ARAB YOUTHS CALL FOR INTIFADA AGAINST ISRAEL

PA Arab Youths Call for New Intifada

A group of Palestinian Authority Arab youth has called for a new wave of armed resistance against "the occupation forces" starting Friday.-By Dalit Halevi & Elad Benari-First Publish: 9/25/2013, 3:43 AM-INN

Violent PA Arab demonstration-Flash 90

A group of Palestinian Authority Arab youth has called on PA Arabs to launch a new wave of armed resistance, or intifada, against Israel.The group, which calls itself the "Coalition of Intifada Youth in Palestine" on Tuesday issued a call for a new intifada to break out on the anniversary of the Second Intifada, also known as the Oslo War, which broke out on September 28, 2000.In a pamphlet it distributed, the group stated that the way of the intifada had in the past united “the Palestinian people” and will unite them again.

The group called for confrontations with "the occupation forces at all points of friction in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Al-Quds and the land that has been occupied since 1948," starting this Friday, September 27.

The pamphlet states, "The young Palestinians are thirsty to remove the injustice that exists in Al-Quds and in the holy sites to Christianity and Islam which are subject to daily Judaization by settlers, to curb the expansion of the settlements in the occupied cities in the West Bank and end the oppressive siege on the Gaza Strip.”The organization also claimed in the pamphlet that PA Arab youth would transcend all political differences and unite fully against the "occupation" and called upon PA Arabs to demonstrate this coming Friday in all PA Arab cities.Several weeks ago, Fatah’s armed branch, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, declared war and announced that it would give the “green light” to terrorist attacks targeting Israelis.

Tensions have been high in Judea and Samaria lately, particularly over the past several days with the murders of two IDF soldiers in two separate attacks.On Sunday, 20-year-old Gabriel (Gal) Kobi of Tirat Hacarmel was murdered by terrorists in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood of Hevron, near the Machpelah Cave. Kobi was shot by the terrorists and later died in the hospital.Last weekend, IDF soldier Tomer Hazan was kidnapped and murdered by a PA Arab terrorist with whom he had worked in a restaurant in Bat Yam. The terrorists lured Hazan to Samaria, where he murdered him and disposed of his body.

Netanyahu: Rouhani Trying to Buy Time

Iranian President's speech at the UN was “cynical and full of hypocrisy,” declares Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.-By Elad Benari-First Publish: 9/25/2013, 1:42 AM-Israelnationalnews

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu-Flash 90

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly was “cynical and full of hypocrisy,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Tuesday night.In a statement he released shortly after Rouhani’s speech, Netanyahu said that the speech reflects the Iranian plan, namely to "talk and buy time in order to promote the ability of Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.”“Rouhani spoke about human rights while Iranian forces are taking part in the massacre of innocent civilians in Syria, he condemned terrorism while the Iranian regime carries out terrorism in dozens of countries around the world," said Netanyahu, who added that although Rouhani said that nuclear weapons "contradict Iranian morality" a report by the UN’s atomic agency indicates otherwise.“It is not for nothing that the speech did not contain any practical proposal to stop Iran’s military nuclear program and there was no commitment to follow the resolutions of the UN Security Council,” Netanyahu said.“It is a good thing that the Israeli delegation did not sit in the room [while Rouhani was talking, it would have given legitimacy to a regime that does not recognize that the Holocaust took place and which has publicly declared its desire to wipe Israel off the map,” he added, referring to his earlier instruction to the Israeli delegation not to be present during Rouhani’s speech.“I will not allow the Israeli delegation to be part of a cynical public relations show by a regime that denies the Holocaust and calls for our destruction,” concluded Netanyahu.

Rouhani condemns Holocaust as crime against humanity

In break from Ahmadinejad’s stance, Iranian president calls mass murder of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany ‘reprehensible’

By Times of Israel staff September 25, 2013, 4:19 am 0-The Times of Israel

In a major break from his predecessor, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani on Wednesday condemned the Holocaust as a crime against humanity in a CNN interview with Christiane Amanpour.“I am not a historian and when it comes to speaking of the dimensions of the Holocaust it is the historians that should reflect,” Rouhani said during his visit to New York.“But in general I can tell you that any crime that happens in history against humanity, including the crime the Nazis created towards the Jews, is reprehensible and condemnable,” CNN translated the newly elected president saying.Earlier in the evening, before the interview aired on the US cable news channel, Rouhani spoke at length about “violence and extremism” and his country’s nuclear program before the UN General Assembly.Rouhani’s predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, repeatedly during his eight year term as president denounced the mass murder of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany as a “myth” and a “great deception of the Holocaust” generated by Israel.Earlier in the evening Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli delegates to walk out of the UN General Assembly during Rouhani’s speech. He defended his decision saying their presence “would have given legitimacy to a regime that does not accept that the Holocaust happened and publicly declares its desire to wipe Israel off the map.”As Israel’s prime minister, he said, “I won’t allow the Israeli delegation to be part of a cynical public relations charade by a regime that denies that Holocaust and calls for our destruction.”Rouhani said in English in the interview that “I would like to say to [the] American people: I bring peace and friendship from Iranians to Americans.” The Iranian president reiterated that he would like to take serious confidence-building steps with the United States, but that such a detente would require efforts by both sides.The US broke diplomatic relations with Iran in 1980, shortly after 52 American diplomats were held hostage in the US embassy in Tehran for over a year.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-hasan-rouhanis-speech-at-the-un/ 

Obama to Palestinians: Peace won’t be easy

At UN meet, Abbas tells US president he is fully committed to peace talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state

By Haviv Rettig Gur September 24, 2013, 11:00 pm 2-The times of Israel

US President Barack Obama acknowledged on Tuesday that Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were difficult, but insisted a two-state solution was “the best way, the only way” to ensure a better future for the two peoples.“None of us are under any illusion that this would be easy,” Obama said at a press event shortly before the two leaders met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly gathering underway in New York.

The talks have “already entailed significant political risk by President Abbas, as well as Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Obama said. “Sitting directly at the table, we’ve seen Palestinian and Israeli representatives discuss some of the most difficult issues that have been roadblocks to peace for too long.”He added: “But I think the reason that they’ve been willing to take those risks is they realize this is the best way, the only way, for us to achieve what should be our goal: two states living side-by-side in peace and security. It’s right for Palestinian children. It’s right for Israeli children.”Obama praised Abbas, saying, “President Abbas I think has consistently rejected violence, has recognized the need for peace, and I’m grateful to him for his efforts.”

The US president was also careful to emphasize American support for the fragile rule of the Palestinian Authority.“The Palestinian Authority has been a critical mechanism to improve governance and increase transparency in the West Bank. Obviously, the Palestinian Authority operates under significant constraints, including resource constraints. But we think it’s very important that we continue to support efforts that have been made by the Authority, for example, to improve internal security and professionalize security forces inside the Authority. And that, I think, lays also an important foundation for the kind of economic development and governance that will be critical for an independent Palestinian state.”Abbas thanked Obama for his support, and “all the support that the US is extending to the Palestinian people to build the institutions of the future Palestinian state, which hopefully will materialize very soon with your support and continued assistance.”He called the talks a “historic opportunity” and insisted the Palestinian side was “fully committed to the peace process so that we can reach a final settlement that ultimately will lead to the creation of an independent Palestinian state that would live side-by-side in peace and security with Israel.”Like Obama, he also said the Palestinians “have no illusions that peace will be easy or simple. And we have to overcome several difficulties, but we realize that peace in the Middle East is not just important for the Palestinians and Israelis, it’s important for the entire region and the world. We understand there will be difficulties, but we will do our utmost best to overcome them.”American-led peace talks resumed in July after over three years of stalled negotiations.Obama is slated to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington next week.

Obama’s message to Netanyahu: Palestine for Iran

President’s persistent juxtaposition of nuclear issue and peace process shows he’s willing to be tough on Tehran — but insists, too, on progress with the Palestinians

By Raphael Ahren September 24, 2013, 8:31 pm 6-The times of Israel

Iran for Palestine — those three words sum up the key message Barack Obama directed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his speech Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly.The American president’s 42-minute address provided analysts and pundits with plenty of fodder for dissection: He discussed at length the civil war in Syria, the nuclear standoff with Iran, and the future of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. (He also took a swipe or two at Russia, but made no mention of Japan, India, the Koreas or Myanmar, while citing Israel 15 times, Palestine 11 times, and Iran 25 times.)There was nothing deeply surprising for Israeli ears in what the president said. He had made his position on Syria abundantly clear in recent weeks, and it was expected that he would cautiously embrace Iran’s current charm offensive. Even the stark assertion that Israelis increasingly recognize that “the occupation of the West Bank is tearing at the democratic fabric of the Jewish state” was familiar; he had said much the same during his visit here in March.But what might have raised eyebrows in Jerusalem was Obama’s not-so subtle linkage of the Iranian nuclear threat with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.“In the near term, America’s diplomatic efforts will focus on two particular issues: Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, and the Arab-Israeli conflict,” Obama said, opening the central, major section of his speech. “While these issues are not the cause of all the region’s problems, they have been a major source of instability for far too long, and resolving them can help serve as a foundation for a broader peace.”The president went on to talk about the mistrust that exists between Tehran and Washington, and while acknowledging that he doesn’t believe “this difficult history can be overcome overnight,” stressed an emphatic preference for solving the nuclear standoff through diplomacy.

Obama warmly welcomed the “more moderate course” Iran’s new president Hasan Rouhani wants to pursue, mentioning that the new, friendlier face of the Islamic Republic recently endorsed a longstanding fatwa against nuclear arms. While reiterating that the US is “determined to prevent” Tehran from acquiring such weapons, he refrained from issuing an explicit direct threat of military force. Only in an earlier, more general of his speech, did he say that “The United States of America is prepared to use all elements of our power, including military force,” to secure its “core interests in the region.”In the Iranian context, the president eschewed the usual “all options are on the table,” and also abstained from warning of further sanctions. Rather, Obama emphasized “mutual interests and mutual respect” and highlighted Iranians’ right “to access peaceful nuclear energy.”For diplomacy to succeed, he said, Iran’s “conciliatory words will have to be matched by actions that are transparent and verifiable.” He did not say what would happen if this did not transpire.And then, immediately after talking about Tehran’s nuclear program, the leader of the free world turned to “a conflict that goes back even further than our differences with Iran: the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.”The obvious juxtaposition of the two, not directly related issues, suggested that Obama seeks to revive a venerable formula known in Hebrew as “Gar’in tmurat Falestin” — the nuclear issue in exchange for Palestine.Knowing that Netanyahu sees the prevention of a nuclear armed Iran as an absolute imperative — it’s his life’s mission, one that he’s absolutely obsessed with, people close to the prime minister intimate — the linkage offered the interpretation that Obama remained determined to thwart Iran’s nuclear quest, but also to ensure that Jerusalem show itself increasingly forthcoming on the Palestinian quest for statehood.While both the White House and the Prime Minister’s Office categorically deny any such connection between the two issues, analysts have long assumed that Obama has in the past suggested just such an equation.In a recent interview with Haaretz’s Ari Shavit, outgoing Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren implicitly confirmed that the “Gar’in tmurat Falestin” had been tried, unsuccessfully.“Would you agree that the right deal was an obvious deal: Palestine for Iran. But this deal was not brought to fruition. Obama did not stop Iran and Netanyahu did not take historic action on Palestine,” Shavit asked Oren.

“That’s correct,” Oren replied. “And it is disappointing. But we haven’t reached the end of the story yet. Look where we were in the spring of 2009 and look where we are now. Today there’s no talk of containment of a nuclear Iran and they’re not demanding a settlement freeze from us. There’s been a dynamic in US policy and the dynamic was in our direction.”With Obama having specified Tuesday that the Iranian nuclear issue and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are the two current key focuses of his foreign policy, Netanyahu will likely hear from the president, at their meeting in the White House scheduled for next Monday, the promise of a firm American stance on the nuclear issue and the expectation of a generous Israeli position regarding Palestinian peace negotiations.“Real breakthroughs on these two issues — Iran’s nuclear program, and Israeli-Palestinian peace — would have a profound and positive impact on the entire Middle East and North Africa,” Obama promised on Tuesday, linking the two again.