RUTHFULLY YOURS

RIO DE JANEIRO—The Egyptian Olympic Committee has sent judoka Islam El Shehaby home after his refusal to shake an Israeli opponent’s hand following a bout last week, the International Olympic Committee said.

El Shehaby broke with judo and Olympic tradition when he snubbed Israeli opponent Or Sasson’s offer of a handshake after being defeated in a men’s heavyweight bout on Friday. Sasson went on to win a bronze medal.

The IOC’s disciplinary commission investigated the incident and issued a “severe reprimand” to the athlete, as well as warning the Egyptian Olympic Committee to make sure its athletes receive “proper education on the Olympic values.”

El Shehaby also initially refused to bow to Sasson after the bout, but was called back onto the mat to do so. Some Egyptian commentators had suggested he should have refused to compete against an Israeli opponent in the first place.

Donald Trump, expanding on the provocative immigration ideas that have propelled his presidential candidacy, proposed on Monday a new ideological test that would limit immigrants seeking admission to the U.S. to “those who share our values and respect our people.”

He argued in a speech fleshing out his plans to combat terrorism that tighter immigration standards were needed to fight Islamic State with the same vigor with which the U.S. fought the Cold War. “We will be tough, and we will be even extreme,” he said.

It wasn’t immediately clear what the test—he called it “extreme vetting,” a phrase that didn’t appear in his prepared remarks—would include, but Mr. Trump suggested he would ban not only terrorist sympathizers but those who believe in Shariah law, don’t believe in the U.S. Constitution or “support bigotry and hatred.” Shariah law is the legal system of Islam that governs public and private behavior.

The speech represented a response to Mr. Trump’s critics, including many Republicans, who have expressed doubts that he has the experience and temperament to lead the U.S. in a dangerous world. Last week, 50 Republican foreign policy experts signed a statement saying they wouldn’t vote for Mr. Trump because they question his capacity to serve as commander in chief.

Democrats on Monday sought to rebut Mr. Trump even before he spoke. Appearing with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton at a rally in Scranton, Pa., Vice President Joe Biden said Mr. Trump’s comments had been quoted approvingly by the leader of Hezbollah and posed a threat to U.S. troops in the region. “Trump is already making our country less safe,” Mr. Biden said.

“This man is totally, thoroughly unqualified to be president of the United States of America,” Mr. Biden said of Mr. Trump. “On every issue that matters most to our security, Donald Trump has no clue what it takes to lead this great country.”

In his speech at Youngstown State University in Ohio, Mr. Trump unfurled a broad-gauge critique of the antiterrorism policies of President Barack Obama and Mrs. Clinton, his former secretary of state.

“The rise of ISIS is the direct result of policy decisions made by President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton,” he said. “Our current strategy of nation building and regime change is a proven absolute failure.” CONTINUE AT SITE

An Israeli heavyweight judoka named Or Sasson defeated an Egyptian opponent named Islam El Shehaby Friday in a first-round match at the Rio Olympics. The Egyptian refused to shake his opponent’s extended hand, earning boos from the crowd. Mr. Sasson went on to win a bronze medal.

If you want the short answer for why the Arab world is sliding into the abyss, look no further than this little incident. It did itself in chiefly through its long-abiding and all-consuming hatred of Israel, and of Jews.

That’s not a point you will find in a long article about the Arab crackup by Scott Anderson in last weekend’s New York Times Magazine, where hatred of Israel is treated like sand in Arabia—a given of the landscape. Nor is it much mentioned in the wide literature about the legacy of colonialism in the Middle East, or the oil curse, governance gap, democracy deficit, youth bulge, sectarian divide, legitimacy crisis and every other explanation for Arab decline.

Yet the fact remains that over the past 70 years the Arab world got rid of its Jews, some 900,000 people, while holding on to its hatred of them. Over time the result proved fatal: a combination of lost human capital, ruinously expensive wars, misdirected ideological obsessions, and an intellectual life perverted by conspiracy theory and the perpetual search for scapegoats. The Arab world’s problems are a problem of the Arab mind, and the name for that problem is anti-Semitism.

As a historical phenomenon, this is not unique. In a 2005 essay in Commentary, historian Paul Johnson noted that wherever anti-Semitism took hold, social and political decline almost inevitably followed.

Spain expelled its Jews with the Alhambra Decree of 1492. The effect, Mr. Johnson noted, “was to deprive Spain (and its colonies) of a class already notable for the astute handling of finance.” In czarist Russia, anti-Semitic laws led to mass Jewish emigration as well as an “immense increase in administrative corruption produced by the system of restrictions.” Germany might well have won the race for an atomic bomb if Hitler hadn’t sent Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard, Enrico Fermi and Edward Teller into exile in the U.S.

The news that the Israeli government charged Mohammed el-Halabi, the Gaza director of World Vision, a major international evangelical Christian aid organization, with funneling millions to fortify Hamas government’s terrorist capabilities has reportedly “shocked” the organization.

The reason for this “shock” is not the evidence of his diverting 60% of the charity’s Gaza budget to further Hamas terrorism. The organization was “shocked” because the Israelis, after years of complaining and warning, are bringing him to justice.

World Vision did not even pretend to be embarrassed by el-Halabi’s use of $50 million not to help the needy in Gaza, but to pay Hamas members, buy weapons and transfer “building supplies intended to support farming projects… to Hamas for constructing tunnels and military installations.” Instead, World Vision’s German spokesperson protested the “huge gap” between “what we know” and the Israeli charges, while the Australian CEO declared he was “profoundly perplexed and mystified.”

Claims like this and outright denials of international aid diversion for Palestinian terrorist activities are nothing new.

Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood branch in Gaza, was established in December 1987, days into the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s (PLO) first Intifada against Israel. And as soon as the Internet was made available for public use in the early 1990s, the Palestinians began using it to portray the people they use as human shields throughout the territories and Gaza not as the casualties of its own murderous agenda, but as victims of Israeli retaliations. Like the Palestinian Authority (PA), Hamas realized that posting photos of wounded children and crying mothers has a considerable effect in the ‘hearts’ and ‘minds’ battle for gaining support from the international community. Indeed, the strategy of extracting maximum civilian casualties from among their constituents has always yielded larger funding.

In December 2003, for example, as Yasser Arafat’s second Intifada (28 September 2000 – 8 February 2005) against Israel was raging, an international donors’ conference in Rome awarded the Palestinian Authority with $1 billion, ignoring the PA’s funding of terrorist activities.

Evidence that Hamas suicide bombers were paid with EU aid money did not move an Austrian member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament, Hannes Swoboda. He insisted in writing and while arguing against my testimony before the European Parliament on this issue that “No wrongdoing or misuse of funds by the Palestinian Authority, no instances of funds being used for terrorist activities instead of infrastructure development, have been proved. Only if the DNA of the suicide bombers will match the DNA of those who received euros will we accept it as evidence.”

Egyptian judoka, Islam El Shahaby, disgraced himself and his country at the Rio games this past Friday. The disgrace was not the result of his failure to medal nor was it the result of his loss to Israeli judoka, Or Sasson. The disgrace was the result of extreme unsportsmanlike conduct exhibited by the Egyptian. Following his loss, El Shahaby walked away without bowing to his opponent – an act unheard of in the sport – and then refused to shake the Israeli’s outstretched hand.

The disgraceful conduct drew jeers from the crowd and the referee ordered El Shahaby to return to the mat area and bow. The Egyptian complied but rather than bowing, gave a pathetic nod with his head prompting additional booing from the audience. Or Sasson brushed off the insult and went on to claim the bronze for his nation.

Sasson said that he expected that the Egyptian would snub him but decided to extend his hand nonetheless to show his opponent “respect.” He added that bowing and showing respect for an opponent is something that he “was educated to do.”

El Shahaby’s ignominious conduct is not an anomaly but rather reflects the norm among athletes from Muslim nations. They routinely engage in conduct that brings disrepute to themselves and the nations they represent.

At the start of the Rio games, the Lebanese delegation refused to allow members of the Israeli team to board the same bus. The Israelis were then forced to find alternate transportation. Following that incident, a Saudi judoka faked an injury in a deliberate effort to avoid a match against her Israeli counterpart. In June 2016, a Syrian boxer forfeited a match against an Israeli during the world boxing championship in Azerbaijan thus forfeiting any chance of qualifying for the Rio games.

Brexit, like the Trump phenomena in the U.S., was, at least in part, a consequence of elitist politicians, along with corporate and banking CEOs. Together they have constructed a crony capitalist system that works for them, but not for those they claim to represent. In granting extraordinary salaries and benefits to public union employees, they have assured themselves of money and support from that sector as well. (In America there are about 22 million government workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics – 10% of all registered voters.) Western democracies no longer fit Lincoln’s description of the United States, when he spoke at Gettysburg in 1863: “…government of the people, by the people, for the people…”

President Obama has been right to point out that there is “one percent and a ninety-nine percent,” but it is not just the rich versus the poor that is the problem; it is also those that use government as a springboard for personal wealth and power, and the rest of us. The former move back and forth from Congress to K Street, from corporate offices and Wall Street to Administrations. Such movements were not unknown in years past, but never have corruption and arrogance been so widespread. Think of the Clintons, and then recall what ex-President Truman said, in response to an offer of a corporate board seat: “You don’t want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it’s not for sale.” And the same can be said for Congressional seats, Cabinet posts and Ambassadorships. The concept of service is but a distant memory. Political correctness is ubiquitous, and risks First Amendment rights. A lack of border control has caused immigration to become a wellspring of terrorism, instead of a fount of cultural diversity. It has brought multiculturalism, instead of pluralism. A recent McKinsey study noted that stagnant incomes bother people more than inequality. People in England, like the United States, are tired of the hypocrisy and lies told by politicians, alienated from those they represent.

Europe’s migration crisis remains in the news as migrants and refugees continue to flood the continent:

And as this recounting of incidents from the past week shows, wishful thinking by the European political and media elites is not resolving the problem:

France: Corsica tense after clashes between North Africans and locals over burkini pics

UK: Is missing Bradford schoolboy now a jihadist fighter?

Germany: Officials in Hamburg monitoring ‘sharia police’ patrolling city after wave of refugees

Holland: Iraqi man hacks fingers of neighbor off with machete after dispute

Scotland: How Pakistan inspired Glasgow shopkeeper killer after perceived insult to Mohammad

Scotland: Supporters shout “praise for the prophet Muhammad as Muslim ‘blasphemy’ killer is sentenced

Denmark: Iranian asylum seeker threatens bombing of refugee center where he was staying

Germany: After four Islamist attacks authorities racing to figure out how to help youth before they radicalize

UK: British man convicted of making offensive comments about Muslims on Facebook

France: Police warn jihadi terrorists could be hiding in Britain-bound refugees in Calais

Greece: Yazidis targeted for genocide by ISIS being persecuted in refugee camps

Sweden: Somali migrant who stabbed asylum worker to death sentenced to psychiatric care

Italy: Milan overrun by ‘invasion’ of thousands of immigrants

Germany: Police arrest Syrian refugee after tip he was planning ‘Islamist-inspired attack’

Belgium: Manhunt for jihadi teen who called for extermination of Christians

Switzerland: Rise in number of child victims of forced marriage

Hungary: 3000 extra police dispatched to help protect border

UK: Home Office guidelines say Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members qualify for asylum

France: Teen cleared of being ‘third man’ in Charlie Hebdo attack arrested for trying to join ISIS

Belgium: Algerian man who stabbed two Charleroi police officers wasn’t deported despite two deportation orders

Holland: Two Turkish men assaulted by Erdogan supporters in Amsterdam

UK: London schoolgirl turned ‘jihadi bride’ killed in Syrian airstrike

Austria: Authorities see rise in attacks by asylum seekers

Belgium: Liege neighborhood on lockdown after man of ‘Turkish origin’ roams streets with machete day after terror attack

Germany: Federal chief of domestic intelligence says Islamists use refugee camps for recruitment, 340+ cases so far

Italy: Tunisian national deported after planning bombing attack on Leaning Tower of Pisa

France: Terrifying moment Calais migrants ambush British van driver with metal bars

Germany: Video of migrants clashing with police in Berlin goes viral

UK: Prime Minister May allowed terror suspect wanted in two bombings in India and killing of schoolgirl to remain in country

Sweden: Summer inferno of sexual assaults, almost all coming from Afghanistan, Eritrean and Somali refugees

Belgium: Police arrest three new terror suspects during raids in Brussels

Germany: Intelligence warns of ISIS hit squads among refugees

UK: Election fraud in Muslim-majority areas of London becoming a problem aided by political correctness, report claims

Sweden: Eight immigrants convicted of murder in restaurant attack, tried to kill 25

Italy: Pro-migrant group calls off rally after weapons found on protesters

France: Malian expelled on suspected jihadist links, 81 such expulsions since 2012

UK: Imams using prisons to radicalize recruits

XXXI Olympiad competitors are joyfully showcasing their skills and sportsmanship, while delighted fans revel in their amazing efforts. But opening ceremonies featuring colorful history, dance, song and athletes were rudely interrupted by an unprecedented propaganda film.

As audiences around the world were getting pumped up in eager anticipation for the upcoming events, a slick but deceitful video soured the mood by inserting partisan climate change politics.

Fossil fuels are warming our planet, and the manmade heat is melting its ice caps, narrators intoned. Animated maps showed Greenland “disappearing very quickly” and Amsterdam, Dubai, Miami, Shanghai, Lagos and Rio being swallowed up by rising seas.

Well, yes, if average global temperatures really did soar 4 degrees Celsius (7.5 Fahrenheit), and if all of Greenland’s ice melts, oceans certainly could rise 20 feet and other terrible things certainly could happen.

But wild assumptions, computer models and animations are not reality. Few of us are really worried about being eaten by raptors and Tyrannosaurs cloned from DNA in fossilized amber, even though Jurassic Park sure made them look real. Ditto for Hollywood sharks, werewolves, cave monsters – and global warming.

In the Real World outside the animators’ windows, average planetary temperatures barely budged for 18 years. After climbing a headline-grabbing 0.55 degrees C (1 deg F) in 2015, a strong El Niño year, they plummeted a media-ignored 0.5 degrees C the first seven months of 2016, as La Niña approached. That’s a far cry from the 4/7.5 temperature spike that animated the animators’ fear-mongering. The sun has entered a low-sun-spot phase, possibly heralding a new colder period for Planet Earth.

It’s instructive to know what the enemy thinks, even if it could be seen as giving them oxygen.

And north of the Border this weekend a branch of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign has been holding an anti-Israel hatefest, where foot soldiers of the Israel-demonising movement got to see some of their idols up close and personal.

But not this idol:

Needless to say, the chieftain attended:

Representative videos.

More here

And Israel-haters get to roleplay in Edinburgh, goodies and baddies, Palestinians versus the IDF (still from the video spruiked by Chieftain Mick):

At the level of regional strategy, Egypt has a central role in the anti-Iran coalition of Sunni Arab states, which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE. The violence of the Arab Spring brought to the fore the inevitable confrontation between a revisionist, aggressive Shi’ite Iran and the Arab countries deploying to defend themselves against Iranian aggression, mainly in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Africa.

There might, however, be a confrontation — unfortunately with the United States. Even as the Iranians proceed with developing nuclear weapons and using proxies to destabilize the Arab and Muslim states, the American shoulder grows colder towards both Israel and the el-Sisi government in Egypt. The current U.S. administration is known throughout the Middle East for empowering its enemies and being treacherous to its friends.

The traditional Arab stance, used by autocratic leaders to bamboozle their dissatisfied populace by pointing them at an external villain instead of at our own leaders, has clearly begun to change. Israel as the greatest enemy, is, correctly, being replaced by Iran.

The presence of the Egyptian foreign minister in Israel last month came as a surprise to many. Critical Egyptian public opinion and the Egyptian media indicate that, in the years since the Israeli-Egyptian peace was signed, the formal agreement has yet to trickle into public consciousness and that there is still considerable suspicion on both sides of the border. The same is true of the peace between Israel and Jordan.

Under the reign of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi, relations had reached a new low, with Egypt covertly aiding Iran’s proxy, Hamas, against Israel.

The visit of Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry to Israel in early July 2016 could be an indication that the frozen peace between Israel and Egyptians, signed by Begin and Sadat in 1979, might be thawing.[1]

At the level of regional strategy, Egypt has a central role in the anti-Iran coalition of Sunni Arab states, which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE. The violence of the Arab Spring brought to the fore the inevitable confrontation between a revisionist, aggressive Shi’ite Iran and the Arab countries deploying to defend themselves against Iranian aggression, mainly in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Africa.