Category: Articles

Palestinian Authority and international NGOs, funded by European governments and working in tandem with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), have launched a campaign seeking to trigger U.N. sanctions against the Jewish state. This information was released in a report published last Thursday by NGO Monitor.

According to NGO Monitor, UNICEF’s Gaza and ‘West Bank’ branch has “built an extensive campaign, using false charges of abuse of Palestinian children in the effort to trigger sanctions against Israel.” They have prioritized including the IDF on the list of child abusers on a list published annually by the UN Secretary General.

During his tenure, President Donald Trump thankfully cut off funding to the tune of $360 million a year to UNRWA. But anti-Israel forces used other funds to demonize her. Biden is looking to restore millions in aid to organizations such as UNRWA that teach hatred of and terror against Israel. Biden is delusional and should think twice about restoring funding. Given the administration he has assembled, with so much hostile-to-Israel staff, we remain concerned.

Sources:
NGO Monitor: EU Funding Campaign in Attempt to Trigger UN Sanctions Against Israel, by Ariel Kahana. Jewish Press, February 18, 2021

New hate-mongering scandals at UN agency that Biden means to send millions, by Post Editorial Board. New York Post, February 17, 2021

Israel’s High Court of Justice denies appeal of landowners whose property has been overtaken by thousands of Bedouin squatters: “This case does not justify judicial interference.”

After a decade of legal proceedings, yesterday (Monday) Israel’s High Court of Justice denied an appeal by owners of private property who sought a court-mandated deadline for the removal of squatters from their land – land located on the outskirts of Bir Hadaj, the crime capital of the Negev. “An outrageous miscarriage of justice.”

Yesterday (Monday), Israel’s High Court of Justice rejected a petition filed by individual land owners whose property has been overrun by Bedouin squatters. Over the past number of years, , more than 1,000 Bedouin families invaded state land and private properties on the outskirts Kibbutz Revivim, while rejecting a series of increasingly generous relocation-compensation packages offered by the Israeli government. The owners of the property took their case to court ten years ago, and in their most recent appeal, they sought a court-mandated timetable for the restoration of their property.

Sources:
Report from Regavim February 23, 2021

Since the beginning of 2020, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has been trying to hide the financial record of its payments to the Palestinian terrorist prisoners and released terrorists (together hereinafter “the terrorist prisoners”). In 2018 and 2019, the PA monthly budget performance reports clearly listed the transfer expenditures of the “Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs,” which was primarily the payments to terrorist prisoners, as 502 and 517 million shekels respectively. In 2020, the budget category of the “Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs” (later by the PA called the Commission for Detainees’ Affairs) was removed altogether. However, throughout 2020, numerous statements by PA and PLO officials confirmed that the PA continued to pay hundreds of millions of shekels a year in terror rewards. Consequently, it was clear that the PA had decided to pay terrorists in a roundabout way so that there would be no reference to the salaries at all in their budget.

Palestinian Media Watch has examined the PA’s financial reports throughout 2020 and can now report both where the payments are being hidden, and that the amount the PA spent on terrorists salaries in 2020 was no less than 512 million shekels.

Source:
How much did PA spend on terror salaries in 2020?, by Maurice Hirsch, Itamar Marcus, and Nan Jacques Zilberdik. Palestinian Media Watch, February 22, 2021

 

The United Nations has called for international support in favor of the Palestinians who again attempted to steal Jewish owned land. The UN call came after the IDF this week prevented Palestinians from erecting new tents at the site of the demolished illegal herding village of Khirbat Humsa in the Jordan Valley.

“The support of the broader international community is critical, to ensure the Israeli authorities guarantee humanitarian access to provide assistance to people in need,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Palestinian territories said Wednesday in an appeal it put out for the community of around 100 people.

The community is located in an IDF firing zone, in a remote location, off a dirt road. The Civil Administration demolished its tents in November. When the families erected the tent village a second time, the IDF returned in February, moving tents during five different demolition incidents, after residents continued to rebuild.

Professor Hillel Frisch’s BESA Center Executive Summary states, The Palestinian Authority’s decade-long plan to take control of the West Bank’s Area C is being implemented successfully. This is a historic game-changer in the 100-year-old conflict that requires an immediate and massive Israeli response.

Is what we’ve reported here Fact or Fiction? What’s the truth about what’s really going on in Area C? Could Israel really be losing the battle for land that is legally hers?

Join AFSI this coming Sunday to learn the truth about The Big Lie Of Khirbet Humsa. Naomi Kahn of REGAVIM in Israel will give us the inside story with fact not fiction. You don’t want to miss this! Be sure to register on ZOOM!!

Sources:
UN calls for international support in Palestinian battle to rebuild Humsa, by Tovah Lazaroff. Jerusalem Post, February 17, 2021

The PA Is Winning in Area C, by Prof. Hillel Frisch. Besa Center, February 17, 2021

The recent announcement by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open a probe of War Crimes against Israeli actions and soldiers requires an investigation into the behavior of Israel’s (IDF) soldiers and their treatment toward their fellow human beings. It also begs an examination into the State Of Israel’s attitude and dealings with of its Palestinian neighbors.

In his Arutz Sheva article, David Kramer took the opportunity to look further into this and came up with the following findings that prove the ICC is wrong. Also linked on our website is The International Legal Forum’s recent report on Why the ICC Decision on “Palestine” Should Concern You.

Even if the ICC had jurisdiction over Israel, which they don’t, they are basing their claims on false evidence.

Sources:
IDF soldiers commit Crimes for Humanity, by David Kramer. Arutz Sheva, February 18, 2021

Why the ICC Decision Should Concern You, The International Legal Forum, February 81, 2021

Knesset bill outlines plan to defend Israel from ICC probe, by Ariel Kahana. Israel Hayom, February 17, 2021

Israel said on Thursday it is developing a new ballistic missile shield, the Arrow-4, with the United States. This is another layer in a defensive system built with an eye towards Iran.

Israel’s Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 interceptors are already operational as part of a multi-layered system to destroy incoming missiles in the atmosphere and in space.

“The development of Arrow-4 together with our American partners will result in a technological and operational leap forward, preparing us for the future battlefield and evolving threats in the Middle East and beyond,” Defense Minister Benny Gantz said in a statement.

Source:
Israel announces ‘technological leap forward’ in new Arrow interceptor, by Reuters and ILH Staff. Israel Hayom, February 18, 2021

We’re following three separate stories that illustrate how money keeps terrorism alive.

Former PA Terror Member Speaks
A dramatic letter written by a former terrorist who is running for president of the Palestinian Authority reveals the extent to which the budgets funneled to the PA from Israel and the world fuel death and terror. The time has come for the world to take notice.

Much is said about the huge sums the world pours into the Palestinian Authority and what happens to them after they get there. The reports have prompted a number of European countries to considerably reduce their aid to the PA, and the Trump administration stopped it almost completely. We also hear from time to time from the Palestinian in the street about the corruption in the PA: he is well aware that these monies disappear without improving his life in any way.

A former terrorist who is now a candidate in the upcoming PA presidential elections recently wrote about the PA’s misuse of international aid. His words are addressed mainly to two audiences—the Israeli government and the countries that contribute to the PA:

My name is Muhammad Aref Massad [and I am] from the village of Burqin, Jenin District, Palestine. I was born in 1975. I was recruited to the terror organizations when I was 13, and I fought boldly against the Israeli side, but to my sorrow I discovered that the Palestinian leaders do not want freedom and do not want peace because they profit from the war and destruction in which we are engulfed. The greater the number of fatalities among our people, the more attention they get from the free and good people in the world, and the world gives them large quantities of aid each time the pictures of destruction in our land are published worldwide.

Exposed by Israel’s Combined Security Services
Israel’s combined security services have exposed and neutralized a money transferring mechanism between Hamas’ headquarters in Turkey and Hamas terror infrastructure in Judea and Samaria, the Ministry of Defense announced Monday.

Hamas in Turkey sent merchandise to its operators in Judea and Samaria, who sold the commodities and used the proceeds to develop their terrorist infrastructure.

Minister of Defense Benny Gantz signed an order for the seizure of goods worth hundreds of thousands of shekels that were transferred by commercial companies under the guise of legal trade.

Campaign Donation?
Also in the news, Joint Arab List leader Ayman Odeh has allegedly received payments from a senior Palestinian official, Channel 20, Israeli cable television’s right-wing heritage channel, reported on Sunday.

The incident in question reportedly took place when Odeh visited Paris, France, in March 2018, to attend a conference organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

A source privy to the meeting in Paris told Channel 20 that “Khuri funds various expenses MK Odeh has as the head of an Arab party. … The funds were given to Odeh with the knowledge and approval of Abu Mazen,” the source added, using the name by which Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas commonly goes in Arab circles.

“Abu Mazen saw Odeh as having the power to change the political map. The funds are meant to cover Odeh’s personal expenses ahead of the elections in Israel.”

Sources:
The Truth About Financial Aid to the Palestinian Authority, by Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Mordechai Kedar. Besa Center, February 16, 2021

Israel Exposes and Neutralizes Money Transferring Mechanism between Hamas in Turkey and Hamas in Judea and Samaria, by Aryeh Savir/TPS. Tazpit Press Service, February 15, 2021

Report: Joint Arab List head received money from PLO, by ILH Staff. Israel Hayom, February 15, 2021

According to Gabi Harow, a resident of the Israeli settlement of Nokdim in Gush Etzion, there have been massive changes in the landscape since he moved to the community with his family in 2012.

“The amount of illegal Arab building and the takeover of the land have grown tremendously,” he told JNS. “You see structures going up all the time in our area and in the nature reserves between our community and the Judean Desert.”

Harow said that Nokdim has been “slowly, slowly” losing its 150 acres of agricultural space.

“For residents, losing land, left and right, is a scary thought,” added. “It seems that the Israeli government has no problem intervening when it comes to illegal Jewish building, but doesn’t prevent illegal Arab building.”

Source:
The ongoing battle over illegal construction in Judea and Samaria ~Josh Hasten. Jewish News Syndicate, February 15, 2021

A group of about 20 activists of the left-wing Combatants for Peace movement arrived in the Hemdat area of ​​the Jordan Valley on Saturday to harass local Israeli farmers.

They cut a 500-meter-long barbed wire fence and hung signs in its place. After a resident of the area identified the vandalism and called the police, forces arrived on the scene.

A complaint was filed against the vandals.

Combatants for Peace activists have been recorded inciting violence against Israelis. One activist encouraged a third intifada. Another one was documented accusing Israelis in Judea and Samaria of causing cancerous diseases in the Arab villages, as they flow their sewage, transport pigs in trucks and more.

The organization’s activists also said that the organization receives funds indirectly from the New Israel Fund so that it does not appear that the Fund supports the organization directly.

The DMU Project, an organization that monitors anti-Israel activities, said that incidents of Israeli anarchists harassing the residents of the Jordan Valley have become commonplace.

“We have warned many times about illegal actions carried out by the Combatants for Peace organization in the Jordan Valley and other places in Judea and Samaria. The case today is particularly serious, and it is an escalation,” DMU stated.

“Combatants for Peace prides itself on committing vandalism and agricultural crime under the auspices of an ideological act. The authorities must handle the case severely and take action against the recurrence of the case and the organization must compensate for the damage it has done,” DMU demanded.

Source:
Left-Wing Org Harasses Israeli Farmers in Jordan Valley, by TPS. Tazpit Press Service, February 14, 2021

Hundreds of people, including Settlement Minister Tzahi Hanegbi, MK Ariel Kallner and candidates Amichai Shikli and Simcha Rothman, attended a protest rally near Nokdim.

The protest event was against the PA takeover of state lands and Jewish community property and against the environmental destruction in the areas of the “Agreement Reserve” (a nature reserve in the northern Judean Desert) led by the PA together with the European Union.

The decision to hold the demonstration in this location stems from the establishment of a PA outpost in the lands of the Nokdim community.

Source:
Hundreds demonstrate against PA takeover of land in ‘Area C’, by Hezki Baruch. Arutz Sheva, February 10, 2021