A Senator speaking at an event that was alleged to be a gathering of Middle East Christians and their supporters left the stage after being booed for his support of Israel.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz was on the list of speakers for the inaugural “In Defense of Christians” event in Washington, D.C. Cruz was scheduled to speak to the crowd on Wednesday night as part of a series of speakers discussing the need for unity to stand against Islamic terrorism in the region.
However, Cruz was met with boos and harassment when he mentioned Israel.
“Christians have no greater ally than Israel,” Cruz said in his keynote address. Immediately, many Middle Eastern representatives in the crowd started yelling derogatory statements about Cruz and Israel.
“If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews,” Cruz said before leaving the podium, “I will not stand with you.”
The organization behind the event released a statement saying those in attendance who disrupted Cruz did not adhere to the principles of the organization.
“Tonight’s injection of politics when the focus should have been on unity and faith, momentarily played into the hands of a few who do not adhere to IDC’s principles,” stated In Defense of Christians President Toufic Baaklini. “Tonight’s events make clearer than ever, that In Defense of Christians is desperately needed in a world that remains divided to the point where even the most fundamental value of life and human dignity are cast aside.”
The Israeli Military Advocate General Corps announced investigations into five incidents connected to the 50-day battle between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.
The most high profile of the cases involves the airstrike on a beach that resulted in the deaths of four Palestinian children. However, the IDF said none of the situations is being investigated under the guise of a “war crime.”
The MAG Corps speed at launching investigations is seen as a response to actions after the 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead in Gaza that had some incidents left without investigation years later.
The beach investigation will look into accusations from reporters that no Hamas military targets were in the area of the beach at the time of the air strikes. The strike took place near a hotel where foreign journalists had been staying and they observed the air strike.
An investigation that has already taken place regarding an Israeli rocket that struck a UN school has shown that while one Israeli rocket hit the school, no injuries were caused to anyone by the strike. Hamas had claimed children were injured as a result of the strike.
A major conference on the heavy increase in anti-Semitism around the world was held at the United Nations.
But the UN itself didn’t have a single thing to do in sponsoring it.
The UN Permanent Mission of Palau and the Aja Eze Foundation sponsored a lunchtime conference to address the outbreaks of anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence in the wake of the conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.
“But why couldn’t the UN, founded on the ashes of the Jewish people, and presently witnessing a widespread resurgence in anti-Semitism, sponsor a conference on combating global anti-Semitism?” said Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust. “The answer is clear: Because the United Nations itself is the leading global purveyor of anti-Semitism.”
In July, 318 confirmed anti-Semitic incidents were reported by the UN, an increase of 381% from the same time period last year.
“Where is the outrage? Where are the universal condemnations?” Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor said. “The silence is very similar to the silence of the 1930s and we all have a responsibility to stand up and fight. Will you stand with those who fire rockets, kidnap girls out of classrooms, and cut off the heads of journalists? Or will you stand up for freedom?”
Senior officials with the Israeli Defense Force has admitted to the Times of Israel that they underestimated the tenacity of Hamas and that they did not expect the conflict to last long.
“If you’d asked me two months ago, I wouldn’t assess that it’s going to take us 50 days,” the unnamed official said. “We thought it’s going to take them a shorter time to understand what happened, and we are mistaken here. It’s a tactical assessment mistake, but it’s a mistake.”
The official who demanded anonymity said that Hamas also had surprised the IDF with the power of their forces.
“They were in pretty good shape and pretty well trained,” he said, referring to amphibious commando-style raids.
“You can see for sure they were trained outside of the Gaza Strip,” he said. He also said that nothing surprised them militarily and that right now they’re believed to be in very bad shape.
The truce on August 26th continues to hold.
Israel’s Channel 2 is reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew a line before the start of Operation Protective Edge regarding the release of prisoners in peace deals with the terrorist group Hamas or anyone negotiating on their behalf.
Netanyahu said anyone convicted of terrorist acts would not be eligible for release from prison in any negotiation.
Netanyahu’s reasoning said despite the public statements by Palestinian leaders condemning the killing of three kidnapped Israeli teens, the celebratory welcome given to terrorists released as part of a previous peace deal conflict with the words.
The edict of the Prime Minister is expected to make peace negotiations more difficult over the next few months. Prisoner releases along with a freeze on construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank were demands of Palestinians for peace talks.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly is going to seek approval from the Arab League to offer a nine-month negotiation process to create a Palestinian state.
Former Cuban president Fidel Castro is blaming the United States and Israel for the creation of the Islamic terrorist group ISIS.
Castro says that Israel’s intelligence agency teamed up with U.S. Senator John McCain to create the terrorist entity. Castro made the claim in an article he penned for the Cuban state media and translated by Russia Today.
“Many people are astonished when they hear the statements made by some European spokesmen for NATO when they speak with the style and face of the Nazi SS,” Castro wrote. “Adolf Hitler’s greed-based empire went down in history with no more glory than the encouragement provided to NATO’s aggressive and bourgeois governments, which makes them the laughing stock of Europe and the world.”
The 88-year-old Castro has officially been out of power since his resignation but many western diplomats say that he is still consulted on any major decision for the country. His views on America and Israel likely will continue to be the stance of the nation until his death.
Reports have been released of a Muslim man who threatened to shot up an Ohio high school because of his hatred of Israel.
Police said that a man “with a heavy accent” called Pickerington North High School Wednesday morning and said that he would be shooting students at the school with an AK-47 assault rifle. The man said he was “Mohammed Shehad” and that his actions would be in response to Israel’s actions in the Gaza strip.
The school was put into lockdown until police could determine there was no actual threat in the area of the school.
Police say that no one has been arrested and it’s likely the threat has passed but they were not taking anything for granted.
“There is no way to be absolutely certain,” Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen said.
Terrorism analyst Patrick Poole, who lives in Ohio, said radical Islam in Ohio is on the rise.
“We have had a growing problem here in the Columbus area for years that local law enforcement and the media want to continue to sweep under the carpet,” Poole said. “Not only has central Ohio been the home of the largest known al-Qaeda cell since 9/11—with several members currently in prison on terrorism charges and at least two deported—we’ve had a number of cases of homegrown jihadists come through town.”
A statement has been released by almost 200 Hollywood stars condemning the “ideologies of hatred” that drive the terrorist group Hamas along with a call for peace in Gaza.
“We, the undersigned, are saddened by the devastating loss of life endured by Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza. We are pained by the suffering on both sides of the conflict and hope for a solution that brings peace to the region,” the statement begins.
“While we stand firm in our commitment to peace and justice, we must also stand firm against ideologies of hatred and genocide which are reflected in Hamas’ charter, Article 7 of which reads, ‘There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!’ Hamas cannot be allowed to rain rockets on Israeli cities, nor can it be allowed to hold its own people hostage. Hospitals are for healing, not for hiding weapons. Schools are for learning, not for launching missiles. Children are our hope, not our human shields.”
The document was published on the website Creative Community For Peace.
Stars that signed the statement included Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwartenegger and Seth Rogan. The statement even had far-left wing celebrities that normally do not support conservative issues like creator of “The West Wing” Aaron Sorkin and atheist activist and commentator Bill Maher.
The group bills themselves as “an organization of prominent entertainment industry executives devoted to using art and music to build bridges for peace.”
The long-term ceasefire between Israel and terrorist group Hamas appeared to be holding on a second day as Israel took steps to ease the border blockade.
Israel said the economic blockade would allow Gaza residents to return to jobs or interact with businesses that they haven’t been able to do since Hamas began their attacks on Israel.
The ending of the economic blockade and easing of the border blockade was part of the demands of Hamas for entering into a long-term peace. Israel had previously said they were not giving in to any of Hamas’ demands as part of the peace deal.
The chairman of the Council of Evangelical Churches in the Holy Land told the Christian Post the deal had to include the lifting of the economic blockade.
“They want a meaningful ceasefire to end the seven years of blockade and travel restrictions that make Gaza one large prison. They want a deal to make life livable,” Dr. Munir S. Kakish said. “The West did not address the problems in the Gaza strip. The blockade, travel restrictions, economic disaster, lack of any healthcare have all created a condition where life is not acceptable.”
The last long-term truce ended a week of fighting in 2012 when Hamas promised to stop firing rockets into Israel.
