Gatestone Institute in the Media

Mideast watch: PA's Abbas Stands 'Trial' for Treason

by Post Editorial Board  •  March 13, 2019  •  The New York Post

Hamas has made no secret of its desire to put Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on trial and hang him for "betraying" the Palestinians through "collaboration" with Israel. But as the Gatestone Institute's Khaled Abu Toameh notes, Abbas "is not going to show up in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip anytime soon" and "hand himself over." So a Hamas affiliate last week held a mock trial of Abbas, attended by "hundreds of Palestinians, including heads of clans, university students and employees whose salaries have been cut by Abbas." Not surprisingly, Abbas was "convicted" and sentenced to death. This may seem like some bizarre comedy act, but it's actually "designed to send a signal" to "any Palestinian who even thinks of making peace with Israel or recognizing its right to exist" that he's "signing his own death warrant."

Foreign desk: How the Palestinians Prepare for Peace

by Post Editorial Board  •  February 1, 2019  •  The New York Post

Palestinian leaders "clearly seem emboldened by the fact that the international community and media are oblivious to the plight of Palestinian journalists," reports Khaled Abu Toameh at the Gatestone Institute. Indeed, the Palestinian Authority is not only arresting and intimidating Palestinian journalists in the West Bank, it's also waging a campaign against Arab journalists from abroad who visit Israel. PA leaders know too well that "the only stories that attract the world's attention are those in which Israel is involved." The crackdown is aimed at "silencing critics and deterring journalists from reporting on sensitive issues such as financial corruption and human rights violations by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas." Sadly, it's "achieved its goal," as most journalists under the PA and Hamas "are afraid publicly to voice any form of criticism of their leaders."

Foreign desk: The Palestinians' Uncivil War

by Post Editorial Board  •  January 8, 2019  •  The New York Post

Fatah and Hamas, the Palestinians' major ruling groups, are now saying "they are done with each other" and "the divorce is final," reports Khaled Abu Toameh at the Gatestone Institute. Indeed, they have reached "a new level of mutual loathing" that seems to surpass even what they feel toward Israel. Which is why the only "peace process" that the Middle East "is crying out for" is one "that would end their bloody, internecine war." Because the Palestinians "cannot make peace with Israel while they are busy killing their own people." But this rivalry "is not over who will bring democracy and a better economy to the Palestinians" — it's "a struggle over money, power and ego." And it won't end until both sides "come up with new leaders who actually give a damn about their people."

Mideast watch: Hamas' Plan to Take the West Bank

by Post Editorial Board  •  December 13, 2018  •  The New York Post

It "seems clear by now" that Hamas is behind some of the recent deadly terror attacks against Israelis in the West Bank — given that, as Khaled Abu Toameh notes at the Gatestone Institute, they "serve the interests of Hamas and its friends and sponsors, especially the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization and Iran." In fact, Hamas has a not-so-secret plan to export its "armed struggle" from Gaza and ultimately take control of the West Bank. And that's been aided by a fresh infusion of $30 million in cash from Qatar and the UN General Assembly's failure to adopt an anti-Hamas resolution. Says Toameh: "These two steps have left Hamas leaders laughing all the way to the next shooting attack on Israel." Which is why not just Israel, but also Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, has reason to be worried.

May NEEDS support of THESE ministers to survive as Prime Minister – expert claim

by Ciaran McGrath  •  November 22, 2018  •  The Daily Express

In an article written on the website of the Gatestone Institute International Policy Council, scholar Malcolm Lowe referred to the two distinct factions within her party who were posing a huge threat to Mr May's Brexit divorce deal, which she is due to discuss with European Union leaders at a summit on Sunday. The first consisted of MPs from the European Research Group (ERG), chaired by Jacob Rees-Mogg – MPs the Prime Minister is highly unlikely to win the support of when she tries to push her proposals through Parliament next month, assuming they are ratified this weekend. Mr Lowe added: "The second group consists of five senior ministers who decided not to resign alongside others on November 15, but to stay on in the hope of persuading May to seek modification of the Protocol, although both she and her EU counterparts insist that it is too late to do so."

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Mideast watch: Why Palestinians Lack a Parliament

by Post Editorial Board  •  October 18, 2018  •  The New York Post

Parliaments may be "among the strongest manifestations of a democracy," but as Khaled Abu Toameh at the Gatestone Institute notes, for the past 11 years, the Palestinians have not had a functioning one. Yes, there's a 132-member Palestinian Legislative Council, but its last election was in 2006 and was won by Hamas, which a year later violently seized control of Gaza. Since then, "the Palestinian parliament has not been functioning properly," leaving President Mahmoud Abbas to pass laws by "presidential decree." It also leaves him unaccountable to anyone, making him "an autocratic and totalitarian president." And it leaves the Palestinian people "with no address to express their grievances," save social media — especially now that Abbas' loyalists are moving to formally dissolve the PLC for good.

Foreign desk: How Iran Plans To Take Gaza

by Post Editorial Board  •  October 10, 2018  •  The New York Post

Anyone hoping that removing Hamas from Gaza would improve the chances for Israeli-Palestinian peace is "in for a big disappointment," suggests Khaled Abu Toameh at the Gatestone Institute. Because Hamas "is not the only terrorist group in the coastal enclave." Remove Hamas from power "and you will most likely end up having to deal with Palestinian Islamic Jihad," which is "not more moderate" and is "dependent on Iran's political, financial and military backing." Through PIJ, which Tehran considers "its real ally," Iran "inserts its tentacles in the internal affairs of the Palestinians." This is the crucial factor that anyone seeking "a solution to the catastrophe called Gaza" must understand— unless they'd rather "inhabit some alternate reality" in which "all would be well if Israel would only ease restrictions on the Gaza Strip."

Mideast desk: Why Hamas Refuses to Disarm

by Post Editorial Board  •  March 26, 2018  •  The New York Post

If Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas seriously thought his rivals in Hamas would lay down their weapons or cede control over Gaza, he's "living in an illusion," says the Gatestone Institute's Khaled Abu Toameh. Which is why the "reconciliation agreement" Abbas signed with Hamas last October "will never be translated into facts on the ground." Fact is, Hamas "is prepared to give Abbas anything he wants" in Gaza "except for security control," which is "a red line not to be crossed" for two reasons. One is the desire to continue the "armed struggle" against Israel. But Hamas also knows that "the moment it hands over security control" to Abbas, "many of its leaders and members will either be killed or imprisoned" by his forces.

Conor Lamb Accused Israel of 'Terrorism,' Targeting 'Innocent Civilians'

by Brent Scher  •  February 12, 2018  •  Washington Free Beacon

Pennsylvania Democrat Conor Lamb wrote in a 2002 post on his college newspaper's website that the Israeli government committed "terrorism" and was intentionally targeting civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The comments by Lamb, currently running for Congress in a special election taking place next month, were made in response to a pro-Israel ad published in the Daily Pennsylvanian, a University of Pennsylvania paper, which Lamb said was "disheartening to see."

I watched anti-Semitism wither. Now I'm seeing it come back to life.

by Robert Fulford  •  November 17, 2017  •  National Post

One day in the 1940s a man knocked on the door of my family's house in the east end of Toronto, seeking signatures for a petition. After he said the petition was an attempt to keep Jews off our street, my parents declined to sign and he went away. Later I asked my mother why he and others were against Jews. She answered with probably the least offensive accusation she had heard about them: "People say they give loud parties." She was not interested in the petitioner's more virulent arguments.

That was my first brush, at age 10, with anti-Semitism, a prejudice I've tended to watch with great interest over the years. By the time I was grown it was much diminished. The barriers to Jews in the professions and business fell, one after another. Eventually, it seemed reasonable to say that, while anti-Semitism still existed, it no longer played a significant role in shaping Canadian society.

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Facebook censored me. Criticize your government and it might censor you too.

by James Bovard  •  October 27, 2017  •  USA Today

Responding to Russian-funded political advertisements, Facebook chairman Mark Zuckerberg declared last month that "we will do our part to defend against nation states attempting to spread misinformation." But Facebook is effectively sowing disinformation by kowtowing to foreign regimes and censoring atrocities such as ethnic cleansing in Myanmar. In the name of repressing fake news and hate speech, Facebook is probably suppressing far more information than Americans realize.

Facebook blocked a post of mine last month for the first time since I joined it nine years ago. I was seeking to repost a blog article I had written on Janet Reno, the controversial former attorney general who died last year. I initially thought that Facebook was having technical glitches (no novelty). But I checked the page and saw the official verdict: "Could not scrape URL because it has been blocked."

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Foreign desk: A Palestinian State Within a State?

by Post Editorial Board  •  October 4, 2017  •  The New York Post

Hamas and Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority "are now headed, willingly or unwillingly, toward plunging the Palestinians into a similar scenario as in Lebanon," contends Khaled Abu Toameh at the Gatestone Institute. There, "Hezbollah maintains a separate mini-state of its own," with "its own army and territory." Now, an Egyptian-sponsored "reconciliation" deal "paves the way for creating a mini-state within a mini-state in the Gaza Strip," in addition to the PA mini-state that exists in parts of the West Bank. With Abbas gaining civilian control and Hamas retaining security control, "Hamas could not have asked for a better deal," given that it's "effectively been absolved of any responsibility" toward Gaza's population. Says Toameh: "Hezbollah and Hamas must be laughing their heads off as, under weak and impotent governments, they see their power grow."

Segregation plan defended after UK prison system dubbed 'Harvard for radicals'

by Alicia Buller  •  September 17, 2017  •  Arab News

LONDON: The author of a landmark review of extremism in British prisons has defended a controversial strategy to separate "subversive offenders" from other inmates.

The UK Ministry of Justice opened its first separation center in July and plans to open two more in the coming months — housing a total of 28 inmates.

It comes as Prime Minister Theresa May put Britain on its highest security footing following a London commuter train bombing that injured 30 people on Friday.

Separating inmates was one of the central recommendations of a review into extremism in prisons led by Ian Acheson, a former prison governor, in 2016.

But the strategy has attracted criticism from some experts who claim it will fuel radicalization.

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London bombing shows danger of Islamification in Britain and Europe. Is the US next?

by Julienne Davis  •  September 16, 2017  •  Fox News

The terrorist bombing Friday of a train on the London Underground, which injured 30 people – including one of my very close friends – was yet more evidence of a painful truth: the Islamification of the United Kingdom and Europe is well under way, changing the very character of the continent that gave birth to Western Civilization.

To escape this disturbing transformation of Britain – a place I had come to love after spending much of my adult life there, even becoming a dual British-U.S. citizen in 2000 – my English husband and I moved back to America at the end of 2006. I felt like a bit of a coward, but I did not want to live in an England changing dramatically for the worse before my eyes.

Yet now I fear that the United States will be next in line to see our wonderful traditions of freedom, tolerance, respect for human rights and the rule of law threatened by the regressive and oppressive ideology of Islamic fundamentalism.

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'Wrestling Jerusalem': Moral myopia at work

by Kristina Harrigan  •  September 15, 2017  •  The Santa Fe New Mexican

Last month, Creativity for Peace and the Council on International Relations sponsored Wrestling Jerusalem, a movie based on a play by Aaron Davidman.

The play misrepresents the Arab-Israeli conflict and demonstrates an only too-widespread moral blindness about Israeli and Palestinian relations. The author repeatedly channels the views of Israelis and Palestinians without any comment, thus indulging in the fiction that these views, and their portrayal of the situation on the ground, are factually and morally equivalent.

Two examples should suffice to illustrate the lack of equivalence.

The play begins with a recital of "catastrophes," "massacres" and "what ifs" in antiphonal fashion; alternating Palestinian and Israeli voices. The 1929 massacre of Jews in Hebron is followed by the 1994 massacre of Muslims in Hebron; the 1982 massacre at Sabra and Shatila is followed by the 2003 massacre at the Tel Aviv bus station.

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