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Egypt's FM hits back at UN middle east envoy in Gaza row Egyptian foreign ministry condemns statement made by UN middle east envoy Robert Serry over 'failed policies' Ahram Online , Tuesday 3 Mar 2015 http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/124408/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-FM-hits-back-at-UN-middle-east-envoy-in-Gaz.aspx Egypt’s foreign ministry denounced on Tuesday a statement made by the United Nations' envoy to the Middle East Robert Serry concerning the ongoing crisis in Gaza; saying that he is “blaming others for his failure to achieve his mission in the Gaza strip.” The foreign ministry's statement condemned Serry’s inability to negotiate with Israeli officials, as they have been the occupying power in the...

The nasty weather didn’t stop a group of around 60 anti-Israel activists from storming the steps of the Washington Convention Center and blocking at least one entrance to the conference grounds. Code Pink and other anti-Israeli groups went into a frenzy against AIPAC, the “Israel lobby,” and what they believe is the “Apartheid” State of Israel. I also saw harassment of men, women, and children who had done nothing to deserve it except make the mistake of revealing their conference badge before they reached the door. Those who were obviously religious Jews (based on their head coverings, clothing, and...

"Egypt goes to war on ISIS, masses troops against Islamist Libyan stronghold at Darnah" Egyptian President Abdel-Fatteh El-Sisi has deployed his troops for all-out war on ISIS strongholds in Libya, the first Arab ruler to challenge the Islamists in a fellow Arab country .... Our Washington sources report that the Obama administration’s planned spring campaign to free Iraqi Mosul from the Islamic State’s occupation is stuck in the sand. Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike accuse the president of having no clear war strategy and of holding back from the US-led coalition the fighting manpower necessary for a successful operation. .......

If the sadists of ISIS are seeking -- with their mass executions, child rapes, immolations, and beheadings of Christians -- to stampede us into a new war in the Middle East, they are succeeding. Repeatedly snapping the blood-red cape of terrorist atrocities in our faces has the Yankee bull snorting, pawing the ground, ready to charge again. "Nearly three-quarters of Republicans now favor sending ground troops into combat against the Islamic State," says a CBS News poll. The poll was cited in a New York Times story about how the voice of the hawk is ascendant again in the GOP....

UN Watch, an independent Geneva-based monitoring group, has sent a letter to UNESCO, calling on the international body to take immediate action to stop Hamas from bulldozing of a 3000-year-old Gaza harbor for use as a terrorist training camp. The partial destruction of the ancient Anthedon Harbor—which includes the ruins of a Roman temple and archaeological remains from the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras—follows its nomination as a World Heritage site.

Defence Minister Jason Kenney has indicated the government is not ruling out taking Canada's military mission against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group beyond Iraq — to Syria and Libya. Evan Solomon, host of CBC Radio's The House, asked Kenney about participating in missions in those countries. "Well, we're going to look at all of the options," Kenney said an interview broadcast Saturday. "Obviously there are practical limits to our ability to operate around the world, but we will look at our options to see where we can have the most impact, where we're most needed," he...

Fighting has flared up again in the Ukraine. The Egyptians are sending soldiers into Libya as another North African state collapses into chaos. The militants of Islamic State are spreading their influence across the region. You’d think Barack Obama might have bigger foreign policy issues to worry about than a small state of 10 million people on the eastern edges of the Mediterranean. But Greece may be about to turn from a European into an American problem. As the game of brinkmanship between the radical Syriza government elected last month and the European Union gets played out, it has become...

US State Department reported to say Israelis would ‘twist details’ to undermine negotiations European officials have confirmed that the US State Department cautioned them against providing Israel with sensitive information on the current round of negotiations with Iran over its alleged nuclear weapons program, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The account came amid vehement denials by the White House and State Department that they had stopped updating Jerusalem on the progress in the talks, even though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted Monday that Israel was indeed being kept in the dark. The report quoted an unnamed European official involved...

The White House is accusing Israel of "cherry-picking" information that distorts the U.S. position in nuclear talks with Iran. “There's no question that some of the things that the Israelis have said in characterizing our negotiating position have not been accurate. There's no question about that,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said during a press briefing on Wednesday. "We've also been very clear about the fact that the United States is not going to be in a position of negotiating this agreement in public, particularly when we see that there is a continued practice of cherry-picking specific pieces of...

The U.S. can’t defeat the Islamic State by “killing them,” State Department Spokesperson Marie Harf told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Monday night. “We’re killing a lot of them, and we’re going to keep killing more of them. So are the Egyptians, so are the Jordanians. They’re in this fight with us. But we cannot win this war by killing them. We cannot kill our way out of this war,” Harf said. Instead, she said the U.S. needs to focus on the “medium to longer term to go after the root causes that leads people to join these groups,” such as...

Quartet has been totally compromised--the peace process and its intricate negotiating structure irretrievably ended. Back to the drawing board for yet another new proposal Revelations that the European Union (EU) has been acting illegally in funding and facilitating the construction of more than 400 unauthorised buildings in areas in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) under exclusive Israeli control—signals the end of: negotiations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation under the 1993 Oslo Accords and the 2003 Bush Roadmap and the role of the Quartet - America, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union - as mediator in...

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid criticized the achievements of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration on Monday. "Everything Netanyahu warned us about will eventually happen because of him. A responsible prime minister does not gamble with our national security. The former political ally said Netanyahu "invested billions of shekels in unnecessary preparations. Without the Iranian affair he would have gone home a long time ago; even his own faction members admit he is a humiliating failure."

[Excerpted within the excerpt]...Channel 10 exposed on Sunday that in recent months black ISIS flags have been commonly seen in Arab-Israeli towns in northern and coastal Israel, notably in the cities of Nazareth and Akko. The flags have been seen flying among both Muslim and Christian Arab citizens of Israel, an ironic move given that ISIS in Iraq has emptied cities of their Christian populations by issuing them an ultimatum either to convert to Islam, pay non-Muslim jhizya taxes – or die.” Understood? ADDED into this fiery mix, a related exposé was written (Jan. 2015), and it revealed some (dangerous)...

on Feb. 14, 2005, at 12:55 p.m., an explosion just in front of the St. Georges Hotel shook downtown Beirut. It destroyed a convoy of vehicles carrying Lebanon’s former and probably next prime minister, Rafik Hariri, killing him along with eight members of his entourage and 13 bystanders. Soon after the blast, an anonymous caller claiming to represent “Nusra and Jihad Group in Greater Syria,” a previously unheard-of organization, told a reporter at the Al Jazeera affiliate in Beirut that a videotape from the suicide bomber was hanging from a tree in Riad al Solh Square, just a few blocks...

A U.S. citizen detained in Egypt for violating curfew in August was found dead Sunday in his jail cell, the second foreigner to die in detention in recent weeks. ... Security officials identified the man as James Henry, 66, a retired U.S. Army officer who arrived in Cairo from the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain on Aug. 25. Henry was detained by army troops in the turbulent region of northern Sinai three days later while making his way to the border crossing with Gaza in the town of Rafah

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...

Intelligence gathered by Egypt and Israel attest to the former Ansar Bait al-Maqdis - now reborn as the Islamic State’s operational arm in Sinai – being well into advanced preparations for a large-scale terrorist offensive targeting Israel forces manning the Egyptian frontier, along with a string of Egyptian targets across Sinai up to and including the Suez Canal and Cairo. According to DEBKAfile’s counter-terrorism sources, the Islamist group was so elated by the outcome of its multiple attacks on Jan. 29, which left at least 40 Egyptian soldiers dead and more than 100 injured in Sinai and Suez towns, that...

IDF soldier guards weapons confiscated from inside a tunnel near Kibbutz Sufa, July 17, 2014. Photo Credit: IDF Spokesperson The IDF has destroyed “the remains” of a terrorist tunnel that led from Gaza into southern Israel, apparently discovered during last summer’s Operation Protective Edge. The tunnel “penetrated into Israel from the Gaza Strip,” the IDF Spokesperson revealed this morning, Feb. 9 in a statement sent by SMS to media. “During the activity, forces discovered a cache of weapons and explosives,” the statement continued. This indicates — at least to this writer — that either the tunnel was not completely destroyed...

Cyprus will offer Russia military facilities on its soil, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Friday. In an interview with a local newspaper, Anastasiades said that a pact strengthening defense relations between the two countries will be signed when he visits Moscow on Feb. 25. "There is an old (defense) agreement which is to be renewed as it is. At the same time, some additional facilities will be provided just like we do with other countries - France and Germany for example," Anastasiades said. Cyprus is currently providing facilities to French planes, such as refueling and maintenance at an air force...

Susan Rice pushed back on critics of President Obama's foreign policy Friday as she unveiled the White House’s new national security strategy. Rice, the White House's national security adviser, said in a speech at the Brookings Institution that the nation is “stronger than we have been in a very long time” despite the bitter debates raging in Washington. “Too often, what's missing here in Washington is a sense of perspective. Yes, there is a lot going on. Still, while the dangers we face may be more numerous and varied, they are not of the existential nature we confronted during World...