline in Iranian influence in the region.