Israeli diplomats say country prepared to take military action to save Jordan from ISIS

Obama administration concerned that jihadist group, that already seized control of parts of Iraq, Syria, will try to invade Jordan. Israeli diplomats say country prepared to take military action to save Hashemite Kingdom

Published: 06.28.14, 13:24 / Israel News

The Obama administration has voiced concern that Israel and the United States may be dragged into a war against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), the extremist Sunni organization that is threatening to transform Iraq and other countries into Islamist territories, the Daily Beast reported.

According to the website, senior Obama administration officials told senators in a briefing last week that while ISIS has already seized control of parts of Iraq and Syria, the jihadist group is now eying westward territories – including Jordan.

Jordanian army on Iraqi border, earlier this week (Photo: Reuters)

ISIS's attack on Jordan can only further complicate the already complex conflict, the officials said in the briefing, according to the Daily Beast. They believe that if the Jordanians feel threatened by ISIS, they will attempt to recruit Israel and the United States for an all-inclusive war that is coming into being in the Middle East.

"The concern was that Jordan could not repel a full assault from ISIS on its own at this point,” said one senator, the report quoted one senator as saying.

According to another source that was present at the briefing, the American officials responded to the question of how Jordan's leaders would act in the case of an attack by ISIS by saying: "They will ask Israel and the United States for as much help as they can get."

The United States has already begun to intervene in the crisis in Iraq, and on Friday confirmed that it has started flying armed drones over Baghdad to protect US interests in the Iraqi capital.

In this way, the US is essentially cooperating with Iran, which is also trying to help the central authorities in Iraq in their battle against the Sunni jihadists. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advised US President Barack Obama not to make any promises to Iran in the nuclear talks, as part of the same cooperation in Iraq.

However, the Daily Beast article states that Israeli diplomats told their American counterparts that Israel would be willing to take military action to save the Hashemite Kingdom.

Earlier this week, a Jordanian official told Ynet that in the backdrop of ISIS's success in Iraq and its actions on the border with Jordan, "There is a very good cooperation between us regarding ISIS's growing presence in Iraq and Syria, but also on issues relating to other radical forces in the Middle East which have their sights set on Israel and Jordan."

Jordanian soldiers near the Al-Karameh border point with Iraq (Photo: AFP)

Dana Daoud, a spokeswoman for the Jordanian embassy in Washington, stated that Jordan's military and security forces are fully prepared to deal with the ISIS threat: "We are in full control of our borders and our Jordanian Armed Forces are being very vigilant,” she said.

Daoud further added that "we have taken all the precautionary measures. So far, we have not detected any abnormal movement. However, if anything threatens our security or gets near our borders it will face the full strength of our Jordanian Armed Forces.” Earlier this week, as part of the same precautionary approach, Jordan closed a central border crossing with Iraq.

Jordanian protestors raise al-Qaeda flags

Meanwhile, pressure is mounting in Jordan. ISIS supporters raised black flags and rallied in the southern city of Ma'an in two different demonstrations last week. During the protests, which saw support for the Jihadist organization for the first time in Jordan, demonstrators shouted slogans against King Abdullah.

"We don't believe in the government anymore, and are seeking for an alternative that will grant us our basic rights," said one of the protestors at the rally, adding that "we found that alternative in an Islamic State."

Muhammad Abu Salah, a local political leader in Ma'an that helped organizing protests against the government, explained the background to the protests. "The city was neglected. The only service we receive is the police. No jobs, no development, no respect."

ISIS militants attempted to infiltrate Sinai from Gaza

Countries east of Israel are not the only ones threatened by ISIS. The Al-Masry Al-Youm Egyptian newspaper cited on Friday night a security official in northern Sinai who said that Egyptian security forces arrested 15 suspects affiliated with ISIS when they attempted to infiltrate Sinai from the Gaza Strip through tunnels in Rafah.

According to the security official, terrorists organizations based in Gaza paved the militants' way to Gaza through one of the tunnels.

He claimed the terrorists were arrested by special forces and commando forces immediately upon their entry to Sinai. The detainees told interrogators that they had attempted to deliver a message to terrorist organizations in Egypt in order to establish a branch of ISIS in the country.

The suspects further stated that they were supposed to oversee the groups that were to be founded. So far, an official confirmation on the report from Egypt's army has yet to be received.

Since ISIS began their conquest of Iraq two weeks ago, the Sunni jihadists carried out hundreds of executions of Iraqi soldiers Shi'ite soldiers in Iraq's army. The Jihadists consider the Shiites heretics.

Satellite images show sites of executions in Iraq's Tikrit

Iraqi insurgents executed at least 160 captives earlier this month in the northern city of Tikrit, Human Rights Watch said Friday, citing an analysis of satellite imagery and grisly photos released by the militants.

Satellite images published by Human Rights Watch

The US-based rights group said militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and al Shams killed between 160 and 190 men in two locations in Tikrit between June 11 and June 14.

"The number of victims may well be much higher, but the difficulty of locating bodies and accessing the area has prevented a full investigation," it said.

Sickening Nazi graffiti attack on headstones at Jewish cemetery

Two boys, aged 13, have been questioned by police after swastikas were scrawled on headstones and others were toppled and smashed. 

Vandals strike at Jewish cemetery

Two teenagers have been arrested following an anti-Semitic rampage at a Jewish cemetery.

Dozens of headstones were knocked over and smashed and others were daubed with vile graffiti including Nazi swastikas at the graveyard in north Manchester.

Two boys, aged 13, were questioned by police yesterday on suspicion of committing a racially-aggravated public order offence. They have been bailed until July 25, pending further inquiries,.

Officers from Greater Manchester Police have branded the attack, at the graveyard in Rochdale Road, Blackley, "sickening" and "the ultimate act of disrespect".

Inspector Mike Reid, of Great Manchester Police, said: “As you might expect this crime caused an outcry within the local community.

“Residents have been fully supportive and cooperative of our investigation and as a direct result of their assistance we have been able to make these two arrests.

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“I want to stress that his investigation is at an early stage and we of course continue to appeal to anyone with information about those responsible for this appalling crime to call us.

“Such mindless criminal damage will not be tolerated in our communities and our aim is to ensure those responsible are identified, charged and brought to justice in due course.”

Bernard Freeman, from Crumpsall, was devastated to find his mother, Martha’s headstone toppled over.

Bernard, 88, told the Manchester Evening News: “It makes me feel very sad and angry. To come here and find it like this, it is diabolical. For any graveyard, this type of thing should never happen.”

Greater Manchester’s police and crime commissioner Tony Lloyd condemned the attack, which is believed to have taken place sometime between 4pm on June 22 and 3.30pm the following day, as ‘incomprehensible’.

He said: “The desecration of any grave goes against all of the values of decency that our society is based on. It is a violation which has been motivated by hatred; it is the ultimate act of disrespect.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sickening-nazi-graffiti-attack-headstones-3779182#ixzz35wQywkug 
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Islam could be dominant UK religion in 10 years

"With radicals like these on this pictures G-d help us"
Renaud. 

A recent census revealed that one in 10 people under 25 are Muslim, while Christianity is in decline. An explosion in the Muslim population and an aging Christian demographic could mean Islam will be the dominant religion in the UK in 10 years.

The census by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the number of Christians was falling 50 per cent faster than had previously been thought. Earlier analysis of the statistics showed only a 15 per cent decline, but the ONS found that this figure had been beefed up by 1.2 million foreign-born Christians.

Whilst these figures are worrying, there are many free churches ( i.e not Church of England) that are increasing their congregation bringing in many younger people, who want a more relevant way of worship and community experience. The traditional way Church services does not appeal to the younger generation who want to see their faith worked out in their business and social lives, with a structure that can support this. 

Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said to UK daily the Telegraph that the decline of Christianity is “inevitable.” “In another 20 years there are going to be more active Muslims than there are churchgoers,” he said.

Moreover the number of people identifying themselves as atheists has increased by 10 per cent, rising from 15 per cent to 25 per cent. The change has been dubbed as a “significant cultural shift” by the British Humanist Association, while the Church of England has shrugged off the statistics, maintaining they still retain a strong base of believers.

"While this is a challenge, the fact that six out of 10 people in England and Wales self-identify as Christians is not discouraging. Christianity is no longer a religion of culture but a religion of decision and commitment. People are making a positive choice in self-identifying as Christians," said a spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. 

The positive effect of this is that there are many people in the UK that have never heard the Gospel and therefore have no preconceived ideas or baggage from wrong teaching. This therefore should be an encouragement to evangelise in our local community. 

If David Cameron is really behind Christian`s is this Country, he has to deal with the prejudice and discrimination that exists in today`s society, along with the legislation that is tipped against Christian businesses and Christians working in our Health Service, Police, Schools, and Local Government Services.

 

Posted by David Pilkington

 

Extract from  http://rt.com

Gary Oldman - Gary Oldman apologises for offending Jews

Gary Oldman has apologised for the remarks he made during a recent interview with Playboy magazine in which he defended Mel Gibson for making anti-Semitic comments.

Gary Oldman has apologised for offending Jewish people in his Playboy interview.

The 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' actor made the comments while defending the anti-Semitic behaviour of Mel Gibson during his recent interview with the magazine, in which he also referred to political correctness as being ''c**p'', but he's now spoken out to apologise to anyone he may have offended.

Referring to another remark in the interview, in which he stated that Hollywood is a ''town run by Jews'', he said: ''I am deeply remorseful that comments I recently made in the Playboy interview were offensive to many Jewish people.

''Upon reading my comments in print - I see how insensitive they may be, and how they may indeed contribute to the furtherance of a false stereotype.

''Anything that contributes to this stereotype is unacceptable, including my own words on the matter.''

The 56-year-old star - who also defended '30 Rock' actor Alec Baldwin over his alleged homophobic rant during his chat with Playboy - went on to insist that rather than being against the role of Jews in Hollywood, he was actually an admirer of their contribution to the movie industry.

According to a statement published on Deadline.com, he added: ''If, during the interview, I had been asked to elaborate on this point I would have pointed out that I had just finished reading Neal Gabler's superb book about the Jews and Hollywood, 'An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood'.

''The fact is that our business, and my own career specifically, owes an enormous debt to that contribution.''

''I hope you will know that this apology is heartfelt, genuine, and that I have an enormous personal affinity for the Jewish people in general, and those specifically in my life.''

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Tags: Gary Oldman - Mel Gibson

Europe ‘losing patience’ over settlements, says envoy

Europe ‘losing patience’ over settlements, says envoy

Spain and Italy issue warnings against commercial ties with West Bank, while EU ambassador warns more will follow

By Times of Israel staff June 27, 2014, 1:58 pm

via Europe ‘losing patience’ over settlements, says envoy | The Times of Israel.

 

EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen (photo credit: Yossi Zwecker)

 

he European Union’s ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, has warned once again that European states were “losing patience” with the continued growth of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

The comment came Friday, after Spain and Italy joined France, Germany and the UK in warning its citizens against engaging in commercial ties with West Bank settlements. France had issued a similar declaration last week, while the foreign offices of Germany and Britain did so several months ago.

“These warnings don’t surprise us,” Faaborg-Andersen told journalists at a Geneva Initiative event on Friday. “The states [of the EU] are losing patience when it comes to continued construction in the settlements, and if the trend continues, more countries will join these warnings against businesses operating over the Green Line,” he warned, according to the Israeli Hebrew-language media.

According to a Friday report in the Italian La Stampa daily, Italy’s Foreign Minister Federico Mogherini cautioned Italians “not to get involved in financial activity and investments” in settlements. The warning is given “in accord with other European countries” and reflects Italy’s implementation of “a political decision taken earlier,” Mogherini said, according to the paper.

The Italian statements, issued on behalf of the EU, the presidency of which it takes over next week, said financial transactions, investments, purchases, contracts and tourism in Israeli settlements only benefit the settlements.

It said companies who do so should consider possible human rights violations and “the potential negative implications of such activities on their reputation or image.”

The international community regards most Israeli building over the Green Line as contrary to international law, though most rounds of peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians centered on negotiating a new, agree-upon boundary that would keep most Israeli settlers within Israel, as most settlers live adjacent to the Green Line that divides Israel and the West Bank.

Israel has annexed East Jerusalem, the part of the city over the Green Line that includes the Western Wall and Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, but the move has not been recognized internationally.

The warnings call the settlements “obstacles to peace” which “threaten to make the two-state solution impossible.”

An Israeli diplomatic official shrugged off the warnings Friday, calling them “a political statement disguised as a legal one, and as such one that merely reiterates old and well-known European positions,” according to the Hebrew-language NRG news site.

The “vague wording of the statements points to the weak legal foundations of the warning,” the official said.

AFP and AP contributed to this report.

joopklepzeiker | June 27, 2014 at 2:00 PM | 

Iranian threats

As the Islamic Republic becomes over-extended in Syria and Iraq, and continues to face sanctions, it might be more willing to make concessions on its nuclear program.

President Shimon Peres with US President Barack Obama at the White House Photo: OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

US President Barack Obama assured outgoing President Shimon Peres, who was at the White House for a farewell visit this week, that the United States will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, and will continue to remain steadfast on topics central to Israel’s security in the nuclear negotiations.

This is a reassuring message as representatives of the P5+1 (the US, Russia, China, France and Britain plus Germany) get set to sit down with their Iranian counterparts in Vienna this coming Wednesday for the sixth round of talks on stopping the Islamic Republic’s nuclear weapons program.

Besides Obama’s promises, however, there are very few reassuring signs that Iran is willing to comply with even the most basic demands made by the US and other members of the P5+1.

The two sides have reached tentative understandings on reducing the amount of plutonium – a second route to fuel for a bomb besides enriched uranium – that will be produced by a heavy-water reactor under construction near the town of Arak. And there are reports of a possible compromise that would turn a deep underground facility called Fordow, where there are 3,000 centrifuges, into a “research facility.”

But there is no agreement on almost every other relevant issue. While the US and other P5+1 members want to reduce the number of centrifuges Iranians currently have to enrich uranium, the Iranians want to actually increase the number of centrifuges by over 10,000 from the current number of 19,000. Even if the number of centrifuges remain unchanged, Iran would be able to make a “dash” for a bomb in a few months, as US Secretary of State John Kerry noted in comments made to the Senate in April.

There are other unresolved disputes, including whether Iran would have to reveal to international inspectors work that it is suspected of doing on weapons design in the absence of conclusive proof.

Senior American negotiator Wendy R. Sherman, undersecretary of state for policy, was diplomatic yet clearly pessimistic when she said she doubted whether “Iran is really ready and willing to take all the steps necessary to assure the world” it has no desire or ability to produce a nuclear weapon.

Iranian duplicity regarding its nuclear arms program is nothing new. But perhaps never before have the potential dangers of an Islamic Republic with nuclear capabilities been so evident. The Islamic Republic’s aspirations to expand its influence throughout the region are not just hypothetical. Iran is capitalizing on the dissolution of old national borders. The Iranians are providing troops, weapons and advice to Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and expanding their influence in Lebanon via their proxy, Hezbollah.

In Iraq there are reports that Iranian drones are being used against Al Qaeda-affiliated, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) forces. And if it has not already begun to send troops into Iraq to carve out territory for a Shia state, Iran might begin to do so soon. There are reports that Shia forces fighting in Syria against Sunni opposition groups are now heading to Iraq. Hezbollah, meanwhile, may be sending more militants to Syria to replace them.

The US and Israel actually have an interest in seeing Iranian- backed militants battle it out against ISIS forces and weaken one another. In fact, as the Islamic Republic increasingly becomes over-extended in Syria and Iraq, and as sanctions continue to take a toll on the Iranian economy, Iran might be more willing to make concessions on its nuclear program.

At the same time, however, the Iranians are even more desperate than ever to attain nuclear weapons capability.

They realize that having a nuclear bomb would be a game changer in the Sunni-Shia clash. They already have the missile capability to hit almost every capital in the Middle East, but the Iranians would not have to actually use their nuclear weapons. The very fact that they have them would provide the Islamic Republic and their proxies in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and the Gaza Strip ‘a nuclear umbrella.’ Any group or state attacked by Iran or one of its proxies would think twice before striking back against so powerful an enemy.

That’s why it is imperative for the P5+1, who convene in Vienna next week for the sixth round of negotiations with the Islamic Republic, to keep in mind precisely what is at stake.

Israel names two prime suspects, Hamas activists, in kidnapping of teenagers

Dear Renaud,

Israel names two prime suspects, Hamas activists, in kidnapping of teenagers

Israel’s Shin Bet security agency yesterday announced that Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha, two longstanding Hamas activists from the Hebron region, are the prime suspects wanted in connection with the abduction of three Israeli teenagers.
 
Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaer and Naftali Frenkel, both 16, were kidnapped two weeks ago while hitchhiking in the West Bank. Since then, Israel has conducted a large-scale military operation to locate the missing teenagers especially targeting Hamas activists, with arrests made across the West Bank, particularly in the Hebron area. The homes of Kawasme and Abu Aysha, who both disappeared hours before the kidnapping, have been among those searched repeatedly.
 
Kawasme, 29, has been arrested several times for Hamas-related activity and spent 10 months in an Israeli prison. When questioned in 2010, he reportedly confessed to having undergone Hamas military training. Abu Aysha, 32, was first arrested in November 2005 and has been detained on several occasions since then by Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). His brother was killed in November 2005 while trying to throw an explosive at Israeli soldiers and his uncle commanded the Hamas military wing in Hebron.
 
The Shin Bet said that although it and the IDF “have been carrying out a wide-scale search aimed at capturing the wanted suspects … The first aim is to track down the location of the abducted youths.” Speaking yesterday at a graduation ceremony for new pilots, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that with the names of the Hamas suspects having been released, “I now expect President Abbas, who said important things” in condemning the kidnapping, “to stand by those words and to break his pact with the Hamas terrorist organisation.”
 
As for the operation itself, Israel Radio news this morning reports that nine further arrests were made last night and that around 40 properties were searched in the Hebron area. In addition, IDF soldiers in Beituna uncovered two handguns while troops in Aidana found and confiscated an explosive device.


36 MPs sign Early Day Motion about kidnapped Israeli teenagers

Since we asked activists to contact their MPs on Monday, the number of MPs signing Early Day Motion (EDM) 148, which calls for the release of the kidnapped Israeli teenagers, has risen to 36.
 
You can see which MPs have signed it here: http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2014-15/148
 
Whilst 36 is a respectable number compared to most other EDMs this session, and some MPs are unable to sign as they are Ministers or Shadow Ministers, or don’t sign EDMs as a matter of general policy, we still think that it would be good to get more signatures to show the House of Commons shares our concern about the safety of the boys.
 
If your MP hasn’t signed yet and you haven’t already written to them, please encourage them  to sign EDM 148 by sending them a simple email saying something along these lines:
 
“I am writing as one of your constituents to urge you to sign EDM 148, which calls for the immediate release of the three Israeli teenagers kidnapped in the West Bank. The text of the EDM is here: http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2014-15/148."
 
You can find your MP and their contact details here: http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/. Please email me at luke@webelieveinisrael.org.uk to let me know which MP you have contacted and their response.


Best wishes,


Luke Akehurst
Director, We Believe in Israel