Sunday, April 1, 2018

'Dialogue of the deaf'? / Iran deal talks persist as Trump looks poised to kill it


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Iran deal talks persist as Trump looks poised to kill it
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PMW Bulletins
PA Mufti warns of “disasters of wars,” if US embassy is moved
 
PA Mufti warns of "disasters of wars, anarchy, 
and instability" in region,
US embassy move to Jerusalem is 
"blatant attack on Arabs and Muslims"

 
Mufti implicitly encourages violence and Martyrdom, 
urging Palestinians and Muslims to 
"sacrifice all that is dear to them"

 
By Nan Jacques Zilberdik
After the announcement by the US State Department last week that the US embassy will be moved to Jerusalem on May 14, 2018, the Palestinian Authority's Grand Mufti warned that such a move will lead to "disasters of wars" in the entire world, as it is perceived as an "attack" on all Muslims:
"He [the Mufti] explained that the transfer of the American embassy to Jerusalem, if it is carried out, will not be an attack on the Palestinians alone, but rather a blatant attack on the Arabs and Muslims throughout the world, ...and that it will not serve peace and security in the region, but rather bring upon it disasters of wars, anarchy, and instability."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 26, 2018]
He further implicitly encouraged Palestinians and Muslims to use violence and seek Martyrdom, stating that they will "sacrifice all that is dear to them":
"[The Mufti] added that the residents of Jerusalem and all of the Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims will not submit to this blatant attack, and will sacrifice all that is dear to them in order to confront the American stubbornness."
The PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the embassy move "a direct aggression towards our people," regarding it as "a provocative declaration and a blow to the sensibilities of the Arabs and Muslims." [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 26, 2018]
Palestinian Media Watch reported yesterday that the Palestinian National Council (i.e., the legislative body of the PLO) declared the US announcement a "blatant defiance towards the international, Arab, and Islamic will."

The following are longer excerpts of the reports mentioned above:
Headline: "The [PA] grand mufti warns against the severe consequences of transferring the American embassy to Jerusalem"
"[PA] Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories, preacher at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, [and Palestinian Supreme Fatwa Council Chairman] Sheikh Muhammad Hussein warned against the severity of the American administration's decision on transferring its embassy to occupied Jerusalem, which was set for Nakba Day (i.e., "the catastrophe," Palestinian term for the establishment of the State of Israel. The US embassy is set to open on May 14, the anniversary of Israel's declaration of independence; Palestinians mark Nakba Day on May 15). He said that this testifies to the insolence that those who are biased in favor of the occupation have reached, while they continue to do an injustice to our people and its holy sites and to blatantly harm the Palestinian cause in an attempt to eliminate it. The mufti emphasized that this arbitrary behavior will have severe consequences that the American administration will bear.
He explained that the transfer of the American embassy to Jerusalem, if it is carried out, will not be an attack on the Palestinians alone, but rather a blatant attack on the Arabs and Muslims throughout the world, ...and that it will not serve peace and security in the region, but rather bring upon it disasters of wars, anarchy, and instability.
Sheikh Hussein added that the residents of Jerusalem and all of the Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims will not submit to this blatant attack, and will sacrifice all that is dear to them in order to confront the American stubbornness."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 26, 2018]
Headline: "The [PA] Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates: The transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem is direct aggression towards our people and its rights"
"In a statement yesterday [Feb. 25, 2018], the [PA] Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned the recent American announcement regarding the transfer of the American embassy to occupied Jerusalem. It viewed this as a provocative declaration and a blow to the sensibilities of the Arabs and Muslims."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 26, 2018]
Palestinians commemorate Nakba Day on May 15, the day after the establishment of Israel. On May 15, 1948, combined forces from Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq joined local Arab forces in an attempt to eradicate the newly established State of Israel. The Nakba (Arabic = catastrophe) refers to the establishment of Israel, and the subsequent loss of the war, including the killing and displacement of Arab civilians that occurred during the war.

US recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel - On Dec. 6, 2017, US President Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and instructed the State Department to begin preparations to transfer the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump added that the final borders of Jerusalem will be determined during negotiations.
On Feb. 23, 2018, the US State Department announced that the US embassy will open in Jerusalem on May 14, 2018. The date is the anniversary of Israel's declaration of independence in 1948 according to the Gregorian calendar.

 
 

Fatah officials: Trump is "fascist, Nazi," "ugly racist," "Gestapo," "ignoramus"


PMW 
Bulletin
April 1, 2018
Hanan Ashrawi: US Administration joins "fundamentalist Christians and racist white people"

Fatah officials: Trump is "fascist, Nazi," "ugly racist," 
"Gestapo," "ignoramus"
Fatah:
  • Trump is "leading a war against the Arab and Islamic nation"
  • "US and Israel are the only enemies"
PLO official Hanan Ashrawi on Trump's appointment of John Bolton as national security advisor:
"The American administration has joined the extremist Zionists, the fundamentalist Christians, and the racist white people"
 
By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Palestinian leaders have turned hate speech against the US and the Trump administration into PA policy. Some recent examples include PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi calling Trump's appointment of John Bolton as US national security advisor a sign of the American administration's "racism" and a sign they've joined the "extremist Zionists" and "the fundamentalist Christians":
"With his [Bolton's] appointment, the matters have been clarified and the picture has been completed - the American administration has joined the extremist Zionists, the fundamentalist Christians, and the racist white people." 
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 24, 2018]
A regular columnist in the official PA daily wrote about Trump's appointment of Bolton: "the ugly racist" - had appointed another racist:

"[US President Donald] Trump the ugly racist is looking for those similar to him who are most racist, who threaten America's fate even more than they threaten the world's fate. By choosing the despicable John Bolton as national security advisor, he is exacerbating America's crisis and is shooting himself in the foot."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida
excerpt of op-ed by Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, March 25, 2018]
Other examples of the ongoing hate speech from PA and Fatah leaders include Fatah Central Committee member Jamal Muhaisen's presenting the US and Israel as the Arabs' "only enemies" and a threat to world peace. He accused Trump of leading "a war against the Arab and Islamic nation": 
 
"The US only pursues its interests, which are to destroy the Arab region so that Israel - which was planted in the region by colonialism - will rule the region and the Islamic nation will be destroyed. There is a war of the West - I don't want to say a crusade - led today by Trump against the Arab and Islamic nation... The US is the only enemy - it and Israel - of the Arab region, and it is destroying the Arab region... The only enemy and only danger to the region, to peace in the region and in the world, is Israel and the US."
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Feb. 25, 2018]
In the same interview, Muhaisen called Trump "fascist," "Nazi," and "a lunatic":
 
"It was incumbent on Trump - if he wasn't a fascist and Nazi in his thinking - to respond to brother [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas' speech and initiative at the [UN] Security Council by taking back or at least giving a positive interpretation to what he said and the ideas that he proposed... That a country like the US is being led by a lunatic like Trump - I say that this is contempt for the entire American people before it is contempt for the world. Today he is abandoning international law and international legitimacy. He acts confused according to his mood or according to the pressure on him from the Zionist lobby that he is part of, and he brings us a [new] statement every other day." 
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Feb. 25, 2018]
Similarly, Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki stated Trump is "Gestapo" and an "ignoramus":
Lebanese Al-Mayadeen TV host: "This 'deal of the century,' does Trump expect you to accept it?" ...
Fatah Movement Central Committee member Abbas Zaki: "Yes, he thinks that all he saw among the Arabs was that they dance and forget themselves. He takes their money and tricks them... He says: 'There is no Iraq. There are rival factions.' Iraq is the second largest oil reserve in the world, estimated at 15 trillion. [And Trump says:] 'It is ours. We will not retreat, it is ours.' If they besiege him and make an arrangement for you, he will say: 'They should pay a trillion - a trillion and a half immediately.' What is this? He is Gestapo. O Allah, expose and reveal this! When your opponent is an ignoramus, by the way, you win."
[Al-Mayadeen TV (Lebanon), Talk of the Hour, March 6, 2018,
 emphasis added]
Many other PA and Fatah officials have demonized Trump and US Vice President Penceslurring them, and have condemned the American decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the US embassy there. Some have even warned of "disasters of war," if Trump goes ahead with the plans, as Palestinian Media Watch has documented.

Recently, the PA accused US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman of being an Antisemite.

The following are longer excerpts of the statements mentioned above:

Fatah Central Committee member Jamal Muhaisen: "The US only pursues its interests, which are to destroy the Arab region so that Israel - which was planted in the region by colonialism - will rule the region and the Islamic nation will be destroyed. There is a war of the West - I don't want to say a crusade - led today by Trump against the Arab and Islamic nation... Today the US is attempting to create problems in the region so that we will return to it and ask it for protection. The US is the only enemy - it and Israel - of the Arab region, and it is destroying the Arab region... I say to our Arab nation and to the entire Islamic world - whoever belittles Jerusalem will belittle Mecca and Medina. Therefore, if we are not united, trouble will befall us... The only enemy and only danger to the region, to peace in the region and in the world, is Israel and the US."
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Feb. 25, 2018]
Fatah Central Committee member Jamal Muhaisen: "It was incumbent on Trump - if he wasn't a fascist and Nazi in his thinking - to respond to brother [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas' speech and initiative at the [UN] Security Council by taking back or at least giving a positive interpretation to what he said and the ideas that he proposed... That a country like the US is being led by a lunatic like Trump - I say that this is contempt for the entire American people before it is contempt for the world. Today he is abandoning international law and international legitimacy. He acts confusedly according to his mood or according to the pressure on him from the Zionist lobby that he is part of, and he comes out at us every other day with a statement." 
[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Feb. 25, 2018]
Muhaisen claims Trump "is abandoning international law" due to the US State Department's announcement that the US embassy will open in Jerusalem in May 2018.

Jamal Muhaisen also holds the following positions: Fatah Commissioner of Mobilization and Organization in the West Bank and PLO Central Council member.

US recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel - On Dec. 6, 2017, US President Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and instructed the State Department to begin preparations to transfer the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump added that the final borders of Jerusalem will be determined during negotiations.
On Feb. 23, 2018, the US State Department announced that the US embassy will open in Jerusalem on May 14, 2018. The date is the anniversary of Israel's declaration of independence in 1948 according to the Gregorian calendar.

Headline: "New American thuggery against Palestine"
"Palestinian opposition to the American blackmail: The Martyrs and prisoners are sacred symbols of freedom and struggle
The American administration is continuing its aggressive steps against Palestine: The American Congress has conditioned its aid to the PA on stopping payment of the Martyrs' (Shahids) and prisoners' allowances (mukhassasat), while US President Donald Trump has announced the appointment of hardliner John Bolton - who has a long history of hostility towards the Palestinians - as his national security advisor.
Official Spokesman of the [PA] National Unity Government Yusuf Al-Mahmoud expressed the government's opposition and condemnation of the demand of the American Congress' demand to stop paying the Martyrs' and prisoners' allowances in return for the continuation of the American aid to the institutions of the Palestinian state ...
He added: 'From the perspective of our people, nation, and cause, the Martyrs and prisoners are sacred symbols of freedom, struggle, support for human dignity, and the rejection of submission and degradation. All of these qualities are noble human qualities. They constitute a right that is guaranteed to all people, and they cannot be bought and sold for all the money in the world.'
It should be noted that the American Congress yesterday [March 23, 2018] passed a law to stop the financial aid to the PA if it continues to pay the prisoners' and Martyrs' allowances (refers to the Taylor Force Act; see note below -Ed.)...
Secretary-General of the [Palestinian] Popular Struggle Front (PPSF) and PLO Executive Committee member Ahmed Majdalani emphasized that the salaries (rawatib) of the Martyrs' families and the prisoners cannot be subjected to American political extortion. He added that the leadership attaches great importance to this matter, as these are freedom prisoners who fought for statehood and independence. Majdalani noted that the occupation government pays millions of dollars from American tax money to murderers from among the settlers and the occupation's soldiers, and allocates salaries for their families (sic., Israel does not pay murderers or provide their families with salaries)...
PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi said that Bolton's appointment will toughen the American position and the Israeli position, and will create a 'destructive reality' regarding the Palestinians and the region. Ashrawi said to [the international news agency] AFP: 'This man has a long history of hostility towards Palestine, since he was [the US ambassador] in the UN, where he regularly defended the Israeli immunity.' She added: 'With his appointment, the matters have been clarified and the picture has been completed - the American administration has joined the extremist Zionists, the fundamentalist Christians, and the racist white people.'"
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 24, 2018]
The Taylor Force Act - a bill named after US citizen Taylor Force who was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in Tel Aviv on March 8, 2016, which calls to cut almost all funding to the PA if it continues paying salaries to terrorists and allowances to families of "Martyrs." On March 23, 2018, the bill was approved by the American Congress and signed into law by US President Donald Trump.

 
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My family (Jewish) immigrated to America in the 1850's...from the Rheinland. Aaron Friedheim (a rabbi) and his brother Judah Levi brought their families here to escape active and systemic antisemitism.

 
Thomas Friedheim
Shalom from Pacolet, South Carolina. My name is Thomas Friedheim and as I hesitate to share my story, I hope it will touch your heart.
My family (Jewish) immigrated to America in the 1850's...from the Rheinland. Aaron Friedheim (a rabbi) and his brother Judah Levi brought their families here to escape active and systemic antisemitism. I was made aware of this when I was very young. It made a lasting impression upon me. The God of my fathers was the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. It was important that I know and never forget this. On the other hand...
I grew up one house down from the local Rabbinic synagogue in Alexandria, Virginia....and five blocks from the local denominational church. Every Shabbat I watched Jewish families pass by on their way to pray, worship & study...but my father never took me into the synagogue...not once. It was very confusing. For reasons that remain a mystery, even now, he raised me a (Jewish) secular humanist. I suspect it had to do with the Holocaust. With that said (and to complicate matters further), almost every Sunday I was driven five blocks - in the other direction...to accompany my Mom to the Gentile church. This did not make sense to me. Papa would come with us on occasion, out of respect for mom. He never explained...but I understood well - to Papa, Mom's Jesus was only (perhaps) a very good rabbi. Full stop. Out of respect to my papa, I adopted the same "understanding." Mom, on the other hand, clearly believed in and loved Messiah...and she was (honestly) the best person I've ever known...she lived the "love of God" & the "love of neighbor"...without the religious clutter...or pretense. It was real love. This too made a lasting impression...she prepared...my heart.
Thomas Friedheim 1
I didn't (couldn't) reconcile this complex and seemingly contradictory foundation until I moved away to college, got married & had a son. I was a young architect and could recognize "intelligent design" when I saw it. After hours of labor and the delivery, my wife fell asleep. Alone with my newborn son in those timeless/eternal moments, my secular humanism collapsed...in a single stroke...with a single epiphany. Shema Israel, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad. Left with now two remaining (and I thought mutually exclusive) options, Judaism or Christianity...I read the Tanach for myself...for the first time. No, rabbi, no pastor, no teacher...other than the Torah, the Nevi'im and the Ketuvim. Isaiah 53...was so obvious, I wept. The Jesus of my mother was the Messiah of my fathers. Yeshua HaMashiach. Light. Everything changed. I devoured the Brit Chadashah. Life. I was filled with questions...some remain...but I never looked back.
That was over thirty years ago, I'm 56 now. My life since that day has merely been a commentary punctuated by this profound new birth. I've been a talmid, a disciple of Yeshua ever since...studying, searching for truth, understanding, and wisdom...in Messiah, the living Word. Such as I am, I have been a servant along the way...a teacher, shepherd, in both the Messianic community and within Non-denominational Christianity. At every bend in this (very) winding road, I have sought to enter His rest, to live the truth and to teach the truth - as I understood it. My understanding has matured over the years...but the key has remained...Yeshua and the faith he taught...are Jewish. The Gospel, the Good News of the Kingdom, rests squarely upon the Jewish context of the first century...the rich root of the olive tree. Messiah remains the Chief Cornerstone...a precious stone. He is the Hope of Israel and the Light of all Nations. The truth stands. The God of my father's, the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob brought us Salvation in His Son...the one mom called "Jesus." Baruch HaShem. I love Him too. He'll be back. :]
Let me cut to the chase...After so many years, I am still a child and I am very much still a student, walking with my Rabbi. Today more than ever I hear Him patiently but firmly commanding me, and those who gather here in Beth Mishpachah (in my home group)..."V'a Hav Ta"...you shall love. You shall love the Lord your God. With all your heart. With all your soul. With all your might." And, "V'a Hav Ta"...you shall love your neighbor. Love him/her as you would want to be loved. Because you are...loved." Mom was right. Papa is now on board.
Our little group here in Pacolet, South Carolina, is comprised of family, friends, and guests...the outcast, sick, poor, etc...lots of children. It is a multi-cultural, multi-racial group. All of us have been through a lot. All of us have entered His rest, grace and truth. We are real...Some might say we are too casual or sloppy...in the religious sense. I don't believe we are. Perhaps such folks forget how Messiah gathered with the thirsty and hungry...in homes, on the hills, beside the lake...the fire. We are content. We don't believe we know everything. We are comfortable expressing differing ideas. In short, we have concluded we don't fit (best) into contemporary Christianity or the Synagogue...though we have all at times "belonged" to either a Messianic Synagogue and/or a Church. We still respect and visit both. But we choose the modest homegroup...His smaller family...His Mishpachah. He has blessed us. It is enough. And it is (very) good. :]
Shalom
Thomas Friedheim
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