Via Prime  Minister’s Office:

Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Foreign Press Association on Jan. 20: “In the last few years…those of you who have been in Israel have been under missile and rocket fire….Imagine a country somewhere the size of Belgium and Luxembourg sustaining 12,000 rockets and you understand, of course, the nature of our problem and the fact is that we are surrounded by an ever-growing arsenal of rockets placed in the Iranian-supported enclaves, to the north and to the south….The problem is to prevent them from being placed on our borders.”

“Where is the problem that Israel has vis-a-vis Lebanon? It is not on the Lebanon-Israel border. It is on the Lebanon-Syrian border. Where’s the problem that we face vis-a-vis Gaza? It is not on the Israel-Gaza seam line. It’s not on that border. It’s in the twelve-kilometer strip between Gaza and Egypt. That…creates a monumental problem – a security problem for Israel….Therefore, in addition to defensive means, we also must ensure that in that entry to the contiguous areas next to Israel, there is a way to effectively stop the infiltration of rockets and other weaponry. And I believe that…in the case of a future settlement with the Palestinians, this will require an Israeli presence on the eastern side of a prospective Palestinian state.”

“In Lebanon we had an international guarantee – UN Resolution 1701 – an insurance policy signed by the entire international community and you know that that unfortunately has failed, in fact it’s failed miserably and Hizbullah is just pouring in weapons, more and more weapons to fire into Israel….We had also an understanding with other countries when we left Gaza about the Philadelphi corridor…but you can see that there is massive infiltration continuing all the time. We can’t afford to have that replicated a third time in the center part of the country that dominates our cities, dominates our population, and dominates our airfield….We have to have something to interdict the inflow of rockets and missiles and other weaponry into a prospective Palestinian state.”

From Jewish Chorincle via DailyAlert:

Gulf War veteran Col. Tim Collins visited the town of Sderot in Israel and Gaza for BBC Newsnight and said he believes Hamas is committing war crimes. He was shown around Sderot bomb shelters and the police station, where he inspected a rocket from Gaza and pronounced it to be an indiscriminate weapon. While in Gaza, he inspected a mosque bombed by the Israelis. In its cellar, he found evidence of secondary explosions.

He said: “It’s my opinion that the only thing that could have caused these explosions is that explosives were stored in this cellar. It’s the only legitimate explanation.”

Collins expressed his shock at posters with Hamas’ badge on them, showing rockets heading towards Sderot.

“This is a war crime by any standard,” he said.

Know thine enemy. Via FoxNews:

Nov. 4, 2009, marks the 30th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, when militant Iranian students took 66 Americans hostage and began a 444-day standoff with the West. Fifty-two Americans were kept in captivity for nearly 15 months by forces loyal to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who established an Islamic theocracy in 1979, months before the storming of the embassy.

President Jimmy Carter ordered an ill-fated rescue attempt in April 1980 in which eight U.S. servicemen died in a mid-air collision between two aircraft flying over the Iranian desert on their way back from the aborted maneuver. The failure left a lasting mark on the Carter administration and helped sink his presidency.

Iran released the hostages on Jan. 20, 1981, 20 minutes after Ronald Reagan assumed office in Washington. The 52 embassy officials were flown from Iran to Algiers, then on to a U.S. airbase in Germany to recover. From there they flew to Newburgh, N.Y., and were bused to West Point, receiving a heroes’ welcome on U.S. soil.

On June 29, 2005, shortly after the depraved Jew-hater Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the Iranian presidential election, several major news outlets publicized allegations that he participated in the 1979–1981 Iran Hostage Crisis.

Some previous hostages have identified Ahmadinejad as the man in the military jacket on the hostage’s left side in the photo below. Several other sources, including Ahmadinejad, and other hostage takers have disputed these identifications.

In this pathetic world we live in, only the Jews are to be despised, and Muslims are to be exalted.  Shame on Scotland and the reprehensible brown-noser Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill for releasing a mass murderer.  Yet another example of how the UK has lost its moral will.  Via AP:

The Scottish government says it will release Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds to allow him to return to Libya to die.

Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said Thursday that there had been a significant deterioration in the health of al-Megrahi, who is suffering from terminal prostate cancer.

MacAskill says he is conscious that there “were deeply held feelings and that many may disagree.”

Al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of taking part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 on Dec. 21, 1988. He was sentenced to life in prison.

The airliner — which was carrying mostly American passengers to New York — blew up as it flew over Scotland. All 259 people aboard and 11 on the ground died when the aircraft crashed into the town of Lockerbie.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi is a former Libyan intelligence officer, head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines, and director of the Centre for Strategic Studies in Tripoli, Libya. On 31 January 2001, he was convicted, by a panel of Scottish Judges sitting in a special court at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, of 270 counts of murder for his part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on 21 December 1988.

Megrahi was sentenced to life imprisonment. Suffering from terminal prostate cancer, with less than three months to live, he was freed on compassionate grounds by the Scottish Government on 20 August 2009.

His release was met with controversy. His co-accused, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah was found not guilty and was acquitted.

Statement of Director Robert S. Mueller, III, Federal Bureau of Investigatio:

We are deeply disappointed over the decision to release Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi from prison. Mr. Megrahi’s guilt was firmly established by the court. His conviction resulted in a life sentence for his part in the loss of 270 innocent lives, including 189 Americans. He never admitted to his role in this act of terrorism, nor did he or the government of Libya disclose the names or roles of others who were responsible.

In a case of mass murder over Lockerbie, Mr. Megrahi served less than 14 days per victim. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those victims today, for the ongoing pain and loss caused by this horrific attack.

If there had been no Hamas war crimes, there would have been no need for an Israeli response. Via JPost:

The issue is not whether Israel must respect human rights, but that the human rights of Israel and its people have not been respected. The discrimination emerges not from suggesting that human rights standards should be applied to Israel – which they must be – but from the fact that these standards have not been applied equally to anyone else.

It was Hamas that fired deliberately on Israeli civilians.

It was Hamas that boasted – only days before the conflict exploded in December – that Israel was “hopeless and desperate” when faced with its attacks.

It was Hamas that painted Israel and Jews as the sons of apes and pigs and that called for their murder in its charter and publicly incited to their genocide.

Once the war began, it was Hamas that continued to target Israeli civilians as part of a systematic, widespread attack.

It was Hamas that chose to position its fighters in Palestinian civilian areas.

It was Hamas that misused ambulances to transport fighters to launch attacks.

It was Hamas that recruited children into armed conflict.

These are all indisputable war crimes. Yet they do not find their way into the resolution establishing the Goldstone Commission.

Simply put, if there had been no Hamas war crimes, there would have been no need for an Israeli response.

It’s astonishing how the U.S. continues to impose itself on how another sovereign nation chooses to protect her own citizens from Islamic terror attacks.  From JPost via Daily Alert:

The U.S. on Tuesday criticized Israel for stamping passports of tourists intending to visit the West Bank as “Palestinian Authority only,” restricting visitors’ ability to enter Israel.

“We have let the government of Israel know that these restrictions unfairly impact Palestinian and Arab American travelers and are not acceptable,” the State Department spokesman’s office said.

Israeli officials have defended the policy as necessary to insure that individuals who pose security risks aren’t able to wander around Israel.

In the past, some foreign terrorists were able to attack Israelis after first rendezvousing with contacts in Palestinian-controlled areas.

From Washington Times via Daily Alert:

Ahmad Vahidi, nominated Thursday by President Ahmadinejad to serve as Iran’s defense minister, is a suspected international terrorist sought by Interpol in connection with a deadly 1994 attack on a Jewish community center in Argentina.

Vahidi, a former commander of the elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard known as the Quds Force, was listed with four other Iranian officials on Interpol’s most-wanted list in 2007 at the request of Argentine prosecutors.

Kenneth Katzman, a senior analyst at the Congressional Research Service, said Vahidi is also suspected of having played a role in a 1996 attack on the Khobar Towers U.S. Air Force barracks in Saudi Arabia.

“Vahidi was commander of the Quds Force during the late 1980s to early 1990s, and his choice certainly sends a very strong signal that Ahmadinejad plans to continue, and maybe even accelerate, Iran’s material support for pro-Iranian parties and militias in the region,” Katzman said.

Vahidi’s “reputed intimate involvement in various acts of terrorism, particularly against Argentina and the United States, makes his selection especially flagrant,” said Kenneth Piernick, a former chief of the FBI’s Iran-Hizbullah unit.

“This does not look like an unclenched fist.” Malcolm Hoenlein, vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said the elevation of Vahidi “is reflective of the hard-line nature of the new Cabinet.”

“This should heighten concerns about Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons,” he added.

Via FlashTraffic:

Shanghai Cooperation Organization meetings are underway in Moscow.

Prophetic? As Iranian forces murder pro-democracy protesters, Ahmadinejad heads straight for Moscow.

Massive protests in Iran not seen since ‘79 Revolution.

FLASH: IAEA head admits Iran seeking nuclear bomb

Students of Bible prophecy should keep a close eye on events unfolding in Iran and the epicenter, and keep praying for the Lord to have mercy on that country. With upwards of a million young, pro-democracy Reformers on the streets of Iran demanding an end to the Radicals’ regime, Iranian security forces have murdered as many as two dozen protesters.

Iranian leaders are now threatening the Reformers with the death penalty. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — freshly annointed by the Supreme Leader to stay as the face and voice of the regime’s apocalyptic agenda — couldn’t care less. Ahmadinejad headed straight for Moscow yesterday. There, he met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to continue building a political and military alliance between Russia, China, Iran and Islamic countries in Central Asia. Currently, Iran has “observer” status in the SCO, but has requested full member status. The SCO alliance is evocative of the eastern-portion of the biblical alliance foretold in Ezekiel 38-39 that will come against Israel and seek to destroy the Jewish people in what the Bible calls the “last days” of history. When one considers how closely Russia and Iran are currently growing to the western portion of the prophetic alliance — Sudan, Libya and Algeria, for example — it’s not hard to envision these prophecies coming true in our lifetime, or even in the next few years. That said, I believe it is currently too soon to draw any conclusions. There are many intriguing trends and developments, but it remains far from clear that we’re seeing Bible prophecy come to pass. That said, we cannot rule out the possibility. Events in the region are both unprecedented and riveting. All the more reason for followers of Jesus Christ to “get ready and be prepared” for whatever lies ahead.

MIRACLE, OR MANIPULATION?

Excerpt from an NYT story worth noting: “Iranians are generally united in viewing the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to another four-year term as a miracle. Some believe it in the literal sense that the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, seemed to intend when he said ‘the miraculous hand of God’ was at work. Others believe it in the sense that they see no earthly explanation why an incumbent who presided over worsening inflation, unemployment and isolation would draw more than seven million more votes than in his first victory.”

Observation: With the full backing of his Supreme Leader for his apocalyptic End Times beliefs, is Ahmadinejad more or less likely to give up Iran’s nuclear weapons program to the Obama administration?

Via PalestinianMediaWatch:

On the second anniversary of the Hamas military takeover of Gaza, PA (Fatah) TV broadcast a public Fatah event held in the presence of senior Fatah leaders, which focused on intense vilification of Hamas.

This included the showing of a graphic video of Hamas members brutally beating a Fatah member in Gaza. The screams of the victim can be heard in the video, along with others calling “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is Great).

The Fatah moderator introduced the video with the following words:
“Hamas’s name is written on every arm and leg which was crushed by their [Hamas's] acts of terror.”

The Hamas – Fatah hatred is very deep and this intense hate propaganda is typical of the current Fatah – Hamas relations. This animosity has led to the arrest of numerous Hamas members by the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority. This is important to note, as these arrests have been mistakenly reported in the press to be a sign that the Palestinian Authority is fighting  Palestinian terror on behalf of Israel.

Click here to view. Warning – the video contains graphic material.

In a continuation of the 100-year war against the Jewish people, Muslim terrorists have again fired a Qassam rocket into the Negev in another attempt to continue their genocide against the indigenous Jewish people.

Fortunately, Israel Air Force warplanes bombed two weapons-smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip early Sunday in response to the rocket attack.

On Thursday, gunmen opened fire on IDF soldiers near the security fence along the border with Gaza.  No soldiers were wounded in the incident.

And for those keeping score and who  align themselves politically with “thepoorpalestinianpeepull”, approximately 670 Qassam rockets, mortar shells and Grad missiles have been fired at Israel since the beginning of 2009.