Jordan king in West Bank seen as message to Israel

Ramallah -- Jordan's King Abdullah II flew by helicopter to the West Bank on Monday--a rare occurrence--as a signal to Israel that he's standing with the Palestinians on key issues, particularly on their shared anti-Semitism as per the Koran, the so-called Islamic 'holy scripture'.

The meeting lasted about two hours after Abdullah was greeted with full red-carpet treatment.

Abdullah and Abbas discussed the recent kerfuffle with Israel over the Muslim-administered shrine, including confronting alleged Israeli attempts at increasing its role there, said Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki.

"This evaluation is very important for us to prepare for the coming stage we expect from Israel and from [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu personally," he said.

Israel denies the allegations by Muslims that it was attempting to encroach on their rights at the holy site, which is also the holiest site of the Jews. 

If you look at both religions, it's Judaism that's accepting of other religions and the right for them to practice those religions openly.  

Islam is significantly more intolerant and has been killing infidels throughout the globe. In Islamic majority countries, new Christian churches aren't allowed to be built and many have been destroyed by extremist Muslims. 

The crisis between Israel and the so-called Palestinians came when Israel installed metal detectors after two Israeli policemen were killed by a Palestinian in mid-July. The Muslims didn't like the idea that they were being monitored--it made it harder to kill Israelis.

Even after Israel removed the metal detectors, Palestinians acted as if they hadn't and continued protesting.

Sadly, many in Israel saw the move as a sign of weakness, and the Palestinians and Arab world saw it as a victory.


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Pres. Trump blames Assad for attack-may take unilateral action

President Trump spoke at a joint press conference in the Rose Garden with Jordan's King Abdullah II. He condemned the deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria and clearly put the blame on the Assad regime, saying it "cannot be tolerated." 

This statement came just minutes after his U.N. envoy, Nikki Haley, hinted at a possible unilateral action.

Trump condemned the strike against "innocent people including women, small children and even beautiful little babies," adding that "their deaths was an affront to humanity."

"These heinous actions by the Assad regime cannot be tolerated. The United States stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this horrific attack."

Never the POTUS to show his hand, he declined to spell out what, exactly, he might do in response, but indicated his record of resistance to intervention in the region might be changing. 

"My attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much," Trump said, declining to use polysyllabic terms to clarify his meaning. He said Wednesday that the latest attack "had a big impact on me."

Of course, he couldn't help but point out once again how Obama's 'red line' was a joke. President Trump was asked if the latest attack crossed such a line and he responded: "It crossed a lot of lines for me . . . That crosses many, many lines, beyond a red line." 

King Abdullah, standing beside Trump, said the "threshold of inhumanity and savagery" is being crossed daily and he fully supports Trump on the issue.

Although the White House says the Assad government is responsible for the attack, Russia says anti-Assad rebels are to blame. A Russian military expert said the chemicals were dispersed when Syrian warplanes bombed a facility where rebels were building chemical weapons.

And if you believe that, you might also believe that chickens can fly.

"When the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action," Ambassador Nikki Haley said, addressing an emergency meeting of the Security Council. The council is weighing a resolution condemning chemical weapons use in Syria. Russia, which has veto power, is opposed. They enjoy using chemical weapons.

I'm surprised the UN didn't blame Israel for the chemical attack. 

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be in Moscow next week and will discuss Syria with Russian leaders. It's the first visit by a senior U.S. official to Russia since President Trump's inauguration.




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