From the Mike report: Hezbollah and Israel haters at the University of Washington

Its a familiar tactic- a panel discussion where all the panelists agree "Its all Israel's fault"

From the Mike report, not surprisingly by Mike

I received the call in the late afternoon, “do you want to go to BDS 101 at The University of Washington tonight?”

BDS stands for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction of Israel and represents a radical movement bent on the destruction of the Jewish State. The D in BDS should stand for demographic destruction as the core demand of the BDS movement is the flooding of Israel with over five million hostile Arabs. Such an influx would mark the end of a Jewish majority in Israel and thus the end of Israel as a Jewish state. The Anti Defamation League, the American Jewish community’s central human rights and advocacy organization has identified BDS as an anti-Semitic movement .

The  BDS 101 program was held in a lecture hall filled with a mix of Muslim and Progressive students and a small handful of pro-Israel students and community members. The program  featured a four member panel anchored by Stefanie Fox of the anti-Israel group, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and included Cindy Corrie, mother of the infamous Rachel Corrie. Two co-ed hosts from the sponsoring group (SUPER-UW) opened the event by declaring their solidarity with all of the other righteous struggles on the planet “we condemn all injustice” they said.

Right.  

Mike notes that after the talk:

...a few pro-Israel members in the audience found themselves in an impromptu conversation with three  anti-Israel college students. The most engaging of these was a young man who had a kaffiyeh draped over his shoulders.

The young man told of being in Lebanon during the 2006 Lebanon-Hezbollah war against Israel. He shared of the horrible things he witnessed, things that no child should ever see.

When a pro-Israel woman sympathized but explained that Hezbollah was to blame for what he had suffered, he responded coolly with “I am Hezbollah”. As the discussion continued, the young man defended the bombing of pizza restaurants and buses “what do you expect them to do?” he said with a righteous dose of indignation.

As the woman, seemingly unfazed,  firmly challenged the young man point for point, he began to  back away from her and said “I feel threatened by you”. “You feel threatened by me?” responded the surprised mother of four to the young man a head taller than her. At that moment I recalled the scene from a comedy film of a few years back where the grossly anti-Semitic Borat was petrified in fear of a pleasant elderly Jewish couple with whom he was staying. But thus is the victim mentality.

The Hezbollah Husky politely listened as I tried to plant a few seeds of truth in his college addled brain. I reminded him that there are 22 Arab states, 49 Muslim states, 126 Christian majority states and one Jewish state. I shared with him the 2000 year old lesson of Jewish history, we die when our fate is left to others. I told him that this is why we will never give up our land and that his efforts in this regard are futile.

Read it all here

And thanks to the few, the brave and the intellectually stalwart that challenged the lies and demonization presented at this panel. When we fight back, we win.

Israel targets Iranian Weapons Bound for Hezbollah

Israel launched an airstrike in Syria today,  with Syria's state media reporting that Israeli missiles struck the Jamraya military research center near the Syrian capital Damascus, setting off  massive explosions.



This was the second Israeli strike against Syria in three days

Overnight Thursday, an attack targeted a shipment of extremely accurate guided Iranian-made missiles, stored in a warehouse near the Damascus airport.  The Fatah 110 surface to surface missiles have a precise guidance systems and were reportedly bound for Hezbollah.  These mobile, solid-fueled missiles can reach Tel Aviv and much of Israel from southern Lebanon,  representing a considerable improvement over the liquid-fueled Scud missile

According to Israeli and U.S. officials  previous Israeli airstrikes in January also targeted weapons shipments bound for Hezbollah.

Earlier this week, President Barack Obama  told the Spanish-language TV station Telemundo, "The Israelis, justifiably, have to guard against the transfer of advanced weaponry to terrorist organizations like Hezbollah". Obama also said it was up to Israel to confirm or deny any strikes, but that the US coordinates very closely with Israel.

Hezbollah targets kosher restaurants in Europe- still think its about the "occupation"?

From YNET:

 While Jerusalem and Washington are trying to convince the European Union to add Hezbollah to terror black list, a Cyprus trial might help bring about this change.

 Six months after the arrest of Hossam Taleb Yaacoub, 24-year-old Lebanese who holds both Lebanese and Swedish passports, Yaacoub has admitted in court to membership in the Hezbollah, and gave information regarding his communications with his handler, the use of code words, and European activities of the Shiite organization, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

 Upon his arrest, the assumption was that Yaacoub intended to carry out a terror attack against Israeli targets in Cyprus. He denied this, but admitted that his handlers ordered him to look for Kosher restaurants in Limassol. In addition, he said that he was sent by the Hezbollah to other areas in which there were great Israeli and Jewish presences, such as Antalya and Amsterdam. 

 The Cypriot police arrested Yaacoub on July 7. He had a red notebook in which he wrote down the license plates numbers of buses transporting Israeli tourists.  Less than two weeks later, a busload of Israelis was attacked in Burgas on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, killing five Israelis and a Bulgarian bus driver. Bulgarian officials have determined that Hezbollah is  behind the attack. 

From the New York Times:

The prosecution and the defense have both declined to comment before a verdict is reached, sometime in March. But a preliminary ruling by the three-judge panel last week found that the prosecutor had provided enough evidence to proceed on all eight counts, including four charges of conspiracy to commit a felony, two charges for participating in a criminal organization, one for participating in the preparation of a crime and a charge for covering it up.

 
For all of you well-meaning people out there, if its "all about the "occupation", why is Hezbollah targeting Kosher Restaurants?

San Jose Imam linked to Hezbollah arrested in Mexico

Rafic Mohammad Labboun Allaboun, an imam from the Shiite Association Bay Area (SABA) Mosque in San Jose, California along with George Abdalah Elders and Justin Yasser Safa (aka Samer Yousef Safa), were arrested Saturday, September 8, in Mérida in southern Mexico. They are suspected of being part of a Hezbollah terrorist cell that operates in Central America and the Yucatán. Labboun is considered the highest ranking Hezbollah member in the San Francisco Bay area.

Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) in cooperation with the FBI and Homeland Security and local police apprehended the suspects. It has long been suspected that Hezbollah was establishing terror cells in South and Central America. Labboun was carrying a false Belize passport with the name Wilhelm Dick, and was deported within hours of his arrest. He had a court appearance on Monday morning, September 10, in Houston and then was returned to the San Jose division of the Northern District Court of California.

A 2010 internal memo from the Tucson Police Department leaked by the hacker group LulzSec had warned that Hezbollah was establishing operations and stockpiling arms in Mexico. In April 2009 Jamal Yousef was arrested in New York and revealed that a huge cache of weapons smuggled by members of Hezbollah were stored in Mexico. In 2010 Hezbollah militant Jameel Nasr was arrested in Tiajuana.

Labboun recently served 27 months in U.S. prison for 7 counts of credit card fraud, involving over $100,000 worth of gold. Authorities believe the money ended up in Lebanon, and was used to finance terrorist activities by Hezbollah.

The imam who replaced Labboun at the SABA mosque, Nabi Raza Abidi, has been denied permanent residency status in the United States and his re-entry into this country was blocked by the State Department last year. The ban was eventually lifted, but Abidi and the SABA mosque are still suspected of ties with Hezbollah and Iran

Hezbollah may have biological and chemical weapons

From YNET

In a speech to the American Enterprise Institute, Outgoing US Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned against the Shiite group's arming methods and the possibility that it owns chemical and biological weapons, CNN reported Wednesday.

The US official made similar statements last year, but did not back them up with proof. "Hezbollah cruise missiles could threaten US ships with anti-ship missiles with a range of 65 miles," he added.

Two months ago, an Israeli security official provided the Washington Post with a map detailing no less than 550 bunkers, 300 surveillance sites and 100 other facilities the Jewish state believes belong to Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.

Most of the sites marked on the map, which appeared in the American newspaper on Wednesday, are located south of the Litani River.

WAR DRUMS ARE BOOMING

Lebanon rejects US concerns over military help

BEIRUT — Lebanon's defense minister says he would reject any American military assistance to the Lebanese army if it comes with conditions that the weapons not be used against Israel.

Elias Murr was commenting Wednesday on a decision by a U.S. congressman to suspend $100 million of aid over concerns the weapons could be turned on Israel and that Hezbollah may have influence over the Lebanese army.

Iran plans help to Lebanon army, as U.S. blocks aid

Iran has offered support to Lebanon's army, a week after a deadly cross-border clash between Lebanon and Israel which prompted U.S. lawmakers to block funding to the Lebanese military.

The offer from Iran, which supports Lebanon's militant Shi'ite group Hezbollah, could fuel Western concern that Tehran is increasing its influence near Israel's northern border.

Lebanon charges politician with spying for Israel

A Lebanese military prosecutor charged on Tuesday a Christian party member who was formerly an army general with spying for Israel, the first politician to be charged in a widening espionage case.

Judge Sakr Sakr accused Fayez Karam of the Free Patriotic Movement of dealing with "the enemy's intelligence and meeting their officers abroad, and giving them information by phone", according to the charge sheet.

Karam, who belonged to the movement headed by Michel Aoun, a former army chief now allied to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group, was also charged with providing Israel with information on the Free Patriotic Movement, Hezbollah and other parties.