ISRAEL / (IINO)
SCREAMS BEFORE SILENCE Full Video [57:00] A documentary film on the sexual violence committed by Hamas on October 7th, Screams Before Silence is a documentary film led by American businesswoman Sheryl Sandberg, that explores the sexual violence by Hamas during the Hamas-led attack on Israel, on 7 October 2023, including events at the massacre at the Nova Festival and abductions to the Gaza Strip.
Trump: Messiah? Or Part of the Swamp?! [11:22:08]
November 19, 2024 Israel News Talk Radio | “The Tamar Yonah Show”
The implications of the recent U.S. presidential election on Israel’s security, and regarding Donald Trump, it will have to wait to be seen if Trump is the Free World’s ‘Messiah’, or part of the swamp.
Featured Guests:
Jonathan Pollard, A former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst who served 30 years in prison for providing classified information to Israel for its defense, -information that should have been given to Israel as an American ally. Now living in Jerusalem, Jonathan is a passionate advocate for Israeli sovereignty.
Francisco Gil-White – A political anthropologist and former professor who focuses on the influence of media and power elites in shaping Western democracies. To visit his website, go to: www.ManagementOfReality.com
In today’s discussion, Jonathan Pollard and Francisco Gil-White speak with Tamar Yonah and explore the implications of the recent U.S. presidential election on Israel’s security, particularly in relation to its ongoing conflict with Iran and its proxies. With the geopolitical landscape shifting, they discuss if there will be any major change of policy in the Middle East.
US, Italy Must Prevent George Abdallah’s Release From French Prison Rami Chris Robbins
French prosecutors have warned that if released, he might attack again. Opinion.
Nov 17, 2024, 11:00 PM (GMT+2) Israel National News – On Friday, a French court ordered the conditional release of a pro-Palestinian Arab terrorist who assassinated two US Army officers and an Israeli diplomat between 1982 and 1984. The killer, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, was involved in dozens of other attacks.
Abdallah was convicted in France in 1987. He was sentenced to two life sentences for murdering US Colonel Charles R. Ray and Israeli Diplomat Yaacov Barsimantov. In 1984, he was also extradited by Italy where three of his operatives likely killed U.S. General Leamon R. Hunt.
Since then, Abdallah has remained defiant. He was without remorse at 11 parole hearings dating back to 1999. French prosecutors have warned that if released, he might attack again.
Despite this fact, French courts have sought to release Abdallah as far back as 2013. When the US objected, French interior minister, Manuel Valls, blocked Abdallah’s parole. His new parole date is now set for December 6, 2024. This time, there are no signs of renewed US intervention or even interest.
The United States needs to act now. If it cannot persuade France to cancel the parole, the US has a valid claim to charge Abdallah with Ray and Hunt’s murders. The US has always extended extraterritorial jurisdiction upon those who murder US officers, diplomats, and service members abroad.
Although superseded by newer statutes, 18 USCS § 1114 was the law when Abdallah killed our servicemen. It has no statute of limitations for murder.
It therefore seems that the US has to once again finish a job for the French. Charge Abdallah with his crimes. Extradite him. Convict him in a US court.
I reached out to the US Justice Department to see if they had plans to stop Abdallah’s release, coordinate with the French, or explore extradition. They have not responded.
Italy also has a right to extradite Abdallah as Hunt’s assassination occurred in Rome. If the US does not act, Prime Minister Georgia Meloni should. Italy issued an extradition order for Abdallah to France in 1984. Inquiries to the Italian State Police and Prime Minister Georgia Meloni office did not receive responses.
Israel could also pursue extradition, but the French are currently imposing an embargo of armaments to the Jewish State. They would probably embargo a convicted terrorist next (Excuse the black humor).
Two cold-blooded murders
On January 18, 1982, Abdallah ambushed US Army Colonel Charles R. Ray on the street of Paris. Ray was serving as a military attaché in Paris. At 9:00 a.m. Abdallah shot Ray point-blank in the back of the head with a pistol as he walked to his car. Ray was a Vietnam veteran, married, and had two children.
Twelve weeks later, on April 3, 1982, Abdallah’s girlfriend and co-conspirator, Jacqueline Esber, shot Israeli diplomat Yaacov Barsimantov five times outside his family’s Paris apartment. Barsimantov, 42, was stationed in Paris along with his wife, eight-year-old daughter, and son Avi. In an act of bravery, his son, 17 at the time, chased the armed assassin into the Paris Metro.
In a subsequent search of Abdallah’s and Esber’s Paris hideout, Police found a Czech-made 7.65-caliber pistol, 55 pounds of explosives, two rockets, and submachine guns and other weapons. The pistol was a ballistics match with the weapon that killed Barsimantov and Ray.
Other evidence tying this evil duo to the crimes included a lease for the apartment where they stored the pistol and other weapons. In an act of overconfidence or stupidity, Esber had signed the lease. Further, the duo opened a Swiss bank account used to pay for the weapons and the rent. Their fingerprints were everywhere. Abdallah’s handwriting was found on a map in a stolen getaway car. He had written down the street address of one of the victims.
For French leftists who question the conviction there is also the matter of a very public confession. Abdallah and Esber were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Abdallah also founded and led the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Faction (LARF). Under his orders, LARF publicly accepted responsibility for murdering Ray, Barsimantov, and later Hunt.
Abdallah was arrested and convicted. Esber escaped to Lebanon. She was convicted by a French court in absentia. She evaded justice and died in 2016.
And another:
General Hunt was gunned down outside his temporary home in a Rome suburb on February 15, 1984. Hunt was then supervising the peacekeeping operation in the Sinai Desert created in 1978 following the Camp David Accords.
As Hunt and his driver were waiting for a gate to open, three gunmen emerged from a Fiat across the street. They opened fire. One jumped on the trunk of Hunt’s car. Although it was an armored vehicle, the terrorist got a lucky shot through the upper edge of the rear window, killing Hunt.
While LARF claimed responsibility for the attack, General Hunt’s assassination is supposedly more complicated. That is because another group, the Italian Red Brigades, also claimed credit.
In fact, the two terror groups were connected. Abdallah’s LARF was known to be a hired gun among the fraternity of violent communist, anti-Israel, and Anti-American terror groups in the 1980s. Both the CIA and the US State Department have confirmed links between them. The CIA also confirmed many of the conclusions of the French and Italian courts in a report declassified in 2018.
Neither Abdallah, nor anyone else, has ever been charged in connection with General Hunt’s murder. Isn’t it time for an American jury to decide?
LARF also claimed responsibility for three other attacks on Americans, including the unsuccessful assassination of acting U.S. Ambassador to France Christian Chapman in 1981, the wounding of U.S. Consul General Robert Homme in Strasbourg in 1984 and the attempted bombing on U.S. Embassy staffer Roderick Grant in 1982. All told, Abdallah and LARF’s body count reached 12, and 250 wounded.
Even though a French anti-terrorism prosecutor subsequently said he will try and appeal the court’s order to release Abdallah, France is not a reliable anti-terrorism partner. Regardless of how that appeal goes (assuming it is filed at all), The US and Italy should intervene now.
US intervention before Abdallah’s December 6 release will cost nearly nothing. It will also send a strong message that The US neither forgives nor forgets when our servicemen and our allies are murdered by our enemies on foreign streets.
Pro-Palestinian Activist Convicted of Murdering American and Israeli Has Been Released from Prison Despite Never Regretting Killings By Jack Davis
November 18, 2024 at 5:14 pm The Western Journal – A French court said Friday that a terrorist who has spent the last 40 years in jail for killing two diplomats, one of whom was an American, should be released.
The court said Lebanese terrorist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, a pro-Palestinian activist, should be set free on Dec. 6 on the condition that he leaves France, according to Reuters.
France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor said it will appeal, according to France 24.
Abdallah was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, according to an Agence France Presse dispatch published by the Times of Israel.
Abdallah was convicted in the shooting death of U.S. military attaché Charles Robert Ray in 1982.
He also was linked to the murder of Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov.
Barsimantov was killed by a woman wearing a white beret, who shot him in the head in front of his wife and children.
Reuters reported that Abdallah was also implicated in the 1984 attempted murder of American Consul General Robert Homme in Strasbourg.
U.S. officials opposed releasing Abdallah, but Lebanon argued he should be freed, France 24 reported.
This year marked the 11th effort Abdallah, 73, has made to be released.
Abdallah has never expressed any regret, saying he was a “fighter” and not a “criminal”
The terrorist group founded by Abdallah claimed that it carried out four deadly attacks in France during the 1980s.
Abdallah was arrested in 1984 after surrendering to police, claiming Mossad agents were after him.
Earlier this year, 2022 Nobel Literature Prize winner Annie Ernaux said his detention “shamed France.”
In October, a protest advocating his release attracted 2,000 people, according to the AFP.
PM Netanyahu Slams Joe Biden’s Policies, Says President Threatened To Abandon Israel
November 18, 2024 8:30 pm Yeshiva World News – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a pointed critique of the Biden administration’s policies during a speech in the Knesset on Monday, highlighting disagreements over major decisions in Israel’s ongoing war against Iran and its proxies.
Netanyahu alleged that the United States had opposed Israel’s military actions at critical junctures in the conflict. “The US had reservations and suggested that we not enter Gaza,” he said. “It had reservations about entering Gaza City, Khan Yunis, and, most critically, strongly opposed entry into Rafah.” He also accused the Biden administration of threatening to withhold weapons if Israel proceeded with its offensive, saying, “President Biden told me that if we go in, we will be alone.”
Netanyahu also took aim at US advice following drone and missile attacks from Iran. “We were told by our friend that there is no need to respond,” he said. However, Israel responded independently, targeting Iranian air defense systems and missile production capabilities. “Sitting and not reacting is not acceptable,” Netanyahu argued.
Addressing attempts to negotiate a ceasefire in Lebanon, Netanyahu dismissed the significance of diplomatic agreements, stating, “The important thing is not the piece of paper.” He argued that systematic action was necessary to neutralize Hezbollah’s ability to threaten Israel. “This is not only our reaction but our ability to prevent Hezbollah from building up its power,” he said.
Netanyahu’s speech was repeatedly interrupted by opposition lawmakers and protesters in the gallery displaying posters of hostages held in Gaza. He assured the Knesset that efforts to secure their release remained a priority. “I met with aides and members of security services until 3 a.m. last night to discuss new ways to get hostages home,” he said. Netanyahu also called for a crackdown on leaks from the cabinet and negotiating teams, which he claimed were hampering efforts to reach a deal.
Netanyahu expressed frustration with the lack of investigations into leaks from the negotiating team, contrasting this with the ongoing inquiry into the alleged theft of IDF intelligence documents. Former aide Eli Feldstein remains in custody over accusations of leaking sensitive materials to the press. While Netanyahu did not directly reference the case, he implied selective enforcement in investigations, saying, “How can it be that leaks causing immense damage to the State of Israel are not investigated? Nobody has been arrested for those leaks.”
Catholic Pope Calls For Investigation into Israel’s ‘Genocide’
November 18, 2024 Jewish Breaking News – Pope Francis has called for an investigation into alleged acts of genocide by IDF forces during the ongoing wars against the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, according to an upcoming book.
On Sunday, the Italian daily La Stampa published excerpts from Hernán Reyes Alcaide’s new book, Hope Never Disappoints. Pilgrims Towards a Better World, which is set to be released on Tuesday.
Among the excerpts published Tuesday were quotes attributed to the Vatican pontiff in which he is said to have cited claims by “some experts” accusing Israel of genocide, and backing an investigation of IDF war conduct.
“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” Pope Francis is quoted as saying.
“We should investigate carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.”
Pope Francis has already publicly castigated Israel’s war against Hamas and Hezbollah, calling the IDF’s actions “excessive” and “immoral.”
“Defense must always be proportionate to the attack,” the pope told reporters in September.
“When there is something disproportionate, one shows a tendency to dominate which goes beyond what is moral,” he continued.
Even operations which are essentially defensive can be “immoral actions” if they are “excessive,” Pope Francis argued.
Later on Sunday, the Combat Antisemitism Movement slammed Pope Francis’ remarks, comparing it to the historic “Inquisitions.”
“The State of Israel is currently facing a war of intended annihilation on seven fronts, and these remarks look like a possible opening of an eighth front, from of all places, the Vatican, which can also lead to the spilling of Jewish blood around the world,” said CAM CEO Sacha Roytman Dratwa.
“For a Pope who appears to prize even-handedness and peace, we see that the Jewish State once again appears to be the exception.”
“It would behoove Pope Francis to choose his words more carefully because they bring to mind a horrific and bloody history of Catholic religious leaders attacking Jews for the enjoyment of others in public at tribunals and Inquisitions where the Jew would always be found guilty regardless of the facts.”
[Ed.:
Iran Signals Nuclear Talk Readiness as Trump’s Shadow Looms Large
November 18, 2024 Jewish Breaking News – In what analysts are calling the “Trump Effect,” Iran has signaled its readiness for nuclear negotiations with Western powers.
“We believe the window for diplomacy is still open, albeit for a short time, provided the other parties demonstrate genuine willingness. Without such commitment, we will pursue an alternative course,” Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday on state television.
The foreign minister’s expiration date warning comes as the international community faces a critical October 2025 deadline. Under current UN Security Council Resolution 2231, Western nations can rapidly reimpose or “snap back” sanctions if Iran violates nuclear agreements. But after October 2025, this powerful enforcement tool disappears as restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program automatically expire.
Araghchi said the European powers will most probably try to use the snapback mechanism to restore sanctions against Iran over the next year and warned that the regime is “prepared for any scenario.”
“If confrontation becomes inevitable, we are ready to face it,” he said. “Similarly, if cooperation is possible, we are prepared to embrace that path as well.”
Tehran’s diplomatic offensive gained momentum Thursday when President Masoud Pezeshkian met with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, expressing willingness to address “alleged ambiguities” about Iran’s “peaceful” nuclear activities.
However, the timing appears far from coincidental.
The Financial Times reports that Trump’s incoming administration is preparing executive orders to intensify existing sanctions and implement new restrictions on Iran’s oil exports as part of a “maximum pressure” strategy similarly employed during his first term. While Araghchi claimed it was “too early to analyze” Trump’s approach, he noted that Trump’s nominees display a “radical tendency” in their support for Israel.
Meanwhile, controversy continues to swell over a reported meeting between Trump ally Elon Musk and Iran’s UN envoy. While Tehran dismisses these reports as fabricated, neither Musk nor Trump’s team has denied them, fueling speculation about back-channel communications.
