Palestinian Rocket Fire Kills 3 Israelis, Targets Tel Aviv

Air raid sirens blared in Tel Aviv Thursday as Palestinian terrorists expanded the range of their rockets fired at civilian Israeli communities. One rocket landed near the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Lezion.

Meanwhile, three Israelis were killed while fleeing to cover from Hamas rockets in southern Israel's Kiryat Malachi, and many more injured, as the conflict between the Jewish state and the Palestinian terrorist organization heats up. Hamas has launched over 250 rockets into Israel since the start of Operation Pillar of Defense, while the Israelis carried out more than 200 surgical strikes on bombers and Gaza's terror infrastructure.

Hamas military chief Ahmed al-Jabari was killed in one such strike Wednesday.

"There is no moral symmetry between Israel and the terrorists in Gaza... Hamas deliberately targets children and they deliberately place their rockets next to their children," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling Hamas' actions a "double war crime." Israel Defense Forces posted pictures showing how rocket launchers are in place close to mosques and playgrounds.

Among those killed by Palestinian rocket fire was a pregnant rabbi's wife. Her children were wounded in the attack and her husband remains in critical condition.

The conflict shows no signs of slowing down.

Hamas rejected a call for a truce, claiming that it was "an attempt to provide more cover for the continuation of the escalation on Gaza." The Tel Aviv air raid warnings mark the deepest missile penetrations into Israel from Gaza. The Knesset also issued an "order nine" – an emergency call-up of reservists.

Despite widespread sympathy for the Palestinians in the Arab world, street and even government reactions in the region were rather muted. The governments of Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, all of which have extensive links to anti-Israel terrorist organizations, attacked the Jewish state while praising Gaza. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi condemned Israel for "unacceptable aggression" and causing "instability" in the region, and withdrew the Egyptian ambassador from the country.

Officials in the United States, Germany and England stood by Israel, acknowledging its right to respond to incessant rocket fire toward its civilian communities. "There is no justification for the violence that Hamas and other terrorist organizations are employing against the people of Israel …," a State Department statement said. "Hamas claims to have the best interests of the Palestinian people at heart, yet it continues to engage in violence that is counterproductive to the Palestinian cause. Attacking Israel on a near daily basis does nothing to help Palestinians in Gaza or to move the Palestinian people any closer to achieving self determination."

Jordanian Authorities Blame Muslim Brotherhood for Protests

Jordan has been hit this week by the worst unrest since the beginning of the Arab Spring in early 2011, with calls for King Abdullah II's ouster.

The protests came in the wake of Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour's announcement Tuesday that fuel prices would be increased, affecting Amman and 12 other cities across Jordan.

At least 14 people were reported injured and 35 people arrested in clashes that included the assaults on government buildings and the torching of cars and gas stations.

"Revolution, revolution, it is a popular revolution," a crowd of more than 2,000 people chanted in Amman's main square outside Jordan's Interior Ministry, King Abdullah II, a U.S. ally. "Freedom is from God, in spite of you, Abdullah."

Riot police in Amman used water cannons to disperse some of the protesters.

Protesters armed with assault rifles attacked a government building in Maan, a hotbed for Islamic militants located 150 miles south of Amman, after noon prayers, opening fire and wounding police officers who tried blocking them, according to official reports.

While in the city of Karak, eyewitnesses and police say protesters marched through the streets chanting: "Down, down with you, Abdullah," and "Get out and leave us alone" as they shattered shop windows.

The protests were not "spontaneous," but triggered by the Muslim Brotherhood, a Jordanian security official told the Washington Post.

"The Muslim Brotherhood had a plan, and they were well-organized. For them, it is a gift from heaven," the official said.

Jordan had been largely been spared the upheaval that has hit other nations in the region in spite of discontent over corruption and worsening economic conditions.

"Although it is already winter, the Jordanian spring is about to begin," Mohammed Husseini, 25, an Islamist protester said.

The Muslim Brotherhood held a demonstration calling for democratization and the weakening of the king's power that drew 10,000 people last month.

Abdullah has called for new elections on Jan. 23, but the Brotherhood and other opposition groups have vowed to boycott them.

UC Irvine Student Senate Calls for Divestment from Israel

Updated Nov. 16:University administrators were quick to dismiss the student resolution seeking divestment from companies doing business in Israel. In a statement, it said "such divestment is not the policy of this campus, nor is it the policy of the University of California. The UC Board of Regents' policy requires this action only when the U.S. government deems it necessary. No such declaration has been made regarding Israel."

The University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) student senate passed a non-binding resolution Tuesday asking the school to divest from companies that do business with Israel.

The Associated Students of UC Irvine voted 16-0 requesting divestment from Caterpillar, Cement Roadstones Holding, Cemex, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Raytheon, Sodastream, and L-3 Communications. The resolution refers to the eight companies as ones that "Profit from Apartheid."

The resolution has not yet been approved by UC Irvine student government's executive board. An approval from the executive board is needed in order for the resolution to reach UC Irvine's administration.

"Our work today stands tall in the noble tradition of students advocating for justice, joining the ranks of those brave and visionary students who demanded that our universities divest from the terrible crimes of South African apartheid," Sabreen Shalabi, co-author of the legislation said in a press release.

Anti-Israel activity is not new to UC Irvine. In February 2010, the school's Muslim Student Union (MSU) orchestrated a series of repeated disruptions during a lecture by Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren. Students stood up and shouted accusations of murder and genocide at the ambassador during his speech before being escorted out by police. Eleven students were arrested the night of Oren's speech and ten were convicted in September 2011. The University also suspended MSU for a year in June 2010 following a school investigation into the incident.

Hamas Military Chief Killed

Israel struck the head of Hamas' military wing in an airstrike Wednesday, after militants from Gaza fired more than 110 rockets into southern Israel since Saturday. Israeli Defense Force (IDF) spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich told the BBC that Israel would be targeting "close to 20" sites in Gaza, in a limited operation aimed at destroyed rocket-firing capabilities.

"The purpose of this operation was to severely impair the command and control chain of the Hamas leadership, as well as its terrorist infrastructure," the IDF said on its blog. "This was a surgical operation in cooperation with the Israeli Security Agency, that was implemented on the basis of concrete intelligence and using advanced capabilities." According to Israeli Channel 2 military correspondent Ronnie Daniel, the preemptive strikes also targeted Fajr missile silos, with a 70-kilometer range that could hit Tel Aviv.

The strike killed Hamas' military chief Ahmed al-Jabari, whom the IDF identified as responsible for the imprisonment of recently released IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. The IDF blog also stated that it is "widely believed" that al-Jabari "played the leading role in Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip from the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in June 2007.

Although some news services reported that the operation was of "limited" scope, IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai said that the strike was "part of our goal, to land serious blows on Hamas and other organizations. Jabari is the first target… We've only just started, and this isn't the end of it. All of the options are open, and we will persist in our determination to continue to hit all of the [terror] organizations further down the line."

Calling the operation "Pillar of Defense," Mordechai also stated that the IDF was preparing for a potential ground operation. A call-up of reservists followed the announcement despite Yoav's statement that the IDF did not want a "second Cast Lead."

Hamas' Alqassam Brigades responded to the IDF strike on its Twitter account, saying that the "Occupation opned (sic) hell gates on itself." The terrorist group further said that Israel would "pay a high price" for its "dangerous crime" and "declaration of war."

Life Sentence for Would-Be Saudi Terrorist

A Saudi Arabian student who came to the United States with hopes of waging terrorist attacks was sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge on Tuesday.

Khalid Aldawsari, 22, was convicted in June of attempting to use weapons of mass destruction in plots to attack hydroelectric dams, nuclear plants, and the Dallas residence of former President George W. Bush. Prosecutors say he obtained many of the ingredients needed to make an improvised explosive device and wrote of his wish of becoming a martyr during a terrorist attack.

He was in the United States on a student visa, attending college in Lubbock, Tex. According to his own journal entries, Aldawsari won a scholarship but merely saw it as a way to further his violent ambitions.

The scholarship "will help tremendously in providing me with the support I need for Jihad, God willing," he wrote. "And now, after mastering the English language, learning how to build explosives and continuous planning to target the infidel Americans, it is time for jihad." "Khalid Aldawsari came to this country intent on carrying out an attack, said Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco in a Justice Department press release. "He then began purchasing ingredients to construct a bomb and was actively researching potential targets in America. Thanks to the hard work of many agents, analysts, and prosecutors, his plot was thwarted before anyone was harmed; he was convicted at trial and, today at sentencing, he was held accountable for his actions."

Law enforcement was drawn to Aldawsari after a chemical company and a trucking service each were suspicious about his order and reported it to authorities.

Aldawsari did not make any statement before receiving his sentence.

Baghdad About to Free Killer of American GIs

A jihadist with American blood on his hands may soon go free, the New York Times reports.

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Robert S. Beecroft has been ordered to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in an 11^th-hour effort to dissuade Baghdad from releasing Ali Mussa Daqduq, who military officials say orchestrated a Jan. 20, 2007 ambush in Karbala. Five U.S. soldiers were attacked and killed by terrorists disguised as American troops.

In May, Daqduq was acquitted by an Iraqi court despite ample evidence of evidence of his guilt. As the Wall Street Journal noted Tuesday, the Obama administration could have taken Daqduq out of Iraq when U.S. troops left the country last December.

But the administration did not want to add prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and feared that the political left would label Daqduq's transfer an extralegal "rendition." So Washington turned him over to Iraqi authorities.

"Daqduq should be held accountable for his crimes. Period," read administration talking points approved in May by Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough. "While we strongly oppose his acquittal, protections for the accused are built into all judicial systems, including our own. We transferred Daqduq to Iraqi custody out of respect for, and obligation to, the rule of law in Iraq."

When al-Maliki visited the White House in December, President Obama urged him not to release Daqduq. In June, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta claimed Baghdad had provided assurances that it wouldn't free him. But the New York Times reports that Iraqi diplomats have a very different spin forward: that they wanted to mollify the Obama administration by keeping Daqduq in custody until the 2012 election was over.

A Lebanese citizen and former member of a special Hizballah unit charged with protecting the terror group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, Daqduq was dispatched to Iraq in 2005 and instructed to work with the Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

He trained members of Iraqi Special Groups – Iranian-backed jihadists targeting American troops and working to destabilize the country. Daqduq was charged with training of these groups in kidnapping; manufacturing improvised explosive devices; and using rockets and mortars.

Daqduq's release would mark the second jihadist let go despite being involved in the 2007 atack on the American troops. Qais Khazali was freed by the U.S. military in 2009 in exchange for a British hostage. Two days after the Sept. 11 Benghazi terrorist attack that killed four Americans, Khazali threatened to attack U.S. interests over a movie trailer.

Ghoneim Demands Sharia, Cheers Hurricane Sandy

An influential Egyptian Islamic preacher who was deported from the United States and banned from several other countries continues to preach hate against secular Muslims and the West. In his latest calls, Wagdy Ghoneim recommended expelling those who did not want Sharia law "out of Allah's universe," and praised the "attack" of Hurricane Sandy on the United States.

"The infidel and hater of Islam is the only one who refuses the application of Sharia and calls for canceling or twisting Article Two," Ghoneim said on Twitter Friday, in reference to attempts to remove Islam's status as Egypt's state religion. "And there are infidels in the Egyptian community who call themselves liberals, seculars or modernists."

The "one who does not want the application of God's law should completely get out of His universe," he added in a veiled threat to Egypt's secular population and religious minorities.

Ghoneim also praised Hurricane Sandy's ravaging of the U.S. on Oct. 31. "In my opinion, this is revenge by the Lord [Allah] for [harming] his beloved Mustafa [another name for the Prophet Muhammad]," he said in a Twitter post, calling the natural disaster simply "one of Allah's weakest armies."

Ghoneim participated in a controversial trip to Tunisia in May, where he tried to unite Islamist factions against the formerly secular government. Twice in February he preached the value of violent jihad on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV channel.

Ghoneim radicalism has been ongoing for years. In May 1998, he gave a speech at Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) conference at Brooklyn College in Brooklyn, New York, co-sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF).

Ghoneim told the audience in Arabic, "The Jews distort words from their meanings. . . . They killed the prophets and worshipped idols. . . . Allah says he who equips a warrior of Jihad is like the one who makes Jihad himself." There he also led a violent chant against the Jews, calling them the "descendants of the apes" and praising terrorists as the "heroes of steadfastness."

Husband Charged in Murder Hyped as Hate Crime

An Iraqi-exile woman's murder outside San Diego last March now appears to be a case of domestic violence.

Shaima Alawadi was bludgeoned to death in her home in El Cajon, Calif. The case drew international attention as a possible hate crime when a note found near her body said "Go back to your country, you terrorist." But police said they were investigating other leads. Alawadi's husband, Kassim Alhimidi, reportedly was arrested Thursday evening and charged with first degree murder.

Investigators found draft divorce papers in Alawadi's van after the murder and the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that she discussed taking her kids to Texas to live with relatives.

It's a far more common motive than the claims made immediately after the killing.

Islamist groups used the note, which would now appear to have been an attempt to misdirect investigators, to argue that Islamophobia in America had grown so severe that Muslims were being attacked in their homes or for their dress. Alawadi wore a hijab.

A Facebook page called for "a Million Hijab March" to protest the killing. Activists likened her case to the Florida shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin, who allegedly was seen as threatening in part because he wore a hoodie.

Dawud Walid, who leads the Michigan office for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), was among those who pushed the hate crime theory. "Shaima Al-Awadi's murder, like Trayvon Martin's, was a senseless murder based upon racial animus," he said. "We must come together as a society to have frank discussions about the toxic rhetorical environment which we currently live in that leads to such wanton violence."

Alawadi's death is a tragedy no matter why it happened. And it shows groups like CAIR and others will continue to hype hate crimes without any proof, and often in cases that turn out to be entirely wrong.

Convicted Terrorist Guilty in Murder-for-Hire Plot

A federal jury in Raleigh, N.C. found a man already convicted in a terror plot guilty on all counts Thursday in a murder-for-hire scheme.

Hysen Sherifi, who is serving a 45-year prison sentence for his previous terrorism conviction, conspired to murder and behead witnesses who testified against him in that case.

During his incarceration at the New Hanover Detention Facility, Sherifi sought an inmate's help in hiring a hit man to target the witnesses and law enforcement officers from his 2011 trial. Others involved in the plot included Sherifi's brother, Shkumbin Sherifi, and friend, Nevine Aly Elsheikh, who pleaded guilty to their charges.

Sherifi was part of a Triangle terror cell whose members sought to wage jihad overseas and engage in military-style training. He along with the ringleader of the terrorist cell conspired to attack U.S. military personnel and their families at the Marine Corp Base in Quantico, Va.

Sherifi's conviction was applauded by Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. "Thanks to the coordinated law enforcement effort, Hysen Sherifi's jailhouse plot to behead federal agents and witnesses involved in his prior terrorism prosecution was thwarted before anyone was harmed. Today he is being held accountable for his actions," said in a Department of Justice press release.

Sherifi faces a maximum of life in prison when he is sentenced in February.

Israel Slams Turkey's Flotilla 'Show Trial'

Turkish authorities put four Israeli military commanders on trial in absentia this week in connection with the May 2010 clash between Israeli troops and "peaceful" Turkish humanitarian aid volunteers aboard the Mavi Marmara. The vessel tried to run Israel's blockade of Gaza, instituted in order to prevent weapons shipments to the ruling Palestinian terror group Hamas.

On Tuesday, protesters chanting "Murderer Israel!" marched outside the Istanbul courthouse where the trial began. A Turkish court approved a 144-page indictment in May including charges of "inciting murder for cruelty or torture" against former Israel Defense Force (IDF) Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi; former Navy Commander Eliezer Marom; former Air Force Commander Amos Yadlin and former Air Force intelligence chief Avishay Levi.

The indictment follows considerable Israel-baiting from Turkey's Islamist prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who last year accused the Jewish State of manipulating the Holocaust to encourage international guilt while staging attacks that killed "hundreds of thousands" of Palestinians.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry labeled the proceedings "a Show Trial, an act which has nothing to do with either law or justice."

On a board erected nearby by the International Humanitarian Relief Foundation(IHH), the radical Islamist group behind the flotilla, protesters scribbled slogans including: "Israel, your end is near," "Down with Israel," and "The revenge of our martyrs will be bitter."

The Mavi Marmara tragedy was no premeditated attack by Israel. Rather, it was the product of Hamas terror and provocation by its supporters.

Prior to instituting the blockade (which contained an exception for food and humanitarian supplies) Israel unilaterally withdrew its military from Gaza and forcibly uprooted its civilians from their homes. Hamas responded with more terrorist activity targeting civilians. A United Nations investigation concluded the blockade was legal in the face of "a real threat to its security from militant groups in Gaza."

On May 31, 2010, a six-ship flotilla spearheaded by the IHH tried to bring supplies to Gaza in violation of the embargo. Five of the six ships were taken without incident by Israeli commandos and taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

But passengers on board the Mavi Marmara attacked soldiers with clubs, poles and metal rods. One soldier was thrown over the side, and rioters grabbed pistols from the Israelis and opened fire. At least nine of the passengers were killed in the violence and seven of the commandos were injured.

"We have respect for Turkey and its citizens," said Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. He added that Jerusalem would do "everything we can to defend the Israeli officials and all of our brave soldiers from 'Lawfare,' the new combat used against them."

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