In this mailing: Khaled Abu Toameh: The Hamas-Houthi Plan to Attack Arabs as Well as Israel Alan Baker and Michel Calvo: The Indigenous Rights of the Jewish People and the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People The Hamas-Houthi Plan to Attack Arabs as Well as Israel by Khaled Abu Toameh  •  July 20, 2020 at 5:00 am       These Arabs and Muslims are worried, however, that the Hamas-Houthi alliance would not stop [with eliminating Israel] but also strengthen an Iran-led axis to threaten the stability of Arab countries. For first time, the Houthi movement spoke of possessing information about "vital targets." The announcement is a clear indication that the two Iranian-backed groups, Hamas and the Houthi movement, are planning to launch terrorist attacks not only against Israel, but also against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. "For the Muslim Brotherhood traitors [Hamas], supporting Palestine means firing missiles at Saudi Arabia." — Yaqoub al-Rayssi, a United Arab Emirates political activist, Twitter, July 11, 2020. Hamas, by seeking to enlist the Houthi movement for its jihad against Israel, is sending a message that it is prepared to cooperate with any group in order to achieve its goal of destroying Israel and replacing it with an Islamic state. The Hamas-Houthi alliance also shows that Iran is seeking to expand the terrorist activities of its agents in the Gaza Strip, Yemen and Lebanon not only against Israel and the US, but against Arab and Islamic states as well. The Hamas-Houthi alliance also shows that Iran is seeking to expand the terrorist activities of its agents in the Gaza Strip, Yemen and Lebanon not only against Israel and the US, but against Arab and Islamic states as well. Pictured: Houthi gunmen brandish their weapons in Sanaa, Yemen on July 7, 2020. (Photo by Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images) Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip, is seeking to forge an alliance with the Iran-aligned Yemini Houthi movement, officially called Ansar Allah (Supporters of God), whose members have launched repeated missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia for the past few years. The Hamas-Houthi partnership does not come as a surprise to Arabs and Muslims. The two groups share a common goal: Eliminating Israel. These Arabs and Muslims are worried, however, that the Hamas-Houthi alliance will not stop there, but also strengthen an Iran-led axis to threaten the stability of Arab countries. The slogan of the Houthi movement reads: "Allah is greater, Death to America, Death to Israel, curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam." Continue Reading Article The Indigenous Rights of the Jewish People and the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People by Alan Baker and Michel Calvo  •  July 20, 2020 at 4:00 am       From time immemorial, up to the present day, there has been continuous Jewish presence in this area, with elements residing today within the Jewish people's own sovereign national State of Israel, and others residing in the areas of the Holy Land in Judea and Samaria that are subject to an ongoing negotiation within the Middle East peace process as to their final political status. Palestinian claims that they are the indigenous descendants of the Canaanites is a canard that has no basis in fact or history, especially in light of the fact that the entry of Islam into the area of the Holy Land occurred only in the seventh century of the common era. The premise of the peace negotiation process is the mutual acknowledgment of each party's basic rights. Thus, the peace negotiation process cannot avoid taking into account the indigenous character and rights of the Jewish People as set out in the 2007 UN Declaration. This premise must serve as the basis for any agreement covering the issues of permanent status, including borders, settlements, Jerusalem and other issues. It is to be hoped and expected that the Government of Israel will come around to acknowledging the importance and centrality of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and will finally, and without any further delay or excuse, announce its endorsement of this important and central international document. Palestinian claims that they are the indigenous descendants of the Canaanites is a canard that has no basis in fact or history, especially in light of the fact that the entry of Islam into the area of the Holy Land occurred only in the seventh century of the common era. Pictured: Ancient Canaanite sarcophagi, displayed at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. (Image source: Davidbena/Wikimedia Commons) On September 13, 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted the "UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples". 144 states voted in favor, 4 voted against and 11 abstained (A/RES/61/295). While those countries that have considerable indigenous populations, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, initially opposed the declaration, they subsequently endorsed it in 2010, with various interpretative declarations. Representatives of Israel did not participate in the vote, as the day was the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah). Curiously, even though the vast majority of states have endorsed the declaration, and even though Israel represents one of the oldest indigenous peoples still existing in the world, Israel has never endorsed the declaration. Continue Reading Article