Before US withdrawal from UNESCO this week,Arab States Backtrack on UNESCO Resolutions Criticizing Israel - Barak Ravid (Ha'aretz) For first time since 2013, a group of Arab countries, headed by Jordan and the PA, have backtracked on presenting resolutions critical of Israel at the UNESCO executive board session in Paris this week. A senior official in the Israel Foreign Ministry said the decision to delay for six months a vote on the resolutions was made following quiet diplomatic talks last week between the UNESCO committee chairman, Michael Worbs, Israel's UN ambassador, Carmel Shama Hacohen, and the Jordanian ambassador to UNESCO, Makram Queisi. Jason Greenblatt, President Trump's adviser on Israel, was personally involved.
Belgium Suspends PA Construction Projects after Palestinian School Renamed for Terrorist - Shiri Moshe (Algemeiner and PMW) The Belgian government is suspending any efforts to construct or furnish Palestinian schools, after one built with Brussels' aid was renamed in honor of Dalal Mughrabi, who led a massacre of 38 people - including 13 children - near Tel Aviv in 1978. Belgium "will not allow itself to be associated with the names of terrorists in any way."
Iran to Block Waze Navigation App Due to Israeli Origin - Fatih Karimov (Trend-Azerbaijan) Abdolsamad Khorramabadi, secretary of the Iranian Committee for Determining Criminal Web Content, has demanded that Iranians' access to Waze, a GPS-based navigation application, be blocked due to its Israeli background.
Belgium Suspends PA Construction Projects after Palestinian School Renamed for Terrorist - Shiri Moshe (Algemeiner and PMW) The Belgian government is suspending any efforts to construct or furnish Palestinian schools, after one built with Brussels' aid was renamed in honor of Dalal Mughrabi, who led a massacre of 38 people - including 13 children - near Tel Aviv in 1978. Belgium "will not allow itself to be associated with the names of terrorists in any way."
Iran to Block Waze Navigation App Due to Israeli Origin - Fatih Karimov (Trend-Azerbaijan) Abdolsamad Khorramabadi, secretary of the Iranian Committee for Determining Criminal Web Content, has demanded that Iranians' access to Waze, a GPS-based navigation application, be blocked due to its Israeli background.
Israeli-Palestinian women’s peace march exposes Palestinian divides - Gabe Carroll (Times of Israel) Two weeks of events drawing thousands throughout Israel, West Bank culminate in Jerusalem rally backed by PLO, slammed by Hamas and BDS movement. Hamas called on Palestinians to “confront” the march and “isolate those who set it up.” The march was also condemned, by the Palestinian National Committee of the international BDS campaign. In an Arabic release, the committee denounced the “feminist normalization march” and called for a boycott and “peaceful sabotage” of the initiative. Abbas, meanwhile, sent the marchers a personal letter, in which he called for the creation of a Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel.
Jordan terms visits by Jews to the courtyard area of Temple Mount "storming of Al Aqsa Mosque " (Petra)
Century-Old Kurdish Statehood Dream Not Handiwork of Israel - Bashdar Ismaeel (Kurdistan24)
The Trump Administration Just Stabbed the Kurds in the Front - Michael J. Totten (World Affairs Journal)
The Trump Administration Just Stabbed the Kurds in the Front - Michael J. Totten (World Affairs Journal)
Teens Detained by Hamas in Gaza Face Torture (IMEMC-PA) Defense for Children International-Palestine has documented six cases since January where children in conflict with the law under the current Hamas-led government in Gaza were at severe risk of abuse during detention. Three children were tortured during police interrogations, and one was physically abused by police station guards and adult prisoners, prompting the boy's suicide.
Turkey Poised to Roll Into Syria (Stratfor) Great map!
U.S. Officials Warn of Potential Hizbullah Threat to U.S. Homeland - Jeff Seldin (VOA News) "Make no mistake, Hizbullah has no political wing. It is a single organization, a terrorist organization, and it is rotten to its core."
ACLU sues over Kansas law that targets Israel boycotts - John Hanna (Times of Israel) Lawsuit filed on behalf of public school math teacher alleges state anti-BDS law violates free speech. Twenty-one states have such policies. “Boycotts of Israel are really a discriminatory effort by a few people who aren’t necessarily interested in a peaceful resolution in the Middle East,” said Jacob Millner, Midwest regional director for the Israel Project. But Dima Khalidi, executive director of Palestine Legal, a group supporting pro-Palestinian advocates, said the Israel government and pro-Israel groups unfairly attempt to paint boycott backers as radicals or terrorism supporters.
UN Ambassador Nikki Haley: "The purpose of UNESCO is a good one. Unfortunately, its extreme politicization has become a chronic embarrassment....Just as we said in 1984 when President Reagan withdrew from UNESCO, U.S. taxpayers should no longer be on the hook to pay for policies that are hostile to our values and make a mockery of justice and common sense."
