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* Con Coughlin: Hamas Must Be Destroyed Before Any Peace Talks Take Place
* Elliott Abrams: International Criminal Court Prosecutor Threatens United States Senators


** Hamas Must Be Destroyed Before Any Peace Talks Take Place ([link removed])
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by Con Coughlin • May 29, 2024 at 5:00 am
* Do Ireland, Norway and Spain not see how appeasing terrorists anywhere only emboldens the militants in Europe? Last month, in Germany, more than 1,000 demonstrators took to the streets demanding that Germany become a Caliphate with sharia law.
* Is [Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez] ready to grant the Catalans in Spain, who for years have been fighting for their independence, a State of Catalonia?
* In Ireland, even at its most violent, there were never calls to take over Scotland, England and Wales to displace the British.
* The capitulation of Ireland, Norway and Spain also reveals a deliberate misinterpretation of the root causes of Israel's long-running conflict with the Palestinians, in which the constant refusal of successive generations of Palestinian leaders to renounce terrorism as the primary means of achieving their political objectives has made the concept of a lasting peace between the two sides impossible.
* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called by Andrew Roberts "The Churchill of the modern Middle East," remains bitterly opposed to Palestinian independence as a "prize for terrorism". "A reward for terror will not bring about peace," said Netanyahu, "and also will not stop us from winning over Hamas."
* Hamas have repeatedly used their own people as human shields and shot at them to prevent them from fleeing to safety.
* While the Biden administration's stance towards Israel in the Gaza conflict has often been hostile, its rejection of the joint declaration by Norway, Ireland and Spain is most welcome.
* If Israel could be allowed to succeed in "freeing Palestine from Hamas," it would significantly improve the prospects of both Israelis and Palestinians.

The announcement by Ireland, Norway and Spain that they are to recognise a Palestinian state only highlights a breathtaking naivety about the fundamental reality of the long-standing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the move was "in favour of peace and coexistence." Is he ready to grant the Catalans in Spain, who for years have been fighting for their independence, a State of Catalonia? Pictured: Sanchez delivers a televised speech o on May 28, 2024. (Photo by Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images)

The announcement by Ireland, Norway and Spain that they are to recognise a Palestinian state this week only highlights a breathtaking naivety about the fundamental reality of the long-standing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

In fact, the announcement is likely to extend the violent conflict currently taking place in Gaza: it sends a clear message to terrorist groups such as Hamas that carrying out brutal attacks against innocent Israeli civilians will be rewarded by supporting their demand for statehood.

Norway, the country that helped to sponsor the Oslo Accords in the 1990s, which set out a framework for a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, was the first country to announce its decision, with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre declaring, "There cannot be peace in the Middle East if there is no recognition."

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** International Criminal Court Prosecutor Threatens United States Senators ([link removed])
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by Elliott Abrams • May 29, 2024 at 4:00 am
Pictured: The ICC building in The Hague, Netherlands. (Photo by Nicolas Guyonnet/Hans Lucas//AFP via Getty Images)

Many critics thought the International Criminal Court had gone too far when its prosecutor asked for arrest warrants against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

But as the saying goes, "you ain't seen nothin' yet."

Now, the prosecutor's office has threatened to prosecute criticism of... himself. Those who seek to defend Israel and stop the malicious, deeply antisemitic action against its leaders and against the Jewish state are now being told that their words and actions may also be a crime.

This may sound like something out of Alice in Wonderland, but it is an effort not only to limit freedom of speech, but to limit the constitutional powers of the United States Congress.

After the prosecutor called for the arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, 12 United States Senators wrote to the ICC. The full text of the letter is below. The final paragraphs read:

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