"Memorandum of Understanding" collapses

So no sooner had Iran supposedly signed the USA's "memorandum of understanding" - and only electronically at that - then they went back to firing missiles at targets in the middle east again:

Air-raid sirens sounded in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain on Thursday, as Iran said it targeted U.S. military assets with missiles and drones in retaliation for American strikes on the Islamic Republic.

A Jordanian military source told Amman’s official Petra News Agency that air defenses intercepted eight missiles launched from Iran on Thursday afternoon. Debris from the interceptions fell in several areas, causing no casualties or damage, according to the report.

The Jordanian air-raid sirens were heard in some Israeli border communities in the Jordan Valley, according to Hebrew media.

The U.S. Embassy in Amman confirmed reports that “missiles, drones or rockets are in Jordanian airspace” and called on Americans in the country to “seek overhead cover and shelter in place immediately.” The mission added, “Remain indoors and pay attention to local announcements and alerts. The U.S. Embassy in Jordan will continue to review the situation and provide additional information as needed.”

A flight from Ethiopia to Tel Aviv was forced to turn around amid the missile attacks, Channel 12 News reported.

In Kuwait, a Defense Ministry spokesperson said the country’s armed forces intercepted three ballistic missiles, one cruise missile and 10 drones launched from Iran on Thursday.

“The interceptions resulted in material damage after debris fell at several locations across the country. One person was injured and is receiving the necessary medical treatment. The injured person’s condition is stable,” said spokesman Col. Saud Abdulaziz al-Atwan.

But are they actually going to gather what militaries they have and go to battle against Iran for what they've done? This report seems to suggest Jordan might be willing to, but only time will tell if they actually do.

For now, some can say the USA was being ridiculous to assume Iran would actually surrender, and this very much proves their tyrants aren't.

Considerable number have already left the Gaza strip

Despite what the pathetic propagandist Hen Mazzig claimed a few months ago, many Muslims in Gaza have left in the thousands already:

Since the war began, over 36 thousand people have left the Gaza Strip - an unprecedented number, showing a growing emigration trend.

There is a growing wave of emigration from the Gaza Strip, mostly through the Rafah Crossing into Egyptian territory. According to a report by Channel 12, approximately 2,000 of the emigrants left through Israeli territory, some via the Allenby Crossing on the Jordanian border and others via the Ramon Airport to other countries. However, most emigrants have been leaving through the Rafah Crossing, which was reopened for exit only at the beginning of the ceasefire.

According to the report, only specific groups can leave legally: Sick patients who need medical treatment outside of Gaza, civilians with foreign passports, and residents who received visas from other countries that agreed to officially accept them.

Many countries are involved in accepting refugees, some as a temporary destination and others as a permanent solution. Among the outstanding countries are Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, western European countries, and Romania, which especially stood out due to the number of refugees accepted.

Hamas strongly objects to the emigration and sees it as a threat to its control over the territory. According to Hamas spokesmen, the process is in line with the plan that US President Donald Trump proposed to transfer Palestinian Arabs to other countries.

Internet influencers who are affiliated with Hamas have launched media campaigns calling on residents to remain in Gaza, but so far, they have been mostly unsuccessful.

What's only regrettable is if any western European country and an eastern one like Romania could be accepting them, because they don't belong in any civilized area, and are bound to lead to disaster if they remain there. All concerned Europeans should object, and if there's anywhere where the departers from Gaza could go, it's to the Russian sattelite regions like Dagestan and Chechnya, the latter which as noted before, has accepted evacuees already.

All that aside, this is good to see they're leaving an area they don't deserve to be in after what they, like the Hamas itself, were willing participants in on October 7, 2023. But they don't belong in civilized European and Asian countries either.

Jordan's king agrees to take in Gazans

It looks like Donald Trump's efforts to get a country like Jordan to take in Gazans is beginning to bear fruit:

King Abdullah II of Jordan visited President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, where the Jordanian king agreed to accept refugees into his country.

The meeting comes after Trump made repeated demands for Jordan and Egypt to take in refugees, despite both countries declining. Trump and Abdullah met to discuss issues including Trump’s Gaza proposal, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ISIS and al-Qaeda, and economic cooperation.

The king and crown prince of Jordan arrived at the White House around noon Tuesday afternoon, where they both attended a bilateral meeting and lunch with the president. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also attended the meeting — the first official encounter between the King of Jordan and the President of the United States since Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire. [...]

King Abdullah said he is open to coming up with solutions that serve the interests of all parties.

“I think the point is how do we make this work in a way that is good for everybody. Obviously, we have to look at the best interests of the United States, of the people in the region, and especially my people of Jordan.”

Abdullah offered to take 2,000 sick children from the Gaza Strip almost immediately.

Trump called the gesture “beautiful.”

“We really appreciate it,” Trump said. “It’s music to my ears.”

King Abdullah said he wants to wait for the Egyptians to present their plan on how to address the challenges in Gaza.

Trump said he believes there is a 99% chance he will work something out with Egypt. The president previously threatened to withhold aid to the two countries unless a deal could be made, but backed down during the meeting, stating “I do think we’re above that.”

So far, Egypt's premier, Al-Sisi, has been balking at cooperating. But hopefully, that too will be worked out, and Egypt should by all means start accepting Muslims in Gaza into their country. And if aid needs to be withheld to make clear what they should do, then perhaps that's the best thing to do.

Trump says Jordan and Egypt should take in Muslims from Gaza

In his first week as POTUS, Donald Trump's made some significant steps in dealing with illegal immigration and also signing several pro-Israel executive orders. And now, he's also made an important statement about why Jordan and Egypt should take in Muslims from Gaza:

President Donald Trump suggested Saturday that he would like to “clean out” Gaza after the devastation of the war started by Hamas on October 7, 2023, sending residents to Egypt and Jordan for humanitarian reasons.

In a gaggle with reporters on Air Force One, Trump said: “I’d like Egypt to take people and I’d like Jordan to take people. You’re talking about, probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know it’s — over the centuries, it’s had many, many conflicts. And … something has to happen. It’s literally a demolition site … So I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace. … Could be temporary, could be long-term.”

This author proposed a similar solution nearly a year ago, though without presuming Israel’s neighbors would accept Palestinians.

No Arab or Muslim nation has been willing to accept Palestinian refugees, insisting instead that they stay and suffer.

That's why Trump's statement is an important one, because the time has come these countries stop being so selfish and start proving their ability to take in these fiends who don't belong in civilized areas. They should also be taking in Muslims from Europe. Let's hope this is the start of Trump doing whatever possible to make clear Muslim-run countries start accepting these descendants of ancient Islamic occupiers into their own lands instead.

A book explaining why the war against Islamic jihadism is being lost

Daniel Greenfield reviews a book by former military officer Jesse Petrilla, who witnessed firsthand some of the worst reasons why the war against Islam's tyranny is being lost:

“I recall one instance where we were ordered to turn over a shipping container of captured Taliban weapons to the Afghan government, and I told the Major in charge of the mission “You know these are going right back to the Taliban as soon as we leave, right?” Without hesitation he responded, “Oh yes, I know.”

This story that Jesse Petrilla tells in If It Takes a Thousand Years: From Al-Qaeda to Hamas, How the Jihadists Think & How to Defeat Them’ is part of the larger reason why we not only lost Afghanistan, but why we’re losing to Islamic terrorists around the world and at home.

Jesse Petrilla had been an Army Liaison Officer on the ground in Afghanistan and had taken part in the interrogation of Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists. He had also witnessed the defeatist politics that foreshadowed the loss of Afghanistan and encroaches on much of civilization.

While Petrilla’s time in Afghanistan is at the heart of the narrative, he moves from Israel to Jordan, visits Egypt, travels to the Balkans and witnesses the incursion of Islam into Europe, and then back home into the United States where he served as an elected official. Along the way he sees Islam in its native environment and in our own, witnesses our growing willingness to appease it and surrender to it, and our refusal to come to terms with what it truly is. This is an experience that began when he was in Afghanistan and encountered military officers unwilling to understand what they were up against or, like that major, unwilling to rock the boat.

Afghanistan was not lost in any single battle, but in our refusal to understand what we were fighting. And if our civilization falls the way that Constantinople once did, that will ultimately be the tragic epitaph to be carved on its tombstone. In Afghanistan, Petrilla encounters Islam at its most elemental, operating with a heedless disregard for reality and human life, motivated purely by a fiery mix of theological conviction and tribalism. The Muslim terrorists he encountered boasted of their willingness to keep fighting us for generations, even, as in the book’s title, if it takes a thousand years, they were willing to kill, to die and teach their children to kill us.

As Petrilla succinctly observes, “they just want your entire society to submit or die.” [...]

“I have seen cases where Taliban have fired mortars from the roof of a building full of children, only to run away before the counter- attack in which several children were killed, at which time the Taliban will play to the media and blame the Americans for indiscriminately killing civilians, further eroding our mission,” Petrilla describes in If It Takes a Thousand Years.

Westerners don’t understand Islam. And they try to deal with Islam on American terms.

After the recent anniversary of our retreat from Afghanistan, Petrilla describes a mission rotted from within. As an Army officer, he encountered a translator who supported the Taliban. “To make things even more unsettling, the pro-Taliban translator was an American citizen who held a Top Secret security clearance. I reported him to my superiors, and when they reported it to theirs, making its way all the way up to the General Officer level, they came back to me and said nothing can be done.” It would have been too politically incorrect to get rid of him.

That story casts new light on the recent arrest of an Afghan guard and his family brought to the United States who plotted an ISIS terrorist attack. And on the worthless ‘vetting’ of Afghans.

When Taliban Jihadis were captured, what was done with them?

Petrilla describes how the Afghans were allowed to run review boards during which “59 percent were recommendations for release” while 93% of older Taliban received recommendations for release. Those who remained locked up received average sentences of 4 years. The prisons were known as “Taliban University” for training and indoctrinating the soon to be freed Jihadis.

Nation building subsumed the mission of defeating the enemy until the enemy were in charge.

Yes, and this is something "right-wingers" like George W. Bush Jr. have blame to shoulder for as much as leftists themselves. Another discovery Petrilla made in the Islamic world was what a groom would do with a bride if he thought she wasn't a virgin:

How could America’s mission in Afghanistan go so wrong? In If It Takes a Thousand Years Petrilla traces the common failures brought on by our inability to understand Islamic societies. Societies where, as he describes in an Afghan wedding, the husband can kill his new bride on their wedding night if she turns out not to be a virgin “and the bride’s family is obligated to replace her with a sister or other female relative at the same wedding.”

Petrilla urges readers to compare that to an American wedding. “Imagine yourself being at a wedding, and after the ceremony having the groom come out of a tent with the bride, murdering her in front of the guests, and then taking her sister and marrying her while the corpse of the murdered bride still lies on the ground.” That is what morality can be in an Islamic society.

This too is absolutely repulsive, and the USA officials who turned their backs on this kind of abomination should be ashamed of themselves. One of the commentors responding to the review also says:

I knew we were screwed as soon as George W sat down with terror Islamists and called Islam the “religion of peace” like a good Dhimmi. Little did we know at the time that the “War on Terror” would soon be applied to any American that believed in the Constitution, individual liberty, or prayed near an abortion clinic.

Travesties that Dubya probably is okay with. Let's not forget what he did a few years ago, comparing Americans who allegedly invaded Congress to terrorists of 9-11. And Ronald Reagan can't be excused either for his own leniencies. Nor can Bill Clinton, who was of course the one who pushed through the Oslo accords in 1993 that later led to the October 7, 2023 tragedy. Political correctness is one of the worst ways in which we got to this point, and how democracies were eroded, all via people who clearly didn't support the concepts in the first place.

Fears of October 7-type attack that could come from Jordan

A country that supposedly made peace with Israel 3 decades ago, but in reality has been anything but that, could be where more jihadist danger could end up coming from, as residents near Jordan's border fear:

Residents of the Eilot Regional Council, which spans a large area in southern Israel, have recently experienced a sharp rise in suspicious activity along the border with Jordan.

While the border is considered peaceful, several reports of infiltrations in recent weeks, including one about a vehicle that crossed the border and disappeared along Highway 90, have heightened fear among residents. In an exclusive interview, the Council Head, Hanan Ginat, describes the complex reality and the measures being taken to address the security threats.

"The Jordanian border is a peace border, but it is more exposed than ever," emphasizes Ginat. "The Eilot Regional Council, which covers 13% of Israel's land area, is located in the strategic southern region of the country, with around 170 kilometers of border with Egypt and Jordan. While the border with Egypt has a modern fence, in vast parts of the Jordanian border, there is no barrier to prevent or delay anyone who wants to cross."

According to Ginat, smuggling along the Jordanian border has increased in recent years, and fears of terrorist activity are growing. "Unfortunately, in recent years, we've seen how the open border is increasingly used for smuggling drugs and weapons, and the constant fear is that someone will attempt to carry out a terror attack through it."

The complex security situation has led the council to take proactive steps to protect its residents. "The Arava communities are spread along the border, and our agricultural lands extend right up to it," says Ginat. "Even before the war and especially after it broke out, the council has significantly bolstered civilian forces operating in the area, including emergency response teams in the communities and other volunteer units made up of our dedicated residents, which are meant to be the first response in an event."

This is absolutely chilling to think about, but tragically, it's entirely possible, and not only that, Jordan's government could break the peace treaty they once signed so mendaciously.

Muslim honor murders in UK are up by over 60 percent

As the UK fails to do anything to expel the Islamofascists who're already putting on displays of antisemitism, another failure is how they deal with Islamic honor murders (via Pamela Geller):

Honor-based abuse cases in England rose by more than 60% in two years, with 2,594 cases in 2022 vs. 1,599 in 2020. The data derive from 26 of 39 constabularies, The Guardian reported on Sunday.

Honor-based crimes can include murder, forced marriage, rape (gang rape is used as punishment against women suspected of engaging in illicit relations), forced genital mutilation and other coercive acts.

Such crimes are common in many Muslim countries, including Pakistan and Bangladesh. (1.6 million people, or 2.7%, of the United Kingdom’s population identify as Pakistani, and 94,434, or 1.1%, as Bangladeshi, according to the 2022 U.K. census.)

A 2013 global survey of the world’s Muslims by the Pew Research Center found that in only 14 out of 23 countries did Muslims reject the practice of honor killing. Support for it was highest in Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt and Jordan.

The problem of honor-based crimes, or honor violence, has become a serious issue in Europe amid increased migration from regions where the practice is accepted.

Well those countries that continue to put up with practice of the Religion of Peace itself sure aren't improving the situation. For now, it's shameful how they continue to practically let down whole generations of women and girls who've fallen victim to such horrific practices, and what these European countries are enabling is practically what led to the Rotherham rape scandal as well.

IDF operates in Jenin

To combat jihadists who struck Israel of recent, the IDF's conducted war in Jenin:

Israel used drones to strike targets in a terrorist stronghold early Monday and deployed hundreds of troops in the area, in an incursion that resembled the wide-scale military operations carried out during the second Palestinian uprising two decades ago. Palestinian health officials said at least eight Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded.

Troops remained inside the Jenin refugee camp at midday Monday, pushing ahead with the largest operation in the area during more than a year of fighting. It came at a time of growing domestic pressure for a tough response to a series of attacks on Israeli settlers, including a shooting attack last month that killed four Israelis.

Black smoke rose from the crowded streets of the camp, exchanges of fire rang out and the buzzing of drones could be heard overhead as the military pressed on. Residents said electricity was cut off in some parts and military bulldozers plowed through narrow streets, damaging buildings as they cleared the way for Israeli forces. The Palestinians and neighboring Jordan condemned the violence. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant huddled with top military commanders and said the operation was "proceeding as planned." He said Israel had dealt "a major blow" to local terrorist groups but gave no indication when the incursion would end.

If they end it simply because the USA/Europe demanded it, they'll be succumbing classically to political correctness. If they want to prove themselves, they'll have to continue the operation in Jenin for a long time, but only when they decide to put a stop to Islamism will they really be getting anywhere.

USA government pushes LGBT "pride" everywhere but the Muslim world

To show how LGBT ideology is simply a means for damaging and desecrating the west from inside out, the USA government/state department is advertising it everywhere but the Muslim world:

But while State Department facilities from Bogota, Columbia to Pretoria, South Africa put aside their pressing business to celebrate Pride Month, and the embassies in Warsaw, Poland and the Philippines joined in, there were notable exceptions from the global celebration of ‘Pride’.

The United States embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia bafflingly neglected Pride Month. In Islamabad, Pakistan, insult was added to injury when the embassy instead commemorated Urs, a festival marking the death of a Sufi saint, without even a single rainbow emoji in view.

The Saudis would seem to be more in need of hearing about gay rights than the Haitians or the French since under Sharia law the penalty for pride is being stoned to death. The Pakistanis could also use a few rainbow flags since they lock up gay people while freeing terrorists.

The Biden administration recently vented its outrage because Uganda passed some laws criminalizing homosexuality. There has been talk of threatening one of the poorest nations in the world with sanctions. But where are the sanctions for Saudi Arabia? Or other Muslim countries?

A decade ago, Brunei brought back Sharia law and the death penalty for homosexuality. The US embassy in Bandar Seri Begawan failed to mention Biden’s views on ‘Pride’ and instead promoted ‘Sports Diplomacy’ through soccer. There are no sanctions for Sharia law.

And no mention of Pride Month in our outreach to the Muslim world.

Pride Month was missing in action in Baghdad, where the U.S. embassy has enough problems since the only thing Iraqi Sunni and Shiite Muslims agree on is trying to kill them. If the Kuwait embassy celebrated the Stonewall riot, they kept it to themselves. No rainbow flags could be seen in Jordan where all the focus was on the royal marriage of its dictator. Nancy Pelosi recorded a message on the marriage, but sadly had nothing to say about LGBT rights.

The same was true in Yemen, currently caught in a civil war between Sunnis and Shiites over who gets to impose Sharia law on whom. Neither side will be particularly interested in any rainbow flags. And Biden isn’t interested in telling either side about ‘Pride Month’.

The US Embassy in Cairo focused on Jill Biden’s visit to Egypt where she met with women wearing hijabs and pretended to understand what they were saying to her. The honored doctor made no mention of the LGBTQ movement to the women in the hijabs.

While the U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland urged, “This month and every month, let us celebrate the pride that powers the movement for LGBTQI+”, the message did not reach the U.S. Embassy in Algiers. “Pride Month is kicking off in the U.S. today! We’d love to know: What does Pride mean to you,” the U.S. Embassy in Brussels asked. But the U.S. Embassy to the UAE instead bafflingly urged the locals to come to Michigan to get degrees in Arabic Language.

But that’s how you get more Muslim Brotherhood members and win elections in Michigan.

Speaking of which, recalling that incident in Dearborn last year, if it hasn't been heard of since, and LGBT activists aren't going there anymore, it makes clear that not only did the local school district stop pushing any such propaganda on local Islamists' children, but that if Muslims don't want it, they receive the privileges denied to Judeo-Christians, because the Religion of Peace remains even more a protected class than LGBT ideology itself, as indicated by the following:

Like feminism, the LGBTQ movement stops at the line in the sand drawn by Sharia law.

And the Biden administration, the State Department, and the alphabet soup activists are fine with that, because it was never about rights, but about bringing down western civilization.

There’s no need to hang up flags in Riyadh, when your goal is to destroy Rome and Jerusalem.

Correct. Again, that's what the LGBT agenda is really about. Not "liberalizing" the Muslim world, but rather, tearing apart the western one. And don't be surprised if even in China and north Korea, they're not pushing the LGBT propaganda either, based on what the communists thinks.

Jerusalem Day's march through the Old City

It's another year and month of celebrating Jerusalem Day, and the authorities wisely made sure the Flag March could go through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City safely. Some history is given:

Many thousands of Jews are taking part in the annual Jerusalem Day Flag March this evening in celebration of the 56th anniversary of the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem.

The Flag March begins in front of Jerusalem's Great Synagogue and makes its way through the Old City before ending at the Western Wall.

Between 1949 and 1967, while eastern Jerusalem was under Jordanian rule, Jews were barred from that part of the city, including Jewish holy sites such as the Western Wall, as well as the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and other historically Jewish neighborhoods. Jewish synagogues were destroyed and the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives was desecrated, with many gravestones taken for use in construction projects.

Jerusalem Day celebrates the anniversary of the reunification of western and eastern Jerusalem, the unification of the city as Israel's capital, and the ability of Jews to return to their holy and historical sites.

About 3,200 police, Border Police, and security forces have been deployed throughout the city to provide security during the celebrations.

There's photographs at the link. It's good this march is taking place again.

Update: here's more news about the march.

Biden and company want to dictate religious prayer at Western Wall

While there's obviously a lot that needs to be done regarding different denominations of Judaism wanting to pray at the Western Wall, Joe Biden and his terrible staff are the least qualified to have any involvement in Israel's affairs, including the following:

The Biden administration is dictating religious policy to Israel over the delicate question of mixed-gender prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the holiest site in Judaism.

U.S. Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain, who happens to be Muslim, tweeted on behalf of the administration Sunday that the U.S. supports the implementation of an expansion of the space for egalitarian — i.e. mixed — prayer at the Wall.

Anybody adhering to the Religion of Peace is obviously not a good choice for commenting on this whole issue. Besides:

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prevents Congress, and the government more generally, from making religious laws and policies, but the Biden administration appears to believe that it has the power to express a view on internal religious debates in a foreign country.

However, there is no comparable White House policy on egalitarian prayer at Muslim holy sites or the religious sites of other faiths, in Israel or elsewhere.

So, like I said, this is exactly why what Biden's bunch is doing now is severely atrocious, and perpetuates damage to Israel. And, to make matters worse (also via Breitbart):

A senior delegation representing Palestinian terror group Hamas was set to visit Saudi Arabia on Sunday, according to multiple Arabic media reports, representing a major development as Israel’s hopes of forging official ties with Riyadh appear to dwindle further.

For many years, Saudi Arabia’s relationship with Hamas has been cold and tense, and the kingdom even arrested many people with ties to the jihadist group, which rules the Gaza Strip and openly seeks Israel’s destruction.

But following its landmark rapprochement with Iran, Riyadh appeared set to host a high-level delegation including Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh, his deputy Saleh al-Arouri, and the head of the group abroad, Khaled Mashaal, according to various Palestinian and Arabic-language media outlets, including Jordan’s Al Ghad and the London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Clearly, Saudi Arabia still has a long way to go before it's qualified for being at peace with Israel.

Jordanian antisemites destroy rabbi's teffillin

In a sad example of how Muslim antisemitism is still very prevalent in Jordan, some airport guards vandalized a rabbi's teffillin:

Security guards at a Jordanian airport desecrated a rabbi’s tefillin (phylacteries) during a security check before he boarded a plane.

Rabbi Moshe Haliwa, chief rabbi of the Jewish community in Dubai, was waiting to board a connecting flight to Abu Dhabi during a layover at Amman’s Queen Alia International Airport when security officials seized the rabbi’s tefillin.

According to a report by Yediot Aharanoth, the security officials seized Rabbi Haliwa’s tefillin after he disembarked following his flight from Israel.

If the "peace treaty" with Jordan ever falls apart, some could reasonably wonder if that'll be a bad thing, considering Jordan's Islamists haven't abandoned their antisemitism any more than anything else bad about it.

Geopolitics obscure Temple Mount from public awareness

According to two writers, a sad case of politics combined with Islamofascism have led to this:

King Abdullah of Jordan has announced that his country is ready for a confrontation if there is any change in the status quo in the holy places.

This statement highlights even more Israel’s lack of governance in the holiest place for the Jewish People, the Temple Mount, and even more than that, the lack of interest that the majority of the Israeli public and media have in the Temple Mount.

The average Israeli citizen celebrates the Jewish holidays faithfully, circumcises his male children and makes a bar mitzvah for them and on the other hand, is not so aware of how central the Temple Mount is in Judaism.

This Jewish site is absent from the Israeli public’s awareness due to political and media-related reasons. The Temple Mount is considered a dangerous place, a center of fanaticism and a trouble spot and therefore it is preferable to stay away from it. The best thing to do is not to relate to it at all, if possible. The reasons often quoted are religious, ideological and political, and they have been around for a long time.

After the destruction of the Second Temple, it was very difficult for Judaism to adapt itself to religious life without a temple and now it finds it hard to rid itself of the traditions that have been formed since then. The Zionist ideology was ruled by the socialist movements for whom religion was no more than an opiate for the masses. The fear of the reaction of the Muslim world concludes this list of concerns.

On the issue of socialism, that's something very appalling about past history of community "representatives". I think there was a socialist named Martin Buber working as a would-be advocate for Israel, and honestly, that he would adhere to a repellent ideology that's led to only so many tragedies of its own is disgusting. As is the media's own approach to the Temple Mount issue:

Why, therefore, do Israeli media ignore the place where the Temple once stood? One can see that the media’s disregard is due to two factors: The topic of the Temple Mount is considered to be outmoded, unfashionable and reactionary, leading to such tragedies as religious wars, and the fear that if Jews do anything on the Temple Mount, the entire Muslim world will unite against little Israel.

Advocating cowardice and refusing by that same twisted logic to condemn advocators of violence is another offensive direction.

Now here's another op-ed by yet another two writers on the same issue, and they point to a certain Haredi rabbi who said some damaging things in the past. Here's what he said this time:

A recent article penned by Rabbi Avi Shafran at Religious News Service contains errors of fact and interpretation regarding prayer on the Temple Mount that we find disturbing or at least inaccurate.

In particular, Rabbi Shafran writes that according to “Israeli law, non-Muslims may go up to the Temple Mount to visit, but not to pray or conduct rites.”

There is no such law. Jews are free to pray on the Temple Mount per Israeli Civil Law, upheld by the Israeli Supreme Court. The Court does allow the Israel Police to limit freedom to worship if it might cause a “disturbance of public order” but, in practice, Jews are free to pray quietly and use a prayer book on their smartphones.

Rabbi Shafran claims that “religious reasons” for prohibiting prayer on the Mount are “complex.” He states, “To enter such a holy place, Jewish law requires any Jewish man or woman who has had contact with or been under the same roof as a deceased person to undergo a purification ritual that involves, among other things, a perfectly red heifer that has never been worked in any way.”

This is inaccurate. Most of the Temple Mount complex does indeed have a purification procedure that is required before entry, but it is not the procedure that requires the ashes of the red heifer.

Shafran has a history of acting as an apologist for Haredi extremism as well, so this looks like something just around the corner for him. It's not hard to guess ultra-Orthodox like him are also guilty of disdaining their own Jewish heritage symbolized by the Temple Mount. Melanie Phillips made a vital point who the party to be offended by is, following the visit public security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir made to the site in the past week:

In any sane universe, this is simply unhinged. Ben-Gvir was fully entitled to be there. He did nothing out of the ordinary. Other Israeli Jews, including government ministers, regularly visit the site.

The people actually responsible for inciting violence over the Temple Mount are the Palestinian Arabs. Since the 1920s, they have been provoking fanatical religious hysteria and the murder of Israelis with the wickedly false claim that the Jews were either storming or planning to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Similar claims were made in 2022 when Palestinian Arabs turned Al-Aqsa into an ammunition store from where they hurled rocks down at Jews praying at the Western Wall and attacked Jews making their way there.

The reason is that, as the site of the Jewish Temple that was the focus of Jewish religious life in ancient Israel until it was destroyed in 70 CE, the Temple Mount stands at the very center of the Jews’ unique entitlement to Jerusalem and the land.

That’s why the Palestinians have tried to destroy the archaeological evidence that has been dug up at the site over the years. They attempt to wipe the Jews out of their own history in the land—centuries before the first Arabs or Muslims invaded it—in order to support the laughably bogus claim that the Palestinian Arabs were its indigenous people.

Yet this use of the Temple Mount for incitement, violence and religious supersessionism draws no condemnation from the Western left. They do not acknowledge that this aggression, which strikes against Judaism itself, is the real cause of the Middle East conflict.

Instead, the Biden administration condemned the Ben-Gvir excursion as an “unacceptable” and “unilateral” action that “undercut the historic status quo.” Not only was this untrue, but the status quo, which Israel has upheld, is itself unacceptable.

Correct. And Ben-Gvir and company did the right thing to attend the Temple Mount, and not even bend to the Haredi cowards who opposed his visit. Indeed, what they did is part and parcel of the problem with cowardice, something the aforementioned Shafran's also been specializing in for goodness knows how long. Such phony "representatives" cannot be allowed to represent Judaism in any way, shape or form. Much like the left they otherwise have something in common with, they're just as bad for Israel.

This whole subject should make clear the Temple Mount has to be made part of public awareness again, and additionally to make clear that to exclude anybody from it on the basis of race and sex is equally unacceptable.

Bus attacked near Israeli border with Jordan

Another terrorist attack took place near a neighboring country that's still rife with Islamic antisemitism, leaving 7 injured:

Palestinian terrorists opened fire on an Israeli bus on Sunday, injuring seven people. The attack took place on a major highway along Israel’s border neighboring Jordan targeting a bus transporting Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops.

Seven people were injured, including the civilian bus driver, who was airlifted to to Rambam Hospital in Haifa along with a soldier who was sustained a bullet wound to his chest.

Several weapons were found at the scene after the terrorists fled. Two suspects were arrested shortly after and a third is believed to still be at large.

The terrorists’ getaway car caught on fire as they tried to escape, possibly from flammable liquid they planned to throw at the bus, local officials told Hebrew-language media.

The jihadists deserved to get burned, if they did. Utterly disgusting, and now, there's still a 3rd jihadist on the loose who has to be caught.

The Temple Mount travesty

Ruthie Blum's written more about the disaster of jihadism poisoning the atmosphere at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, and how poor US policy's making everything worse:

After Israel’s ambassador to Amman was summoned on Monday for reprimand over the riots on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh praised “every Palestinian who throws rocks and every Islamic Wakf worker who stands tall against the pro-Zionists defiling the Aqsa Mosque under the auspices of the Israeli occupation government.”

Rather than call Al-Khasawneh to task for openly inciting violence in an official address to the Jordanian Parliament – especially during Ramadan, when Muslims are supposed to focus on faith, spiritual contemplation and self-discipline – King Abdullah II complained to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that Israel was committing “provocative acts [that] violated the legal and historic status quo” on the compound.

The falsehood that Israel is storming and trying to take over the Aqsa Mosque is an ongoing antisemitic propaganda ploy with multiple aims. One involves the rejection of ancient Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. Another is to obfuscate the fact that Israeli security forces were, as they always are, dispatched to the area solely to prevent the very deadly activities that Jordan’s premier is unabashedly encouraging.

Which is abominable. As is the UAE's similar reaction, which also puts their sincerity under a question mark:

They have seen the widely circulated footage of young Muslims amassing rocks and planks inside Al-Aqsa, trampling on the carpets of the hallowed house of worship with their shoes and playing soccer amid the rubble. And though many Muslims in Israel and elsewhere took to social media to express outrage at the dishonor, the Jordanian prime minister championed the young men who turned the sacred space during a somber holiday into a fun-filled hate-fest.

Nevertheless, even the UAE followed Jordan’s lead. Not only did the Gulf state summon its first-ever Israeli ambassador, Amir Hayek, for a dressing-down, but Etihad Airways and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, the two Emirati airlines that were slated to take part next month in Israel’s Independence Day civil flyover, canceled their attendance.

You could reasonably wonder if this suggests that, in the future, the UAE relations might collapse, as they refuse to avoid the cliched loyalism to jihadist-minded creeps. Whether or not that happens, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid bungled in their responses to the incidents:

The reason for the about-face was Israel’s “aggressive actions.” Rather than confronting the absurd allegations through the projection of strength, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made a mealy-mouthed statement.

“Israel is doing everything so that everyone can always celebrate their holidays safely – Jews, Muslims and Christians,” he said. “We expect everyone not to join the lies and certainly not to encourage violence against Jews.”

Without referring to Jordan specifically, Bennett went on to criticize those who “blame Israel for the violence against us – those who encourage throwing rocks and violence against the citizens of the State of Israel. This is unacceptable. It is a prize for the inciters, foremost among them Hamas, which is trying to spark violence in Jerusalem.”

FOREIGN MINISTER Yair Lapid adopted an equally powerless stance. After speaking on the phone with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, he recounted having “emphasized Israel’s responsible and measured efforts in the face of riots by hundreds of Islamic extremists on the Temple Mount,” and insisted that Israel “would not tolerate calls for violence.”

Oh dear. Al-Khasawneh and Abdullah must have been shaking in their boots – double-time when they heard that Lapid had impressed upon Blinken the “need for international support to restore calm to Jerusalem.”

International support? Where from, exactly? The Israel-bashing Security Council?

Indeed, their beliefs are just so myopic, to say nothing short of revolting due to their pathetically weak approach. Already, Bennett and Lapid have set Israel on a path to having its relations with Islamic countries become more injured than need be. Though the reactions by said countries does make clear why their adherence to the Religion of Peace will prevent serious improvement in their own conduct overall.

Jordan condones Islamic violence on Temple Mount

It's hardly a shock they'd do it, though:

Amid escalating diplomatic tensions with Jordan over recent clashes on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Monday that he views “with utmost severity” comments blaming Israel for the violence.

Bennett spoke after Israel’s Foreign Ministry directly accused Jordan of “backing those who… resort to violence.”

Alluding to comments made earlier in the day by Jordan’s prime minister, Bennett lashed out at “the remarks accusing Israel of the violence directed against us,” and fumed that “there are those who are encouraging rock-throwing and the use of violence against the citizens of the State of Israel.

This is unacceptable to us,” he said. “This is a reward for the inciters, especially Hamas, which are trying to ignite violence in Jerusalem. We will not allow this to happen.”

This is one thing, in itself, where Bennett's right upon, even though again, he has blame of his own to shoulder in how he's handled things. With that told, here's where the Jordanian government reared their ugly head, demonstrating their true image influenced by Islam:

Earlier Monday, Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh hailed Palestinian rioters and used unusually hostile language to condemn “Zionist sympathizers” and what he called Israel’s “occupation government.”

“I salute every Palestinian, and all the employees of the Jordanian Islamic Waqf, who proudly stand like minarets, hurling their stones in a volley of clay at the Zionist sympathizers defiling the Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the Israeli occupation government,” Khasawneh told a session of the Jordanian parliament.

Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar directly responded to the Jordanian prime minister’s remarks, tweeting that “statements made by senior officials in the Kingdom of Jordan are grave and unacceptable.”

“The sovereignty of Israel in Jerusalem as its capital is the guarantee of freedom of worship for members of all religions in the city. The attempts of extremist and terrorist elements, such as Hamas, to ignite the territory through a false anti-Israel campaign are transparent and should be condemned,” he added.

And while Saar's response is valid, in itself, let's not forget he too has blame to shoulder, mainly because he went into this government as part of a boycott of Netanyahu, not out of altruistic motives.

This editorial makes a point what the real motivations were by the jihadists:

The Muslims who stockpiled stones, rocks, logs and firecrackers in al-Aqsa did not do so for religious purposes. They prepared for a riot – to attack police and Jewish worshipers – not for prayers. Police did not storm al-Aqsa Mosque to “conquer” it. They broke in to arrest the rock throwers who had barricaded themselves inside after Friday prayers. Some of the masked Palestinians waved Hamas flags and praised arch-terrorist Muhammed Deif as they tried to bombard the Jewish worshipers who had come to pray at the Western Wall at the start of the Passover holiday.

[...] It is Jewish worship that is limited at Judaism’s holiest site. The Muslim extremists object to any Jewish presence on Temple Mount and now refer to the entire area as “al-Aqsa” and yesterday they threw rocks at buses traveling to the Western Wall. Jews who ascend Temple Mount note, however, that part of the area serves as a soccer field, far from serving religious needs.

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian Authority have all accused Israel of carrying out “provocations” and an “assault” at the site. They are hoping to turn it into a battle cry. It is easy to rally Muslims everywhere around the lie that al-Aqsa is in danger and needs defending. The terrorist organizations are hoping that this becomes as self-fulfilling prophesy.

And Jordan's only adding fuel to the fire by backing this up, which demonstrates what an enemy country they actually are. It suggests that one day, relations with them will fall apart altogether, so long as they adhere to the Religion of Peace.

Democrats accept Islamic extremism

There's Islamic movements in the USA that get embraced by the Democrats and others on the left full force, at Israel's expense:

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) has come a long way from its shadowy origins as an instrument of Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. Without moderating its hardline anti-Israel views, AMP has reformed its image and cultivated willing advocates among the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. During annual Palestine Advocacy Days on Capitol Hill, AMP lobbyists have met with dozens of members of Congress and their staffs, promoting legislation that would isolate Israel and favor radical jihadist groups.

U.S. Representatives such as Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) remain steadfast allies of AMP and its newly formed lobbying arm, Americans for Justice in Palestine-Action, championing its legislative proposals and serving as guest speakers at the nonprofit’s annual conventions. AMP’s congressional supporters have maintained these relations despite the Islamist organization’s penchant for anti-Semitism and extremism.

On November 21, AMP executive director Osama Abuirshaid attended a conference in Jordan, appearing alongside terrorist members of Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Abuirshaid was featured on a panel discussing a “New Arab Strategy” to confront Israel. Apparently, Abuirshaid’s plans include “exploiting” American racial tensions and calling the U.S. an “apartheid state” to build international support for Palestinians.

It's sickening, and tragically, this looks like what the USA is going to contend with for a long time.

Interpol drops warrant for jihadist Tamimi

Interpol's caused severe offense by canceling a warrant for the arrest of Ahlam Tamimi, one of the jihadists who committed murder at the site of a Sbarro pizza store in Jerusalem 2 decades ago:

Outrage erupted on Sunday after it was revealed that Interpol had dropped its international warrant for Palestinian terrorist Ahlam Tamimi, who was involved in the 2001 suicide bombing at the Sbarro pizza parlor in Jerusalem that killed 15 people, including American citizen Malki Roth.

Tamimi was serving over a dozen life sentences in an Israeli prison when she was freed in 2011, as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange. She lives in Jordan, which has refused to extradite her to the United States for trial.

She remains listed as a “most wanted terrorist” by the FBI.

The Times of Israel reported on March 12 that Interpol had dropped the international warrant, saying Tamimi was no longer “subject to an Interpol notice.” Tamimi’s picture was also taken off Interpol’s most wanted list. [...]

Malki Roth’s father Arnold called Interpol’s move “blunt and unwelcome” on the family’s blog, and said the international group had “succumbed to pressure from the fugitive’s family, lawyers, and clan in Jordan.”

“My wife and I will not give up in our efforts to see this loathsome person — the embodiment of murderous bigotry — eventually brought to justice to answer for her crimes,” he pledged.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, sent a letter to Interpol’s secretary-general urging him to reverse the decision, noting that Tamimi “has publicly shown lack of remorse and claimed her pride for this attack.”

I'd say this is another example of the loss of morale the world's undergoing after Donald Trump was sadly robbed of reelection last year. Now, even Interpol's caving to the distasteful monsters who committed heinous crimes years before.

This year's Jerusalem Day had limited attendance, but is taking place

The Jewish Press has some photos of people who took part in the Jerusalem Day celebrations, though this year's were unfortunately limited because of the Coronavirus situation. But, they did take place, and that's something to admire and be happy about. It's an important event celebrating the time we liberated the city from the grasp of the Islamofascist entity embodied by Jordan, and reinstated cohesion in 1967.

New Israeli unity government now inaugurated

Finally, after at least a year of deadlock in the Knesset, there's a government in motion, even if it is a unity government:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented his new unity government to the Knesset on Sunday, ending more than a year of political deadlock as he prepares to go on trial in a week for alleged corruption.

The Knesset held a confidence vote to approve the newly appointed ministers and to appoint Netanyahu as the head of the new government. Netanyahu then took the oath of office for the fifth time as prime minister.

Netanyahu's power-sharing agreement with former election rival, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, opens the way to proceed toward the application of Israeli sovereignty over Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as part of the newly released Trump administration peace plan.

I sure hope it'll be possible, most importantly, to annex these areas back into the Israel they're truly part of, and Jordan, recalling that their "king" is threatening to trash all peace agreements over a petty issue, had better not act inappropriately. MK Uzi Dayan says sovereignty is near:

MK Uzi Dayan (Likud) spoke to Arutz Sheva from the Knesset inauguration ceremony and said that the incoming government has an opportunity to apply sovereignty over the Jordan Valley.

"It wasn't easy going all the way but we managed to form a government," said Dayan regarding the newly established unity government.

"It's very important to [make the most] of this period of time mainly because of the need to address the coronavirus crisis, but also because of the opportunities that lie ahead—applying Israeli sovereignty in particular." "We will begin from the Jordan Valley and [applying sovereignty] to Israeli settlements is something that I don't think we have ever had an opportunity to do," He added.

Let's hope so. It's a real shame that for now, Yamina's decided to bolt from the coalition, and basically bamboozle their voter base. They had a chance to prove power wasn't all that's important to them. They failed. Let's hope it becomes their downfall, if they continue with this farce.

And that's not all to worry about. There's also the ICC's threat to deal with, now that they want to get sanctions imposed upon Israel. One more reason why Yamina's stunt is reprehensible.

So it's time to see if the new Israeli government will prove effective in any way.