“Blacklist the 14 Iranian banks that are still allowed to do business with foreign customers”

Posted on August 23, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

WALL STREET JOURNAL
How the U.S. Can Finally Cut Off Tehran’s Financial Oxygen
by Mark Dubowitz and Richard Goldberg
August 25, 2020

The Islamic Republic of Iran is entering the late rounds of an increasingly desperate fight to stave off economic collapse amid President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign. To land a 12th-round economic knockout, it’s time for Mr. Trump to throw one more punch: Blacklist the entire Iranian financial industry. While the U.S. Treasury has imposed sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran and many other Iranian financial institutions—and forced their disconnection from the Swift financial messaging network—at least 14 Iranian banks remain open for business with foreign customers. These banks are Tehran’s financial lifeline. READ MORE

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Yishai Fleisher: “What is the counter-word to “occupation”? What word can bridge the Arab-Jewish divide? The answer, which the UAE has found, is “Abraham.””

Posted on August 23, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
The narrative war: Occupation vs the ‘Abraham Accords’
by Yishai Fleisher
August 26, 2020

One of the greatest successes of the “Abraham Accords”—the nascent diplomatic relations deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel—is just the name itself. The name implicitly indicates that the agreement is between descendants of the children of Abraham—Arabs and Jews—and for Israel, this is a crucial identification in its quest for normalization in the Middle East. Having lost hope of military victory, anti-Israel forces are conducting a narrative war against Israel. They seek to erase the intellectual foundations of Zionism, which assert that Israel is the ancient home of the Jewish nation, who have had two commonwealths on this same land, and to which Jews have an unbroken historical and spiritual connection. READ MORE

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There have been reports in the past week that Sudan also plans to sign a normalization deal with Israel, but the country’s government has denied the claims

Posted on August 23, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
Pompeo departs Israel, making history on first direct flight from TLV to Sudan
by Tzvi Joffre
August 25, 2020

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo departed Israel Tuesday morning and made history as he took off on the first official direct flight from Israel to Sudan. Pompeo was in Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz following the announcement earlier this month about the normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. He will fly to Sudan and then visit Bahrain and UAE. Pompeo’s trip is part of a US effort to recruit additional countries which will normalize ties with Israel. READ MORE

ALGEMEINER Israel, UAE Defense Ministers Hold First-Ever Phone Call, Herald Security Cooperation The Israeli and UAE defense ministers on Tuesday held their first publicly-acknowledged phone call since their countries’ recent agreement to normalize ties, officials said, heralding possible security cooperation.

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“Anger erupted after a Biden campaign spokesman had condemned Sarsour and suggested that she was antisemitic over her criticism of Israel”

Posted on August 23, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

MIDDLE EAST EYE
EXCLUSIVE: Biden aides apologise privately over attack on Linda Sarsour
by Ali Harb
August 23, 2020

Top aides to presidential candidate Joe Biden have apologised to Arab and Muslim Democrats over an attack on Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour by the campaign, in an effort to quell anger over the controversy. In a private call with dozens of prominent activists on Sunday, Ashley Allison, national coalitions director for the Biden campaign, said she was “sorry” for the comments that a campaign spokesman made against Sarsour. Top foreign policy adviser Tony Blinken also expressed “regret” over the incident during the virtual meeting. READ MORE

JNS Biden can’t have it both ways on Sarsour and anti-Semitism All presidents should listen to all faith and ethnic groups. But an open door to extremists and anti-Semites like Sarsour and CAIR gives the lie to Blinken’s previous statements about Israel and not tolerating anti-Semitism. Put simply, if Linda Sarsour is on your team, if her feelings are important to you and you say you want to include her in future discussions, you can’t also claim you are opposed to anti-Semitism.

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“Erdoğan needs epic stories of military might against real or fabricated foreign enemies to tell an increasing number of grudging voters in the face of an ailing economy”

Posted on August 23, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

GATESTONE
Erdoğan Needs New Enemies
by Burak Bekdil
August 22, 2020

…Most recently, condemning the historic normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Erdoğan said that “because we stand by Palestine,” he is considering withdrawing Turkey’s ambassador from the UAE. “I gave instructions to my foreign minister… We may suspend diplomatic relations [with the UAE] or recall our ambassador to Abu Dhabi,” Erdoğan added. If he does so, Turkey will be the only country in the region that has no diplomatic relations with Armenia and Cyprus, and no ambassadorial-level relations with Syria, Israel, Egypt and the UAE. READ MORE

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Former NBA star announces end of two-year journey to join the Tribe, takes on Hebrew name ‘Yahoshafat Ben Avraham’

Posted on August 23, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Amar’e Stoudemire completes his conversion to Judaism
by Marcy Oster
August 26, 2020

Amar’e Stoudemire has officially finished his conversion to Judaism. The former NBA star, who received Israeli citizenship in March 2019 while playing professional basketball there, announced Wednesday in a post on Instagram that his conversion to Judaism was complete. Stoudemire said in the post that he had his final meeting with the beit din, or rabbinical court, and visited the mikvah, or ritual bath…The 6-10 forward played for the New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns among other teams in a 16-year NBA career, during which he was named Rookie of the Year and made six All-Star teams. READ MORE

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“They portray themselves as kindly types who bring their detractors tea and wish them a nice day, while they espouse Holocaust denial and anti-Semitic global conspiracy theories”

Posted on August 23, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

MLIVE MICHIGAN
‘They fill our sidewalks with hate speech,’ Ann Arbor rabbi says in response to court ruling
by Ryan Stanton
August 22, 2020

While a federal judge has concluded protests outside an Ann Arbor synagogue amount to free speech, Rabbi Nadav Caine argues it’s still hate speech. “It may well be that the court has made a correct decision according to the law, but the proceedings show that the protesters are liars and charlatans,” said the rabbi at the Beth Israel Congregation on Washtenaw Avenue, which has been targeted by weekly anti-Israel protests for over 16 years. “They fill our sidewalks with hate speech to harass our worshippers, and then claim it’s just a good public location,” Caine said in a statement this week. READ MORE

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You’re not confused. The ADL is becoming as bad as you think.

Posted on August 23, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

TABLET MAG
The Mind-Bendingly Insane, Completely Craven, Utterly Unconscionable Redemption of Al Sharpton
by Liel Leibovitz
August 23, 2020

This past weekend, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, an umbrella group uniting 125 local Jewish communities and 17 national Jewish organizations, sent an email to its followers proudly announcing that it has signed on as a partner in the Virtual March on Washington this week, an event organized by Al Sharpton. Because last week also marked the 29th anniversary of the Crown Heights riots, it’s worth it to stop and recall that among his many distinctions—MSNBC pundit, and an adviser who reportedly regularly speaks to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, collector of innumerable sateen suits—Al Sharpton is also currently America’s only living pogrom leader. READ MORE

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WELT reported that Iran-backed Hezbollah had received large deliveries of ammonium nitrate from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force – a US-designated terror organization

Posted on August 20, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

AL ARABIYA
Hezbollah shipped explosive chemicals to Lebanon prior to Beirut blast
August 20, 2020

Iran’s elite Quds Force shipped ammonium nitrate to Hezbollah in Beirut around the same time a Moldovan-flagged tanker arrived carrying 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate – the same chemical substance that would later cause an enormous explosion and engulf Beirut’s port and surrounding area, German media outlet WELT reported Wednesday. Previous reports have found that Hezbollah had stock of the substance in northwest London and Cyprus, while other reports also indicate that stockpiles were present in Germany and Kuwait, WELT reported. READ MORE

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Israeli breakthrough using lasers to thwart aerial attacks

Posted on August 20, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

ALGEMEINER
New Innovative Israeli Laser Defense System Downs Dozens of Gaza Incendiary Balloons
by Benjamin Kerstein
August 20, 2020

In a major technological development, a new Israeli laser defense system has downed over two dozen incendiary balloons launched from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Such balloons have caused massive fires in southern Israel during the dry summer months and caused millions of dollars in damage. The Israeli news site N12 reported that on Wednesday the “Lahav Or” (“Blade of Light”) laser system intercepted 32 balloons. A Border Police source told N12 that the system had a 90% rate of successful interceptions. READ MORE

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