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A video appeared on YouTube this purporting to show a Jordanian minister and imam being kicked out of Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque last Friday. But this time it was not a conflict between Israeli forces and Palestinians; instead, we see the Jordanian imam getting kicked out by the Palestinian crowd he's addressing. Aqsa images usually entail weapon-clad Israeli soldiers clashing with angry Palestinians at the contested Jerusalem site, but Friday's video may demonstrate a different tension -- the one that still exists between Palestinian factions themselves. According to the video, the man speaking is Jordan's Minister of Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Hlayel....

Pope Francis met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Saturday, calling him “an angel of peace,” days after the Vatican said it was preparing to sign its first accord with Palestine to the anger of Israel. Abbas met the pontiff for about 20 minutes for a private audience, a meeting that comes a day before the pope is due to canonise two Palestinian nuns, who will become the first Palestinian Arabs to gain sainthood.

The internal tension in the Arab cities of Shechem (Nablus) and Jenin in Samaria has long been growing and threatening to boil over, as the Palestinian Authority's (PA) leading Fatah faction and its security apparatus clash. The two cities, which are under full control of the PA as per the 1993 Oslo Accords, in recent days became the scenes of violence between Fatah, which features a "military wing" named the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, and the PA Security Forces. An exchange of gunfire was reported last Friday at Jenin between armed men, apparently from Fatah, and members of the PA Security...

Gunmen armed with rocket-propelled grenades attacked several military checkpoints in Egypt’s Sinai region, killing 15 soldiers and two civilians, security sources said. The attacks defied one of the toughest security crackdowns in the country’s history. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks but militants who support Islamic State have previously carried out similar operations in the Sinai Peninsula.

In a weekend interview with Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot, IDF Southern Command head General Sami Turgeman said that Hamas is back at it—attempting to dig tunnels into Israel. While the IDF destroyed most, if not all, of the tunnels Hamas had dug into Israel in previous years during Operation Protective Edge, it appeared that the terror group was using the resources that are now pouring into Gaza to rebuild homes and businesses to instead rebuild its terror network, said Turgeman. “We are keeping a close eye on Hamas,” Turgeman said. “It is clear that they have gone back to digging...

JNS.org – In various cultures, a particular month, day or time is associated with a certain annual activity. For example, here in the United States, November—every other year—is election time. In Israel, every May brings the solemnity of remembering fallen soldiers, followed immediately by celebrations of national independence. And if it’s March and you happen to live in Palestinian Authority (PA)-controlled territory, then you know it’s time for publicly praising and honoring one of the most gruesome Palestinian massacres of Israelis and Americans in modern history. That’s because March 9, 1978, was the day that a squad of 13 Palestinian...

The Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) central council decided Thursday to end security cooperation with Israel, AFP reported. The PLO council decided “to stop security cooperation in all its forms with the occupying power” which it urged to “take over full responsibility for the Palestinian people in the occupied State of Palestine, the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza”. […] The PA (Palestinian Authority) submitted a UN Security Council resolution in December—which was voted down—calling for Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria within two years, and in January joined the International Criminal Court, where they plan to press for war crimes...

Herzog vowed that, if elected PM, in his first 100 days as prime minister he would focus on three issues in particular: solving the housing crisis, "renewing relations with the US and the (political) process with the Palestinians." "If need be, I will travel to Ramallah and present to the Palestinian Parliament a vision of hope," he declared.

Abbas' Fatah: "Martyrdom-death is a destiny we assume willingly and serenely" Fatah's youth movement "renewed its commitment to the [Martyrs'] path" http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=13908 by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik p:+972 2 625 4140 e: pmw@palwatch.org f: +972 2 624 2803 w: www.palwatch.org Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement and its youth division Shabiba both recently released statements honoring "Martyrs" (Shahids), praising them for "watering the land of Palestine with their pure blood." Fatah declared that "Martyrdom-death for Palestine is a destiny": "We believe that Martyrdom-death (Istish'had) for Palestine is a destiny we assume willingly and serenely, in order [to attain] a free...

The Palestinian Authority (PA)’s ruling Fatah faction has threatened rocket attacks against Israel, Palestinian Media Watch reports Wednesday, posting an illustration glorifying rocket attacks to its Facebook page. The illustration was posted to the faction’s main page last week, with the quote, “If Allah should aid you, no one can overcome you.” (Quran, Sura 3:160—translation from Sahih International). The text on the flag is Islam’s declaration of faith, PMW adds: “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” In another illustration, a rifle is indicated to be a prime part of the PA’s campaign for...

FinalCall.com) - The outpouring of people in Ramallah, the West Bank, at the funeral of Yasser Arafat was a sign to the world of the love that his people had for the man that embodied their struggle. What most of the world does not realize, and the press is not saying, is that there would have been 10 times the number if the people from Gaza and other West Bank cities and towns had been permitted to travel to Ramallah. Because of the apartheid system that the Israelis have imposed on the Palestinians and the blockade against Gaza, people did...

Twisted, self-indulgent, calculating projection is rife among dictators, despots, religious zealots and terrorists and, unfortunately, a growing number of elected and appointed officials here in the United States The New Year unfolded with more terror from Islamists. The Paris gunmen, reportedly an Al Qaeda terror cell with Yemeni connections who murdered 12 people at a leftist French satirical magazine, may give courage to Muslim-based wannabe states like the Palestinian Authority that try to bully authentic nations. The close of 2014 brought a defeat for the Palestinian Authority as it attempted to fast-track statehood, hoping to bypass negotiations with Israel via...

The Hague - The Palestinian Authority on Friday took further steps towards joining the International Criminal Court and has asked the court to investigate crimes Israel has committed on Palestinian territories since June 13, 2014,according to ICC sources. (VIDEO-AT-LINK)A US senior State Department official told Reuters that the move could have implications for US aid to Palestine saying: “It should come as no surprise that there will be implications for this step, but we continue to review. U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority has played a valuable role in promoting stability and prosperity not just for the Palestinians, but also...

The official Facebook page of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party is marking 50 years since the founding of the Arab nationalist group—and in typical style has posted a graphic image glorifying the murder of Israelis in celebration. The image posted on the Fatah Party Central Page shows a pile of skulls and bones, topped with a rifle bearing the Fatah flag. Several of the bloodied skulls are marked with stars of David. The caption reads: Fatah will remain, over your skulls …

US Secretary of State John Kerry has been adamant to EU officials not to push the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s anti-Israel resolution through the UN until after the March 2015 elections, a European diplomat told Foreign Policy Friday. “Kerry has been very, very clear that for the United States it was not an option to discuss whatever text before the end of the Israeli election,” the diplomat stated. Kerry said that the warning stems from a meeting he had with former President Shimon Peres and Hatnua Chairman Tzipi Livni, who appealed to him out of concerns that the anti-Israel resolution—if passed...

“We will never recognize the Jewishness of the state of Israel,” Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas declared on Saturday. Abbas’s statement came at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers and was quoted by Channel 10 News. At that same meeting, the foreign ministers announced their “categorical rejection of recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.” According to Channel 10, Abbas said in his remarks at the meeting that the security coordination between Israel and the PA would be suspended unless peace negotiations resume. …

Any peace agreement which requires the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state or an exchange of land is out of the question, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday. In a Ramallah meeting with Hadash party Knesset members, Abbas said that it was now up to Israel to recognize a Palestinian state with 1967 borders, and that the PA had already recognised Israel back in 1993, thus negating the need for any further acknowledgment.

Israeli Druze Policeman Fighting for his Life> Zidan Sayif (27) — Israeli Druze Policeman — was the first policeman on the scene at this morning’s terror attack, and he now is fighting for his life. The critically wounded policeman, was shot in the head during a gun-battle with the terrorists at the shul this morning in Har Nof massacre in Jerusalem. The terrorists turned their attention away from massacring additional Jewish worshipers to do gun battle with the heroic policeman. Sayif’s parents and wife are at his bedside at Hadassah hospital praying for his recovery. Sayif has a 7 month...

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas recently toughened the PA law against selling property to Israeli Jews, but that was not enough for Sultan Abu Al-‘Einein, a member of the Central Committee of Fatah, which Abbas heads. The new legislation says that any Palestinian Arabs involved in renting, selling or facilitating real estate transactions with citizens of “hostile countries” in any way would receive life imprisonment and hard labor. In a recent interview which aired on Al-Alam TV and was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Al-‘Einein called for an even tougher law, saying that Palestinian Arabs...

A Western intelligence source speaking exclusively to The Jerusalem Post on Thursday revealed that it was Hamas that bombed homes and vehicles belonging to Fatah officials in Gaza last Friday, and made sure to forge a false claim of responsibility by the Islamic State in Gaza. The source also revealed that the incident—that caused damage but no injuries—was conducted by Hamas’ military branch, the Izz ad-Din al-Kassam Brigades, without a prior “heads-up” to the political leaders of Hamas. …