The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.
From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."
The Iranian attack on Israel seems a historic blunder. It opened up a new chapter in which its own soil, thanks to its attack on Israel, is no longer off limits to any Western power.
Details of the recent limited Israeli retaliatory strike against
Iranian anti-aircraft missile batteries at Isfahan are still sketchy.
But nonetheless, we can draw some conclusions.
Israel’s small volley of missiles hit their intended targets, to the
point of zeroing in on the very launchers designed to stop such incoming
ordnance.
The target was near the Natanz enrichment facility. That proximity
was by design. Israel showed Iran it could take out the very
anti-missile battery designed to thwart an attack on its nearby nuclear
facility.
The larger message sent to the world was that Israel could send a
retaliatory barrage at Iranian nuclear sites with reasonable assurances
that the incoming attacks could not be stopped. By comparison, Iran’s
earlier attack on Israel was much greater and more indiscriminate. It
was also a huge flop, with an estimated 99 percent of the more than 320
drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles failing to hit their
planned targets.
Moreover, it was reported that more than 50 percent of Iran’s roughly
115-120 ballistic missiles failed at launch or malfunctioned in flight.
Collate these facts, and it presents a disturbing corrective to
Iran’s non-stop boasts of soon possessing a nuclear arsenal that will
obliterate the Jewish state.
Consider further the following nightmarish scenarios: Were Iranian
nuclear-tipped missiles ever launched at Israel, they could pass over,
in addition to Syria and Iraq, either Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the West
Bank, Gaza, or all four. In the cases of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, such
trajectories would constitute an act of war, especially considering that
some of Iran’s recent aerial barrages were intercepted and destroyed
over Arab territory well before they reached Israel.
Iran’s strike prompted Arab nations, the US, the UK, and France to
work in concert to destroy almost all of Iran’s drones. For Iran, that
is a premonition of the sort of sophisticated aerial opposition it might
face if it ever decided to stage a nuclear version.
Even if half of Iran’s ballistic missiles did launch successfully,
only a handful apparently neared their intended targets—in sharp
contrast to Israel’s successful attack on Iranian missile batteries. Is
it thus conceivable that any Iranian-nuclear-tipped missile launched
toward Israel might pose as great a threat to Iran itself or its
neighbors as to Israel?
And even if such missiles made it into the air and even if they
successfully traversed Arab airspace, there is still an overwhelming
chance they would be neutralized before detonating above Israel.
Any such launch would warrant an immediate Israeli response. And the
incoming bombs and missiles would likely have a 100 percent certainty of
evading Iran’s countermeasures and hitting their targets.
Now that the soil of both Iran and Israel is no longer sacred and
immune from attack, the mystique of the Iranian nuclear threat has
dissipated.
It should be harder for the theocracy to shake down Western
governments for hostage bribes, sanctions relief, and Iran-deal
giveaways on the implied threat of Iran successfully nuking the Jewish
state.
The new reality is that Iran has goaded an Israel that has numerous
nuclear weapons and dozens of nuclear-tipped missiles in hardened silos
and on submarines. Tehran has zero ability to stop any of these missiles
or sophisticated fifth-generation Israeli aircraft armed with nuclear
bombs and missiles.
Iran must now fear that if it launched 2-3 nuclear missiles, there
would be overwhelming odds that they would either fail at launch, go
awry in the air, implode inside Iran, be taken down over Arab territory
by Israel’s allies, or be knocked down by the tripartite Israel
anti-missile defense system.
Add it all up, and the Iranian attack on Israel seems a historic
blunder. It showed the world the impotence of an Iranian aerial assault
at the very time it threatens to go nuclear. It revealed that an
incompetent Iran may be as much a threat to itself as to its enemies. It
opened up a new chapter in which its own soil, thanks to its attack on
Israel, is no longer off limits to any Western power.
Its failure to stop a much smaller Israel response, coupled with the
overwhelming success of Israel and its allies in stopping a much larger
Iranian attack, reminds the Iranian autocracy that its shrill rhetoric
is designed to mask its impotence and to hide its own vulnerabilities
from its enemies.
And the long-suffering Iranian people?
The truth will come out that its own theocracy hit the Israeli
homeland with negligible results and earned a successful, though merely
demonstrative, Israeli response in return.
So Iranians will learn their homeland is now vulnerable and, for the future, no longer off limits.
And they will conclude that Israel has more effective allies than
Iran and that their own ballistic missiles may be more suicidal than
homicidal.
As a result, they may conclude that the real enemies of the Iranian
nation are not the Jewish people of Israel after all, but their own
unhinged Islamist theocrats.
Iran appears to have replaced a damaged radar with a different, incompatible radar in order to hide the impact of the strike.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks
during a meeting with a group of academic elites and scientific talents
in Tehran, Iran October 19, 2022(photo credit: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA/Handout via Reuters)
Iran tried to cover up the damage caused by the alleged Israeli airstrike near Isfahan last week, satellite imagery shared with the Economist and the Institute for Science and International Security showed on Wednesday.
The
alleged Israeli strike targeted an S-300 air defense battery near
Isfahan in central Iran in response to a drone and missile attack
launched by Iran against Israel earlier this month.
NEW: The Institute acquired high-resolution Airbus Pleiades Neo satellite images of Iran’s Eighth Shekari Air Base taken shortly after the reported Israeli attack on the S-300 missile defense system deployed at the base.https://t.co/lY57SkvfRypic.twitter.com/kKFN4lpomH
While at first, Iran claimed no damage had been caused in the alleged
Israeli strike, satellite imagery shared by Planet Labs and the
Institute for Science and International Security later revealed that the
30N6E2 Tombstone radar used by the S-300 air defense battery had been
destroyed in the attack.
On
Tuesday, the Institute for Science and International Security shared
two high-resolution Airbus satellite images from April 19 and 20,
showing the targeted location in the Eighth Shekari Air Base, where four
missile launchers and a mobile radar were deployed.
The S-300 missile system is seen during the National Army Day parade
ceremony in Tehran, Iran, April 17, 2024. (credit: Majid Asgaripour/WANA
via Reuters)
According to the Institute for
Science and International Security, the imagery appears to show that the
vehicle the radar was on was hit and likely caught fire. Marks near the
vehicle appear to be from extinguishing fluids used to fight the fire.
After
the attack, a covering of some sort was placed on top of the mobile
radar. On April 20, a new vehicle was placed where the radar used to be,
possibly a replacement radar, although it doesn't seem to be the same
type as the one that was damaged.
Iran replaced damaged radar with incompatible radar to save face
Chris Biggers, an imagery analyst who used to work for the US's National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, told the Economist
that the Tombstone radar had been replaced with a 96l6e “Cheese board”
radar, which is not interchangeable with the Tombstone radar, meaning
the battery cannot operate with it.
“It’s a case of denial and deception to suggest the site is still operational," said Biggers to the Economist.
The targeted site is a key part of air defenses for nuclear sites in both Isfahan and Natanz, according to the Institute for Science and International Security.
With the help of Iran and North Korea, the terrorist organization has been working for 18 years on attack, strategic and booby-trapped tunnels.
View of a Hezbollah tunnel that crosses from Lebanon to Israel, Feb. 14, 2023. Photo by Yossi Zamir/Flash90.
In the summer of 2008, a group of
Christian Lebanese from the Jezzine area were making their way by car
towards the well-known Maronite summer resort town when it was suddenly
forced to stop after being fired on at a Hezbollah roadblock.
They failed to understand why they had
been detained and were even more astonished when they were sent for
comprehensive questioning as to what they were doing in the area where
they lived.
It was only in hindsight, after they saw
the bulldozers, the heavy drilling equipment, and several Asian-looking
individuals, that they suddenly realized that the members of the Shi’ite
terrorist organization suspected them of being spies, collecting
information on the excavation work being carried out on a whole network
of fortifications and tunnels in the vicinity of their own homes. The
individuals, it later turned out, were professional tunneling
consultants from North Korea.
Similar to what the residents of the
Christian village of Rumaysh did two weeks ago, the Christians from the
Jezzine area asked Hezbollah not to be involved and to stop the activity
there. They were mainly concerned that during a war, the village would
become a target for Israeli strikes due to Hezbollah’s use of it.
The
map of Hezbollah bases in Southern Lebanon that was uploaded to the web
15 years ago. Source: Alma Research and Education Center.
When their pleas went unanswered, they or
their friends decided to take action, uploading a map to the web with 36
geographical areas or communities circled to show Hezbollah’s
deployment there as part of its setup against a possible IDF ground
incursion in Lebanon.
More than they sought to cause damage to
Hezbollah, or to help Israel, these Christians were trying to protect
themselves and to keep the members of the terrorist organization at a
safe distance away from them.
Only a few people noticed this mysterious
map that was uploaded onto the internet some 15 years ago. It
encompassed the entire region between Sidon in the west, Lake Qaraoun in
the east, and Marj Ayyun and Nabatiyeh in the south.
But a decade later it was noticed by a
bunch of ex-IDF Military Intelligence Directorate soldiers, analysts
from the Alma Research and Education Center.
This is how that map became the basis for a
comprehensive study of the Lebanese terrorist tunnel land, an extremely
long and winding underground route that Hezbollah built in the Land of
the Cedars, mainly in Southern Lebanon.
Since its establishment in 2018, the Alma
Center has focused on the security challenges to the State of Israel
along its northern border, and one of its main areas of interest is
Hezbollah’s tunnel project.
Into the hard rock
Maj. (res.) Tal Be’eri, the head of the
center’s research department and somebody who had himself researched and
coordinated the center’s extensive work on Hezbollah’s tunnels in
Lebanon, says that this project covers “hundreds of kilometers of
underground facilities excavated into the hard rock—much more dangerous,
deeper, wider and more difficult to unravel and destroy than anything
we have come across in the Gaza Strip in recent months.”
Brig. Gen. (res.) Ronen Manelis says the tunnel system is “10 levels above anything we have come across in Gaza.”
Manelis was the IDF spokesperson, but
before that, he was head of the Lebanon Branch in the IDF Northern
Command and the intelligence officer of the IDF Gaza Division.
He also served as assistant to the then
chief of IDF Staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, in the two years preceding
2018’s “Operation Northern Shield” in which six attack tunnels,
excavated by Hezbollah in Lebanon and crossing under the border fence
into Israeli territory, were exposed and destroyed.
Manelis returned this week to a video clip that Hezbollah put out in 2008.
“In that clip,” he recalls, “in which
Hezbollah, using maps and other visual illustrative aids, described how
it intended to take over the border communities and the IDF military
posts along the northern border, and even beyond that, it depicted a
combination of ground, air and naval forces that would take part in the
effort to occupy part of the Galilee.
“It did not include a single word about
tunnels and underground facilities. That clip was released as part of a
military deception exercise, and it took some time for Israel to
understand what was really happening along its border. It was only in
2014, following the IDF’s ‘Operation Protective Edge’ [war against Hamas
in Gaza] that we came to realize that Hezbollah had built a whole
network of offensive tunnels crossing into Israel.
“Over the course of time,” Manelis
recounts, “the offensive tunnels were deciphered by us more precisely,
and in late 2018 we arrived at the point where Israel faced a dilemma
that it was not accustomed to dealing with: Should it neutralize the
enemy’s capability prior to the enemy having any actual intention to use
that specific capacity, or should we wait. Israel, after some complex
deliberations at both the military and political policymaking levels,
decided to target this infrastructure as part of ‘Operation Northern
Shield.’
“The six tunnels that were uncovered, were
either destroyed or neutralized, mainly by pumping enormous volumes of
concrete into them, and also by blasting them. That was an extremely
brave decision,” states Manelis, “Israel neutralized a clear and present
danger and a genuine threat. [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah was
taken aback. I really don’t want to think what might have happened along
the northern border had those tunnels been operational today.”
Q: A tunnel heading towards the town of Shlomi?
“The offensive tunnels that were destroyed
in 2018 were supposed to enable companies from Hezbollah’s elite Radwan
Force to infiltrate Israeli territory without them being spotted when
crossing over, to take over military posts and civilian communities
along the border, and at the same time to hit the IDF reinforcements
rushing to respond.
“One tunnel, which was excavated from
inside a private house, crossed the border southwards from Kafr Kila to
Metula, a stone’s throw away on the other side of the border fence.
Another tunnel departed from the village of Ramyah and reached a point
adjacent to Moshav Zarit. An additional tunnel was excavated from the
area of the village of Ayta ash-Sha’b towards the neighboring Moshav
Shtula, and another one, reaching a depth of 55 meters, which also
housed a railway for transporting equipment, also came out of Ramyah,”
Manelis says.
Five years and one war that might turn out
to still be in its infancy have elapsed since and northern Israel is
far from being quiet. The heads of the local municipalities such as
Metula Mayor David Azoulai and Shlomi Mayor Gabi Na’aman say that they
have not yet received any clear or satisfactory answers to the question
of whether or not there are any more Hezbollah attack tunnels crossing
the border from Lebanon into Israel.
Na’aman tells of information passed on to
him by two members of Knesset, according to which there is a tunnel
heading towards Shlomi.
Azoulai tells of complaints made by
residents who claim to have heard underground digging noises at night.
“I am extremely anxious,” he admits.
Moshe Davidovich, the head of the Asher
Regional Council in the Western Galilee, is also concerned. In a meeting
held recently at the Knesset’s State Control Committee, he claimed,
“IDF officers have told me that there are numerous tunnels in the
north.”
In contrast, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, the
head of the IDF Northern Command, recently made it clear in a
conversation he held with local authority heads in the north, at the
clubroom of Kibbutz Hanita, that the IDF is engaged in a constant effort
to trace terrorist infrastructure both above and below the ground. “If
we do find a threat, we won’t keep it a secret from anyone,” he
promised.
Following “Operation Northern Shield” in
January 2019, Nasrallah, claimed that there were tunnels that the IDF
had failed to uncover, even though it had publicly announced the
completion of the operation. Former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe
Ya’alon admitted after the operation that for years he had denied the
existence of cross-border tunnels in order to confuse Hezbollah and to
create the impression that Israel was not aware of what was going on.
Only two months ago, the French daily newspaper Libération
reported that during the current war, the IDF had dropped phosphorus
bombs in Southern Lebanon to burn the vegetation and thus expose tunnel
exits.
According to Libération, 12 tunnel exits were uncovered and destroyed.
An Israeli military source was quoted as
saying to the newspaper that the IDF uses movement sensors, fiber-optic
cables, robots, drones and information sources to map out the tunnel
network.
It is not wholly clear from the report
whether this relates to cross-border attack tunnels or tunnels that form
part of the extensive underground defensive and combat setup that
Hezbollah has built deep under Southern Lebanon.
Whatever the case might be, although
Hezbollah’s cross-border attack tunnels are an important part of the
underground story of Southern Lebanon, according to all the indications
and the information available, this is only a small part of a much more
expansive picture, which has developed there over the last 18 years, a
period in which Israel has done next to nothing against the “Tunnel
Land” that Hezbollah built across Lebanon.
According to the information collected by
Be’eri and the Alma staff from open sources, in addition to the
offensive tunnels, Hezbollah has also built in Lebanon a broad network
of strategic interregional tunnels covering tens and hundreds of
kilometers, which are deployed and connect the chief command centers of
the organization in Beirut with the Beqa’a Valley, and from there link
with Southern Lebanon.
Moreover, according to Alma, the Hezbollah
tunnel network also connects the various staging areas of the terrorist
organization within Southern Lebanon itself.
A map of an approximate tunnel route in Lebanon. Credit: Alma Research and Education Center.
‘Approach tunnels’
Be’eri calls this network “The Hezbollah
Tunnel Land.” He recounts how North Korean experts provided direct help
with this project, and even brings a report from Asharq Al-Awsat, which was given to the popular Saudi newspaper by a senior officer from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
According to that report, a North Korean
consultant helped in the construction of a highly sophisticated
25-km.-long (15.5-mile) tunnel in Lebanon, “a tunnel with numerous
connection and collection points that Hezbollah used to transport and
concentrate its forces.”
Be’eri assumes that there is more than one such tunnel.
“According to the testimonies,” he says,
“Hezbollah has carried out fortification works in those geographical
areas, using enormous amounts of building materials. The works were
carried out by a Korean company called the Korea Mining Development
Trading Corporation under the supervision of an Iranian officer from the
IRGC.
“The actual construction work was carried
out by Hezbollah’s Jihad Construction Association, which is in fact a
branch of the Iranian Jihad Construction Association, established in
1988. The Jihad Construction used companies under a civilian guise to
build the ‘Tunnel Land.'”
“One of them,” so the Alma analysts think,
“is the ‘Beqa’a for Construction and Contracting Work,’ or under its
previous name, ‘The Iranian Authority for the Construction of Lebanon.’
The company was established in 2005 under the guise of the IRGC, and
until 2013 it was headed by the Iranian military engineer Hassan
Shateri, a senior IRGC officer with the rank of major general, who was
killed in Syria about a decade ago.”
According to Be’eri, “Hezbollah’s strategic tunnels are fitted with underground C2 (command
& control) rooms, arms and quartermasters’ stores, field clinics
and dedicated tunnel shafts intended for firing various types of
missiles (rockets, surface-to-surface missiles, anti-tank missiles,
anti-aircraft missiles).”
Those shafts, the Alma experts believe,
“are concealed and camouflaged, and they cannot be observed from above
the ground. They are opened for only a very short period of time for the
purpose of missile fire and then immediately closed again, in order to
reload the hydraulic launcher with new arms.
“In addition, the tunnels enable forces
[on foot or in vehicles] to be transported from one location to another
for reinforcement, defense or conducting an offensive, all in the
safest, most protected, and concealed manner possible. We believe that
Hezbollah’s strategic tunnels also enable the movement of motorcycles,
ATVs [all-terrain vehicles], and both small and medium-sized vehicles.
“The map with which we set off,” he
confirms, “is the map that was uploaded to the internet by anonymous
figures, perhaps from the Christian surroundings that had been disturbed
by the Hezbollah presence in the area. Our most up-to-date information
today indicates that the entire area—from Sidon in the west to Lake
Qaraoun in the east and Nabatiyeh in the south—is linked by a network of
strategic tunnels, which also serve as a platform for the storage and
launching of arms, as well as for transporting forces.
“This is topography that combines tunnels
and wadis where the tunnel networks are interrupted. Beyond the
offensive and strategic tunnels,” Be’eri explains, “there are a further
three types of tunnels: ‘Approach tunnels’ that allow Hezbollah to
stealthily approach the border area without being exposed, and then, at
least potentially, to try and breach the IDF border obstacle; [local]
tactical tunnels, which are located in Hezbollah’s first and second
defensive strips, to the Litani River, and from there inwards into the
heart of Lebanon—they serve the organization for defense and for combat;
as well as booby-trapped tunnels that are filled with explosives after
being excavated in order to explode them, at a time to be chosen by
Hezbollah, alongside Israeli targets such as an Israeli community or IDF
post.
“As far as the issue of underground
facilities is concerned,” Be’eri sums up, “Hezbollah is at the head of
the food chain, and it is of course led by Iran. Hamas is Hezbollah’s
industrious student, and the tunnels that it has established in Lebanon
were excavated over a period of many years, in stone, so that their
natural defense against a powerful strike is much stronger than those
dug by Hamas in the sand of Gaza, in the south.”
‘A good intelligence picture’
“Apart from that, Manelis points out, “the
underground network that Hezbollah built in Southern Lebanon, which
includes bunkers and arms depots, enables it to move in a more protected
and concealed manner between the villages, whose residents are
Hezbollah men, and the open terrain, from which attacks are carried out.
For example, the attack in which IDF soldiers Goldwasser and Regev were
abducted in 2006 [the incident that triggered the Second Lebanon War—N.S.].
“That underground network also houses
positions, which when the command is relayed, following a whistle, are
meant to be occupied by members of the Radwan force.”
Manelis believes that Israel’s overall
intelligence picture today regarding Hezbollah’s underground network is
“not bad, and even a good one. It is slightly different to the Gaza
area,” he points out, “in the Gaza Strip, everything is buried under a
densely-populated built-up area. In Lebanon, there are both built-up
areas and open terrain. But compared with the situation in Israel’s
south, Hezbollah’s underground facilities are in a league of their own.
They have genuinely built here an underground monster.
“It certainly won’t be easy,” Manelis
assesses, “but, the fact that we have a good intelligence picture
enables our forces to train in an orderly manner. They ought to know
where the underground facilities are located, and I guess that even now,
while the IDF is operating north of the border, its airstrikes are also
hitting underground facilities and infrastructure.”
Q: Do you think that Israel should
be taking the initiative to operate in an orderly fashion in order to
destroy the Hezbollah Tunnel Land, as it does in the Gaza Strip?
“Israel should be operating wherever it
might be forced to pay a heavy price in the future if it fails to take
action now. On the other hand, it cannot simply engage in warfare for
years against the enemy’s capabilities just because they exist, and as
far as I am aware, it is very difficult to prevent the enemy from arming
its forces with conventional arms. Therefore, the method involves a
system of checks and balances and deterrents, and of course, also
operations wherever that is necessary.
“Above all, we must not allow Hezbollah to
obtain any game-changing weapon systems. Are precision weapons, in
large quantities, that are aimed at the State of Israel, considered a
game-changer? Yes, I believe so. Are cross-border tunnels that penetrate
into Israeli territory also a game-changer? In my opinion, yes they
are.”
Manelis levels harsh criticism at the
“defeatist and alarmist policy” that Israel has adopted over the years
in relation to Hezbollah, according to him, “including in response to
the terrorist attack in Megiddo, and the tent that Hezbollah erected in
Israeli territory and that we were afraid to take down, as well as the
incident at the IDF ‘Gladiola’ post in 2020, when the soldiers were
issued with an explicit order not to fire at the attackers, but only to
fire into the air.
“In 2019 too, at Avivim, when Hezbollah AT [anti-tank] squads attacked, there was no return fire against them.”
Now, Manelis believes things are changing.
Like Okinawa
Engineer Yehuda Kfir, a former
intelligence officer who served in both the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon,
points out the high degree of natural protection afforded by the tunnels
in Lebanon compared with in Gaza.
“This involves cutting into limestone,
dolomite and on occasion into basalt rock. It is very difficult for
air-dropped bombs or artillery shells to penetrate such material,” says
Kfir.
“The topography in Lebanon also has an
impact on the warfare there. It enables the enemy to create long-range
fire positions, that are well-protected, concealed, and camouflaged deep
in the heart of the territory, with arrays from which they can launch
missiles either via direct or indirect fire, laser target designation,
and even launching Iranian-made drones.”
Kfir believes, stressing that this is
purely an assessment, that “the model of the war, in the event of a
ground maneuver in Lebanon, will be similar to the Battle of Okinawa in
the Second World War, in which the Japanese used the topography and the
ridge lines that were fortified with tunnels across the island. This was
a defensive array that made it extremely difficult for the U.S. Army to
conquer the island, and even after it was conquered, the U.S. military
continued to suffer considerable losses.”
In addition, he thinks that one of the
undeclared reasons for the extensive evacuation of the civilian
population from Israel’s northern border is concern over the existence
of additional attack tunnels that have yet to be revealed. Kfir raises
doubts as to the IDF’s level of readiness to engage in underground
warfare in Lebanon.
“Despite the experience that we have
accumulated now in the Gaza Strip, this is a whole new ball game,” he
reiterates. “At the Engineers’ Association, we set up a professional
group that is intended to help the IDF with this. Some of the people are
already part of the military setup in their reserve service capacity,
people who deal with ground and terrain on a routine basis. The army
does not ordinarily have access to so many people from this specific
discipline.”
Qatar's goal is to keep Hamas in power. Qatar has no reason to care if thousands of Palestinians die in the Gaza Strip, so long as Hamas is permitted to continue ruling the coastal enclave.
The idea that Qatar has been
acting as a mediator in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas is
nothing short of laughable. Qatar has actually long been staunchly
aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood organization, of which Hamas is an
offshoot.
The Muslim Brotherhood -- according to a hearing at the U.S.
House Subcommittee on National Security on July 11, 2018 -- is a
militant Islamist organization with affiliates in over 70 countries,
including groups designated as terrorist organizations by the US.
""Qatar has huge influence over the Muslim Brotherhood's
Palestinian affiliate, Hamas.... For too long, Doha has danced between
its Islamist allies and its Western and Arab partners." — Hussein Ibish,
a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in
Washington, The Atlantic, October 20, 2023
Qatar has a long history of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and
its radical terrorist offshoots.... Qatar has also provided political
and financial support to Hamas. In 2008, Doha reportedly pledged $250
million to Hamas, one year after the terror group violently seized
control of the Gaza Strip. In 2012, Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa
al-Thani became the first head of state to visit Gaza, pledging $400
million to Hamas. Since then, the Qatari government has continued to
send money to Hamas.
Qatar's goal is to keep Hamas in power. Qatar has no reason to
care if thousands of Palestinians die in the Gaza Strip, so long as
Hamas is permitted to continue ruling the coastal enclave.
The idea that Qatar has been acting as a mediator in the
negotiations between Israel and Hamas is nothing short of laughable.
Qatar has actually long been staunchly aligned with the Muslim
Brotherhood organization, of which Hamas is an offshoot. Pictured: Hamas
leader Khaled Mashaal meets with Qatar's then Crown Prince (today's
Emir) Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at the Royal Palace in Amman,
Jordan on January 29, 2012. (Photo by Khalil Mazraawi/AFP via Getty
Images)
Recently, the rulers of Qatar demonstrated that they not only serve
as gracious hosts to the leaders of the Palestinian Hamas terror group,
but that they also have a sense of humor.
The Gulf state's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani announced
during a press conference in Doha that his country is reassessing its
role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas after facing criticism.
"Qatar is in the process of a complete re-evaluation of its role," al-Thani said.
"There is exploitation and abuse of the Qatari role," he said, adding
that Qatar had been the victim of "point-scoring" by "politicians who
are trying to conduct election campaigns by slighting the State of
Qatar."
Earlier, al-Thani said negotiations to secure the release of more
than 130 remaining Israeli hostages, abducted by Hamas to the Gaza Strip
on October 7, 2023, had stalled.
"We are going through a sensitive stage with some stalling, and we
are trying as much as possible to address this stalling," the Qatari
premier said.
Oh really.
The idea that Qatar has been acting as a mediator in the negotiations
between Israel and Hamas is nothing short of laughable. Qatar has
actually long been staunchly aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood organization, of which Hamas is an offshoot.
The Muslim Brotherhood's motto
is: "Allah is our objective; the Prophet is our leader; the Quran is
our law; Jihad is our way; dying in the way of Allah is our highest
hope."
The Muslim Brotherhood -- according
to a hearing at the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security on
July 11, 2018 -- is a militant Islamist organization with affiliates in
over 70 countries, including groups designated as terrorist
organizations by the US.
After the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi was elected president of Egypt in 2012, 22 million Egyptians could not wait to get rid of him. In a year and a few days, he was gone.
"Qatar has huge influence over the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestinian affiliate, Hamas," said Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
"Qatar's dalliance with Islamist groups has long been the
primary means for Doha to project influence in the Arab world,
particularly through state support for Al-Jazeera Arabic. For too long,
Doha has danced between its Islamist allies and its Western and Arab
partners."
Qatar has a long history of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and its radical terrorist offshoots. During the Brotherhood's year in power in Egypt, Qatar loaned Morsi's regime approximately $7.5 billion. Qatar also reportedly aided Morsi's regime with grants and "energy supplies." During
Morsi's presidency, "payments ranging from $250,000 to $850,000 to top
Morsi associates from the former Prime Minister of Qatar," Sheikh Hamad
bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani.
Qatar has also provided political and financial support to Hamas. In 2008, Doha reportedly pledged
$250 million to Hamas, one year after the terror group violently seized
control of the Gaza Strip. In 2012, Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa
al-Thani became the first head of state to visit Gaza, pledging $400
million to Hamas. Since then, the Qatari government has continued to
send money to Hamas. In July 2016, Qatar announced a payment of $30
million to Hamas-hired workers in Gaza.
Qatar, in addition, has long hosted
Hamas leaders and allowed the terrorist group to set up an office in
Doha. Khaled Mashaal -- the former leader of Hamas, whose wealth is
estimated above $5 billion
"while more than half of his own citizens in Gaza live under the
poverty line" -- has held press conferences on behalf of the terrorist
group at internationally owned businesses in Qatar, including at the
Four Seasons Hotel and the Sheraton Doha (owned by Marriott). Mashaal
has previously resided "in the most luxurious hotel in the most
beautiful district [in Qatar]," according to one Egyptian
television host. Mashaal is also reported to own four towers and a
commercial center on a seven-acre plot in Qatar, developed by a domestic
real estate agency. Qatar has repeatedly denied rumors that Mashaal was
evicted from Qatar, and in 2015 called him a "dear guest of Qatar."
The Muslim Brotherhood has been militant from its very beginning. Its founder, Hassan al-Banna, who founded the group in 1928, said that "Jihad (holy war) is an obligation from Allah and every Muslim and cannot be ignored nor evaded." In a book titled The Way of Jihad, he wrote:
"Jihad means the fighting of the unbelievers and involves
all possible efforts that are necessary to dismantle the power of the
enemies of Islam, including beating them, plundering their wealth,
destroying their places of worship, and smashing their idols."
In 2005, a former Kuwaiti minister of information, Dr. Ahmad al-Rabi', wrote in the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper:
"The beginnings of all the religious terrorism that we
are witnessing today were in the Muslim Brotherhood's ideology...all
those who worked with bin Laden and al-Qaeda went out under the mandate
of the Muslim Brotherhood."
This jihadist ideology continues to fuel the Muslim Brotherhood
today. The Brotherhood mourned the death of Osama bin Laden, and its
leaders developed teachings justifying revolutionary violence under
sharia law. The Brotherhood has preached
hatred towards Jews, denied the Holocaust, and called for Israel's
destruction. The Brotherhood incited violence against Coptic Christians
in Egypt amidst a wave of church bombings and other attacks by terrorist
groups, including ISIS.
One of the leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood was Haj Amin
al-Husseini, known to many as the father of Arab terrorism, who was
Grand Mufti of Jerusalem from 1921-1937. According to Middle East expert Tony Duheaume:
"Through his leadership of the Palestinian branch of the
Muslim Brotherhood, al-Husseini's infamous exploits aided in the
creation of one that blended Muslim beliefs with all of the vile
ideologies created by the Nazis, spawning many groups that followed the
same cause.
"With al-Husseini having lived in Palestine during the start of the
First World War, he had sworn his allegiance to the Ottoman Empire, and
had become an officer in the Ottoman Turkish army.
"It was during this time, he had found himself assigned to the
Forty-Seventh Brigade, which was stationed in the city of Smyrma, and
whilst serving there, he had become a willing participant in the
Armenian genocide, during which one-and-a-half million Christians were
reportedly slaughtered by Turkish troops.
"This event had twisted al-Husseini's mindset, turning him into a
leading advocate of creating an Islamic Caliphate, which was envisaged
by all of his followers, and which they believed could only come about
through the annihilation of all Jews and Christians living in the Middle
East."
For many years, Qatar hosted Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of the spiritual leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, who was famous for shaping the concept of violet jihad and who promoted terrorism, including suicide bombing
attacks against Israeli civilians, US forces in Iraq, and some of the
Arab regimes. "I supported martyrdom operations, and I am not the only
one," al-Qaradawi told the BBC in 2004. Because of that, he was banned from entering Western countries and some Arab states.
Al-Qaradawi also issued fatwas authorizing attacks on all Jews. On Al Jazeera Arabic in January 2009, he said:
"Oh God, take Your enemies, the enemies of Islam... Oh
God, take the treacherous Jewish aggressors... Oh God, count their
numbers, slay them one by one and spare none."
Qatar's close relations with Hamas should clearly disqualify it from brokering the release of the Israeli hostages. It is said, "Qatar is Hamas and Hamas is Qatar."
Qatar's threat to quit the role of mediator is unfortunately nothing
but a sick joke. Qatar has always been on the side of Hamas, whose other
billionaire leaders continue to enjoy a comfortable life far from Gaza in foreign villas and five-star hotels.
If the Qataris had wanted to end the war in the Gaza Strip, they
could have summoned the leaders of Hamas and issued an ultimatum to them
to release the hostages or face deportation from the country. The
Qataris are not doing so because they do not seem to be facing any
pressure from the US administration. If the US administration really
wanted to exert pressure on Qatar, it could threaten to withdraw fro
Al-Udeid Air Base, located in the desert southwest of Doha. Al-Udeid is
the biggest US military installation in the Middle East and is the main
reason why Qatar enjoys security and stability.
Qatar's goal is to keep Hamas in power. Qatar has no reason to care
if thousands of Palestinians die in the Gaza Strip, so long as Hamas is
permitted to continue ruling the coastal enclave.
"Qatar is the leading sponsor of terrorism in the world, more than Iran," said
Dr. Udi Levy, a former senior official of Israel's Mossad spy agency
who dealt with economic warfare against terrorist organizations.
Commenting on the double game of the Qataris, who fund Hamas and at the
same time pretend they are assisting in a hostage deal, Levy said:
"Qatar has been playing a dual role since the beginning
of the Gaza war. On the one hand, it is a well-known supporter of Hamas,
and even finances it with a lot of money, and on the other hand, it is
trying to help in the deal for the release of the Israeli hostages. So
what is the real face of the Qataris? The Qataris are the No. 1 country
in the world that finances terrorism, more than Iran."
Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
Many student groups that have organized the pro-Palestine encampments are official student organizations, often eligible for funding from the very administration they are disrupting.
As the pro-Palestine protest
movement has engulfed several prestigious universities over the past
week, questions swirl about how these student groups are funding their
occupations of centrally located student spaces.
These questions have spurred congressional inquiry and testimony who
want to probe pro-Palestine protest groups and raising concerns about
alleged funding from opaque sources. One member of Congress told Just the News on Monday he wants to find out if any money is coming from foreign sources.
There may be another way some of these student groups may be funding
their operations: through the direct support of the universities
themselves. In other words, these elite universities may be funding
their own occupation.
A review of the organizations leading the most prominent protest at
Columbia University reveal that nearly 120 student groups comprise the
coalition currently protesting the Gaza war. These groups are part of a
coalition called Columbia University Apartheid Divest.
At least 36 of these groups are listed in Columbia’s database of recognized student groups, indicating they are currently active.
Because of their status, these groups are eligible for direct funding
from Columbia through allocations of the student activity fee—which
every student pays as part of their tuition and which goes towards
programming costs for officially recognized student groups. These fees
can cost as much as $623 per student per semester.
According to guidance
provided by the Columbia engineering school, student groups are
eligible for two funding types: allocation—which is provided as a lump
sum at the beginning of the school year funded by student fees—and
independent fundraising or revenue.
Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine is one of the groups that
helped to organize and is participating in the encampment. The
organization’s current status at the university is murky, but the group
likely received funding from the administration in the past as a
registered organization, provided the group filled out the proper
applications. The group is also found in the Columbia database of official student organizations.
However, its status remains unclear as Columbia SJP and its coalition partner, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), were suspended from campus for the fall semester for allegedly violating campus protest rules.
“This decision was made after the two groups repeatedly violated
University policies related to holding campus events, culminating in an
unauthorized event,” Senior Executive Vice President Gerald Rosberg
wrote in a statement in November.
Though the suspension was designated for the fall semester, in March
both groups sued Columbia over what they argued was an “unlawful
suspension.” The two groups were supported by
the New York Civil Liberties Union and Palestine Legal. Until that case
is decided it remains unclear if the group is currently recognized by
the university, though its official page remains active on the Columbia
website. JVP’s page also remains active.
Columbia did not respond to questions from Just the News about
funding either group received in the past year allocated from the
student activity fees. Columbia SJP could not be reached for comment and
Columbia JVP did not respond to an email request for comment.
From Columbia, pro-Palestine encamped protests have spread widely to
other elite U.S. universities, including Harvard, Yale, NYU, and MIT.
These universities have responded with suspending protest groups and arresting students trespassing on university property without permission.
Columbia asked for the arrest of several of the protestors last week after university President Nemat Shafik
requested the New York Police Department’s intervention. The action
came the day after Shafik testified before the House Education and
Workforce Committee about allegations of antisemitism on campus. She
told the committee she has “absolutely no hesitation in enforcing our
policies.”
One of the students arrested was Isra Hirsi, the daughter of
progressive Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Michigan. Hirsi
attended Barnard College at Columbia until she was suspended by the administration last Thursday.
So far, Columbia does not appear to have suspended any of the 36
student groups listed in its official database and which are members of
the Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition for participation in
the protest, despite suspensions of individual students and arrests.
Some of the groups involved the university protests have previously
organized broader demonstrations since the October 7 terrorist attacks
against Israel and their funding remains obscured by left-wing
grant-making organizations or donor pass-throughs.
Jewish Voice for Peace, whose affiliate helped organize the Columbia encampment and other demonstrations, also organized a protest in October after the U.S. Capitol which saw one office building temporarily overrun. The demonstration was part of a growing—and enduring—movement that has swept the country since Israel first invaded Gaza after the October 7 terrorist attacks.
Jewish Voice for Peace has a long history of anti-Israel activism and
has found itself consistently aligned with pro-Palestine movements in
the United States. The national organization portrays itself
as a community for Jews “with justice at the center” and tells
prospective members that “you are part of building a Jewishness and
Jewish life beyond Zionism.”
Jewish Voice for Peace has been funded by left-aligned foundations
and was founded by longtime progressive organizers. The Rockefeller
Brothers Fund provided a $140,000, two-year grant to the organization. However, the organization makes none of its funding public and available on its website.
Students for Justice in Palestine also receives funding through an
opaque arrangement with progressive donor group WESPAC—which stands for
the Westchester Peace Action Committee. Any donations sent to the
National Students for Justice in Palestine organization notify the donor that payments are processed through the “Wespac Foundation Inc.”
Because of this dark-money arrangement, donations to the national
organization are shielded from public disclosure required of nonprofits.
According to the Anti-Defamation League—an
organization dedicated to fighting the defamation of the Jewish
people—“as a fiscal sponsor WESPAC receives and administers donations on
behalf of groups” and “keeps a percentage of the donation and gives the
rest to the groups/projects that it fiscally sponsors.”
Why are Hamas’ allies -- in the same breath screaming “death to Israel” and “death to America”?
Official PA daily:
“We always emphasize that our main problem is with the US”
Washington is the mind behind the conspiracy against the Palestinian people
Why
are Hamas’ allies, who are terrorizing and threatening supporters of
Jews and Israel on campuses around the US, also in the same breath
screaming “death to Israel” and “death to America”?
The answer is
that while the US is the driving force pressuring Israel to accept PA
rule in Gaza and while the PA welcomes US aid and quietly thanks it for
life-saving support, the PA simultaneously demonizes the US incessantly.
The PA goes so far as to claim that Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza
is actually an anti-Arab and anti-Islamic US war in which Israel is
merely the American tool. And now, PA-driven anti-US hate has reached
the US in full force.
We are witnessing a recurring pattern. For years, Palestinian Media Watch
has been warning about the PA’s Islamist Antisemitism, but the West has
been ignoring the issue and on the contrary, it continued funding the
PA’s Nazi-like demonization of Jews. That Islamist Antisemitism has now
established itself among the mainstream of Palestinian supporters in the
US and is echoed by Palestinian supporters worldwide.
One of the
PA’s prominent mouthpieces, the PA’s official daily columnist Muwaffaq
Matar, regularly accuses America of colonialism and of making Israel its
pawn in the Middle East.
“We always emphasize that
our main problem is with the US and the colonialist states that planned
and actively contributed to establishing Israel, and they established it
on the Palestinian people’s homeland (Palestine) [parentheses in
source] with the rank of their main worker in the region! As long as
this is the situation, [Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar]
Ben Gvir will continue as he does to knead [US President Joe] Biden’s
flour with the blood of the Palestinian people in general, and of the
hundreds of thousands of hungry in the Gaza Strip in particular.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 3, 2024]
Matar
was particularly triggered of late by the US veto of a UN Security
Council resolution calling to provide the PA with full UN membership. In
response, he lashed out at the US, labeling it “the mind behind the
conspiracy against the Palestinian people”:
“The
American veto did not surprise those who are knowledgeable about the
details of the colonialist world powers’ decisions on establishing the
colonialist settler occupation system (Israel) [parentheses in source],
ever since the approval of the Campbell[-Bannerman] document in 1905
(sic., see note below regarding PA conspiracy theory on "the
Campbell-Bannerman plan"), on through the Balfour Promise (i.e.,
Declaration) (which is American in its essence and content, and British
for the sake of appearance) [parentheses in source] in 1917, and up
until the American pressure on the UN to accept Israel as a member, even
though it has not obeyed the international institutions’ conditions
since 1949 and to this day, and foremost among them to recognize an
Arab-Palestinian state according to [UN] partition resolution 181 of
1947 (see note below - Ed)...
In this context, we think that [PA]
President Mahmoud Abbas has for a long time been directing the attention
of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian National Liberation
Movement [‘Fatah’] leadership to the historical fact that the Zionist organization is the pawn of the US,
in order to take control of the most important strategic location in
the Middle East (Palestine) [parentheses in source], so as to ensure the
American interests.
Since Washington is the one that makes
decisions for ‘Israel,’ and the one that determines the clauses of its
foundational missions in the region, and the one that determines how its
future will look and what its nature will be, the peaceful popular
national struggle (i.e., refers to the use of violence and terror) on
the land of the homeland Palestine is not an alternative for a
political, legal, and diplomatic struggle meant to extricate the
Palestinian right from the mind behind the conspiracy against the Palestinian people (the US) [parentheses in source].”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 21, 2024]
Mahmoud
Abbas’ advisor on Islam and top PA religious leader has also demonized
the US as the current Pharaoh who will be punished by the Palestinians
or by Allah himself, asserting “[America] the oppressor will not last”:
“The Pharaoh of this period, America
thinks it can do anything without any draw back, and without any
consequences... America used its veto for the third time, to prevent the
cessation of the war against our people in the Gaza Strip... Just as He
[Allah] punished the oppressors in the past, so He will punish the
oppressors of this period. He will punish the Pharaohs of this age
[America], the criminals of this age, sooner or later, by our hands or
by His punishment. By our hands, or in pain from Him. The oppressor will
not last.”
[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, top advisor to Mahmoud Abbas and Supreme Shari'ah Judge, Official PA TV Live, Feb. 23, 2024]
The
PA makes no secret of its contempt for the United States, yet the US
has not changed its favorable view of the PA, and continues to promote
it as the alternative administrator of the Gaza Strip. If the US wants
the trust of its allies and those to whom it has pledged support, such
as Taiwan, it would be wise to give unequivocal support to Israel, which
is its close ally of mutual benefit, and to publicly censure the source
of growing worldwide anti-American hate.
"The Campbell-Bannerman plan" - PA leaders have often promoted a conspiracy theory denying Israel's legitimacy, claiming that Israel's establishment was the result of a British-led colonialist plot termed "the Campbell-Bannerman plan," which was recorded in a similarly named document. This alleged plan's goal was to create a "pawn" in the form of Israel that would keep the Arab peoples divided and backwards, in order to ensure European domination over the Middle East.
The conspiracy theory apparently refers to the 1907 Imperial Conference led by former British Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the minutes of which disprove the PA's claims of a conspiracy to undermine the Middle East.
In 2017 the conspiracy theory was investigated by Prof Dr. Mohsen Mohammad Saleh, head of the Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations, a Lebanese pro-Palestinian research institute. Saleh reported that he traveled to Britain to investigate the alleged document but "found no trace or source of it!" [Website of Al-Zaytouna, Political Analysis: Is the “Campbell-Bannerman Document”: Real or Fake?, Sept. 29, 2017] Saleh noted that former head of the PLO Research Center Dr. Anis Sayegh learned an Egyptian named Antoun Canaan was the first to write about the alleged document, and Sayegh learned in talking with Canaan that his source was an unidentified Indian man: "When [Canaan] travelled from Palestine to London to study law in the mid-1940s, he met in the plane an Indian man sitting next him. The man told him he remembers reading about a colonial conference held in London attended by delegates from several colonial powers to discuss the partition of the Arab nations, prevent their reunification, and the establishment of a Jewish state, but the Indian man did not give Canaan any documented academic material regarding the document." Nevertheless, PA leaders continue to cite the conspiracy theory in their attacks against Israel.
The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that "His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." In 1922, the League of Nations adopted this and made the British Mandate "responsible for putting into effect the declaration," which led to the UN vote in favor of partitioning Mandatory Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state in 1947. In response, Britain ended its mandate on May 15, 1948, and the Palestinian Jews, who accepted the Partition Plan, declared the independent State of Israel. The Palestinian Arabs rejected the plan and together with 7 Arab states attacked Israel, in what is now known as Israel's War of Independence.
Justice Gorsuch asks solicitor general if she "really want[s] to rely" on [a] decision that "wasn't exactly our brightest moment" on Supreme Court. Protection for "unborn child" is "odd phrase" to put in putative abortion mandate, Justice Alito says.
To convince the Supreme Court that
the Biden administration could use federal Medicare funding to force
hospitals to perform abortions in violation of Idaho law, Solicitor
General Elizabeth Prelogar conceived and gave birth to some unusual
arguments Wednesday.
She reached for a 129-year-old precedent that crippled the labor
movement for decades, neutered legal obligations to the "unborn child"
in the federal law that allegedly requires abortions in certain
situations, and didn't deny a Republican administration could use her
rationale to functionally ban abortion and even transgender care
nationwide.
Such is the federal government's interest in ensuring that
abortion-minded women can use emergency rooms to terminate pregnancies
as conservative states approve new abortion restrictions, or reinstate old ones, under the high court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Backed by 22 conservative states and sued by the feds,
Idaho challenged the Biden administration's use of the Emergency
Medical Treatment and Labor Act as a "super-statute" that overrides its
Defense of Life Act, which includes criminal penalties and loss of
license, and "turns emergency rooms into a federal enclave where state
standards of care do not apply."
While Prelogar faced skepticism from GOP-appointed justices about the
massive expansion of federal power her argument implied, a recurring
point of confusion for the whole bench was how much "daylight" stood
between EMTALA, designed to stop "patient-dumping," and Idaho's law.
The former requires "immediate medical attention" when the health of
the individual or "unborn child" would otherwise face "serious jeopardy,
serious impairment to bodily functions, or serious dysfunction of
bodily organs." The latter has one health-related abortion exception:
"necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman."
Idaho Chief of Constitutional Litigation Joshua Turner struggled to convince both parties' appointees at oral argument Wednesday
that Idaho doctors need not fear prosecution for performing abortions
that would save a woman's life in their "good-faith medical judgment."
Gem State hospitals aren't taking any chances, Prelogar told the
court, citing one system that says it has transferred a pregnant woman
who needs an emergency abortion out of state every other week. Justice
Elena Kagan said Idaho's busiest emergency department airlifted six
women to less draconian pro-life states in "the few months" before the
law was blocked.
This case is limited to "grave medical emergencies" that EMTALA
requires hospitals to treat to "stabilize" women who, "within reasonable
medical probability," would suffer "material deterioration" of their
emergency conditions if transferred, Prelogar said.
That may require performing abortions, and it's how the law has been
"understood and applied for decades," even by pro-life states that
further restricted abortion following the high court's 2022 Dobbs ruling, she said.
"This is not a post-Dobbs unprecedented position by the
government," Justice Sonia Sotomayor told Idaho's Turner, who insisted
it was in both his main argument and rebuttal.
Turner emphasized that the government's spreadsheet of "115,000
enforcement instances" did not show "a single example where state law
was overridden by EMTALA."
The administration's reading would mean each state's standard of care
on opioids, which varies from a five-day supply to "no limit," could be
"wiped out" by the feds, he said.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito suggested the
administration took an unprecedented step by using its constitutional
spending clause authority to not only override a state's criminal law
but regulate a party – Idaho – not subject to the Medicare conditions.
Idaho wants to have it both ways, Prelogar responded: It wants its hospitals to get federal money without federal strings.
"It does seem odd that through a side agreement" between the feds and
a private party, the latter "can get out of state law, right?" Justice
Amy Coney Barrett asked Prelogar. That reasoning would allow "another
administration" to ban abortions or "gender reassignment surgery" –
removal of healthy breasts and genitals to treat gender dysphoria.
Prelogar walked a tightrope, saying the spending clause grants
Congress "broad" but not "wholly unlimited" power to attach conditions.
Asked if she meant Congress would have to act "pursuant to an enumerated
power" to ban abortion and transgender surgery, Prelogar clarified "it
would have to be valid spending."
The solicitor general amazed Justice Neil Gorsuch by arguing Congress
"very likely" had the authority to preempt all state medical licensing
laws through a medical ethics rule. The yanking of Medicare funds is an
"extreme sanction" that would only follow a hospital's repeated refusal
to comply with the government's view of EMTALA, she emphasized
When the court's most libertarian justice questioned Prelogar's case
law that supposedly justified the government's "inherent action in
equity" to protect its sovereign interests, she invoked the 1895 ruling known as In Re Debs, which approved an injunction against a nationwide railroad strike.
It involved labor leader Eugene Debs, who later ran for president as a socialist while imprisoned for opposing the draft.
"Oh, Debs," Gorsuch interjected, asking Prelogar if she "really
want[s] to rely" on a decision that "wasn't exactly our brightest
moment" as a court. The ruling – later superseded by Congress –
"reflects the history and tradition of this nation in recognizing that
it's entirely appropriate for the United States to seek to protect its
interests in this manner," she responded.
Alito peppered Prelogar with questions about how the government
understands undefined terms in EMTALA – say, if it could require
abortions to stabilize women with "mental health" problems. That would
be "incredibly unethical" as a violation of informed consent and isn't
the standard of care, she said.
Prelogar did admit the government might require abortion to prevent
"temporary" impairment, because "I'm not sure that it's easy to parse"
the difference between temporary and potentially permanent impairment in
the moment a doctor evaluates a woman.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Gorsuch caught the solicitor general in an apparent walkback on conscience rights.
Prelogar first told Roberts that both religious hospitals and
physicians can opt out of abortions without violating EMTALA, then
implied the former "as a matter of best practice" should ask physicians
to articulate their conscience objections in advance so they are
"appropriately staffed" to provide any medically necessary abortions
under Medicare.
"I imagine" the Department of Health and Human Services would "work
with" a religious hospital that was "continually disobeying" the
abortion-staffing requirement to bring it into compliance, Prelogar
said.
That's the opposite of what Prelogar said "a minute ago," that
hospitals with conscience objections can refuse abortions without
violating EMTALA, Gorsuch interrupted. "Which is it?" She responded,
without elaborating: "That's correct."
Gorsuch asked Idaho's Turner how the court should think about the
"unborn child" part of EMTALA. That doesn't mean the federal law
"prohibits abortions," just that "stabilizing treatment may involve
abortions consistent with" state law, like in liberal California, Turner
said.
"It would be a very strange thing for Congress to expressly amend
EMTALA to require care for unborn children" in 1989 "when the child
itself has an emergency medical condition," even if the mother is not in
labor, and yet intend EMTALA to mandate abortion, Turner said.
Justice Alito returned to the "unborn child" question 90 minutes into
oral argument, by his time count, saying he was surprised no one
further examined the "odd phrase" in a putative abortion mandate.
Prelogar said the 1989 amendment was intended to protect pregnant
women whose condition threatens their fetuses without inhibiting their
individual rights. But the "plain meaning" of the statute obligates the
hospital to protect the fetus, making abortion "antithetical," Alito
said.
EMTALA does not say how to "adjudicate conflicts" between mother and
unborn child, and Prelogar's argument boils down to "the Idaho law is a
bad law" rather than explaining how a federal law signed by pro-life
President Reagan mandates abortion, Alito said.
West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner is trying to “let the [Biden] administration know we do not intend to follow their illegal directives.”
Republican secretaries of state
and state legislators are pushing back against “Bidenbucks,” what call
the federalization of voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts,
claiming that the executive order is unlawful.
West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner and Mississippi Secretary
of State Michael Watson, along with Republicans in the Pennsylvania
legislature, are fighting President Biden’s Executive Order 14019 from March 2021, which turns federal agencies into "Get Out The Vote" (GOTV) centers across all states.
The executive order is often referred to by critics as “Bidenbucks,”
which alludes to "Zuckerbucks," the approximately $400 million from
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg widely alleged to have been funneled
through left-leaning nonprofits to turn out the Democratic vote in the
2020 presidential election.
According to the executive order,
“The head of each agency shall evaluate ways in which the agency can,
as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, promote voter
registration and voter participation,” including "soliciting and
facilitating approved, nonpartisan third-party organizations and State
officials to provide voter registration services on agency premises.”
Similar to “Bidenbucks,” “Zuckerbucks" came to notice when the Center
for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) poured about $350 million into local
elections offices managing the 2020 election, with most of the funds
donated to the nonprofit by Zuckerberg. The nonprofit has claimed its
2020 election grants — colloquially known as "Zuckerbucks" — were
allocated without partisan preference to make voting safer amid the pandemic.
Following controversy surrounding the disproportionate private
funding funneled to Democratic jurisdictions and claims the imbalance
helped sway the 2020 election in Biden's favor, 28 states have either
restricted or banned the use of private money to fund elections, while
12 counties have also restricted or banned the funds, according to the Capital Research Center.
According to information provided to The Daily Signal
from the Indian Health Service (IHS), which is part of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, organizations that have worked
with IHS for voter registration are the American Civil Liberties Union,
Demos, the National Congress of American Indians, and the Native
American Rights Fund.
The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project obtained documents showing how the U.S. Department of Agriculture worked with Demos, a left-wing public policy advocacy group, for voter registration purposes.
Biden’s executive order
instructs heads of federal agencies “to provide recommendations to the
President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy,
on strategies to expand the Federal Government’s policy of granting
employees time off to vote in Federal, State, local, Tribal, and
territorial elections.” However, those recommendations have not been
made public.
Warner told The Federalist last week that he is trying to “let the [Biden] administration know we do not intend to follow their illegal directives.”
He explained that his state is “not going to accept these registrations” that result from the executive order, citing Article I Section 4 of
the U.S. Constitution, where state legislatures are given the authority
to prescribe the “Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for
Senators and Representatives.”
Warner added that duplicate registrations could result from federal
agencies registering people to vote, which would create more issues that
county clerks have the responsibility to resolve.
“Somebody might already be registered and then they go in
for [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] or another federal
assistance program and they get registered again,” Warner said. “Now you have a double registration, and the clerks have to take time to go and sort it out.”
He also noted,
“It sounds like it’s a good thing. I mean, who would be against
registering voters to vote? But if it comes in outside the law, well
that’s what America should be addressing now. What do you do with a
ballot that comes from outside the law?”
Meanwhile, Watson sent a letter
to Attorney General Merrick Garland last month, seeking information
regarding the scope of how the executive order is being implemented in
Mississippi while noting his concerns about its legality.
Watson also submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to
the U.S. Department of Justice for communications between the DOJ and
detention facilities in Mississippi.
The secretary of state requested the information because Biden’s
executive order “instructs the U.S. Attorney General to establish
procedures for educating felons on how to register to vote, facilitate
voter registration, assist vote by mail, and require the U.S. Marshals
Service to modify intergovernmental agreements and jail contracts with
the aforementioned requirements,” Watson wrote in an op-ed earlier this month.
“These efforts are not only an intrusion into state matters but are a
misuse of federal revenue to register potentially ineligible felons
and/or illegal immigrants,” he added.
Watson was informed that his FOIA request “was overly broad,” he noted.
After asking a White House official about the agencies’ plans to follow
the executive order, Watson was told that Biden's plans will not be
made public.
Warner, Watson, and 13 other Republican secretaries of state wrote a letter to Biden in August 2022 regarding unconstitutionality of the executive order.
“Executive Order 14019 was issued without Constitutional authority nor Congressional approval,” the letter reads.
“Executive Order 14019 calls for federal agencies to develop plans that
duplicate voter registration efforts conducted at the state level and
ignores codified procedures and programs in our state constitutions and
laws.”
Warner told The Federalist
that he is contacting the secretaries of state who signed the letter
about considering joining an amicus brief in an ongoing lawsuit against
“Bidenbucks.”
The federal lawsuit was
brought by 27 legislators of the Pennsylvania General Assembly against
both the Biden administration and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D),
claiming that the executive order is both unlawful according to the
commonwealth’s law and unconstitutional.
A separate FOIA lawsuit
was filed by the Foundation for Government Accountability in April 2022,
after the organization didn’t receive documents it requested regarding
the executive order.
Last August, a U.S. district court judge ordered the DOJ to provide documents to the court to determine whether the records were justifiably withheld. The case is still ongoing.
