FunDog
14.2K posts

FunDog
@FunDigityDog
Enjoying every time I hear: "Why am I even talking to a dog in the first place?" I have few original thoughts but if you follow me I guarantee you 72 virgins!

According to Lebanese reports, the IDF had taken control of Beaufort Castle (Qalaat al-Shaqif Arnoun) in southern Lebanon.



I have instructed the relevant authorities that Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch, be granted full and immediate access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Over the past several days, Iran has repeatedly targeted the holy sites of all three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem with ballistic missiles. In one strike, missile fragments crashed meters from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. To protect worshippers, Israel asked members of all faiths to temporarily abstain from worshipping at the Christian, Muslim and Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City. Today, out of special concern for his safety, Cardinal Pizzaballa was asked to refrain from holding mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Even though I understand this concern, as soon as I learned about the incident with Cardinal Pizzaballa, I instructed the authorities to enable the Patriarch to hold services as he wishes.

"What happens when Palestinian “farmers” seize a swath of land? Just ask the young Jewish shepherds who were assaulted by a Palestinian mob near Bethlehem in January, or the young Jewish shepherds who were attacked by Palestinians outside of Nablus in February, or any other number of similar attacks and provocations. The language of the OCHA and media reports is tailored to obscure this reality. For instance, in its March 19 Humanitarian Situation Report, the OCHA writes that “on 14 March, Israeli settlers, some of whom were armed, stoned a house and then opened fire at Palestinians in Qusra village, in Nablus governorate, killing one man and injuring at least two others.” Naturally, the media reported the story as another Attack of the Very Violent Settlers™. To get any semblance of a realistic account would require one to scour Israeli media, and even then, one would need to dig deep. For instance, it’s not before seven paragraphs into the Times of Israel story on the incident that we learn that, according to Israeli police, “the incident began after several Palestinians allegedly attacked and threw stones at an Israeli shepherd grazing sheep in the area, prompting an IDF unit to be dispatched to the scene.” Once again, this is a pattern. As a regional official from Judea and Samaria told JNS in 2023, “Jewish farmers are grazing their sheep in open areas; Arabs don’t like that, even if it happens in Area C … They’re trying to stop them by using violence.” And so, Palestinian attacks on Jewish shepherds, which at times trigger responses, then get clocked as more attacks by settlers. It gets worse. Once you study OCHA’s criteria for determining violence—as my colleague Gadi Taub did recently in Tablet—you learn a valuable lesson in creative methodology. For instance, what actually counts as “settler violence”? The answer, unbelievably, includes everything from any instance in which Israeli settlers were victims of violence, to every reported incident that ended with no injury or damage to property on either side, to every clash between Israeli police and Palestinians on the Temple Mount, even when precisely zero Israeli civilians are involved and even when said riots were sparked by the Palestinians themselves. And speaking of the Temple Mount, OCHA counts every single visit by a Jew to the site where the ancient Temple once stood as an act of settler violence. Since I, too, make a point of ascending to the mountain—located, you’ll recall, right above the Kotel, smack in the heart of Jerusalem—according to the OCHA, that makes me, a Jew who simply wants to pray in the exact location where Abraham bound Isaac, a Very Violent Settler™. Israel, of course, can put a swift and decisive end to attacks and provocations against Jews in Judea and Samaria whenever it so chooses. But the IDF has spent the last few decades being trained to believe that, post the Oslo Accords, its job is “conflict management and resolution,” not winning wars. This worldview was shaken on Oct. 7, 2023, but Israeli generals are still reticent to step in and demand that the PA honor the agreements it had signed and curb in its numerous murderous squads." @tabletmag @liel



Amb Huckabee is correct. This was a mistake by the Israeli police. The security concerns are real, but they should not have prevented the Patriarch from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to conduct the Palm Sunday blessing. I trust this mistake will be corrected quickly.


ראיון מינואר השנה עם דימא צאדק, עיתונאית שיעית מהעיירה אל-ח'יאם. היא חזתה בו את הפלישה הישראלית ללבנון והזהירה את הקהילה השיעית מפניה. היא ידועה בהתנגדותה לחזבאללה, וסובלת מאיומים יומיומיים על חייה מקרב תומכי הארגון. אלו מילים שראוי שיקשיבו להן מקבלי ההחלטות בישראל הסבורים שגירוש האוכלוסייה מדרום לבנון, כיבוש העיירות והכפרים והחרבתן איכשהו יביא לפירוק חזבאללה מנשקו (כץ התבטא בנושא במפורש כ"גורם ביטחוני בכיר" לאתר וואלה!). תרגום שלי: "הדבר האחרון שמעניין את חזבאללה זה האיזור שישראל תיקח. הלוואי שאנשי הדרום יתעוררו ויראו את האמת הזו. עבור חזבאללה, [שימור] נשקו חשוב מתושבי הדרום. עבור חזבאללה, האידיאולוגיה שלו, הנשק שלו, האינטרס של איראן חשובים הרבה יותר מאדמת הדרום ואנשי הדרום. חזבאללה התמודד עם מאות שהידים בדרום, מבחינתו של פרט שולי, שאין סיבה להזכירו. הוא רואה את איראן, הוא לא רואה אותנו". כיבוש השטח מדרום לליטני או אף צפונית לו לא ישנה את מהות חזבאללה ואת סדרי העדיפויות שלו. סבל אנושי של הקהילה השיעית אינו מעניין אותו. בלי מהלך מדיני, ישראל תיצור רצועת ביטחון ב' ותשאר שם, ודווקא תחזק את עמדת חזבאללה שטוען שהנשק וההתנגדות נחוצים למען שחרור הדרום הכבוש.



“In the midst of a war, a local cop not informed a small group of people had been authorized by the government to go in a restricted area politely told them they were not allowed to, then the situation was resolved quickly” has been turned into an international incident Madness.


I just called the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, to express my great sorrow over this morning's unfortunate incident in the Old City of Jerusalem, in which Cardinal Pizzaballa and the Custos of the Holy Land, the Most Reverend Fr. Francesco Ielpo, were prevented from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for prayers amid the ongoing security situation. I clarified that the incident stemmed from security concerns due to the continuous threat of missile attacks from the Iranian terror regime against the civilian population in Israel, following previous incidents in which Iranian missiles fell in the area of the Old City of Jerusalem in recent days. I reaffirmed the State of Israel's unwavering commitment to freedom of religion for all faiths and to upholding the status quo at the holy sites of Jerusalem.

🚨 JUST IN: Israel is expected to offer to the US to consider establishing bases on Israeli territory. The intention is both to relocate bases from other parts of the Middle East and to establish new bases to take advantage of the presence of US forces already here.

15. Gaza (2023 - 2024) 🇵🇸






SCOOP: The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, U.S. officials said, as thousands of American soldiers and Marines arrive in the Middle East for what could become a dangerous new phase of the war should President Donald Trump choose to escalate.

The unprecedented move by Israeli police today blocking Catholics from entering The Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Palm Sunday Mass is abhorrent. I 100% condemn this anti catholic action and call on Israel leadership to apologize or have every catholic nation leader turn their backs on them. Disgusting behavior.



As a result, Israel has temporarily asked worshippers from all faiths not to worship at the holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City to protect them.


