Caroline Glick: The End of the ‘Peace Process’

Editor’s note: Below are the video and transcript to Caroline Glick’s address at the Freedom Center’s 2014 Texas Weekend. The event took place May 2nd-4th at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas.

Caroline Glick from DHFC on Vimeo.

CAROLINE GLICK: It’s really great to be here in Texas. I already managed to buy cowboy boots for my son, so I’m pretty much set. (Applause.)

Anybody have any idea where we can get cowboy hats? I’d love to know. Then we’ll be done and can come back here when they’re 15.

But it is a pleasure to be here, and thank you.

And so now that I’ve gotten all the pleasantries and happiness in being in Texas out of the way, let’s talk about what’s really depressing.

It’s amazing. You know, the Peace Process fell apart over the past six weeks. (Applause.) I don’t know if you know that, but there’s no more Peace Process, and I know you’re all shocked by that because everybody was probably totally optimistic that for the first time in 90 years the Arabs, the Palestinian Arabs were going to say, We accept Israel’s right to exist. They’ve never done it before, but suddenly, because John Forbes Kerry is such a brilliant man and such a great negotiator and just leader in general, just all-time good guy, right? Is John [O’Neill here?]

Anyway, then everything would be great, right? And then it all failed.

Now, there’s a stunning interview that was published yesterday in (inaudible), which is Israel’s — one of Israel’s largest tabloids. It came out Friday. Friday papers in Israel are like the Sunday papers. And an unknown American official — and I am willing to put good money on saying that it was Martin Indyk — but he gave the most extraordinary interview to (inaudible), where he engaged in rank anti-Semitic diatribes against Israel in order to blame Israel for the failure of the Obama administration’s Peace Process.

And I actually just got this on email — sorry, Congressman Gohmert — while you were speaking. So it took — I had to read it, but I want to read it to you just for a second, just some quotes, which are extraordinary.

It said here, One bitter American official told (inaudible) — the reporter — I guess we need another intifada to create the circumstances that would allow progress. It says, We need another Palestinian terror war against Israelis, where Israeli men, women and children get slaughtered in order to create the circumstances that would allow the progress. A third intifada, the Americans made clear — quote — would be a tragedy — you can see them crying.

The Jewish people — here is the good part — the Jewish people are supposed to be smart. It is true that they’re also considered a stubborn nation. You’re supposed to know how to read the map. In the Twenty-First Century, the world will not keep tolerating the Israeli Occupation. The Occupation threatens Israel’s status in the world and threatens Israel as a Jewish state.

(Inaudible) went on, Pressed by (Inaudible), the reporter, on perceived international hypocrisy over Israel’s presence in the West Bank — And you have to understand, just for a second (Inaudible) is a radical leftist whose formative years were spent in the Communist Youth Movement in Israel, and, yet, here, he is pressing these American friends of his — on perceived international hypocrisy over Israel’s presence in the West Bank when the world — quote — closes its eyes to China’s takeover of Tibet, it stutters at what Russia is doing in Ukraine, et cetera.

The Americans were quoted as responding, Israel is not China. It was founded by a UN Resolution. Its prosperity depends on the way it is viewed by the international community.

The American who was speaking to (Inaudible) also said that the Palestinians will get their state whether Israel likes it or not, meaning [whether the state] is in a state of peace with Israel or in a state of war with Israel, it’s going to happen, and since Israel owes its own very survival to the good will of the UN, we can expect, then, that the United Nations will then abrogate Israel’s sovereignty somehow or another in some fashion.

Now, what’s amazing about all of the — aside from the fact that it just makes my fist clench up without me even, you know, realizing it — is that this is really sort of par for the course, because this interview with Israel’s leading reporter in Israel’s — one of its largest-circulation newspapers comes, of course, just a few days after John Kerry called Israel an apartheid state or that we will be an apartheid state.

And that itself, you have to understand, is an American embrace of an anti-Semitic meme that was created by the KGB in the 1960s, before the Six-Day War, by the way. The first time that the Soviets used it was at the UN Subcommittee Against Discrimination or something like that, in 1964. So this has been going on since well before there was any Israeli settlements beyond the 1949 Armistice Lines.

And this has been propagated over time. Everybody remembers the UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 from 1975 that referred to Zionism, the Jewish national liberation movement, as a form of racism.

As Daniel Pipes said last night in his introduction to Ambassador John Bolton, Bolton’s role in having that resolution cancelled in 1991 was really decisive in terms of that happening.

But the fact that the resolution itself was rejected or was cancelled in 1991 didn’t mean that the sentiment behind it in any way went into remission. That has, since 1975, been really the guiding principle around which the entire UN system revolves, which is to try to somehow or another act in a concerted fashion in order to remove the international legitimization that was given to the Jewish national movement and the Jewish national home in 1947 in the UN Partition Resolution of the General Assembly [when it won].

So this has continued to be really the central motivating factor of the UN system generally since 1975, despite the good efforts of the George H.W. Bush administration in the early 1990s.

But this is, then, what we’re seeing now is a violent response by the Obama administration directed against Israel for the failure of Kerry’s intention of forcing Israel to make all of the necessary concessions to the PLO within nine months, so that he could get his Nobel Peace Prize, just like his boss got.

And this really — What’s so interesting about this drive that has been very willing, and, in fact, almost automatically devolving into rank anti-Semitism, the demonization of Jews, is just how extraordinarily hysterical the response has been. Why are they so hysterical? Why are they behaving like this? What is happening?

And I think that I know two aspects to it, and they both go to the heart of the nature of the two-state solution that they all claim is the be-all and end-all of U.S. Middle East policy, and specifically of Israel’s right to exist, as far as the U.S. Government is concerned.

So the two-state solution, you must understand it, and I go through this in the first part of my book, is based on two things, really, religious faith and Jew hatred, and they’re intertwined, and I will explain why.

When you look at what just happened in the last couple of weeks, well, the Palestinians refused to negotiate with Israel, so that this Peace Process that has supposedly ongoing for nine months has actually not involved face-to-face negotiations between Israeli negotiators and PLO negotiators at all. What we’ve seen is Martin Indyk and his team coming in and having conversations, on the one hand, with Israel and having conversations, on the other side, with the Palestinians, and then sort of acting as the go-between, because the Palestinians refused to sit at a table with Israelis.

So there haven’t actually been negotiations going on that have failed. There have been meetings of Israelis with Americans, on the one hand, and Palestinians with Americans, on the other. That has been the Peace Process, such as it is, since Kerry announced it with great, you know, ceremony and excitement nine months ago. So it hasn’t been a peace process.

The other thing is that, from the outset, and not surprisingly, PLO chief, Mahmoud Abbas, who serves as the president of the Palestinian Authority, despite the fact that his term of office ended in January of 2009 and there hasn’t been an election since 2006, he said, and continuously said over and over and over again that he will never recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, ever.

So what are we talking about? Well, essentially, we’re talking about something other than peace, right? Because if the Palestinian leader, who’s supposed to be moderate, who’s supposed to be a man of peace says, Over my dead body will a Palestinian leader ever recognize the right of Israel to exist, then we’re not talking about peace. You can’t talk about peace if you’re leading to an agreement between one side that won’t recognize another side, but that the side that isn’t recognized is expected to give up its capital city to the guy who won’t recognize it. That’s not peace. It’s something else.

And, then, after he did that, and then the Americans came in and tried to figure out a way to kind of square that circle by maybe saying, Well, maybe we could change the drafting. Maybe we could change the structure of the sentence, so that you can say something like, We recognize that there are Jewish people in Israel or that Jewish people like Israel, and maybe that would be acceptable to the Israeli government.

The Palestinians said no, and they also said, And, by the way, we’re signing a unity deal with Hamas, which is recognized by the State Department as a foreign terrorist organization, and, therefore, anyone who comes into direct contact with them is actually committing a felony under U.S. law and the United States is required, by U.S. law, to end all support for the PLO, including all military support.

Did you guys, by the way, know that the U.S. has been building a Palestinian army since 2007? Just for knowing, as they say. That’s supposed to stop. You’re not supposed to be giving them $500 million in budgetary assistance either. That’s not supposed to be happening anymore, because it’s all a complete breach of U.S. law, not to mention the law of nations, because the UN Security Council passed a Chapter 7, a binding international resolution, 1379, after 9/11 that said that anybody that provides this kind of support for a terrorist organization has committed an act of war against the community of nations. So this is a requirement under U.S. law and under international law for the U.S. to cut off all relations with the PLO.

But, instead, what we see is this hysteria, this mass hysteria of Obama administration officials that, again, have been more than willing — Their default position has been to descend into the gutters of anti-Semitic rhetoric, to attack Israel, to delegitimize Israel and even to threaten its very existence with terrorism and with a removal of international legitimization for Israel’s very existence.

Now, why? So the two-state paradigm — the two-state solution that they have this faith in is so attractive to them because what it says is that the core of all the problems in the Middle East — of Jihad everywhere, of misogyny, of economic backwardness, of anti-Americanism, of anti-Westernism, of anti-Christianity — it’s all due to the absence of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River on land that is (inaudible) the Jews control.

And if Israel would just get out of Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, then we’d have no problem. Then it would be okay to negotiate with the Taliban in Afghanistan, and all of these green-on-blue shootings would end, because everybody would love America because they had gotten the Jews out of Jerusalem, and everything would be great.

Now, it’s a very attractive idea, for so many reasons, but the main one is that it blames the immediate victim of Islamofascism or Islamic [supremism], of Arab supremism and fascism for everything that they do against it and everything that they do against the world. It’s the Jews’ fault. It’s the Jews’ fault. Those greedy, money-grubbing, land-stealing Jews, right? They won’t leave Jerusalem, and that is why we have all of these problems in the world.

It is incredibly convenient, and therefore attractive, to blame Israel for everything. You don’t have to think about anything. You can pretend that terrorism has nothing to do with Islam. You can call the U.S. war on terrorism an overseas contingency operation and not turn into a laughing stock because it’s all the Jews’ fault. It’s all the Jews’ fault, and that, of course, makes sense.

Why has John Kerry been to Israel 12 or 13 times over the past 14 months, when the entire Middle East is blowing up, without any connection whatsoever to how many Jews live beyond the 1949 Armistice Lines? Because if that’s really the cause of everything, then what does he care that children are being annihilated and killed with chlorine gas in Syria? What does he care that Iran is building nuclear weapons? What does he care that Hezbollah is doubling its strength and going through massive military experiences or al-Qaeda members from Europe, from the United States, and, of course, throughout the Islamic world who are all converging on Syria in order to go through their — whatever the Islamic version of baptism of fire would be?

It’s not important. It’s irrelevant, because if Israel is to blame for everything, then the only thing that you should be focusing your attention on is Israel. You should be, as he is, trying to actively subvert the political standing in Israel of the elected government of this democracy, and you should be threatening the Israeli people with economic isolation and with murder, at the hands, by the way, of the same military forces that U.S. military trainers have been training since 2007, and ignoring everything else, because Israel is the only thing that’s important.

Now, that kind of blame-the-Jew mentality gets wrapped into an overall faith, right? This is completely irrational. This has been a position that the British took before the United States did back — beginning in the 1920s and moving on until the British moved out of the promised land in 1948 and made room for Israel to establish its independent state in accordance with the law of nations, not in accordance with the UN non-binding General Assembly Resolution that became null and void the minute that every Arab state rejected it in 1947.

But I digress. The point is that the reason why the two-state formula has been working as the — Has been comprising the basis of international thinking about the Arab conflict with Israel is because it is so attractive to blame the victim, especially when the victim happens to be Jews. [Hey], they’ve been doing it for over 2,000 years. It’s a default position for millions and millions of people all over the world that’s popular, and it is faith based.

Why is it faith based? Because it’s not reason based. Because it has absolutely no basis whatsoever in anything resembling facts. It has nothing to do whatsoever in anything representing rationality or logic. And so it has to be faith. You rule out every logical, every rational category of thought, and all you are left with is faith.

And so when somebody’s messiah fails him, does he recognize this and move on to another religion? No, he strikes out at the source of what he perceives to be that failure. This is supposed to be a panacea. A panacea is a miracle. It’s something divine. This is supposed to solve everything, and these Jews, they won’t stop building. They won’t stop recognizing one another’s property rights. They won’t stop giving due process to people.

So we’re going to blame them and we’re going to threaten them with terrorism and with economic isolation and with international delegitimization, because they’re horrible. They’re terrible people. Look what they did. They just showed my messiah to be false. How dare they. I’m right. My faith is perfect faith, and, therefore, they must be the devil. And that’s how he’s behaving. That’s how all of these Americans are behaving now, and it is terribly frightening.

And the thing is that how have they maintained this over time, for 90 years? How, for the past 21 years, have they forced Israel to maintain faith with this thing that has caused the murder of over 1,000 Israeli civilians? Murder in the most heinous of ways, by suicide bombers, whose bomb belts are packed, not only with explosives, but with nails to cause maximal suffering to the victims. And who do they blow up? Families. Children. Jews.

It’s maintained through threats, like we see. You’re going to get whacked by terrorism. We’re all going to take our money out of Israel. Oh, and demography. By the way, if you don’t quit Judeo-Samarian Jerusalem tomorrow, well, the Arab womb is going to overwhelm you. They’re having 75 children per woman, you know? And within three minutes there’s going to be an Arab majority west of the Jordan River and you’re going to have to choose whether you want to be a bunch of racists or you’re going to give up your right to Jewish sovereignty over the Jewish homeland.

Then there’s also, You’re an occupying power, right? This land belongs to somebody else. You have no right to be here. Settlements, Jewish communities built beyond the 1949 Armistice Lines — And by the way, just for knowing, the Armistice Lines, what are they? Israel was invaded at the moment of its birth by five Arab military forces, unlawfully, in breach of the law of nations in the most obvious way.

The Armistice Lines are the lines to which the Israeli army, which was made of a bunch of peasants and Holocaust survivors, managed to push them back before the international community descended on Israel and said, Okay. Accept an armistice. That’s what the Armistice Lines were. There is no legal basis for these lines. It was just the lines to which we were able to beat back a foreign invasion of our national territory. Okay? That’s what they are. They’re completely arbitrary.

But they say, If you don’t give up all the land beyond these lines to people who won’t even recognize your right to exist, including your capital city that was built by King David and has been your capital city since then, you’re going to be overrun, and all of your democratic Jews, the only democrats in the entire Middle East, are going to have to decide whether you want to be racists or not. And since we know about the latent evil of Jews, we — meaning the United States Secretary of State and his entourage — can safely tell the Trilateral Commission that you will become an apartheid state, because we know you’re going to choose evil, right?

But you know what, it’s not true. Jews are having more children than Arabs. It’s a Jewish womb. Mine, you know, all of us who are having babies, that are the problem for the Arabs, not the other way around, because who would have thunk it, Jews know how to go forth and multiply. (Laughter.) And we are.

Isolation, they tell us. Isolation. You note that next year, according to the Israeli Ministry of Trade, Asia is going to outstrip the United States as Israel’s largest trading partner. Year on year, we’re getting five and 10 percent increases in our volume of trade with China, with India, with South Korea, with Japan. We’re not being isolated. We’re being shunned by, oh, who? Europe.

Now, what’s surprising about it is that they’re being supported by the United States, but [Boeing] is just setting up a new center in Be’er Sheva. Doesn’t sound like American industry really had heard that they’re supposed to be shunning Israel. And, by the way, neither have European firms, because, despite the fact that the epicenter of the economic war against Israel is in Europe, Britain keeps expanding its trade with Israel five percent a year. So go figure.

But we’re going to be isolated. They’re going to be mean to us. Well, that’s new, Europeans being mean to Jews.

And then fed by lies. The UN established Israel. So (inaudible) referred to it before, I just think it’s very important to get this out: No, it didn’t. No, it didn’t. The United Nations General Assembly did not establish Israel in 1947. It recognized standing international law, because in 1922, the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine gave sole sovereign rights to the land of Israel, including Israel within the 1949 Armistice Lines, unified Jerusalem, the entire West Bank of the Jordan River and the Gaza Strip to the Jews, and that assertion that the sovereign rights to the land belonged to the Jews alone was never abrogated or superseded. So the law actually says, no, it belongs to the Jews.

And then, of course, there are the national rights. And the international law determination of sovereign rights to the land of Israel that was made by the international powers in 1922 at the League of Nations was based upon a 3,000- or 4,000-year history of the Jewish people in the land of Israel that was widely recognized as the only nation in the world that had a sovereign claim to the land of Israel, so it was the basis of historical right that formed the basis of the international legal recognition of the sovereign rights of the Jewish people to the land of Israel.

And UN General Assembly Resolution [1981] that partitioned the land between a Jewish state and an Arab state was not a legal document. It was not legally binding, and it was cancelled immediately after it was passed when the Arabs rejected it and went to war against the Jewish state, so that it has no legal standing. It could never have formed the basis of anything because it’s not a legal document. It’s a UN General Assembly resolution. It does not have the force of international law, period.

But here is an American diplomat threatening Israel, that we are going to remove the international sanction, legal sanction that was given to the land of Israel to become a Jewish state or to the Jewish people to assert its sovereign rights over the land of Israel because Jews continue to build in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria.

And we have people like Susan Rice and John Kerry and Obama saying that Jewish settlements beyond the 1949 Armistice Lines are illegitimate. Well, no, they’re not. I’m not a lawyer, but, apparently, I know the law a whole lot better than you do, because you’re just making this stuff up. You are just making this stuff up. None of the things that you are saying has anything to do with law. It only has to do with using legal terminology to defame innocent victims. And that’s what they’re doing.

You know, I wrote my book — My book basically is divided into three parts. The first part is the 90 years of failure of the two-state solution. Amazing. This is the bipartisan plan. You know, in a U.S. that is completely divided among Republicans and Democrats, everybody who’s [everybody] supports the two-state solution. Just ask. Everybody but everybody supports it. George H.W. Bush supported it. George W. Bush supported it. Clinton. Obama, of course. Nixon. Reagan. Ford. Carter. Everybody.

Why? Because it’s convenient, but it always failed, amazingly always failed. Truman supported it. Failed. Ike supported it. Failed. Everybody supports it. And it keeps on failing. I think the only one who didn’t support it was LBJ. God bless him (inaudible) from Texas. (Laughter.)

You know I was born here? I was. I was born in Houston Methodist Hospital. My true claim to fame.

But I think he was the only — Well, John F. Kennedy might have, too. And that’s it. Everybody else supported partition. Everybody else supported a weak Israel. Everybody else supported Israeli attempts to appease its Arab neighbors who don’t recognize its right to exist. So that’s part one.

And how this has dumbed down U.S. foreign policy, because if the centerpiece of your Middle East policy is this notion that everything will be solved if Israel coughs up its land to its sworn enemies, then how far are you going to get in actually understanding the region? Right? If you think that the most important aspect of the Middle East’s problems is that there’s no Arab state — additional — twenty-third Arab state west of the Jordan River, on land that’s currently controlled by the Jews, then how well are you going to understand Iraq? How hard are you going to try to understand Iran? How well are you going to understand Egypt? Not well at all, because your whole thinking is based on a total lie, and it’s based on something that is totally irrational. But if that’s the basis of your Middle East policymaking, then you’re necessarily going to discount the importance of everything else.

You can talk to the Taliban, and whether you’re Condoleezza Rice or Susan Rice — because it really doesn’t matter what they think, cause at the end of the day, you push the Jews around enough they’ll cough up Jerusalem and everything will be fine. Doesn’t — You know, the Taliban are insignificant. They’re unimportant. They’re objects. They’re not actors. They’re not responsible. They have no moral agency.

The second part of the book, I say, Okay. Enough. So now that we’ve described the failure, let’s talk about what can we do, how do we get off this train?

And the answer is the Israeli solution. You know what, when you look at the situation objectively, you realize that there’s only one thing that works in the Middle East today. There’s only one little engine that not only could, but is puffing along, doesn’t matter how steep the train is, we can just go up those Alps.

Why? Because we work really, really hard, and that’s Israel. That’s the only thing that’s working in the Middle East today. Look at anything. Close your eyes and put a finger on the Middle East and wherever you land, like pin the tail on the donkey, it’ll be a mess, unless your finger happens to land in that smidgen of land called Israel that’s so tiny that its name on world maps is written in the Mediterranean Sea. That’s the only thing that’s working.

So you want to make it not work? You want to go ahead and say, Okay. Israel, give up your ability to defend yourselves? Shrink yourself into indefensible borders that no one, but no one could defend in world history, and then place on your border, not just the PLO and Hamas, but all of the millions of foreign Arabs who today live in al-Qaeda- and Hamas- and Iranian- and Hezbollah-controlled refugee camps in such holiday spots as Lebanon and Syria, and deal with it, and it’ll be great.

Oh, no it won’t. You’ll be overrun before my oldest kid gets bar mitzvahed. Do that. That’s a great idea. We’re your best friends. You can trust us.

If you want to get away from that, how do you do it? What do you do? [We say], no, instead of shrinking into indefensible borders, expand them. Expand them. You know what, forget about this nonsense with the Occupation. Let’s base U.S. policy on law. Let’s base U.S. policy on rights, and let’s base — what a concept — U.S. policy on strategic rationality.

And let’s stand with our allies and against our enemies and say to Israel, You know what, forget it. We want more Israel. Apply your rights. Apply your sovereignty. You have them, [to] Judea and Samaria. That’s it. That’s it. We’re going to forget about this whole Palestinian statehood thing, because we recognize the fact that they don’t want a state. They want to destroy Israel.

Now, what would happen? Well, Israel would do with Judea and Samaria exactly what it did with Jerusalem and with Golan Heights in 1967 and in 1981 respectively, give permanent residency status, which means full civil and legal rights to the non-Jewish residents of the area, the same as the Jews have. And they’ll have the right to apply for Israeli citizenship, and if they abide by the criteria, including loyalty to Israel and rejection of terrorism, non-membership in terrorist organization, non-involvement in anti-Semitic incitement and solicitation of murder, they’ll get it. No problem.

You know why? Because there is a Jewish majority — guess what — a very solid and growing Jewish majority west of the Jordan River, not including Gaza. We left Gaza in 2005. Although, with Gaza, we’re still the majority, but no reason to include it. We’re gone. Let them be an independent state of Palestine if they want. Let them be part of Egypt if they want. Whatever they want. Not part of Israel.

So we’re talking about Judea and Samaria. We’re talking about the West Bank. Apply Israeli sovereignty to those areas. For the first time, the Palestinians will have — will be the only Arabs in the world that have full civil rights, whose legal rights are protected by a rule of law, whose human rights are respected by the rule of law, whose civil rights are respected by the rule of law, because Israel is the only country that is not ruled by the rule of the jungle.

You know, in my book, Part 3 talks about how other international actors — the Palestinians, the Arab neighbors of Israel, the European Union — are likely to respond to an Israeli move to apply its law to Judea and Samaria. And my conclusion is that the party that is likely to have the most negative response to it is not the Arabs. It’s the Europeans, because their whole unified foreign policy is really just based on hostility to Israel. They don’t have anything other than that, so that if Israel were to apply its laws to Judea and Samaria then they would react in a very foul manner.

But, unfortunately, when I look at these statements by Kerry and by an unnamed U.S. official, I’m coming more and more to the conclusion that the Obama administration may actually respond with greater hysteria than Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, who is, you know, unapologetically anti-Semitic. Lady Ashton.

And, you know, people say, Well, how can this work, Caroline? And what I say is my book, I think, is step one in a multiyear campaign that, first and foremost, has to involve getting out the facts, getting out the facts to the American people and even getting out the facts to the Israeli people, although we don’t need them as much, cause we get it.

But, you know, let’s talk about who the land actually belongs to under international law. Let’s have a discussion about occupation. Let’s talk about the fact that this is a lie and this is a malicious slander of Israel to claim that we are somehow or another illegally occupying land that belongs to us by sovereign right under international law, not to mention history.

Let’s talk about the nature of Palestinian nationalism and show that the father of Palestinian nationalism was a Nazi and that he is still considered the George Washington of the Palestinian national movement, a Nazi, Haj Amin al-Husseini.

Let’s talk about what moderation really means in Palestinian terms. It means being willing to talk and shoot at Jews, as opposed to just shoot at them, and that that isn’t moderation. Let’s just mention that, you know, and let us talk about the fact that Israel is the most important ally that the United States has in the Middle East, that, as Israel’s minister of defense, Moshe Ya’alon, said, Israel is an aircraft carrier, a U.S. aircraft carrier, from an American perspective, from its northern tip in Metula down to its southern tip [in a lot] by the Red Sea. Let’s talk about this.

You know, we heard a lot today and yesterday about the Obama administration, and John Bolton said that the greatest threat to U.S.’s national security is the president. And it is very dangerous and very frightening what’s happening today in the United States of America, but we’ll only fix things in the United States if we have a discussion about what’s really happening. That’s why gatherings like this are so important, and that’s why truth is so important. I mean, it was Jesus who said, The truth will set you free. Jesus was a Jew. (Laughter.)

We have to talk about these things. We have to talk about the truth. We have to cast aside these illusions that are based upon false faith and that are based upon hatred of Jews. We have to stop blaming the Jews for the pathologies of their victimizers, of their oppressors, of their would-be destroyers. We certainly have to stop making it the centerpiece of U.S. Middle East policy.

You know, in Israel, things are actually going pretty well, as I think the extremely fruitful Israeli womb indicates. When things go well in Israel, we have more children, not fewer. We’re an international outlier. The more wealthy we become, the more prosperous, the more kids, because, for us, finding out who our inner self is involves going to the delivery room as often as possible.

This is a healthy society. This is a society that believes in itself, that believes in who it is. And our alliance with the United States throughout these years had more to do with trying to find an outside power to help us along when we’re in this horrible neighborhood.

It had to do, also, with idealism, that we saw in the United States, we still see in the American people, kindred spirits, people who value the same thing, yes, who have faith in the same God as the people of Israel, and we abide by that. And I think most Americans still do as well.

And we just have to get this message out. We have to get this message out. This land belongs to the Jews. And it will happen, cause a two-state solution is a faith. It is not a policy, and it is a false faith. It will always fail. At the end of the day, this is going to happen. We will apply our laws to Judea and Samaria, because it’s the only viable option, and thank God it’s a viable option. We have to make sure it stays a viable option. We do that by making sure that Israel stays strong and secure and continues to believe in itself. And I think that we’re doing that in Israel.

And I think that the United States has to stand by Israel, because I think part of regaining its sanity in foreign affairs involves recognizing why it is that Israel is such an indispensable ally to the United States. And, by the way, it’s all there in my book.

And those are my thoughts and I’d be happy to take questions, unless we’ve run out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: We have run out of time.

CAROLINE GLICK: Okay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: Thank you, Caroline. (Applause.)

CAROLINE GLICK: Thank you.

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A group of Qatari activists launched their country’s almost first opposition group from the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Called the “Youth Movement for the Rescue of Qatar”, the new group aims to lobby for reform back home, according to its founders.

Huleil said his movement has around 32,000 followers back in Qatar.

Launching the new opposition movement from Cairo raised many questions, especially given the fact that few had ever heard about it before.

Relations between Cairo and Doha worsened almost a year ago when the Egyptian military ousted elected president Mohamed Morsi.

The interim authorities in Egypt accused the Qatari government of interfering in the country’s affairs, citing heavy criticism launched by most of the guests on the Doha-based Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr news channel against Morsi’s ouster.

They also accused Qatar of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, the group that propelled Morsi to power through the 2012 presidential elections.

The new movement was strongly welcomed by Egypt’s Tamarod (Rebellion) movement, which claims to have collected millions of signatures from ordinary Egyptians in the buildup to Morsi’s ouster in July last year.

“We’ll soon declare the independence of Doha from Cairo,” Mohamed Nabawi, one of the founders of the Egyptian movement, told the same press conference.

Will not let RSS swing sticks in Bengal: Buddhadeb

For the first time former Chief Minister and CPI (M)’s Politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee pulled no punches in attacking the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at a public rally.

Addressing the gathering on the final day of the Left Front’s three-day protest on Friday, he said that the RSS is trying to spread its network in the State.

He alleged that the RSS is trying to encourage divisive politics in the State and the Left Front will play a pro-active role to control the rise of the RSS .

So far, the top officials of the Left have been critical of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and occasionally BJP. But on Friday, besides criticising the TMC and the BJP, Mr. Bhattacharjee did not spare the RSS. He made it clear that the CPI (M) is seriously concerned about the rise of Hindu nationalist organisation in the State. Mr. Bhattacharya vowed to resist such organisations in Bengal.

“In many parks and grounds in the State, RSS cadre are strutting around in their khaki uniform. We will not let the RSS swing its lathis (sticks) in the State,” said Mr. Bhattacharjee.

The former Chief Minister said, “The RSS’ divisive politics on the basis of mandir (temples) and masjid (mosques) will not be allowed to gain a foothold in the State.”

Coming down heavily on the BJP for being an extremely right-wing entity, Mr. Bhattacharjee said the BJP is trying to occupy the opposition space in Bengal. He criticised the BJP for its attempt to reduce government subsidies on rail fare or fuel, adding that it wants corporate houses to run the country. “When our (Left Front) MPs were in Parliament, we went all out, always, to resist such attempts to initiate anti-people measures,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said, and added, “The TMC has 34 MPs in Parliament. I would like to ask and know what they are doing in the House.”

“The celebrity MPs of the TMC will never understand the plight of those who suffer from rail fare hike and price rise.”

He slammed the TMC government for the ongoing uncertainty in jute mills. “Only by uniting under the red flag of the Left parties, the mill workers can alleviate their condition.” He accused the State government of failing to generate employment for the youth and the alleged irregularities in the primary teachers’ examination.

Left Front State Committee chairman Biman Bose criticised the TMC for trying to curb the democratic rights of the people.

He also said that after the TMC came to power in 2011, 157 Left Front workers have been killed. Leaders of other constituents of the Left Front also spoke in the same vein. The demonstration was attended by Left Front workers from across the State.

AIIMS doctors lead the way, wage war on unnecessary medical tests

NEW DELHI: Top cardiologists of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here have decided to start an initiative called the Society for Less Investigative Medicine (SLIM) — a movement that aims to take on the growing menace of excessive medical investigations, starting with cardiology.

Several studies across the world have conclusively established that generalized annual health check-ups are unnecessary and add enormously to healthcare costs without any commensurate benefits. Several other screening tests and investigations have also been similarly shown to make little sense — other than adding to the bank balance of diagnostic centres and doctors who get a cut for sending patients for tests and investigations.

This unhealthy practice has prompted Prof Balram Bhargava of the cardiology department in AIIMS, one of the key people behind SLIM, to raise an alarm over over-investigation, a practice that has become rampant simply because economic incentives were skewed in favour of recommending unnecessary tests

“But there is no regulation or audits on investigations to determine if they are necessary,” said Dr Bhargava. “Even in the US, where privatization is rampant, there are audits and guidelines regarding investigations, and the health information technology used in most of the developed countries make it possible to retrieve and check data to see if a particular investigation or procedure was necessary. We need similar checks in India to stop this practice. Rather than preventive check-ups of CT scans, angiograms and treadmill tests every year, it’s more useful to track risk factors,” said Dr Bhargava.

He pointed out that the government too was wasting a lot of money by offering annual health check-up to its Group ‘A’ officers above 40 years of age under the Central Government Health Scheme.

‘Need checklist on symptoms that warrant tests’

Already a number of top doctors have endorsed the scathing criticism of Dr Samiran Nundy, one of India’s leading gastroenterologists, of kickbacks and bribes that oil every part of the healthcare machinery (as reported by TOI on Saturday ). One of the doctors, Dr MK Mani, chief nephrologist in Apollo Hospital in Chennai, has drawn MCI’s attention to this — but to no avail

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Britain set to be hotter than Rio with temperatures set to hit 27 degrees

England failed to sizzle at the World Cup in Brazil but there is something Roy Hodgson's boys can really look forward to now they are back home – the weather.

Temperatures in Britain are set to soar this week, with the sun-drenched South sweltering at 27C on Wednesday when normally-blistering Rio is expected to be a cooler 24C.

After downpours at the weekend, forecasters are predicting that many parts of the UK are in for a cracking week and a good summer.

The Met Office said temperatures would be climbing from 22C today to the mid-20s.

It added that from tomorrow there would be “plenty of fine, dry weather with sunny spells”.

Brian Gaze, a forecaster at The Weather Outlook, said: “Showers will become lighter and Wednesday will see close to 27C.”

The summer is predicted to be sunny – with fewer downpours.

Weather Channel forecaster Leon Brown said: “We expect July to September temperatures to be slightly warmer than average, with conditions drier than normal, and a lot drier than normal in the South.

“High pressure will dominate the weather a lot of the time, meaning a good chance of sunshine amounts being above normal in the South and West.

“High pressure will ridge and help steer the jet stream and low pressure to the north of the UK, with high pressure peaking later in July when temperatures topping 30C are possible.”

Wedding of the Week for Stockton couple Laura Bowes and Joel Jordison

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Gallery: Wedding of the Week for Stockton couple Laura Bowes and Joel Jordison

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Bride and groom: Laura Bowes and Joel Jordison, both 30 and both from Stockton.

Married at: St Paul’s Church, Stockton.

When? May 9, 2014, at 12.30pm.

Where did you meet? We have known each other all our lives as our parents are good friends. We went right through school together but met up on Boxing Day in 2009 on a night out.

The proposal: On holiday in Majorca in 2012, on the beach in the hot sunshine.

The wedding ring: Band of white diamonds. The engagement ring is princess-cut clear diamonds, from Beaverbrooks.

What did the bride wear? A Ophia Tolli lilac and white, Gabriella princess-style, A-line strapless dress with lace-up.

Bridesmaids/flower girls: Rachel Irwin, 30, Rebecca Headlam, 32, Leah Honeyman, 20, and Catrina Madden, 30, all from Stockton. Flower girls: The couple’s daughters Eden Rain Jordison, three, and Ember Skye Jordison, two.

Ushers/pageboys: Phil Bowes, 33, and Niall Jordison, 27, both from Stockton.

Best man: Jamie Marin, 30, from Stockton.

The reception: The Swan, Billingham, for 200 guests.

The honeymoon: 10 nights in Antalya, Turkey.

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Investigation begins into huge fire at Tall Trees hotel in Yarm

An investigation has begun into how a renowned former Teesside hotel went up in flames in a huge blaze.

Dozens of firefighters battled a major fire at Tall Trees, in Yarm, after being called at 3.30am on Sunday.

Crews remained at the scene until almost 5pm and a joint police and fire brigade probe has now started into the cause.

At its height, nine fire engines, the hydraulic platform and a commanding unit were at the scene. This was later scaled down to three appliances.

A spokeswoman for Cleveland Fire Brigade said firefighters broke the scene down into three sections and fought them simultaneously.

At the scene, crew members could be seen tackling the blaze from above using a hydraulic platform.

Several units were on the scene. The ambulance service and Cleveland Police were also in attendance.

After the scale down, a digger was brought to the site to remove the roof of the burnt out building to allow firefighters to gain better access.

They then carried on dampening down the area.

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Fire crews tackle Tall Trees blaze in Yarm

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The parts of the complex affected are the former Macmillans nightclub and a connecting building, where the fire is believed to have started, both have been destroyed.

Andy Breeze, Cleveland Fire Brigade watch manager, said: “By 4.50pm all the fires had been extinguished but the bar and nightclub section had been completely destroyed by fire.

“The cause of the fire is under investigation by ourselves and the police.”

Tall Trees, on Worsall Road, is currently derelict.

Some demolition work has been carried out on the site, with the former Club M having been brought to the ground last year.

The work is to make way for 330 new homes, which were put forward by owner Javed Majid and given the green light in February this year.

A spokesman for Tall Trees said: “We would like to thank the fire brigade for their prompt and efficient response.

“We will be assessing the situation, but at the moment it is too early to say how this may affect our plans.”

How BJP treated Gopal Subramanium is a dark sign of things to come

By MK. VENU – Source First POST

There couldn’t have been a more crude and small minded approach by the State apparatus to put down a candidate’s nomination as a judge of Supreme Court. The campaign of innuendoes by CBI and Intelligence Bureau against Gopal Subramanium has indeed left a bad taste and will not enhance the image of the government.

The manner in which the BJP government blocked Subramanium’s nomination to the Supreme Court is a harbinger of how it will possibly use its brute power in the near future. Clearly, the issue goes beyond an individual judge now and the whole episode could even be an early sign of what might be described as the “Gujaratisation” of the highest judiciary. It is plain to the naked eye that sheer use of political power by the Gujarat executive in the past ten years had resulted in a certain loss of public confidence in the entire investigation and judicial system in that state. It was that loss of confidence that had resulted in many critical cases — starting from those of the riot victims — being transferred by the Supreme Court to places outside the state. If such a thing were to happen countrywide, god alone knows where this will lead us. One hopes better sense will prevail among those wielding the levers of power.

The killing in an alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin, his wife and later Tulsiram Prajapati, who was the sole witness, was one of the many cases which the Supreme Court brought out of Gujarat to ensure a fair investigation and trial. Subramanium has said in an interview that it was entirely by chance that the SC bench asked him to become an amicus in the case. Gopal says he was sitting in the court waiting to argue some other case when the judges,hearing the Sohrabuddin matter, asked him impromptu whether he would assist the court in that case. He agreed and did it commendably by bringing to light the Amit Shah link in the case. Indeed, if Gopal hadn’t been present there, he may not have got that responsibility.

It is clear that the Amit Shah link is what has created so much heat. Now the BJP government seems to be giving out a signal that its mandate in the 2014 general elections gives it the license to politicise all that the Supreme Court has done so far in relation to several Gujarat cases. There appears to be a mistaken thinking that the mandate itself might dilute many of those cases. Remember, the BJP has made the “people’s court” argument before.

It is not a coincidence that when Subramanium’s appointment was being questioned last week by the Centre, the Mumbai special court judge dealing with the Sohrabuddin matter was chiding Amit Shah’s lawyer for seeking Shah’s exemption from appearing in the court on rather thin grounds. Subsequently news came this week that the same Mumbai judge has been transferred. One doesn’t know whether this is purely coincidental or another display of BJP’s newly acquired power.

Power itself is most effective when used with restraint. BJP has shown none of it in the month that they have been in power at the Centre.

Gopal Subramanium was specially invited by the Chief Justice to become a judge of the Supreme Court. The other judges in the collegium also were unanimous in their choice of Subramanium. In fact, it may be pertinent to recall what the Chief Justice of a India, R.M.Lodha said about Subramanium in a personal commendation after Gopal resigned as Solicitor General in 2011 under the UPA regime.

“It was a sad thing to learn that you have resigned from the position of Solicitor General of India. Not only that in every single case –in which you represent the Central Government and its functionaries — was ably conducted by you but it also reflected your high character, sweet manners and single minded application,”- said Justice Lodha.

Justice Lodha’s comments are diametrically opposite to what State agencies like CBI and IB are now suggesting, clearly as an afterthought. What is most intriguing is the same CBI and IB have had the highest regard for Gopal’s competence and integrity as they have consulted him on their most sensitive cases for two decades, including during the previous NDA regime. The NDA had even entrusted to him the Parliament attack case.

The ex Chief Justice of India with impeccable reputation, Mr S.H.Kapadia, also wrote to Gopal, saying in his 21 years as a judge in the Mumbai High court and Supreme Court, “I have not come across a more competent, erudite and scholastic law officer as Gopal Subramanian. I say this with all authenticity at my command”. He further added, ” I wish to put on record that you have served this country as Solicitor General for which the people of this country should be eternally indebted to you”.

Mind you, such high praise from the ex CJI is being followed currently by small minded questioning of his character and personal spiritual pursuits by the State agencies. One had thought a big electoral mandate would be followed by some vision and generosity of spirit which should normally define a healthy democratic tradition. But instead we are witnessing

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Saltburn event marks the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War

Crowds gathered for an event in Saltburn to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.

The sun was shining down on the dozens of people who turned out for the community day in Saltburn yesterday.

There was a street parade, a community fair and entertainment for all the family.

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Saltburn World War One event

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The theme of the event was Then and Now, with community and voluntary groups holding exhibitions about their work and how life in Saltburn has changed over the past 100 years.

There was also music, crafts, stories and activities, as well as exhibitions by historians and video presentations of interviews with residents, recording their memories.

All proceeds from the day will go towards the restoration of Saltburn War Memorial.

Fiona Wylie, one of the event organisers, said she wanted it to be a memorable day.

She added: “The money raised will go towards the repairs on the war memorial and surrounding area, as well as raising money for some of the groups.”

Dozens turn out in Marske for annual charity walk in aid of Motor Neurone Disease

An inspirational fundraiser has once again taken steps to raise awareness of an incurable muscle wasting disease.

Mike Findley’s annual sponsored walk in aid of Motor Neurone Disease was once again a huge success when it took place at the weekend.

Over 100 people gathered to take part in the event in Marske and were expected to raise thousands.

“MND is a cruel disease,” said Mike, 69.

“That’s why - not just for those diagnosed with it but for the family and friends of those left behind - it’s important for those of us who can to raise as much awareness as possible, and much-needed cash for the MND Association’s central research fund in the hope that one day, a cure will be found.”

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Mike Findley's MND walk

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MND is a progressive disease which attacks the motor neurones, or nerves, in the brain and spinal cord. This means messages gradually stop reaching muscles, which leads to weakness and wasting.

Mike was first diagnosed with the condition in June 2005 but has put his own battle with the disease aside to raise over £141,000.

He launched his MND Fund in 2005 with a Morning of Music in Marske, and since then has held annual events to raise money for research into the disease which has no cure.

The fund also donates to the MND Care Centre at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough and to Cleveland MNDA group.

In recognition of his dedication, Mike was awarded an MBE by The Queen in 2010.

He also picked up another accolade in 2012 - the Freedom of the Borough of Redcar and Cleveland.

Before the event, colourful balloons were released by the walkers at the start in memory of loved ones lost from any illness.

The route went from Marske Square and along the Coast Road before ending at the Redcar Beacon.

The event has grown remarkably since the first walk, in 2006, raised just over £1,000. In 2010, a record 318 walkers took part and raised £10,000.

KSA to serve meals to Syrians in Jordan

The Saudi government has announced that it will offer the Syrian citizens in Jordan with daily meals during the holy month of Ramadan as part of the Kingdom’s efforts to alleviate the ongoing sufferings of the Syrian refugees who fled the violence in their country and sought safe refuge in neighboring countries.

The new effort will commence as of the first day of Ramadan and will continue toward the end of the month, the government said, adding that dry meals will also be distributed to needy citizens in other Muslim countries. The announcement, which was made by Saad bin Muhanna Al-Suwayed, the campaign’s director in Amman, corresponds to a recent agreement the “Saudi National Campaign to Support Brothers in Syria’ has signed with the Al Tajmouat University Facilities Services Company in Amman to distribute dry meals among the Syrians living in the Hashemite Kingdom.

“Under the agreement, 150,000 dry meals will be distributed among Syrian families in Jordan during the holy month of Ramadan,” sources told Arab News, adding that the food distribution program will be executed in three stages. According to the campaign organizers, the first phase will cover Syrians residing in the northern governorate of Irbid, which is housing the largest number of Syrian families.

Furthermore, the Saudi national campaign has vowed to pay the rent expenses for around 1,000 households to accommodate Syrian refugee families in Lebanon.

Moreover, a consignment of 150 tons of dates has been sent for distribution among the displaced Syrians living in Lebanon ahead of the fasting month.

“The relief efforts is being done in implementation of directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to meet the needs of the displaced Syrian people, particularly children, women and the elderly,” the Saudi Embassy in Beirut has said. In that context, the Kingdom recently donated six tons of dates to needy Palestinians through UNRWA. In addition, the Jeddah-based International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), an affiliate of the Muslim World League (MWL), has allocated SR6,450,000 to implement the iftar project for this Ramadan.

The aid will benefit tens of thousands of fasting Muslims in 29 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Families flock to Stockton Riverside for first ever Pirate Day festival

Landlubbers took to the high seas - and streets - of Stockton to enjoy the town’s first ever Pirate Day festival.

There were eye patches and parrots galore as pirates - including a Jack Sparrow look-a-like - took over the HM Bark Endeavour on the Riverside.

In an event dubbed Stockton’s biggest fancy dress party and family fun day, organised by North East Live and Cafe Infinity, families flocked to join in the fun.

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Pirate Day and Mayor of Stockton’s annual Duck Race

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As well as the children’s entertainment, including face painters and craft activities, there were also three live music stages playing continuous music from local bands and artists throughout the day, a hog roast and stalls.

The entertainment was held throughout Saturday - Armed Forces Day.

Many of the local shops got in on the action, dressing the part to welcome customers.

At the same time, Stockton centre was also the setting for the Mayor of Stockton’s annual Duck Race, which raises money for Armed Forces charities.

Each year, around 1,000 sponsored ducks are launched into the River Tees from Castlegate Quay.

The ducks must travel 200m, with the first handful to cross the finishing line scooping a range of prizes for their sponsors.

Hundreds of women raise funds for Teesside Hospice at Starlight Stroll

Hundreds of women are celebrating after a raising precious loot for a hospice’s treasure chest.

Over 800 ladies gathered on Redcar seafront on Saturday night for the seventh Teesside Hospice Seaside Starlight Stroll.

And the pirate-theamed event was a huge success - with over £50,000 being raised thanks to scallywags, maidens and even Captain Jack Sparrow.

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Starlight Stroll in Redcar

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The seven mile walk went from Redcar and Cleveland College to Marske and back again.

But before it kicked off, walkers enjoyed entertainment, competitions and music to get them into the spirit.

Christine Mackechnie was one of the woman taking part.

She rallied together twelve of her friends and family together to take part in the stroll in memory of her late husband, Donnie.

Christine said: “Donnie was cared for by Teesside Hospice when he needed symptom management for his illness, malignant melanoma.

“The staff were amazing and I felt safe knowing he was being well looked after.

“We are doing the stroll for him and it’s fantastic that everyone is taking part for the same reason – to help Teesside Hospice.”

Many of the ladies had inspirational and moving stories of why they were taking part and that the Starlight Stroll was a way of not only remembering their loved ones but raising funds for a local cause.

Jane O’Byrne, Fundraising Manager at Teesside Hospice said: “Once again we are overwhelmed with the support and generosity from the ladies taking part and the sponsorship from their friends and family. Raising over £50,000 for Teesside Hospice is phenomenal and will make such a difference to the lives of our patients.”

She added: “Over 800 ladies registered for the stroll and helped us to make it an unforgettable night. The atmosphere was buzzing, so much so that the ladies couldn’t wait to start and went before the claxon.

“This just proves the spirit and determination these ladies have in helping their local hospice so I would like to say on behalf of Teesside Hospice a heartfelt thank you to everyone involved in helping to make the Starlight Stroll the success it is.”

Iraqi army and Shia militias execute Sunnis in prisons

Amnesty International “extrajudicial executions” of Sunni detainees took place early this month by Iraqi government forces and Shia militias in the Iraqi cities of Tal ‘Afar, Mosul and Ba’quba.

In a statement issued by the international human rights organisation, these “vengeful” acts were described as “war crimes.”

The organisation said: “Surviving detainees and relatives of those killed gave graphic accounts that suggest Iraqi forces had carried out a series of vengeful attacks against Sunni detainees before withdrawing from Tal ‘Afar and Mosul in northern Iraq.”

Ba’quba mayor Abdallah Al-Hayali told the organisation that his 21 year-old nephew was among up to 50 people “extrajudicially executed” in an incident at Al-Wahda police station in the Mufaraq district of central Ba’quba in the early hours of 16 June.

Amnesty International continued: “According to a medical report obtained by the mayor, he had been shot in the head. Many of those killed with him had been shot in the head and the chest. Sunni policemen who witnessed the killing fled their posts afterwards for fear of reprisal.”

Amnesty International’s senior crisis response adviser Donatella Rovera, who is currently in northern Iraq, said: “Reports of multiple incidents where Sunni detainees have been killed in cold blood while in the custody of Iraqi forces are deeply alarming.”

She continued: “The killings suggest a worrying pattern of reprisal attacks against Sunnis in retaliation for ISIS gains.”

Middlesbrough to hand young gun Adam Reach a first team chance

Aitor Karanka is ready to hand young gun Adam Reach the chance to become Boro’s next Academy breakout star.

The 21-year-old has impressed the Boro boss with his attitude and ability and he will get pre-season to show what he can do – and possibly earn a starting role in Karanka’s Championship promotion push.

The Sunday Sun understands that Bradford City have already enquired about Reach and want to take him on a season-long loan next year.

But Karanka has told Bantams boss Phil Parkinson that Reach will get the summer to show what he can do before Boro take a decision on his future.

Boro return for pre-season on Monday as Karanka attempts to get a flying start to their second tier campaign.

He hopes to tie up a deal for Real Betis right-back Juanfran and they expect to sell Lukas Jutkiewicz in the next seven days, which would bank the club money to go in their transfer warchest. Derby, Bolton and Sheffield Wednesday are all considering moves for the big striker.

Boro’s Academy continues to produce a steady stream of first team players, and Callum Cooke’s recent contract illustrates the club’s commitment to the youth cause.

Even when the youngsters move on from the Riverside they remain in-demand, and Hartlepool will start next season with Matt Bates and Stuart Parnaby both patrolling the defence.

Anti-coup protests continue in Egypt

Dozens of anti-coup protests were held across Egypt on Friday to voice opposition to the continuation of the military coup and the repression that followed the July 3 ouster of freely elected president Mohamed Morsi.

In southern Cairo, a protest was held in Maadi district, calling for the departure of Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and the restoration of democracy.

In Al-Waraq neighbourhood in Giza governorate, residents held an anti-coup demonstration in which they condemned the brutal practices of the security apparatus against coup opponents.

In Sharqeya, protests were held in several neighbourhoods, calling for “the prosecution of coup leaders” and “retribution for all the victims” of Rabaa and other massacres.

In Port Said, protesters called for the release of all political prisoners, and condemned the “unfair trials” of coup opponents

Firefighters battle blaze at Yarm's Tall Trees hotel

Firefighters are currently tackling a huge blaze at a renowned Teesside hotel.

Fire crews have been battling a building fire at Tall Trees in Yarm since 3.30am on Sunday morning.

There are currently nine fire crews at the site to fight the blaze, which has spread to the main building area of the site.

A Cleveland Fire Brigade spokeswoman said it is not currently known what caused the fire.

More to follow.