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August 2016

Is Israel about to Sign a Terrible Deal? by Shoshana Bryen

100% of the money will be spent in the U.S., while Israel is presently able to spend 25% in Israel. This is a subsidy for U.S. defense industries and constrains Israel’s defense choices by forcing the IDF to exclude weapons from Europe and elsewhere.

Without the ability to spend some money in Israel, it will be harder for smaller defense and high-tech industries to keep up.

Israel will be prohibited from asking Congress for additional funds for ten years, effectively removing a bipartisan center of support for Israel’s security from the equation and reducing Israel’s flexibility in addressing rapidly emerging threats.

This could be particularly problematic: an administration that opposes missile defense in principle — as does the Obama administration — could effectively stifle Israel, which protects its people with a layered missile defense system.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is an agreement between two parties — in this case, the governments of Israel and the United States. It is less than a treaty, more than a handshake. The first MOU was signed in 1981, recognizing “the common bonds of friendship between the United States and Israel and builds on the mutual security relationship that exists between the two nations.” The current MOU, signed in 2007, represented a 10-year commitment. The Obama Administration and the government of Israel have been negotiating a new 10-year agreement that will come into effect in 2017.

UPDATE FROM FRANCE: NIDRA POLLER

The media have a way of wrapping up big stories like the slaughter of a priest in a Normandy church as if there is nothing important left to say or to learn ten days after the incident. The item sinks to the lower depths, small details pop up like junk in the surf. The mayor of Montluçon will not deliver an inhumation permit for Abdelamlik Petitjean; he wasn’t born there, the law doesn’t allow him to be buried there. Or is it “require”? Is the mayor taking advantage of an option? In any case, neither Kermiche nor Petitjean is welcome in our cemeteries. Some Danish Muslims offered to perform the rites for Kermiche.

This media practice of tying the knots and putting a story on the shelf gives the impression that the general population concurs. Not so. As for me, I can’t stop writing about it. My readers have a choice; if you’re no longer interested, you can skip it. I can’t.

The mayor of St. Dié des Vosges has publicly announced that he will not allow Abdelmalik Petitjean to be buried in his commune, even though he was born there. He thinks the terrorist should be buried in an unmarked grave in a secret location. This is one more indication of the climate of opinion today in France.

I receive countless messages from friends in other lands, informing me by attached articles that the Hollande government has flatly announced that there will be more attacks and nothing can be done about it. And the population is duly resigned. Others inform me that Europeans have simply not caught on to this Islamic game. They’ll be suckered until they are conquered. Still others are preparing to celebrate the victory of Marine Le Pen, the only politician in the whole of France who knows the score and can do what has to be done.

Polls are showing that security has jumped to first place in the concerns of French voters, ahead of jobs, the economy, and purchasing power.

What else is new?

Several of Adel Kermiche’s ex-cellmates have spoken up. The young man was a flaming radical. Nothing subtle about him. Unfortunately, former Justice Minister Christiane Taubira—famous for her corn rows, gay marriage bill, and talent for quoting great writers in her impassioned speeches—dismantled the prison intel network set up under the Sarkozy administration. Specialized anti-terrorism judges have complained that they were getting zero information from the penitentiaries. Socialist Youth movement president Bernard Lucas, however, stands with Taubira and the dissident fringe of the Left opposed to their party’s dérive sécuritaire, a sort of hardening of the national security arteries.

First Turkey, Then the World? Erdogan Sets off Western Alarms Chris Mitchell

JERUSALEM, Israel – The recent coup attempt in Turkey shook one of the most important nations in the Middle East to its foundation. The aftershocks, however, could likely have a greater impact not only within Turkey but throughout the region and beyond.

Since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his supporters foiled July’s attempted coup, he’s dismissed thousands of soldiers, judges, and teachers. The government also shut down more than 130 media outlets and made many arrests.

Erdogan blamed a man named Fethullah Gullen for the coup. The two were former allies, but after a falling out are now bitter enemies.

In 1999, Gullen fled Turkey and gained asylum in the United States. He now controls a large movement from his Pennsylvania home that includes many supporters inside Turkey. Although Gullen denies any involvement in the failed coup, Erdogan’s purge seems to be targeting many of the cleric’s followers.

Former Israeli diplomat Alon Liel told CBN News Turkey is experiencing “a revolution inside a revolution.”

“Gullen had millions of supporters,” the former Israeli charge d’affairs to Turkey said. “If you accuse anyone of them and see anyone of them as responsible for this failed and stupid coup, what do you do with these millions of people? Will they be able to get work? So how wide is the circle that you are punishing for this coup is a big question. I think we have a revolution inside a revolution.”

Swedish authorities ask residents to give up their country homes for refugees By Rick Moran

Authorities in Norrtälje, Sweden are asking residents with country homes to give them up for newly arrived refugees.

Isn’t it fun to be a socialist?

Breitbart:

The area’s director of social services, Ali Rashidi, told Svenska Dagbladet: “We thought that there are certainly many houses and rooms that can be rented out for the winter. We like many other municipalities have housing needs”.

Mr. Rashidi explained that householders would let houses to the migrants themselves, with ordinary rental contracts. He assured the Swedish newspaper that the municipality would step in, if necessary, to make sure rent is paid in full.

“Most of the people are well-behaved. Besides, refugees get establishment support from the Employment Service, so should have enough to pay the rent,” Mr. Rashidi said.

Asked about homeowners’ fears that migrants with “social problems” could misuse their properties, Mr. Rashidi said officials will act to match up appropriate landlords and tenants.

On Friday, migrants protested against the newly built modular housing in which they live. Around 30 of them marched to Norrtälje’s social services department

almost half of those who have moved in.

Mitt i reported one of the protesters as saying: “We had a meeting the day before and decided that we do not want to continue living under these conditions.”

According to the department, those marching felt “misled” over the accommodation as they had expected to be given their own permanent apartments rather than sharing a kitchen with other migrants.

The migrants’ representatives warned that disappointment over housing issues had led some of the men protesting to experience depression and even suicidal thoughts.

Sweden’s generous asylum and migration policies have led to chronic housing shortages over the decade. The nation of under 10 million people admitted over 160,000 non-EU migrants last year, exacerbating the problem.Swedish public housing organisation SABO reports that almost half a million new homes must be built in the country just to meet demand.

Black Lives Matter’s Jewish Problem Is Also a Black Problem The civil rights group’s newly published platform holds that societal reforms in America are somehow related to the Arab-Israeli conflict By Chloe Valdary

On Aug. 1, the Black Lives Matter coalition (BLM) of groups and partners published a platform of objectives and demands ostensibly constructed to correct heavy-handed policing, educational negligence, and economic inadequacy in black communities.That platform did no such thing.

Instead, organizers offered up a hodgepodge of half-baked ideas in the service of creating a new world order, one in which defunding police, releasing all political prisoners from jail, and redistributing of land are imperative.

Moreover, apparently believing that societal reforms in America’s inner cities are somehow related to the Arab-Israeli conflict, BLM included a section on Israel in its list of demands. With trite talking points, the group called for a divestment from the Jewish state as it is allegedly “complicit in the genocide against the Palestinian people.”

What this means is unpleasant to contemplate. An organization formed to confront systemic prejudice against black Americans—which predates the reestablishment of the state of Israel—is now intimating that such prejudice is caused by the Jewish state’s supposed genocidal tendencies (which, according to census reports, have led to a population increase among Palestinians).

Though I find no intrinsic value in “rebutting” crackpot conspiracy theories, it’s worth demonstrating how far removed BLM is from honoring the legacy of its ancestors by reminding readers just how pro-Zionist prominent leaders in the black community have been throughout history—and how Zionism helped shape black politics in America.

Edward Wilmot Blyden, founder of the 19th-century American Pan-African movement, famously wrote,“[I have] the deepest possible interest in the current history of the Jews—especially in that marvelous movement called Zionism.”

W.E.B. Dubois, founder of the NAACP, declared in 1919, “The African movement must mean to us what the Zionist movement must mean to the Jews, the centralization of race effort and the recognition of a racial front. … For any ebullition of effort and feeling that results in an amelioration of the lot of Africa tends to ameliorate the conditions of colored peoples throughout the world.”

AMB. (RET.) YORAM ETTINGER- A GUIDE TO THE JEWISH HOLIDAYS AND HISTORY

1. The 9th Day of Av (the 11th Jewish month) is the most calamitous day in Jewish history, first mentioned in the book of Zechariah 7:3. It is a day of fasting (one of four fast days connected to the destruction of Jerusalem), commemorating dramatic national catastrophes, in an attempt to benefit from history by learning from – rather than repeating – critical moral and strategic missteps. Forgetfulness feeds oblivion; remembrance breeds deliverance.

2. Major Jewish calamities are commemorated on the 9th Day of Av:
*The failed “Ten Spies/tribal presidents” – contrary to Joshua & Caleb – slandered the Land of Israel, preferring immediate convenience and conventional “wisdom” over faith and long term vision, thus prolonging the wandering in the desert for 40 years, before settling the Promised Land;
*The destruction of the First Temple and Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (586 BCE) resulted in the massacre of 100,000 Jews and a massive national exile;
*The destruction of the Second Temple and Jerusalem by Titus of Rome (70 CE) triggered the massacre of 1 million Jews and another massive national exile, aiming to annihilate Judaism and the Jewish people;
*The execution of the Ten Martyrs – ten leading rabbis – by the Roman Empire;
*The Bar Kokhbah Revolt was crushed with the killing of Bar Kokhbah, the fall of his headquarters in Beitar (135 CE), south of Jerusalem in Judea and Samaria, the plowing of Jerusalem, and the killing of 600,000 Jews by the Roman Empire;
*The pogroms of the First Crusade (1096-1099) massacred tens of thousands of Jews in Germany, France, Italy and Britain;
*The Jewish expulsion from Britain (1290);
*The Jewish expulsion from Spain (1492);
*The eruption of the First World War (1914);
*The beginning of the 1942 deportation of Warsaw Ghetto Jews to Treblinka extermination camp.

3. Napoleon was walking one night in the streets of Paris, hearing lamentations emanating from a synagogue. When told that the wailing commemorated the 586 BCE destruction of the First Jewish Temple in Jerusalem he stated: “People who solemnize ancient history are destined for a glorious future!”

The Cyber Security DelusionBy Stephen Bryen and Rachel Ehrenfeld

Twenty-five years of fast evolving cyber communication had made us more efficient. But as Huston T. Hawkins, Los Alamos National Lab Senior Scientist says, “The greater the efficiency, the greater the vulnerability.” And cyber vulnerability is turning our world into a tinderbox. Every day, everywhere, hacking into the Internet puts our lives, finances, communications and security in grave danger. Twenty-five years of expanding Internet use generated a thriving cybersecurity industry, which despite its efforts has not succeeded in protecting vital assets. Best practices have not been followed by government or industry.

The huge cyber security industry today is organized to try to stop cyber intrusions, information theft, and crippling attacks on the critical infrastructure including our defense systems. The United States government has spent hundreds of billions since the 1980’s (before the Internet) to try to build defenses against cyber attacks. But most of what the spending and efforts of tens of thousands of experts who have worked hard, trying to protect our information systems have to show for is a staggering record of failure. If anything, Americans are less secure today than last year; and less secure last year then the year before. When it comes to protecting cyber systems, we are in an exponential failure mode. Why?

Here are a few reasons why cyber security fails:

1. Today’s systems are hugely complex and rapidly changing and adapting. Such complexity means that even with the best of intentions it is extremely difficult to cover all, or even most, of the potential vulnerabilities in operating systems, software, communications, and networks. Virtually every modern system has been hacked successfully and repeatedly.

2. Modern hardware and software evolve and as new features, capabilities and functions are added, the old features, capabilities, and functions are dragged along and remain built into the newest products. Thus, old weaknesses persist and remain lurking even while new vulnerabilities are added to the risk equation.

JAMIE GLAZOV MOMENT: WHY A REFUGEE STABBED A BELGIAN PRIEST

Jamie Glazov Moment: Why a Refugee Stabbed a Belgian Priest In this new Jamie Glazov Moment, Jamie discusses Why a Refugee Stabbed a Belgian Priest, wondering if the “asylum seeker” would have even bothered reading the Qur’an if he had a job in the first place. Don’t miss it! And make sure you watch the […]

With Antisemitism Rising in Germany, Jewish Groups Encourage Victims to Speak Up see note please

Speak up? Speak up with your feet and suitcases…time to say auf wiedersehen to the graveyards of Europe and Deutschland unter Allahs …..rsk

JNS.org – In the summer of 2015, on the streets of Berlin, a gang of drunks approached an Israeli and German woman, who were speaking Hebrew, and taunted them with: “How dare you live in Germany!” They then proceeded to throw bottles at them.

Earlier this year, a Berlin family went on vacation and put their home in the care of a neighbor, only to find a swastika scrawled inside their kitchen when they returned. And last October, at a private kindergarten in Berlin, a five-year-old boy said to the class: “Hitler should have killed all the Jews.” The teacher, according to witnesses, agreed.

These are just a few of the incidents tracked by the Department for Research and Information on Anti-Semitism (RIAS), a watchdog group monitoring antisemitism in Berlin founded in Jan. 2015 under the umbrella of the Association for Democratic Culture in Berlin with funding from the Berlin Municipality. RIAS seeks to expose, monitor and prevent attacks against Jews, and has plans to expand nationwide.

In July 2015, RIAS opened an online hotline (in German, English and Russian) for victims of antisemitism. If the incident involves violence, serious threats or vandalism, RIAS assists victims in filing reports with the police when necessary.

“We have different areas that we monitor,” Benjamin Steinitz, a coordinator at RIAS told JNS.org. “The main focus is on incidents that people report to us. These can be physical attacks, verbal abuse and incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti, propaganda-like stickers, vandalism of property and desecration of memorial sites.”

Routinely tracking antisemitic attacks offers a mechanism for determining trends in antisemitism in Germany, including the source and nature of the hate — whether it targets Jews as a religious, ethnic or national group, and if it comes from Islamic, left-wing or right-wing circles. During 2015, RIAS monitored 26 antisemitic attacks. In the 19 instances in which the ethnic background of the perpetrators could be identified, 12 cases were said to be carried out by people with a Turkish or Arabic background.

Iran-Backed Rebels Use Hospitals as Human Shields by Con Coughlin

Investigators found that at the time of the attack, Houthi rebels were occupying the hospital, making it a legitimate target.

“While the West urges the Saudi-led coalition to use all means possible to avoid civilian casualties, we must also be aware of the tactics the Iranian-backed rebels are using as part of a deliberate policy to discredit the coalition war effort.” — Senior Western official.

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels are using hospitals as military command posts, thereby deliberately putting the lives of innocent civilians at risk, according to a new report into Yemen’s long-running civil war.

Hostilities in the Yemeni conflict resumed at the weekend following the collapse of peace talks in Kuwait. The talks came after Houthi fighters, who are backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards, rejected a U.N.-sponsored peace plan and announced the establishment of a 10-member governing body to run the country.

Within hours of the peace talks ending, the Saudi-led military coalition, which is backed by both the U.S. and Britain, had resumed air strikes against Houthi rebel positions in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a. Initial reports said that at least 21 people, the majority of them civilians, had been killed, including a number of workers in a potato chip factory in Sana’a. In addition, the international airport at Sana’a was shut down by the airstrikes after Saudi coalition officials notified airlines that incoming flights would be barred for 72 hours.