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| Home Front: Politix |
| Day 2: Hamas Rocket Attack Overshadows AIPAC Conference - jihadi-linked protesters, Sen. Chuck Schumer, SecState Pompeo |
| 2019-03-26 |
| [Jpost] The festive atmosphere of the second day of the AIPAC Policy Conference was overshadowed by news of the rocket attack from Gazoo Monday at dawn that struck Moshav Mishmeret. At the long lines for security checks outside the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, the MKs, journalists and participants from across the US were all regularly checking their cellphone for updates. Maj.-Gen. (res) Amos Gilad told The Jerusalem Post that we are already in a new "round of violence." "Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", attacked Israel. They have all sorts of excuses. But they are in charge in Gazoo, and Israel responses accordingly. We are already in the midst of escalation. We did not initiate it. We are responding, defending ourselves. We should wait and see the outcome of the [IDF] attacks. That looks serious," he said. Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Post that "It is obviously a concern. There were provocations that are not acceptable, and we have to learn more about it. I don’t know all the details yet." When asked if he thinks that we’re getting closer to a military confrontation between Israel and Hamas, Engel replied: "I don’t know. I hope not. But I certainly understand that Israel needs to protect its people, and the United States has always been supportive of Israel, and will continue to do so." In a conversation at the sidelines of AIPAC confab, Engel also addressed the presidential decision to recognize Israel illusory sovereignty over the Golan Heights. "Israel has controlled the Golan Heights since the war in 1967," he said. "I can’t think of anybody who seriously thinks that Israel should leave. Obviously, it is important to the security of Israel to continue to have a strong Israeli presence there. However they do it is fine with me. But I think that everyone realizes that given the situation in Syria, given the fact that there’s no real government there, given the fact that Assad is a murderer, no one thinks that the Golan Heights should return to Syria." Former secretary of cabinet and current Blue and White Knesset candidate Zvi Hauser told the Post that "In moments like this, the political debate is irrelevant. There’s a challenge to the state of Israel. The main challenge to the security is the missiles threat, both in the south and Israel’s north front. Therefore, we can’t live in a situation in which [the] Israeli citizen is the only one in the world that faces this threat on a daily basis." AIPAC Protesters With Terror Ties Compare Zionists To Nazis [Jpost] Protesters outside the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, DC compared Israel supporters to Nazis in a demonstration organized by al-Awda, an anti-Israel group with connections to several Paleostinian terrorist organizations. "A progressive Zionist is the same as a progressive Nazi," Abbas Hamideh, an al-Awda leader, chanted at Sunday’s protest, with demonstrators cheering him in response. Hamideh posted a video of the protest on his Facebook page. In a reference to a remark by Rep. Ilhan Omar Somali- AmericanDem representative from Minnesota. She is apparently married to her brother and may be her own grandmaw... (D-MN), which was condemned as antisemitic by many Jewish organizations and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, Hamideh said: "We are demanding an end to AIPAC’s influence over our American politicians. We demand an end to the Benjamins" ‐ meaning $100 bills ‐ "that go to the politicians." Al-Awda, which is Arabic for "the return," calls on its website for an end to all US aid to Israel, a comprehensive boycott of Israel, the "right of return" for Paleostinian refugees and their descendants, and a Paleostinian state "in all of Paleostine," meaning one that would replace Israel. It refers to Israel in quotation marks, further signaling its refusal to accept the country’s existence. Earlier this month, The Jerusalem Post exposed al-Awda’s ties to terrorist groups. It is a founding member of the Global Paleostinian Right of Return Coalition (GPRRC), part of the Paleostinian BDS National Committee (BNC), which coordinates the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement worldwide. The central organization in the BNC is the Paleostinian National and Islamic Forces (PNIF), which includes five US-designated terrorist organizations: Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine (PFLP), the Popular Front - General Command, the Paleostine Liberation Front and Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... One of al-Awda’s co-founders, Mazin Qumsiyeh, was the coordinator of the Popular Resistance Committee Against the Wall, which, according to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, coordinated its activities with Hamas and the PFLP, among other groups. Qumsiyeh was tossed in the clink Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! by Israeli authorities a dozen times, by his own admission in 2011. Since its establishment, al-Awda has also regularly hosted convicted Lions of Islam and members of terrorist groups at its events. Following the Post’s reporting, the International Legal Forum (ILF) sent a warning letter to GoFundMe, where al-Awda was raising money to organize its demonstration at AIPAC, saying that they are providing services to a terrorism-affiliated organization. GoFundMe told ILF that its "Trust & Safety team will be investigating the page and taking appropriate action." The site did not respond to further inquiries. ILF CEO Yifa Segal said that "providing financial services to terror-affiliated organizations constitutes material support for terrorism which is a severe federal offense under US law. The ILF is committed to exposing and pursuing these matters, making sure that the law is enforced and terror-affiliated organizations are defunded and unmasked." Al-Awda’s GoFundMe page for the protest said it aims to "expose [AIPAC’s] subversion of US foreign policy" and "continue to battle on behalf of the beleaguered Paleostinian people." They promoted the event on social media with the hashtag "#SupportPaleostineInDC2019." The organization sought to match its fundraising from last year’s protest, which reached $10,000, but as of March 25, it only raised half that amount. Chuck Schumer At AIPAC: A Jew Who Lobbies For Israel Is No Less American [Jpost] Schumer bellowed a pro-Israel message at the annual event, while calling out fellow politician Rep. Ilhan Omar Somali- AmericanDem representative from Minnesota. She is apparently married to her brother and may be her own grandmaw... who had questioned the Jewish ability to be pro-Israel and pro-American at the same time. Schumer, born in Brooklyn, is himself Jewish. He has served as the senior United States Senator from New York since the late 1990s. SecState Pompeo To AIPAC: Anti-Zionism Is Antisemitism [Jpost] US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo embraced Israel in a speech at the AIPAC policy conference in Washington DC on Tuesday. "Israel should be admired, not attacked, embraced, not vilified," Pomeo stated at the annual gathering of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. "I’m proud to lead American diplomacy to support Israel’s right to defend itself, stand with the Jewish people, and champion the perennial cause of religious liberty," he said. Pompeo was one of the many elected officials from both Israel and America to speak at the event hosted by the pro-Israeli lobby. The State Department has historically been viewed by many pro-Israel activists as leaning toward pressuring Israel into compromise vis-a-vis the Palestinians. However the Trump Administration seems to have shifted the narrative, recognizing Israel's right to the Golan Heights on Monday. The strategic highlands was controlled by Syria from 1948 - 1967. "The rise of antisemitism & anti-Zionism strikes at the very foundation of freedom," Pompeo added. "The Trump Administration opposes it unequivocally and will fight it relentlessly, from the fever swamp of the UN Human Rights Council to the world’s number one proponent of antisemitism: Iran," the Secretary of State declared. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to speak at the conference but returned to Israel early Tuesday morning due to the rocket attack crisis. |
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