LIES OF THE BDS MOVEMENT AGAINST ISRAEL
(FLAME article)

FLAME has been successfully countering the lies of the BDS movement for years. To spread the facts of the matter—that BDS uses a double standard in accusing Israel, that BDS leaders oppose peace with Israel and that BDS actually supports destroying Israel—FLAME has been publishing a powerful paid editorial message in media nationwide, including college newspapers, reaching 10 million readers. It’s called “The Truth about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement—Does it stand for Middle East peace or does it seek Israel’s destruction?” I hope you’ll review this hasbarah message and pass it on to all your contacts. If you agree that FLAME’s outspoken brand of public relations on Israel’s behalf is critical, I urge you to help us continue to run this message, so Americans will better understand the insidious lies BDS tells about the Jewish state.

Those calling for a boycott of Israel are ignoring some painful truths

Yair Lapid, February 19, 2015, The Guardian

This past weekend, 700 British artists had a letter published in the Guardian in which they called on others to boycott Israel until what they term the “colonial occupation” ends. As an Israeli politician who supports the creation of a Palestinian state, it has been a long time since I saw a letter so shallow and lacking in coherence.

The fact that, as is common with petitions like this, the majority of the signatories are unaware of the reality here in the Middle East, doesn’t reassure me. It only takes one “useful idiot” like Roger Waters (the expression is not an insult but a phrase attributed to Lenin to describe weak liberals used by cynical regimes for their own ends) to call Israel an apartheid state and the liberal choir will immediately stand to attention and sing the chorus with him. Why? Because everyone wants to be like Nelson Mandela but no one has the patience to learn the details.

I wonder if, before they put their names to the letter, anyone told the 700 signatories that twice already – once in 2000 and once in 2008 – Israel offered the Palestinians the chance to build an independent state on over 90% of the territories, and on both occasions the Palestinians refused?

Do they know that Gaza is ruled by Hamas, a terrorist organisation that punishes homosexuality with hanging? That severely restricts the freedom of women to do such dangerous things as running a marathon or riding a scooter? Where Jews and Christians don’t have the right to live?

Maybe when they aren’t signing petitions they would prefer democratic regimes, like Israel, where there is freedom of expression and freedom of the press and where rights for the LGBT community are protected by law. Where Muslims and Christians serve in the supreme court, the Knesset and senior positions in the military; where women have served as Prime Minister, as President of the supreme court and in the highest ranks of the army?

As artists – who by definition are people with imagination – are they willing to take a moment and consider this: let’s imagine that following a call in the Guardian the IDF puts down its weapons and stops protecting the people of Israel for 24 hours – what do they think would happen?

If you don’t share the imagination of an artist let me tell you: radical Islamists would kill us all. Women and children first. That’s what they’re doing to their brethren in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and across the Islamic world. What are the chances that they’d spare us?

To end the conflict Israel only has one demand: security for our citizens. We don’t believe that’s unreasonable. In 2005, as part of the disengagement from Gaza, Israel pulled out without any demands from Gaza, took down the settlements and removed the army from the area.

Peace is not promoted by an Israel boycott.
We expected the Palestinians would take the opportunity to build schools, hospitals and factories but instead they kicked out the Palestinian Authority from Gaza and brought in Hamas – a fundamentalist Islamist terror group of the worst kind. And after a few months they began building terror tunnels into Israeli territory and started massive rocket and mortar fire upon the innocent civilian population.

Not long ago I visited my friend Gila Tregerman who lives in southern Israel. Her son, Daniel, was killed a few months ago by a mortar shell the Palestinians fired on his house. He was four years old. A little young to be a colonial occupier.

I am not a British artist. I guess I’ll never be as complex as Ken Loach or as grandiose as Richard Ashcroft. What I want is far more modest: for people not to try to kill me just because I’m a Jew. For Jews in Europe to be able to stand safely outside synagogues and do their shopping in a kosher supermarket and for Jews in Israel to be safe from the threat of rockets and mortars.

MAYOR RUDY TAKES ON OBAMA AND MEGYN KELLY

The man who should be our President said something provocative about the man who is our President.

Rudy Giuliani said he does not believe that Obama loves America.

He has never been shy about speaking his mind, this man who saved New York City while he was mayor from 1994 to 2001.

You will recall that after the 9/11 attacks, 3,000 dead at the hands of mostly Saudi Islamist terrorists, Mayor Rudy turned down a $10 million pledge from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The check, to help the town recover, came with a price too high for Mayor Rudy.

Talal suggested that American support for Israel made those terrorists do what they did. Rudy declined the money and the lecture.

“I entirely reject that statement,” Mayor Rudy said back then, loudly and clearly. “There is no moral equivalent for this (terrorist) act.”

Fast forward to a couple of days ago and here’s Mayor Rudy again speaking plain English:

“I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the President loves America. He doesn’t love you. And he doesn’t love me. He wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country.”

Oh brother…and here came an avalanche of tweets trashing Mayor Rudy for saying what he thinks and what a few others may have in mind.

First to be shocked – shocked, shocked, I tell you – was Debbie Wasserman Schultz. This is the lady who heads the Democrat National Committee.

These are the people who gave us Barack Obama.

Debbie Schultz, who is always outraged at whatever Republicans have to say, was outraged again. Imagine a man refusing to bow to our beloved leader.

Next day or so Mayor Rudy showed up on Fox News with Megyn Kelly, given a chance to take back or soften what he dared to say. I don’t know what got into our gal Megyn. Why take the quarrelsome approach to the only political hero we have left from either political party?

Love of country is not built from facts. It’s an emotion you have or you don’t. It can’t be explained.
As our man Rudy kept doubling down on his original remarks about Obama, Megyn kept peppering him with questions that, I believe, drove him near tears. This was a man speaking truly from the pain in his heart. Kelly, who has a law degree, kept badgering the witness. She demanded facts to support his position against Obama.

Love of country is not built from facts. It’s an emotion you have or you don’t. It can’t be explained. Love of any kind can’t be defined.

This was a “Kelly Moment” too far.

Mayor Rudy mentioned Obama’s many ties to the Radical Left from boyhood on. He asked how Obama could love America after listening to Reverend Wright for 17 years – the same preacher who preached hate against America from Sunday to Sunday. Megyn challenged this. Maybe Obama wasn’t there every Sunday.

Oh come on, Megyn! Please!

If you think like Mayor Rudy, you have to be concerned about what’s coming these next two years, especially if you are Jewish and even if you are Christian. If you trust Mayor Rudy’s instincts, you have to wonder why so many White House invitations go to Muslim leaders while Jewish and Christian leaders are absent.

Or is it that Obama loves America, but only in bits and pieces, those parts that suit his politics?

If you cheer Mayor Rudy for standing tall against the world, ditto Editor Jay Garfield along these eye-opening pages.

As for the conspiracy theory that has Megyn and the entire Fox network changing tunes because of Arab oil money – nonsense.

But it is true that Prince Talal, yes, here he is again, owns a chunk of Fox Broadcasting.

Talal owns a piece of everything. Nearly all major news organizations are part of a global system that curries strange and corrupting alliances.

It’s been reported that this Prince of a guy, Talal, exercises shareholder influence over Rupert Murdoch. But Murdoch is solidly pro-Israel and through Roger Ailes, who runs the operation, Fox News remains the go-to network for friends of America, friends of Israel, friends of truthful journalism. Fox News is the lonely exception.

This observer is still high on Megyn Kelly.

She never goes soft on Radical Islam (or anything!) On that topic she has been courageously outspoken.

We trust Megyn Kelly even after this one time when she got it wrong on Mayor Rudy, who got it right on President Obama.

ARAB STATES WORRIED ABOUT IRAN DEAL
by Elad Benari (Arutz Sheva News)

Arab governments reportedly tell Washington they fear a bad deal with Iran will cause a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

Arab governments have been privately expressing their concern to Washington about the emerging terms of a potential nuclear deal with Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing Arab and U.S. officials involved in the deliberations.

According to the report, the direction of American diplomacy with Tehran has added fuel to fears in some Arab states of a nuclear-arms race in the region, as well as reviving talk about possibly extending a U.S. nuclear umbrella to Middle East allies to counter any Iranian threat.

The major Sunni states, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, have said that a final agreement could allow Shiite-dominated Iran, their regional rival, to keep the technologies needed to produce nuclear weapons, according to these officials, while removing many of the sanctions that have crippled its economy in recent years.

Arab officials said a deal would likely drive Saudi Arabia, for one, to try to quickly match Iran’s nuclear capabilities, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“At this stage, we prefer a collapse of the diplomatic process to a bad deal,” an Arab official who has discussed Iran with the Obama administration and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks told the newspaper.

The Obama administration initially said its policy was to completely dismantle Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure as a means to protect Washington’s Mideast allies.

Now, however, officials say it is no longer plausible to eliminate all of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, suggesting that any final deal would leave some nuclear capability in place.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Arab officials have increasingly spoken about a possible nuclear arms race in the Mideast as the negotiations have continued for 18 months, having been extended twice.

U.S. officials have declined to publicly disclose terms of the deal being negotiated with Iran. But they stress that they have closely consulted with Washington’s Arab allies about the diplomatic process.

The Obama administration believes an agreement with Iran will curtail the potential for a nuclear arms race in the Mideast, rather than fuel one.

“Only a good negotiated solution will result in long-term confidence that Iran won’t acquire a nuclear weapon,” a senior American official was quoted as having said.

“Given Iran already has the technical capability, our goal has always been to get to one-year breakout time and cut off the four pathways under a very constrained program,” added the official.

Given the concerns of Arab allies, the White House may need to provide them with greater security guarantees if it concludes a deal that stops short of dismantling Tehran’s ability to produce nuclear fuel, some former U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal, citing the possible need to place Arab states in the Persian Gulf under the U.S.’s nuclear umbrella.

“It will be destabilizing to our friends and allies,” Stephen Hadley, a national-security adviser to President George W. Bush , said at a February 11 conference hosted by the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank. “They will probably, in any event, hedge, in trying to have their own nuclear programs.”

The White House has stressed its policy isn’t to contain Tehran, but to deny it the capability to produce atomic bombs, making a formal defense pact unnecessary. But the talks have stoked regional anxiety, and Arab officials have held discussions about a possible nuclear umbrella with former U.S. officials and academics within recent weeks.

Arab governments have steered clear of aligning their statements with Israel, but share many of that country’s fears, U.S. and Arab diplomats said.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who has been perhaps the most vocal critic of the deal with Iran, said last week that Israel knows the details of the planned nuclear deal with Iran and warned that it is a bad one.

“I think this is a bad agreement that is dangerous for the state of Israel, and not just for it,” said Netanyahu, adding, “If anyone thinks otherwise what is there to hide here?”

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki later questioned whether Netanyahu indeed knows “more than the negotiators” about the talks, saying “there is no deal yet.”

“Obviously, if there’s a deal we’ll be explaining the deal and explaining why and how it prevents Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. And if that’s the case and we come to a deal, it’s hard to see how anyone wouldn’t see that’s to the benefit of the international community,” added Psaki.

The Obama administration has acknowledged that Iran will be allowed to maintain thousands of the centrifuge machines used to produce nuclear fuel as part of any final deal. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and others have argued these machines should be completely dismantled, since the centrifuges could be used for both civilian and military purposes.

Despite sharing Israel’s concerns about an Iran deal, Arab leaders haven’t tempered their calls for the U.S. to also address Israel’s suspected nuclear weapons arsenal, noted The Wall Street Journal.

While Arab countries are not publicly aligning their position with Israel, there were reports in recent months, mostly based out of Iran, that Israel was collaborating with Saudi Arabia against Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran’s accusations came in a series of Iranian media reports claiming, among other things, that the head of the Saudi intelligence service met with several senior Israeli security officials and that a Saudi Arabian delegation flew to Israel for meetings with high-ranking Israeli officials, including Netanyahu.

An earlier report said that Israel and Saudi Arabia had teamed up to launch a virus against Iran’s nuclear program.

OBAMA’S IRAN POLICY AND NETANYAHU’S VISIT
by Efraim Inbar (Arutz Sheva News)

Obama does not want Netanyahu in Washington because he considers him a spoiler of his most important foreign policy initiative – an agreement with Iran. The PM might try the military option, and destroy Obama’s only foreign policy “success.”

Unfortunately, there are many sources of tension between the Obama administration and Netanyahu’s government. The main issue of discord is, of course Iran. Obama seeks an agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran over its nuclear program that will allow President Obama to claim that he prevented Tehran from building the bomb. The fact that Iran will maintain the capability to enrich uranium, and will not dismantle any of its nuclear installations, is simply swept under the rug as insignificant.

Strange as it sounds, it seems that Obama is prepared to brand Iran as a US strategic partner in the attempt to bring stability to a region beleaguered by chaos.

Part of this realignment involves American capitulation on the nuclear issue, and an apparent carte blanche for stepped up Iranian activity and influence in the region. Iran is taking over Yemen (and throwing American diplomats out of the country); carving a sphere of influence in Iraq; continuing to support the brutal Assad regime in Damascus; strengthening Hezbollah’s grip over Lebanon; engaging in subversion in Central Asia; and developing its terrorist apparatus.

Obama, perhaps obsessively, now wants the relationship with Iran to serve as his foreign policy legacy. In the context of Obama’s “Grand Bargain” with Iran, all this seems to be okay. Tehran gets all it wants, while Washington gets an Iranian promise not to go nuclear as long as Obama is in the White House. Having made no foreign policy achievements throughout his Presidency, Obama, perhaps obsessively, now wants the relationship with Iran to serve as his foreign policy legacy.

This foolish behavior negatively affects America’s own position in the Middle East, as well as the national interests of its closest ally, Israel. Obama does not care about American international stature. He has advocated a retrenched position in world affairs. Israel, as well, has never been close to his heart, but Obama understands that Israeli concerns strike a sensitive chord with the American public.

This is precisely why he does not want Netanyahu to speak in the US Congress. Obama fears that Netanyahu’s planned March 3 speech could become a catalyst for a public debate about his own dangerous policy toward Iran. He does not want undue publicity for his dangerous foreign policy gambit. The last thing he needs is a gifted orator such as Netanyahu pointing out the glaring deficiencies in the American approach toward Iran.

And this is precisely why Netanyahu is determined to defy Obama’s wishes. The gravity of the Iranian threat is understood by Israelis of all political hues. As long as there is a chance, however slight, that an address to Congress will reinvigorate the public debate in the US on Iran, and obstruct the administration’s attempt to sign a deal, Netanyahu feels compelled to make a stand against all odds to halt a bad deal with Iran. Paradoxically, Obama’s efforts to prevent Netanyahu from visiting Washington, and to convince Congress members to boycott the session, only increase the interest in what Israel’s Prime Minister has to say.

Beyond the personal animosity and the vast difference in worldviews, Obama does not want Netanyahu around because he considers Israel’s Prime Minister a serious spoiler of his most important foreign policy initiative. But it is not only in Washington that Obama considers Netanyahu to be unwelcome. Obama wishes to be rid of Netanyahu in Jerusalem as well. This is not the first time we have been witness to American intervention in Israeli elections; with the White House showing displeasure with Likud candidates, and enlisting Jewish activists and donors for the anti-Netanyahu campaign.

Obama does not want Netanyahu as Prime Minister of Israel even after a deal is signed with Iran. He has no desire to be exposed to Netanyahu’s continued criticism, based on the realization that the proposed deal has many loopholes, or based upon probable Iranian violations of the agreement. He also takes seriously Netanyahu’s statement that Israel is not bound by America’s unilateral agreements. In Obama’s view, a paranoid Netanyahu may still revert to the military option, and thereby destroy his only foreign policy “success.”

Obama is probably right on this point. Among the candidates for Prime Minister in the Israeli elections, only Netanyahu is passionate about Iran, and only Netanyahu would consider ordering the IDF to attack Iranian nuclear installations in defiance of the United States. While the campaign in Israel is focused more on personalities than on issues, the underlying theme of the elections is the Iranian threat and who is best placed and most experienced to tackle this challenge.

Kurds Defeat ISIS in Iraqi Kurdistan’s Capital
Major attack repulsed as 34 ISIS terrorists killed, with tactics and US-led airstrikes turning the tables on jihadists.
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By Arutz Sheva Staff
First Publish: 2/18/2015, 2:47 PM

KURDISH FORCES STOP ISIS

Kurdish peshmerga forces have repulsed a major attack by the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group southwest of Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital Arbil, officials said Wednesday.

“The attack which was launched at 8 p.m. (5 p.m. GMT on Tuesday) was foiled. It lasted four hours and we killed 34 IS(IS) members,” Sirwan Barzani, the local peshmerga commander, told AFP.

He said around 300 jihadists had attacked the villages of Sultan Abdallah and Tal al-Rim, between the towns of Gweyr and Makhmur, an area about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Arbil.

“Daesh (ISIS) was not able to use heavy military vehicles or car bombs due to trenches dug out by peshmerga on the front lines,” said Barzani, also the nephew of Kurdish leader Massud Barzani.

He said the ISIS offensive achieved no gains and added that his operation received air support from the US-led coalition which has carried out hundreds of strikes against ISIS since last August.

“The clashes are over now. We are collecting their bodies,” said Najat Ali, the deputy peshmerga commander on the Makhmur front.

Gweyr and Makhmur were among the very first targets of US air strikes against the jihadists six months ago.

An ISIS advance had brought the jihadists to within striking distance of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous region of Kurdistan.

The jihadists have continued to attack the area nonetheless, including in a surprise offensive last month when they used boats to cross the Zab river and killed at least 26 members of the Kurdish security forces.

LARGEST TREASURE OF GOLD COINS DISCOVERED
(Jerusalem Post Article)

The largest treasure of gold coins discovered in Israel was found in recent weeks on the seabed in the ancient harbor in Caesarea National Park, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said on Tuesday.

A group of divers from the diving club in the harbor reported the find to the IAA whose officials then went with the divers to the location with a metal detector and uncovered almost 2,000 gold coins from the Fatimid period (eleventh century CE) in different denominations: a dinar, half dinar and quarter dinar, of various dimensions and weight.

Kobi Sharvit, director of the Marine Archaeology Unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority said there is probably a shipwreck near the find of an official Fatimid treasury boat which was on its way to the central government in Cairo after collecting taxes. Sharvit said the coins were meant to pay the salaries of the Fatimid military garrison which was stationed in Caesarea, or in the alternative the coins belonged to a large merchant ship.

Sharvit said the divers, Tzvika Feuer, Kobi Tweena, Avivit Fishler, Yoav Lavi and Yoel Miller, were model citizens for reporting the treasure to the IAA.

“They discovered the gold and have a heart of gold that loves the country and its history,” he said.

The Law of Antiquities provides for a punishment of up to five years in jail for the illegal removal or sale of antiquities.

The IAA reported that the earliest coin exposed in the treasure is a quarter dinar minted in Palermo, Sicily in the second half of the ninth century CE. Most of the discovered coins belong to the Fatimid caliphs Al-??kim (996–1021 CE) and his son Al-??hir (1021–1036), and were minted in Egypt and North Africa.

The Fatimids, who came from North Africa, developed the ancient city of Caesarea and other coastal cities in the area.

Robert Cole, an expert numismaticist with the IAA said the coins are in an excellent state of preservation, and despite the fact they were at the bottom of the sea for about a thousand years, they did not require any cleaning or conservation intervention from the metallurgical laboratory.

“Several of the coins that were found in the assemblage were bent and exhibit teeth and bite marks, evidence they were “physically” inspected by their owners or the merchants,” Cole said.

DENMARK & ISRAEL – WE ARE ONE!
(Jerusalem Post Article)

Danish Ambassador to Israel Jesper Vahr reflects on the aftermath of this past weekend’s deadly shooting attacks at a synagogue and cafe in Copenhagen.
Denmark.

This past weekend the scourge of terrorism struck Denmark. Twice.

On Saturday afternoon one person, film director Finn Nørgaard, was killed and three policemen wounded as shots were fired at the entrance to an arts center where a conference entitled “Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression” was taking place.

And shortly after midnight a member of the Jewish community in Copenhagen, Dan Uzan, who was guarding the synagogue and Jewish community center, was killed and two policemen wounded as a man, presumably the same perpetrator, fired shots outside the synagogue in Copenhagen.

Danes are deeply shocked at these reprehensible acts of terrorism. We consider them to be an attack on fundamental values that constitute the cornerstone of our society: democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion and tolerance.

Saturday, many Danes paid visits to the two crime scenes to express their sympathy with the victims and the bereaved families. But also to make the point that these values are part of the DNA of Danish society – and that we are determined to defend them when challenged.

Danes – headed by Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt – flocked to the synagogue to share the grief of the Jewish community and to make it absolutely clear that an attack on the Jewish community in Denmark is an attack on all of Denmark and on all Danes, as the Prime Minister put it.

We are one!

I am grateful for the warm expressions of sympathy that I have received from Israeli friends of Denmark. We are united in our sorrow – but also in our strong commitment to the basic values that were challenged, once again, this past weekend.

As we Danes look ahead, it is essential not to draw the wrong conclusions.

Regardless what the ethnic origins of the perpetrator were, and regardless of his religious beliefs, this is not about a specific religion or a specific community. I am heartened by the fact that representatives of all monotheistic faiths in Denmark have forcefully condemned these acts of terrorism.

If we let those who are behind such acts drive a wedge between us – whether based on ethnicity or religion – and if we let them drive us to compromise on the fundamental values of freedom and tolerance that we hold so dear, they will have won. We cannot let that happen!

NETANYAHU TO JEWS IN EUROPE

Again hit the terror of radical Islam in Europe, this time in Denmark. We send our condolences to the people and to the Jewish community in Denmark. European Jews were murdered on American soil again just for being Jews, and this is expected to continue attacks and murderous anti-Semitism attacks also included.

The Jews are entitled to protection in each country and State, but we say to our brothers and sisters to Jews: Israel is your home. We are calling for the integration of immigrants from Europe. I would like to say to all European Jews, and Jews everywhere: Israel is the home of every Jew.

Today we have confirmed in the Government program to encourage immigrants from France, Belgium and Ukraine totaling 180 million. We further more programs. The Jews of Europe, to the Jews of the world, I say: Israel awaits you with open arms.

NETANYAHU MUST ABSOLUTELY MAKE THAT SPEECH
by Rabbi Dov Fishcher (Arutz Sheva News)

Not to worry about whether Obama will hate Bibi even more and be even more mixed on Israel. There is no “more” that he can hate Bibi, and Obama cannot be worse to Israel than he is because, for reasons beyond his control, he is as bad as he can be.

Bibi absolutely must make that speech. I do not know whether it will do any good, whether it will change anything. But he must make that speech to Congress.

We now have a President in the United States who has absolutely no comprehension as to how to deal with tyrants, dictators, bullies, and thugs. Worse — much worse than that — is that this President does not know what he does not know. He believes he is a genius, the smartest person in the room. He surrounds himself with sycophants who tell him that he is the smartest person in the room. Yes, history will clear it all up, recording him among the five least competent or qualified of all American presidents. Possibly the least of all.

Jewish People in general — and the State of Israel in particular — cannot afford to wait for history to be published in paperback. But the Jewish People in general — and the State of Israel in particular — cannot afford to wait for history to be published in paperback.

Barack Obama became President without ever governing, without ever encountering the real world of terror and dictatorship. He lived a charmed life, albeit with the usual familial setbacks that come from a broken home. He grew up in Hawaii. He went to Columbia University as a transfer student. He then went to Harvard Law School. He will not authorize the release of his transcripts — not the courses he took, not the grades he got, not in college, not in law school.

At the law school he became president of Law Review. As someone who has been Chief Articles Editor of a great American law review, I know personally that one cannot attain such a position unless he or she produces a legal commentary of profound scholarly distinction, a published law review article (sometimes called a “Note” or a “Comment” when authored by a law student). Obama is the only such person of whom I ever have known who rose to such a law review position — selected not based on grades, merely selected by peers — without having produced any published scholarship whatsoever. In other words, he began life by learning how to leverage some special grace that persuaded people around him to open doors for him, allowing him opportunities that most other people obtain only after earning the opportunities by hard work and widespread knowledge.

MORE CASH FOR TERRORISTS!
by Edwin Black (Arutz Sheva News)

Shocking new documents show how Palestinian Authority studies details of each terrorist act before issuing wages to jailed terrorists.

Congressional legislators were astonished last year to learn that the Palestinian Authority was issuing monthly payouts totaling $3-7 million as salaries and other financial rewards to specific terrorists and their families. The money was channeled, in part, through the Ministry of Prisoners pursuant to the Law of the Prisoner. The law set forth a graduated scale, pegging monthly salaries to the length of Israeli jail sentences, which generally reflects the severity of the crime and the number of people killed and/or injured.

Thousands of documents, newly obtained by this reporter through a lawsuit to unseal court-protected files, demonstrate that these payouts are not blind automated payments. Rather, senior Palestinian Authority officials as high as President Mahmoud Abbas scrutinize the details of each case, the specific carnage caused, and the personal details of each terrorist act before approving salaries and awarding honorary ranks in either the PA government or the military.

Ministry of Prisoners spokesman Amr Nasser has explained, “We are very proud of this program and we have nothing to hide.” Nonetheless, in response to the international furor, the Palestinian Authority announced it would replace the Ministry of Prisoners with an outside PLO commission known as the Higher National Commission for Prisoners and Detainees Affairs.

The PA is dependent upon foreign donor countries to supply much of its budget, which now exceeds $4.2 billion annually. About ten percent of the PA budget, more than $400 million, is contributed annually by United States foreign aid. The US and many other countries have enacted laws forbidding any payments when the monies directly or indirectly support or encourage terrorism.

The interdepartmental bureaucratic notations the Palestinian Authority has recorded on each terrorist before approving the level of salaried compensation is extensive. For example, one prominent case involved Ahmad Talab Mustafa Barghouti, who personally coordinated numerous terrorist acts. These included a January 2002 shooting spree on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem, killing two and wounding 37; a March 2002 shooting spree at a Tel Aviv restaurant, killing three and wounding 31; and finally a March 27, 2002 attempt to smuggle an explosive suicide belt in an ambulance. The Israel Defense Forces arrested Ahmad. On July 30, 2002, a military court concluded that he was responsible for murdering 12 Israelis, and Barghouti was sentenced to 13 life sentences.

According to on-going internal Palestinian Authority security reviews dated February 3, 2009 and July 6, 2009, Barghouti’s special compensation began retroactively to July 1, 2002, the first of the month that the 13 life sentences were imposed. At the time of his arrest, Barghouti was a Sergeant in the Palestinian Police. As a reward, while in an Israeli prison, Barghouti’s annual salary of 12,953 Israeli shekels was continued and gradually escalated when he was promoted to First Sergeant. Still in prison, Barghouti was promoted again, this time to Warrant Officer, pursuant to a November 13, 2008 Presidential Order 15999/3, according to Palestinian internal security records. One document lists Barghouti’s bank account as account 36079 at the Housing Bank for Trade and Finance in Ramallah.

A related document tabulates additional monthly allocations for Barghouti’s two named beneficiaries, showing they jointly received 900 shekels in 2002, beginning the month he was sentenced. That monthly allocation rose to 1000 shekels in January 2004. The beneficiary payments were deposited into account 628134 at the Arab Bank’s al Bireh Branch 9030, the documents show.

In another case, terrorist Sa’id Ibrahim Sa’id Ramadan went to a busy Jerusalem street around 2:30 p.m. on January 22, 2002, and began randomly shooting passers-by. Two people were murdered: Sarah Hamburger, 79, and Orna Sandler, 56. Dozens of others were injured. Police shot and killed Ramadan at the scene. Just five days later, on January 27, 2002, Ramadan’s case was reviewed by the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Social Affairs for martyrdom status and to determine the financial benefits that would accrue to the family. That review was conducted by the Martyr’s Families and Injured Care Establishment, a little known organization originally created in 1969 by the Palestine Liberation Organization to systematize financial benefits to those wounded or killed in terrorist attacks deemed acts of “martyrdom.”

“Martyrdom Establishment” compensation is dispensed worldwide, wherever the terrorist act takes place, according to a 2010 Palestinian Authority Social Ministry report. The report states that by 2009, more than 288 million shekels were paid in the program, of which more than 97 million went outside Israel and the Palestinian region to reward international terrorism.

In Ramadan’s case, the opening file noted that his body was still in Israeli custody. Kuwait-born Ramadan’s employment was listed as a Sergeant in the Palestinian Maritime Police. The qualifying martyrdom incident is routinely described in a section headlined “Date and Place of Event,” which simply records “January 22, 2002, West Jerusalem.” In the next section, “Description of Event,” the form states, “He was martyred while executing a martyrdom operation in West Jerusalem. The operation led to the death and injury of a number of Israelis.” In a short biographical sketch, Ramadan is described in these words, “He was known to be a calm person and faithful to his country. Among his expressions was ‘O Martyr! You have tested my soul.’ He was martyred while performing his nation duty.” The Establishment director ruled: “We recommend that he is considered as one of the al-Aqsa Martyrs.”

Some weeks later, a Palestinian Authority internal security document shows approval of the recommendation, concluding “Sergeant Sa’id Ibrahim Sa’id Ramadan, from the Maritime Police/ Northern Governates, is hereby approved as a martyr by the Palestinian Authority as of January 23, 2002, by rank and salary, as he was martyred while performing his national duty.”

The money was “to be disbursed by General Headquarters / Northern Governates / Martyr’s Roster.” Copies of the payment order were routed to the PA’s Financial Administration, the Maritime Police, Social Affairs, Medical Services, Supply and Equipment, and Computer departments, among others.

How much would he get? A married “martyr” would have a family payout of about 1,300 shekels monthly . But the family of an unmarried “martyr” would only be entitled to 400 shekels. The money would go to the father, but when the elder Ramadan passed away, his allocation was transferred to Ramadan’s mother, the documents record. A posthumous August 2006 review stated, “The martyr is single … His mother is alive. The martyr’s father passed away May 5, 2006. I recommend a transfer to the martyr’s mother,” adding, “Her bank account number at Cairo Amman Bank is 349834 … The Islamic Development Bank [previously used by the father] shall be notified of the situation.”

The Barghouti and Ramadan cases are just two of hundreds of terrorists who are rewarded for their actions – not in a blind, faceless program, but in a meticulous, exacting official process that can remain in place for years. The money is represented to donor countries as “government salaries.” Most taxpayers in donor countries have no idea that their well-intended money is actually financing the flames of terrorism.

Edwin Black is the author of the award-winning IBM and the Holocaust, as well as his most recent bestseller, Financing the Flames which broke the story of taxpayer-funded terrorist salaries.