Hundreds of residents of Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem, were astounded Monday morning to see an oversized Nazi flag flying next to a mosque in the Arab town of Beit Omar.

The residents notified the IDF.

A resident, Uri Arnon, told the Tazpit News Agency: "I felt we were going back 75 years, losing our hold on the land. The Arabs no longer feel the need to hide their murderous tendencies, announcing out loud that they wish to annihilate us."

An IDF spokesman said that the flag was hung on an electrical line, and that they were waiting to professionals to come and remove it.

An Israeli government review of the death of 12-year-old Muhammad al-Dura during the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000 has officially debunked a French television report suggesting he was killed by direct Israel Defense Forces fire.

The 36-page report, which was presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, further concluded that it was highly likely that the boy survived the incident unscathed and therefore may still be alive. The boy’s father, Jamal, urged an international inquest into the shooting.

The incident took place on Sept. 30, 2000—the early days of the Al-Aqsa Intifada— when Jamal al-Dura and his 12-year-old son Muhammad were filmed by a France 2 news crew as they were taking cover behind a concrete barrier after they were caught in a crossfire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian police forces in Netzarim Junction, on the Gaza Strip’s main north-south highway....

(A police stang guard in West Bank Photo: REUTERS)

A Palestinian man who was detained by the Palestinian Authority security forces in Hebron has lost the ability to speak as a result of severe torture, according to a report released by the Independent Commission for Human Rights.

Mohamed Abdel Karim Dar of Hebron was hospitalized after being tortured while in detention, the report, which documented 28 cases of torture in PA prisons in the West Bank last month, said.

Dar had been detained by agents belonging to the PA’s Preventive Security Service and held in solitary confinement, the document said.

“He lost the ability to speak and suffered from wounds to his body as a result of banging his head against the wall and tying his hands while being held in solitary condiment,” the report added....

Sab Erakat, Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Chief Palestinian Negotiator, addressed the 352nd meeting of the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People at UN headquarters in New York on May 20th. His message was wrapped in the standard Palestinian victimhood narrative. It contained superficially nice sounding words about the Palestinians’ interest in peace but only on their terms.

Erakat used his speech to attack Israel’s alleged “apartheid” policies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and to trumpet the Palestinians’ commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict with Israel based on “two states on the 1967 line.” At the same time, he praised Secretary of State John Kerry for trying to bring the parties together and move the peace negotiation process forward. “I know his heart is there,” Erakat said.

Erakat denied that the Palestinians were imposing any conditions on resuming negotiations with Israel. Then, in the next breath, he insisted that Israel must first meet its “obligations” to freeze all settlement activities and free Palestinian prisoners. It must also accept what he repeatedly called in shorthand “two states – 1967.” By referring to “Israeli obligations” instead of “conditions,” Erakat tried to sugarcoat the Palestinians’ continued obstruction of peace negotiations. Erakat, the Chief Palestinian Negotiator, wants certain major issues in dispute with Israel to be decided first in the Palestinians’ favor before they will agree to even sit down with Israeli negotiators.

If Israel does not accept “two states – 1967,” Erakat warned, there will be “consequences.” He mocked the current relevance of Israel’s security concern that the 1967 line was indefensible. “Missiles today cannot be stopped by walls,” he said....

A senior United Nations humanitarian official reported today that the total number of people in need of assistance as a result of the ongoing conflict in Syria is now 8.3 million, representing about 38 per cent of the country's population.

A senior United Nations humanitarian official reported today that the total number of people in need of assistance as a result of the ongoing conflict in Syria is now 8.3 million, representing about 38 per cent of the country's population.

Health programmes carried out by the United Nations agency tasked with assisting Palestinian refugees has helped to improve their lives, but greater efforts and more resources are needed to effectively tackle health challenges, particularly during times of conflict, says a new report.

...The following is the official PA daily's report calling Israeli construction in the Negev "a settlement":

"The order given by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze construction in West Bank settlements may pave the way to a thaw in the frozen peace process, but it does not mean that Israel has acceded to Palestinian, Arab, or international demands. Quite the opposite. It constitutes a settlement trick... At the same time the so-called 'Ministerial Committee for Legislation' approved the outlines of the 'Prawer Law' that will bring about the expropriation of hundreds of thousands of acres and the uprooting of 35,000 Arab citizens from their homes and lands in the Negev. The significance is that the Netanyahu government has not decided to freeze settlement, but has transferred it to the Negev. This will bring about an explosion and a confrontation with the Palestinians in the interior (i.e., Israeli Arabs in Israel).
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 8, 201

...The most interesting thing in Japan's approach to Islam is the fact that the Japanese do not feel the need to apologize to Muslims for the negative way in which they relate to Islam. They make a clear distinction between their economic interest in resources of oil and gas from Muslim countries, which behooves Japan to maintain good relations with these countries on the one hand, and on the other hand, the Japanese nationalist viewpoints, which see Islam as something that is suitable for others, not for Japan, and therefore the Muslims must remain outside.

Because the Japanese have a gentle temperament, and project serenity and tranquility toward foreigners, foreigners tend to relate to the Japanese with politeness and respect. A Japanese diplomat would never raise his voice or speak rudely in the presence of foreigners, therefore foreigners relate to the Japanese with respect, despite their racism and discrimination against Muslims in the matter of immigration. A Japanese official who is presented with an embarrassing question regarding the way the Japanese relate to Muslims, will usually refrain from answering, because he knows that a truthful answer would arouse anger, and he is both unable and unwilling to give an answer that is not true. He will smile but not answer, and if pressed, he will ask for time so that his superiors can answer, while he knows that this answer will never come.

Japan manages to remain a country almost without a Muslim presence because Japan's negative attitude toward Islam and Muslims pervades every level of the population, from the man in the street to organizations and companies to senior officialdom. In Japan, contrary to the situation in other countries, there are no "human rights" organizations to offer support to Muslims' claims against the government's position. In Japan no one illegally smuggles Muslims into the country to earn a few yen, and almost no one gives them the legal support they would need in order to get permits for temporary or permanent residency or citizenship.

Another thing that helps the Japanese keep Muslim immigration to their shores to a minimum is the Japanese attitude toward the employee and employment. Migrant workers are perceived negatively in Japan, because they take the place of Japanese workers. A Japanese employer feels obligated to employ Japanese workers even if it costs much more than it would to employ foreign workers. The traditional connection between an employee and employer in Japan is much stronger than in the West, and the employer and employee feel a mutual commitment to each other: an employer feels obligated to give his employee a livelihood, and the employee feels obligated to give the employer the fruit of his labor. This situation does not encourage the acceptance of foreign workers, whose commitment to the employers is low....