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This country, of course, is Qatar, which was not only outcast by fed up Arab regimes, but is also the main loser from the Israel-UAE agreement. All other Gulf states fell in line in support of the treaty, either explicitly or tacitly. Qatar, now alone in its vehement objection to Israeli peace with the Arabs in the Gulf, has unleashed incessant vitriol against the normalization agreement, mainly through its state-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera stopped broadcasting news or feigning to be objective a long time ago. There are many examples of this, but its lack of coverage of protests in Iran or its praise of someone who murdered hundreds of thousands of Arab, such as Qassem Soleimani, clearly proves that Qatar has lost its Arab identity in the sphere of Iranian influence. It's strange that Al Jazeera in English is incongruent with its Arabic version. When addressing the West it presents a liberal façade, but in Arabic, it fervently disseminates outrageous incitement against Israel and the deal with the UAE.

Al Jazeera has always viciously incited against Israel and encourages the Palestinian struggle. On a weekly basis, its reports present the Palestinian side as the victim of an evil, merciless regime. The fact that most of Al Jazeera's employees, including more than a handful of anchors, are of Palestinian descent, gives this incitement a strong tailwind.

We should keep in mind that Qatar was actually the first to open its gates to senior Israelis. We all remember Shimon Peres' visit and the opening of the Israeli trade bureau there in 1996. So what changed?

Once Qatar's previous emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, handed over rule of the country to his son, Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, in June 2013, relations with Israel became clandestine. Contacts between the two countries were excused as efforts to mediate between Hamas and Israel, and the reason for this was its dependence on Iran and Turkey due to its isolation.

The warming of relations with the Gulf region is a significant achievement for Israel and these countries. This rapprochement, which is reflected politically, culturally and economically, shows they desire peace and want to support the Trump administration's policies toward Iran and the Palestinians. Relations with Israel are a deterrent to the Iranians, and therefore Qatar and Al Jazeera must not be allowed to drive a wedge between us and Qatar's Gulf neighbors.

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Hezbollah is the culprit behind Lebanon's suffering and has been for more than 30 years. Hezbollah grows drugs for export to European countries. It bypasses the Lebanese establishment and pays no taxes. It operates sea and land crossings along the border with Syria. It receives goods from Iran, as well as money and weapons, that it does not report. Hezbollah not only does nothing to contribute to the Lebanese state but harms its foundations.

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The greatest fear among Hezbollah's senior officials is that the Lebanese people will once again take to the streets en masse, as they did earlier this year. This is why Hassan Nasrallah, the organization's secretary general, occasionally tries to find ways to stabilize Lebanon's dire economic and social situation.

Nasrallah is Lebanese, but his loyalty is to the Islamist regime in Iran, and part of his purpose is to render Lebanon completely dependent on the Islamic republic. This could be inferred from a speech he made recently to the Lebanese people in an ostensible attempt to assuage their anger over the economic crisis. In his opening words, he raised the possibility of turning to the Chinese for help – an idea most experts view as camouflage for his real intention, which is to turn to Iran. Nasrallah serves Ayatollah Khameini, not the Lebanese people, and he is doing his utmost to turn Lebanon into an Iranian province.

After raising the Chinese straw man, Nasrallah expanded on the great bounty Iran can offer and its allegedly benevolent intentions: "I have heard people say that Hezbollah wants to make Lebanon like Iran. … The Lebanese have a friend named Iran, and you can talk to them and say, 'Sell us gasoline and oil for Lebanese pounds. Help us.' They need dollars and euros. When an Iranian sells to a Lebanese for a Lebanese pound he makes a great sacrifice.

"Iran … has its own capacity in oil, fuel, electricity. Iran even sells to neighboring countries. It provides for most of its own needs. What is there to fear from this example? Lebanon has no such capabilities. For 40 years, Iran has persisted in the face of sanctions … In the face of all the difficulties they faced they survived. No country has stood so firm after undergoing what Iran went through … No one wants to change Lebanon economically or culturally, or change the Lebanese system of government. If China, Iran, or Russia is ready… we will talk to any country in the east, west, north, or south."

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Nasrallah is trying to signal the Lebanese people that they have no choice but Iran, but they are not stupid. They understand that if Lebanon falls into Tehran's clutches, they will have to recite the funeral eulogy for Lebanese sovereignty – a concept that is already hanging by a thread, as Hezbollah largely rules the country.

The situation in Lebanon is very serious, but as long as it tolerates Hezbollah and its vast supply of illegal weaponry, the World Bank, the Western countries, and many Arab countries will refuse to assist it. As Hezbollah will never give up its weapons, the future for Lebanon looks extremely grim.

This article was first published by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.

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A video posted by the Middle East Media Research Institute exposed several of the panelists' racist utterances. Among the comments, it was claimed that the number of victims to perish in concentration camps was between 600,000 and 800,000; and that only half of them were Jews. In other words, 400,000 Jews, at the most, were murdered in the Holocaust. In another anti-Semitic trope, one panelist evoked the "destructive influence" of Jews in German society. It was suggested in the conclusion that no evidence has been found to support the existence of the Holocaust, such as bodies, ashes, gas chambers and the like, despite the abundance of such proof which is documented and readily accessible to everyone.

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Toward the end of the conference, one of the panelists quoted Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels to depict the Jews as liars: "Lie and lie again until the people believe you. The Jews say: Lie and lie again until you believe yourself."

This despicable conference could not have taken place without approval from the Jordanian government, whose officials publicly and blatantly deny the Holocaust. This is simply a falsification of history and science and a rejection of facts and decades-long academic research. Not only does this event encourage Holocaust denial in the Arab world, but also anti-Semitism, which is on the rise regardless throughout the Arab world and across the globe. Above all else, however, it is overwhelmingly clear that the main purpose of the conference was to demonize Jews and delegitimize Israel, by minimizing both the importance and scope of the Holocaust.

In a misguided effort to prioritize other matters, Israel has faltered, and essentially failed to expose the growing phenomenon of Holocaust denial in the Arab world and fight it. Some three years ago, I translated Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' book, based on his doctorate, which mainly focused on denying the Holocaust. To my regret, no organization, including universities and institutes such as Yad Vashem, agreed to publish the book, perhaps fearing it would harm the peace process or the prospects of renewing it.

The time has come to stop repressing the phenomenon and caring about a fight with those who espouse it. Dialogue and rapprochement cannot start anyway from a position of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial.

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The process is reminiscent of that which befell the Jews of the region, who had to flee their homes amid pogroms and persecution during the 20th century, especially after the establishment of the State of Israel and its victories over its Arab enemies.

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It was in Morocco, where several thousand Jews have remained, that the first 20th-century massacre of Middle Eastern Jews occurred – in Fez, on April 17, 1912, after Sultan Mulai Abd al-Hafid signed a treaty that turned Morocco into a French protectorate.

For the Moroccan people, this handing of the reins to a Christian ruler was an act of betrayal. Unable to attack the French, the Arab mob opted to attack Jews and their property. Fifty-one Jews were murdered and many homes looted.

On August 3, 1934, a Jewish tailor in the Algerian town of Constantine cursed the Muslims and insulted Islam while drunk. The result: Pogroms that killed 25 and wounded 38 local Jews.

In June 1941, the Farhud broke out in Baghdad. About 200 Jews were murdered and thousands wounded by their Arab neighbors. Jewish property was looted and many homes were set ablaze.

Four years later, on the anniversary of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, large numbers of Arabs took out their frustration over Nazi Germany's defeat by perpetrating pogroms in several Arab countries. In Egypt, 10 Jews were killed and about 350 wounded during Muslim Brotherhood riots. Synagogues, the Jewish hospital and old-age homes were burned and more than 100 Jewish shops ransacked. In Libya some 140 Jews were murdered, synagogues were burned and homes were looted.

On the day after the adoption of the UN Partition Plan on November 29, 1947, pogroms against Jews erupted in several Arab countries. These were not coordinated. The Muslims could not understand how the Jews, who had lived among them for 1,300 years as legally and institutionally inferior "protected persons" (dhimmis), were to be granted a state in which they would rule over, among others, a sizable Muslim minority.

This chagrin sparked a number of pogroms. In Aleppo, Syria, 75 Jews were murdered. In Aden, Yemen, about 80 Jews were slaughtered, Jewish shops were looted, and synagogues were set ablaze. Thousands of Jews fled Aden and were held in detention camps in inhuman conditions. This led to Operation Wings of Eagles in which tens of thousands of Yemenite Jews were flown to Israel.

Some three weeks after Israel's establishment, on June 7-8, 1948, pogroms occurred in the Moroccan towns of Oujda and Jerada. Forty-two Jews were murdered and hundreds wounded. Several days later, 14 Jews were murdered in Tripoli in Libya. In June and July 1948, in response to the Egyptian army's failure to destroy the newly arisen Jewish state, the Jewish areas of Cairo were beset by Muslim Brotherhood bombings, acts of sabotage and attacks; tens of Jews were killed and wounded.

The story recurred yet again after Israel's victory in the Six-Day War, when leaders of Arab countries took revenge on the depleted Jewish communities still under their rule.

Thousands of Jews were forced to emigrate as a result of harassment, imprisonment (in Egypt about 600 Jews were put in prison for one to three years), acts of murder (in Libya and Morocco), cancellation of citizenship (Iraq and Egypt), expulsion, and confiscation of property (Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria).

Two years later, on January 27, 1969, nine Jews, some of them minors, were hanged in the Baghdad city square on the concocted charge of collaboration with Israel. Eventually, the Israeli government recognized them as harugei malchut, a designation for Jews killed by a foreign government usually on account of being Jewish.

In the mid-1980s, 11 Lebanese Jews were kidnapped by Hezbollah and executed after several months. The reason: Israel's refusal to conduct negotiations for the release of Shi'ite operatives it had imprisoned. The Jews were accused of collaborating with Israel and were called "Mossad agents."

Is the fate of the Middle East's Christians likely to resemble that of the Jews of Arab countries? The data currently indicate that the Christians have been in large-scale flight from the region since 2014, when the Islamic State terrorist group rose to power in Syria and Iraq. Many Western embassies have been ordered to grant entry visas immediately to Christians who wish to leave these places, and the process is yet to reach its peak.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Many people in Jordan oppose the gas deal between the two countries, but this was a new low. Negotiations over the gas deal were launched back in 2011, and it was signed in 2016 with the help of American mediation after several delays. The agreement will allow natural gas from the Israel's "Leviathan" offshore gas field to Jordan's electric company, and the scope of the deal is $10 billion over a 15-year period. Israel is slated to begin delivering he gas in early 2020.

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From the start, the deal was strongly opposed by a bevy of Jordanian lawmakers and significant portions of the Jordanian public. Dozens of protest demanding an end to the deal were held in Jordan, with calls to cease talks with the "Zionist enemy."

Many Jordanians denounce the agreement because it was written in English, in contravention of Jordanian law, and that the only currencies stipulated in the deal are the Israeli shekel and US dollar, not the Jordanian dinar. In December 2014, a majority of Jordanian parliamentarians voted for a resolution calling for the Jordanian government to cancel the deal.

The speaker of the lower house of the Jordanian parliament, Atef Tarawneh, recently said that all strata of Jordanian society and lawmakers oppose the agreement with the "Zionist entity," and called for its annulment at all costs. Some parliamentarians even demanded the government be sued for signing the deal with Israel without parliamentary approval.

Indeed, despite the peace accord and exchange of ambassadors, many Jordanians view Israel as a pariah enemy state. But this is a double game: Open hostility toward Israel is a tool the government uses to maintain its popularity; but behind the scenes, relations remain good, both to preserve relations with the Trump administration and to ensure the supply of water and other things that are best kept a secret.

Thus, despite the belligerent rhetoric, the Jordanian government is rational and has avoided hasty declarations capable of torpedoing the deal, which the kingdom badly needs. Additionally, a monetary fine of $1.5 billion is attached to the contract.

Jordan's King Abdullah has yet to comment on the matter. In late April, Jordanian media outlets reported he was analyzing the deal and would decide whether to greenlight or freeze it.

This is a sensitive time for Israeli-Jordanian relations, and not just because of the gas deal. On October 28, 2018, Jordan decided to pull out of clauses in the ‎peace accord that allow Israel to lease two small areas comprising 1,000 acres of agricultural ‎land‎ from the Jordanians for 25 years. We still don't know whether Jordan will seek to impose full sovereignty over these areas, or if the sides are engaged in talks to resolve the issue. It's very possible the gas deal and the land issue are intertwined.

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On April 25, the terrified residents of the Christian village of Jifna near Ramallah asked the PA to protect them after they were attacked by Muslim gunmen. The violence erupted after a woman from the village submitted a complaint to PA police that the son of a prominent, Fatah-affiliated leader had attacked her family. In response, dozens of Fatah gunmen came to the village, fired hundreds of bullets in the air, threw firebombs, shouted curses and caused severe damage to public property. It was a miracle there were no dead or wounded.

Despite the residents' cries for help, the PA police did not intervene during the mayhem—which lasted for hours. They have not arrested any suspects. Interestingly, the rioters called on the residents to pay jizya—a head tax that was levied throughout history on non-Muslim minorities under Islamic rule. The most recent victims of the jizya were the Christian communities of Iraq and Syria under Islamic State rule.

The second incident occurred during the night of May 13. Vandals broke into a church of the Maronite community in the center of Bethlehem, desecrated it, and stole expensive equipment belonging to the church, including the security cameras.

Three days later it was the turn of the Anglican church in the village of Aboud, west of Ramallah. Vandals cut through the fence, broke the windows of the church, and broke in. They desecrated it and stole a great deal of equipment.

As in the two previous incidents, no suspects were arrested.

According to its Facebook page, this is the sixth time the Maronite church in Bethlehem has been subjected to acts of vandalism and theft, including an arson attack in 2015 that caused considerable damage and forced the church to close for a lengthy period. However, even though PA leader Mahmoud Abbas himself was present on December 24, 2018, at the party to mark the church's reopening after it was renovated, the arson and other to acts of rioting and vandalism over the years received no coverage in the Palestinian media. In fact, a full gag order was imposed in many cases.

It is unlikely that the latest wave of attacks will lead to the arrest, let alone prosecution, of any suspects. The only thing that interests the PA is that events of this kind not be leaked to the media. Fatah regularly exerts heavy pressure on Christians not to report the acts of violence and vandalism they frequently suffer, as such publicity could damage the PA's image as an actor capable of protecting the lives and property of the Christian minority under its rule. Even less does the PA want to be depicted as a radical entity that persecutes religious minorities. That image could have negative repercussions for the massive international, and particularly European, aid the PA receives.

Though the Christians in the PA avoid saying so publicly, many of them fear—with good reason—that Muslim aggression against them will only escalate. Such fears are all the stronger in light of the thunderous silence of the Western (and Israeli) media in the face of the Christian minority's ongoing disappearance from the PA and Islamic lands in general—in striking contrast to the growth, prosperity and increasing integration of the Christian community in Israel proper.

The Christians of the Western world must demand that the PA arrest the suspects in the latest attacks and begin guarding the Christian places of worship under its rule. The ongoing international neglect of the plight of the Christians under PA rule can only lead to the vanishing of Christianity from the very place where it first emerged.

This article is reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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There is no doubt Gargash's remarks were made with the encouragement and guidance of Abu Dhabi crown prince Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan. In Arab states, it is not customary to make statements in support of Israel without the knowledge and approval of those in command.

This is not the first time senior Arab Gulf state officials have expressed support for Israel. Bahrain's foreign minister has been known to take to Twitter to issue pro-Israel and anti-Iran statements. Last fall, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was given the royal treatment when he visited Oman together with the head of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen. In recent months, dozens of Israeli athletes have competed in sporting events in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and Israel's national anthem was played numerous times in Doha, the Qatari capital. Likud party members and government ministers Yisrael Katz, Ayoub Kara and Miri Regev have also visited the Gulf.

What has changed in the Gulf? How has support for the Palestinians been replaced by support for Israel? It appears the people of the Gulf have adopted a new stance, having opened their eyes to the illusion of opposition to and war against Israel. They understood that their support for the Palestinians is detrimental to them, including from a financial perspective. The fact that the Palestinians have grown closer to Iran has sparked ire in many Gulf states, which see the ayatollah regime as an enemy and the Palestinians' increasingly closer ties with Tehran as betrayal.

No matter the reason, Israel's warming ties with the Gulf are a significant achievement that can be attributed to Netanyahu. The Gulf Arab states are interested in being part of the Western world, not necessarily out of a love of Zion, but because they understand that the path to warmer ties with the West and the U.S. runs through Israel. In the Gulf, they recall how America liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in the early 1990s, and they are interested in maintaining these ties. It is not for nothing that there are over 10 American and British military bases operating in six Gulf states – Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE.

A majority of Gulf leaders decided to align with U.S President Donald Trump's policy on Iran, as well as on his stance on the Palestinian issue, albeit not publicly. Ties with Israel are aimed at deterring the Iranians and providing a means of entry to the United States. As is the case with other Arab states, genuine peace is not the object of the Gulf states aspirations but rather the outcome of interests and the need to maintain security and stability and maintain U.S. aid. The Arab street is interested in nothing more than an "agreement" and certainly not warm relations. Only those unfamiliar with the mentality of the region could be surprised when a Jordanian parliamentarian speaks out against Israel or when Egypt votes against Israel at the U.N.

Gargash's pro-Israel remark, then, constitutes a challenge to Israeli diplomacy. Is this a change for the better? Will the relationship float freely to the surface? One must hope that this is the beginning of a new era in relations with Gulf states, one of open and overt ties.

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Hamas officials tried with all their might to thwart the protests, even resorting to using live fire on demonstrators. Dozens of videos documenting Hamas violence against Gazans were posted online. In one such video, an 11-year-old boy with signs of violence on his back says he was badly beaten by Hamas officials. In another video that went viral, a female resident of the enclave accuses Hamas of shooting at young people. This brave woman wonders aloud if this is the regime promised to them by senior Hamas military leader Yahya Sinwar and Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh. "My husband is employed, as are my four children, while the 20-year-old son of a Hamas commander drives a private jeep and has an apartment," she laments.

These statements indicate that the residents of Gaza have broken through the barrier of fear that has prevailed in Gaza since Hamas expelled the Palestinian Authority and took control there.

This popular movement is now in its infancy and its demands are largely economic in nature: electricity, lower taxes, jobs for young people and an end to the arrests and political persecution. Gaza's bitter residents are well-aware the Hamas leadership is not acting for their benefit when it wastes the money that comes into the enclave on tunnels and military equipment.

While it is unclear whether Ramallah is behind the protests, it's safe to say PA President Mahmoud Abbas is rubbing his hands together with glee. Gaza's residents are between a rock and a hard place. Abbas has imposed an economic blockade on them and refuses to allow for the transfer of salary payments. Hamas, in the meantime, continues to oppress and take advantage of them.

Many believe this is the spark that will trigger an all-out conflagration in Gaza against the terrorist organization, which rules with an iron fist. Even if Hamas succeeds in suppressing the protests this time around, they will surely face more violence and aggression the next time they break out. It is unclear if the current protests will grow in strength, but what is for certain is that they are a headache for the Hamas leadership, which in the meantime has chosen to remain silent. The organization has not put out an official statement, and we have not heard any remarks from senior officials on the protests.

Hamas' usual tactic in such a situation is to incite the population against Israel, in order to direct the fire at us rather than it. It is therefore likely that Hamas will try to bring about a deterioration in the situation on the border in order to deflect attention toward Israel. Israel would be wise not to intervene in Gaza's internal affairs at this time, in order not to provide Hamas with an excuse. Gaza is now a powder keg, and no one knows exactly when things will explode. In this current situation, past desires to transform Gaza into Singapore and establish a port and airport in the enclave can only be described as preposterous. Proceed with caution.

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A majority of Israelis would like to be at peace with our neighbors, but decades of experience have led us to seriously contemplate the concessions we are interested in making in return for a false peace. Peace with Egypt is very cold, and peace ties with Jordan are at a rough spot following Amman's refusal to renew part of the Hashemite kingdom's 1994 peace treaty with Israel that allows Israel to lease two small areas of land – Naharayim in the northern Jordan Valley and Ghamr in the south.

It Is evident that our neighbors are only interested in making peace with us because they are in distress. They have learned how to acquire Israeli aid through empty promises of future peaceful relations. The examples of this are many. In the 1980s, the Christians in Lebanon sold Israel the illusion of a future peace that would be made possible once the Palestinians were removed from Lebanon. This led Israel to show up in Beirut and expel the Palestinians, among other things. The outcome of all this is of course well-known.

With the help of social media networks and mass Syrian immigration to Europe, many Israelis have been able to communicate with members of Syria's opposition in recent years. These opposition members have expressed interest in making peace with Israel, after it helps bring down President Bashar Assad's regime. Well, Assad hasn't been removed from power, and there is no peace with Syria.

Immediately after the fall of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, dozens of Iraqi parliamentarians arrived in Israel, a majority of them afraid to make their visit public. The most conspicuous of them was MP Mithal al-Alusi, who did not fear public knowledge of his Israel visit. Israeli commentators saw his bold stance as proof the winds of peace were blowing from Baghdad. Except a short while later, he was kicked out of parliament and his two children were murdered. Al-Alusi was never again elected to parliament.  He wasn't able to pass the electoral threshold.

Iraq is a failed state. Despite being one of the richest countries when it comes to natural resources, it is unable to provide its residents with electricity and drinking water. Iraqis are sick of living such lives. They are sick of standing idly by as their oil and other natural treasures are stolen by Iran, which has controlled Iraq through Shiite militias ever since Hussein's fall from power. The Iraqis, who are interested in freeing themselves of the Iranians at any price, are now asking for Israel's military assistance in return for empty promises of peace. Unfortunately, Israel is allocating substantial resources toward this hopeless end.

There are tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees in Europe who cannot return to their homeland. They hope Israel will help remove the Iranians from Iraq, and promise us peace when they return home and take control of the government. And so, let us add Iraq to the list of Arab countries that seek Israeli aid in return for promises of a future peace, and pay us the same kind of lip service we were paid by the Christians in Lebanon in the 1980s, and most recently with the opposition fighters in Syria.

Peace with Iraq is light years away. In October 2017, the Iraqi parliament passed a law prohibiting the raising of the Israeli flag in the country and punishing violators with jail time. If we haven't learned from past experiences, let us at the very least read the present situation correctly.

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In addition to this report, the Syrian regime released for the first time a list of names that included the identities of 548 killed Palestinians; without noting the causes of death. Rights groups, however, agree those Palestinians died as a result of being tortured, starved and deprived of adequate medical treatment.

The AGPS said that 1,682 Palestinians are still missing, their fates unknown. According to some assessments, these Palestinians were either killed at some time during the bloody civil war or "in the best case" are still in prison. Therefore, at least 5,522 Palestinians have either been killed or have gone missing since 2011.

Along with those killed or missing, tens of thousands of Palestinians in Syria have lost their homes and employment. Thus, for example, the Yarmouk refugee camp, which was home to thousands, was utterly demolished over the course of the war. Before the camp was destroyed, the Assad regime had laid siege to it. During that time, images of emaciated Palestinians began emerging in Syrian opposition media outlets. Despite these horrors, not one official in the Palestinian Authority publicly condemned the Assad regime.

This is incredible. Where is the outcry from the PA, Arab and global news outlets, rights groups, Palestinian and Arab politicians? Where is their denunciation of Syrian President Bashar Assad's war crimes against the Palestinians? Why isn't every single Arab lawmaker in Israel excoriating the Syrian dictator?

When a Hamas or Islamic Jihad terrorist from Gaza is killed by IDF soldiers while trying to plant a roadside bomb or trying to cut a hole in the border fence, the Arab and Western worlds are apoplectic. The Arab League issues its familiar condemnation; consistently hostile Kuwait denounces Israel at the United Nations and tries convening the Security Council; PA President Mahmoud Abbas requests international protection for the Palestinians; and these reactions are covered around the clock by the Arab and Western press.

When Palestinians are killed by other Arabs, evidently no one cares, not in the Arab world and not among the Palestinians themselves, whether in the PA or Hamas. Everyone is silent. Palestinian blood in Judea and Samaria and Gaza is far more valuable than Palestinian blood in other parts of the globe. To be sure, Palestinians who are killed by IDF fire can be used as a tool, whether by Arab countries or the Western world, to undermine and weaken Israel. Human rights groups in the West and in Israel too invest most of their energies and attention on the Palestinian issue in Israel. The equation is plain to see: When Israel or the Jews can't be blamed for killing Arabs, it's not interesting.

Throughout the war in Syria, Abbas' silence on the plight of Palestinians in Syria has been deafening. He has never repudiated Assad or Iran for killing Palestinians there. He sought the best of all worlds: support from Iran and from the Arabs. It appears he has been successful.

During the atrocities perpetrated in Iraq several years ago, a downtrodden Yazidi woman held a placard that said: The tragedy of the Yazidi people is that the Jews aren't their enemy.

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