Micha Gefen, Author at Israel Rising

August 25, 2016August 25, 2016

GENOCIDE NOW: Turkey’s Real Target in Syria are the Kurds

Turkey’s invasion of Northern Syria is being billed as a full frontal attack on ISIS. Turkey has poured in ground troops, tanks, and harnessed NATO air cover to break the Kurdish control near their border.

True, there are pockets of ISIS near Jarablus the entry point for Turkish forces, but the Syrian Kurdish forces (YPG) have pretty much taken out the heaviest ISIS strongholds months ago. Furthermore, we know the Russian military has pounded ISIS into the ground in various locations in Northern Syria.

All of the above supports the assertion that Erdogan is far more concerned with the rise of an independent Kurdish State on its border than they are about Russian control over the Black Sea. Not only are the Turks concerned with an independent Kurdistan, it can be assumed NATO is as well.

The Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq based out of Erbil has been a fantastic tool for Western technocrats wanting to display their credentials in the indigenous rights movement. The KRG has pumped tons of oil into the global system and the Peshmerga has helped pushed back ISIS in many areas, but that is all the West is willing to concede.

The rise of Kurdistan from Iran to the Mediterranean is a danger to their post colonial rule, which saw the West hoist the Arabs up as the real indigenous rulers of the Middle East, while at the same time throwing at the most crumbs to the Kurds, Druze, Arameans, and Jews of the region. The fact is the an independent Kurdistan blows out the Arab claim of indigenous rights. The Kurds along with the Druze, Arameans, and Jews are far more indigenous than the British created Arab states now in control of these areas. Kurdistan is a reminder of what once was well before Mohamed heard the voices that drove him and his followers to start the Jihad and eventually colonize the surrounding area.

With Turkey’s rapproachment with Russia now in full swing, Erdogan can finish off what the Turks started centuries ago when they came from the East and that is to wipe out the truly indigenous people of the region, first the Armenians and now the Kurds.

August 24, 2016December 16, 2016

Buhari Blocking Bibi From Visiting ECOWAS

In another sign of President Buhari of Nigeria’s ardent anti-Israel views he has remained the lone holdout to signing off on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to the ECOWAS summit in January. The Prime Minister was set to meet with the leaders of the 15 African states that make up the Economic Community of West African States and was in fact personally invited by the head of ECOWAS Marcel Alain de Souza during his visit last month to Israel.

Muhammadu Buhari has taken a blatent anti-Israel tone since his surprising election last year. He defeated Goodluck Jonathan Nigeria’s first pro-Israel President in a very shady election. Buhari has used his election to attack opponents, especially in the territory of Biafra by arming Islamic Fulani herdsman and encouraging them to raid Jewish and Christian communities in the South and South East.

Bibi’s want to use the ECOWAS summit to replay his successful visit to East Africa. Furthermore he is attempting to shore up a coalition of African nations that could hold off the onslaught of radical Islam. Given Buhari’s connections to Boko Haram it is doubtful he would follow suit. The question remains to see if ECOWAS can stand up to him. Afterall Buhari is supported by President Barak Hussein Obama.

August 21, 2016August 21, 2016

ON THE FRONTLINES: Hamas Fires Rocket at Sderot, Shattering Quietest Summer in Years

Sderot has been relishing in what has been noted as the quietest summer in years in terms of rocket attacks. Today that quiet was briefly shattered with the blaring of the Code Red siren and the discovery of a detonated rocket that had landed between two homes in Sderot.

The IDF and IAF immediately retaliated and struck a number of military targets in the Gaza strip belonging to Hamas.

“In response to a shooting carried out a short time ago toward the city of Sderot, we attacked, using an Air Force jet, terror infrastructure belonging to the terror organization Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip,” the IDF tweeted on its Hebrew language account.

The Israeli airforce continued to pound targets in the Gaza Strip into the night.

Although most experts believe that Hamas is not moving towards another round of war with Israel, with the Middle East changing at a rapid rate anything is possible. Hamas has been said to be preparing for another of conflict, by digging more tunnel and smuggling weapons into Gaza. The question now is if this missile attack was a one off or an opening shot in the next war.

August 21, 2016August 21, 2016

BREAKING NEWS: Putin Fires Cruise Missiles into Syria, US Scrambles Jets to Protect Kurds

Putin decided to show who is really in charge in the Middle East by shooting cruise missiles from the Eastern Mediterranean into Syria today. This adds a fourth avenue for leveling his foes in the Syrian and Western Iraqi combat theatres. The other three now consist of shooting missiles from the Caspian Sea, launching long-range bombing missions from Iran, and utilizing his base in Latakia, Syria.

As the USA continues to flounder in the ongoing proxy war, the Kurds are becoming more and more isolated by a rapprochement between Russia and Turkey with the latter now getting free rein against the Kurds of Syria and at times Iraq. This is compounded with a fresh assault from the Syrians against the Kurdish positions in its North.

The USA, trying to establish some sort of footing within the fast changing alliances in the Middle East tried to put its foot down on behalf of the Kurds. The US Airforce actually scrambled its fighter jets in response to te Syrians ignoring America’s warning to stop bombing Kurdish and Coalition forces.

“This was done as a measure to protect coalition forces,” Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said.

“We will ensure their safety and the Syrian regime would be well-advised not to do things that place them at risk… We view instances that place the coalition at risk with the utmost seriousness and we do have the inherent right of self-defense.”

The intended target of the Syrian airforce was Hasakeh, a city mostly controlled by Kurdish forces. Up until now, the US has pretty much stayed in the background in context to Russia’s proxy war. This new bellicose tone come at a time where most observers see American influence and might waning in the Middle East. The sabre rattling, might feel good, but Kurdish forces need more seriousness in tackling their growing isolation. If the Kurds succumb to the combined Turkish, Russian, and Syrian might then nothing will stop the three of them and Iran from controlling the Middle East. Israel will have to make tough choices in the coming weeks as events have taken over the agenda.

August 18, 2016

ON THE FRONTLINES: Khirbet Susiya an Ancient Jewish Village is Under Threat

Khirbet Susiya, also known as Horvat Susiya is an ancient Jewish landmark is the Southern Hebron Hills uncovered by archeologists in 1969 after the area was liberated by Israel. In the years that followed, Khirbet Susiya has become a national landmark and proof that a solid Jewish existed throughout the Har Hebron Hills up until the Islamic invasion in the 8th Century. The Jews of the area either converted to Islam or fled.

Now, this ancient landmark known for its oldest freestanding synagogue is under threat by Arab squatters from Yatta backed up by the EU and the United States State Department. These squatters have amassed a following through the international community and have set up tents on the archeological site. The group from Yatta number around 350 people and claim Khirbet Susiya as their own. They claim the site of Khirbet Susiya is really theirs despite the overwhelming evidence for it being an ancient Jewish village.

“Surveys of villages and populations conducted by the British Mandatory powers in 1945, which mention all of the villages in the area and even some of the inhabitants, prove there is no hint of the existence of an Arab village named Susiya,” says Josh Hasten, spokesman for Regavim an NGO that fights illegal land use. “More recently aerial photos obtained by Regavim from 1999 show nothing resembling a village in that area. An identical photo from 2013 shows how squatters have infiltrated the locale.”

With the Supreme Court’s ultimatim to the goverment of Israel to destroy the encampment, the government has very little flexibility. In the coming days and the weeks the left is expected to harm the reputation of the region by continuing to build a false narritive with one goal in mind and that is to appropriate more land from Israel and erase established Jewish history.

August 14, 2016

WAR DRUMS: Russia Deploys Surface to Air Missiles in Crimea

Russia deployed its advanced S-400 anti-aircraft missile system to Crimea as tensions rise in the border area with Ukraine. Reports have said at least two Russian have been killed near Ukraine increasing the likelihood of some sort of clash.

As the traditional Ukrainian government was forced from office by a Western backed coup in 2014, Crimea voted to separate from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Putin has since militarily controlled the strategic peninsula.

With Russia seen as an emerging power both regionally and globally, NATO has gone to great lengths to reassure allies that it will defend them. Despite assurances, each move Putin makes sows doubt in areas that belonged to the former Soviet Union.

Already in July NATO stated it was going to bolster its military presence in the Baltic and Eastern Poland. The challenge is that NATO risks pushing Russia to continuously strengthen its presence with manuevers in Eastern Europe. Many observers feel that the West would achieve more by trying to lower the intensity instead of committing to more troops. So far this sort of advice has not been heeded.

August 9, 2016

WAR DRUMS: Is Obama Provoking a War with China?

As China continues to build up a military presence on their man-made islands in the South China sea, the Obama administration has decided to move over some heavy equipment of its own. The US military will be bolstering its presence and running patrols from five US bases in the Philippines in order to block against Chinese expansionist moves.

In July, the National Interest reported on the Obama Administration’s policy towards the South China Sea:

“Beijing’s moves have prompted Washington to counter Chinese assertiveness by forging a new strategic alignment in the region—one in which China dominates the South China Sea from the north, the United States and its partners do so from the east and west, and the states of continental Southeast Asia remain neutral or lean toward Beijing in the intensifying U.S.-China strategic competition. This alignment will further U.S. goals: to continue to mount a forward defense, to keep the seas and skies free, and to promote prosperity and the spread of democracy.”

The idea that the USA is doing this for world prosperity is laughable. The USA government is there because it knows it needs to check China now before it becomes an unstoppable force and dangerous to Washington’s interest.

Looking at the map below, one gets a quick understanding of what a complicated and dangerous situation Obama’s brazenness has made it.

Whether one agrees with Beijing’s Island building campaign or not, the US military’s insertion into an east Asian dispute automatically makes the situation into one which is always one trigger away from war. The Chinese argument, whether agreed upon or not by the players in the region is that China used to control the South China Sea. Yes, its true this was centuries ago. However, the Western world has constantly been hamstrung in terms of policies in relation to countries or civilizations that have a concept of time that goes farther back than theirs.

Using the international arbitration case against China further provokes animosity. Afterall, whose world order is it? If we assume the world order and security structure post World War Two is now in free fall, what does it matter if the UN stands against China in regard to a dispute that is older than the USA itself?

The faster the Obama administration takes into consideration that the world is actually a very different place, it will pull itself back from the brink of triggering the next global conflagration.

August 7, 2016August 7, 2016

Has the Caliphate Reached Israel?

With today’s charge against a Northern Galilee resident for supporting ISIS, the populace in Israel once again wonders if ISIS is here. The fact is they have been here for a while. The problem with looking at ISIS as an organized terror force is that it leads experts in the wrong direction.

It took a while for investigators to piece together that the Sarona market shooting was indeed the work of ISIS affiliated terrorists. If rumors can be believed a sizeable population of Arabs in Judea and Samaria openly support ISIS. This does not mean that the “caliphate” has set up shop in Israel’s Biblical Heartland, but it means that ISIS is providing inspiration to the Arab street in Israel. Most Arabs, especially in pre-1967 Israel are against ISIS, but because of the nature of the Arab street in Judea and Samaria having lived under years of PA incitement, the leap to ISIS is easy to imagine.

Today’s charge against 29-year-old Wasim Ahmed Khutaba of the Nazareth-area village of Reineh should be no surprise. The challenge now is finding a strategy that will prevent ISIS inspired terrorism like what happened in the Sarona market and the murders of Hallel Ariel, and Rabbi Michael Mark.

The battle to stay ahead of ISIS will only get harder as the terror group will likely change tactics after an Israeli firm was able to hack an ISIS Telegram group, where attacks were planned out. According to the report on channel 10, only 500 members worldwide belonged to this secret group.

On one hand, hacking into the group is a great win for Israel, but prematurely revealing the hack may have compromised a long-term tactical breakthrough.

August 5, 2016

Will ISIS Attack the 2016 Rio Olympics?

With the Olympics set to start tonight, security officials are concerned over the potential for a serious ISIS attack on the games. Brazilian officials have already been taken to task over the lax security environment in around the games. With terror just one of the many security issues facing the games Brazil’s security services are clearly inexperienced in something of this magnitude.

In the days leading up to tonight’s opening games security officials have stepped up there work. They have become so concerned that 13 different Israeli security firms are aiding the protection of the games. In fact, one man has already been caught with a gun.

How Will ISIS Attack?

For most security experts on the look out for a well planned mega attack, they are looking at ISIS’s operational strategy the wrong way. Time and again, ISIS has been able to get passed security officials by utilizing nearly spontaneous reactions by ISIS supporters to overwhelming propaganda. Stabbings, car rammings, and lone gun men are far harder to predict and control than a well constructed terror cell. The worst thing security officials can do is go out of their way to protect against something that is far too complex for ISIS and miss the anonymous attendee ready to ounce.

The Battle of Dabiq

The battle of Dabiq, a mythological battle at the end of the days predicted by Islam to take place between the forces of the Mahdi/Caliph and the countries of the world is necessary according to Islam in order to usher the end times in. The Olympics provide and excellent opportunity for ISIS to wage an international battle of Dabiq against what they see as the forces of the world gathered at the Olympics.

So will there be an attack. No one knows, but security officials better listen well to the private Israeli firms that are already there. Thousands of lives may depend on it.

August 3, 2016August 3, 2016

Obama and Kerry Paid Ransom Money to Iranian Regime to Free Hostages

It has been reported that the Obama administration sent up $400 million to Iran by way of unmarked cargo plane as payment to free the American hostages that Iran had been holding. Although the Administration at the time insisted it was not folding on paying to free the hostages, more and more proof comes out saying otherwise.

This should not come to a surprise as the administration from the beginning of P5 +1 negotiations engaged in a strategy of obfuscation and semantic gymnastics in trying to show the American people and the Israeli government that it was in fact not caving in on its core principles.

With the new information coming to light, there should be no doubt about Obama’s interest in a détente with Iran from the beginning. The question is, why has Obama been so interested in rapprochement with the Iranian terrorist regime?

Obama believes that there really are no terrorists. As a follower of historical Marxism, all conflicts are essentially due to class struggles and economic issues. This is why Obama and John Kerry felt from the beginning that Iran just needed enough incentive to first come to the table and then sign onto an agreement. The problem is, what happens if the incentive Iran is looking for is the destruction of Israel?