Pally soccer chief denied US visa to attend FIFA World Cup
The head of the PA soccer association, Jibril Rajoub, is denied a US visa for the 2026 World Cup. Rajoub is known for his anti-Israel comments and incitements.
Jibril Rajoub, the prominent Fatah official who leads the Palestinian Authority’s soccer association, revealed that his request for a United States visa had not been approved, blocking him from traveling to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, JNS reported.
The development follows several instances where the Trump administration barred specific tournament delegates from entering the country, with recent restrictions impacting an Iraqi team photographer and a Somali referee.
Rajoub, who served a prison sentence in Israel for security-related offenses, regularly incites against Israel, and has in the past said that Jews deserved the genocide inflicted on them by the Nazis.
In October 2011, he delivered a speech at a ceremony honoring the terrorists released by Israel in the Shalit deal, in which he praised Hamas for abducting the soldier and hailed the released prisoners as heroes.
In another incident, he declared that if the PA had a nuclear bomb, it would use it against Israel.
In 2018, Rajoub was suspended for a year from FIFA for inciting hatred and violence, after he called on soccer fans to target the Argentinian Soccer Association and burn jerseys and pictures of Messi when he was scheduled to play a friendly game in Israel.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/428645
Palestinian soccer chief says US, Canada haven’t granted him visa to attend World Cup
Jibril Rajoub went to the opening match between Mexico and South Africa on Thursday in Mexico City. But he is among several people accredited to attend the soccer World Cup who have been denied visas or have yet to receive them from the United States.
Rajoub told AFP that he had also failed to obtain a visa for Canada, which is co-hosting the World Cup.
The United States has refused entry to delegates from a raft of countries, including a referee from Somalia and a photographer traveling with Iraq’s team.
The US State Department last year implemented new restrictions on Palestinian passport holders, including on anyone who has been employed by the Palestinian Authority.
It revoked a visa to allow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to travel to the United Nations General Assembly last September.
Last month, Rajoub refused to shake hands with the head of Israel’s soccer federation.
Palestinian soccer chief Jibril Rajoub ‘denied US visa for 2026 World Cup’
In 2024, then Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz threatened to ban Rajoub from traveling abroad, accusing him of using sports to promote terrorism and violence.
“Jibril Rajoub, a terrorist in a suit who openly supported Hamas’s crimes, is working around the clock to get Israel removed from the international soccer association,” Katz tweeted, tagging FIFA on the post.
“We will work to thwart his plans, and if he doesn’t stop—we will imprison him in the Muqata’a [P.A. presidential compound in Ramallah], where he will be left to play Stanga by himself between the walls,” added Katz, referring to a soccer-like game popular with Israeli children.
On April 30, Rajoub refused to stand alongside Israel Football Association Vice President Basim Sheikh Suliman during a tense moment at the FIFA Congress in Vancouver.
Both officials were invited to the stage by Infantino, who attempted to bring them together. Rajoub declined to move closer to Suliman despite Infantino placing a hand on his arm and gesturing for him to do so.
IDF kills senior Hezbollah commander who served as Nasrallah's former bodyguard, in southern Lebanon
Ali Musa Daqduq was responsible for founding the 'Golan Terrorist Network,' coordinating various attacks against IDF soldiers along the border, and planning the murders of five US soldiers in 2007.
The IDF killed senior Hezbollah commander Ali Musa Daqduq in a precision strike in southern Lebanon, the military announced on Sunday.
According to the statement, Daqduq held various senior positions within Hezbollah, including as bodyguard to then-Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, head of the terror group's infantry unit, and founding commander of the "Golan Terrorist Network."
The "Golan Terrorist Network" is the terrorist unit responsible for Hezbollah's involvement in Syria and the established military infrastructure along the Israel-Lebanon border. The network was exposed by the IDF in 2019.
Daqduq orchestrated many of Hezbollah's operations against IDF soldiers and the State of Israel, primarily near the border with Lebanon.
Leiter announces death of senior Hezbollah terrorist before IDF publishes confirmation
Israel's Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, announced the assassination of Daqduq before the IDF statement was officially released.
According to Leiter, Daqduq was responsible for carrying out the kidnapping and murder of five US soldiers in 2007 and managing Hezbollah's "Golan Portfolio" plan to invade and take over northern Israel.
Who was Ali Musa Daqduq?
Daqduq joined Hezbollah in early 1983, The Jerusalem Post previously reported.
He was sent to Iraq in 2005 after Iran asked Hezbollah to form a group to train Iraqis to fight coalition forces in the country. He helped train and advise the terrorists in Jaysh al-Mahdi, now known as Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq. Daqduq was behind bloody attacks against Western troops in Iraq in 2006 and 2007, including the attack that killed five US soldiers.
He was captured by the British SAS in Basra in March 2007 and spent five years in prison. He was released by the Iraqi government in 2012 despite strong protests from Washington. He was designated by the United States Treasury Department that year for his role in the attack.
'Change your medication': Anti-Israel UN envoy mocks mother of October 7 victim
UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese faces heavy backlash after mocking the mother of an Oct. 7 victim.
UN investigator Francesca Albanese, known for her anti-Israel rhetoric, is facing sharp criticism after publicly deriding the grieving mother of a young woman killed during the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, JNS reported.
The backlash followed comments from the mother expressing that she was overwhelmed by a palpable sense of animosity while present at a Berlin function that celebrated the UN official.
The victim, Carolin Bohl - a 22-year-old German national who worked as a fashion student and model - was slain by Hamas terrorists during the assault on Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel.
Speaking with the German publication Die Welt, the victim's mother, Sonja Bohl-Dencker, reflected on her experience attending a March film screening in Berlin where Albanese was the featured attendee.
“I have never been in a room where I felt so much hatred," Bohl-Dencker said. “Everywhere keffiyehs, terrible slogans and sheer hatred against everything connected with Israel."
Reacting online to a social media publication that detailed Bohl-Dencker's emotional recollection, Albanese responded directly with a brief remark, “Change medication."
Her retort quickly drew intense public focus due to a parallel legal battle involving her own family. In a lawsuit launched by Albanese and her relatives aimed at lifting financial restrictions leveled against her by Washington, the legal filing explicitly notes that both Albanese and her spouse required medical prescriptions for health ailments sparked by the stress of the US sanctions. The court documents specify that the U.N. official required treatment for gastric ulcers, while her partner experienced sleeplessness and severe anxiety.
Albanese has repeatedly come under fire over her anti-Israel bias. In one of the more recent instances of this bias, she was condemned by several European Union foreign ministers for comments made at an Al Jazeera conference, in which Albanese had said: “The fact that instead of stopping Israel, most of the world has armed, given Israel political excuses, political sheltering, economic and financial support ... We who do not control large amounts of financial capitals, algorithms and weapons, we now see that we as a humanity have a common enemy."
Albanese later claimed in an interview that she "never, ever, ever said ‘Israel is the common enemy of humanity,'" calling the accusations "completely false accusations."
Albanese’s history of anti-Israel statements and actions is well-documented and dates back to social media posts uncovered in 2022, in which she claimed that the “Jewish lobby" controls the US.
At the time, Albanese rejected arguments that the comments about the “Jewish lobby" were antisemitic and claimed they were “mischaracterized", but her anti-Israel bias has continued to be exposed since.
Her criticism of Israel has grown since the October 7, 2023 massacre, which Albanese described as an act that must be viewed in “context" and as a response to Israeli “aggression."
In late March, Albanese claimed that the world has given Israel "a license to torture Palestinians", alleging that "torture has effectively become state policy" in Israel.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/428454
'Moral decline': Danon fires back at UN envoy who ridiculed bereaved mother
Ambassador Danny Danon blasts UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese for mockingly telling the mother of an October 7 victim to change meds.
US Ambassador to Israel Danny Danon blasted UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese, known for her anti-Israel bias, after she mocked the bereaved mother of a victim of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre, advising her on social media to “change medication".
“The mother of Carolin Bohl, a young German woman brutally murdered by Hamas on October 7, has posted about the extreme anti-Israel hostility she encountered at a film premiere in Berlin, where Francesca Albanese, the UN ‘Special Rapporteur,’ was the guest of honor," Danon wrote.
“After the bereaved mother shared her pain and experience, Albanese’s outrageous response was: ‘Change medication,’" he added.
“There seems to be no limit to Francesca Albanese’s moral decline," said Danon.
Samuel Corner (pictured) was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm after he fractured a female police officer's spine with a sledgehammer during the course of the raid
Judge rules Palestine Action thugs carried out 'act of terrorism' as he jails weeping weapons factory raiders while police arrest more than 100 supporters outside court
Four Palestine Action protesters who smashed their way into an Israeli-linked weapons factory carried out 'an act of terrorism', a judge ruled as he jailed the quartet today.
In a landmark case, Mr Justice Johnson said the raid on Elbit Systems in Bristol was an attempt to 'shut down' the company or influence the UK Government into blocking its operations.
Two of the defendants wept as the judge ruled they would be sentenced for carrying out an 'act of terrorism' .
The wanton violence caused £1.2 million worth of damage, left a police officer with a fractured back, and saw the Government subsequently define Palestine Action as a banned organisation.
Samuel Corner, a 23-year-old former Oxford student, was convicted of criminal damage along with three others, and was also found guilty of grievous bodily harm after he attacked Sergeant Kate Evans with a 7lb sledgehammer.
Corner was handed a sentence of seven years and eight months, while Charlotte Head, 30, and Leona Kamio, 30, each received sentences of five years, and Fatema Rajwani, 21, was jailed for four years and eight months.
The judge said the four 'sought to glorify criminality and vigilantism', and used 'extreme force and aggression'.
Activists gathered outside court in support of the four activists being sentenced for criminal damage to the Elbit Systems factory in Bristol
The judge said all the defendants were 'well aware of the underlying sentiment and aims and strategies of Palestine Action'.
He said: 'Each defendant agreed to take part in high-level actions, and did so with the shared aim of shutting down Elbit.
He ruled: 'I'm satisfied the action was designed to influence the UK Government and also to intimidate a section of the public, and was for the purpose of advancing an ideological or political cause.'
The ruling means the activists will not qualify for early release from prison provisions, the Parole Board will assess their risk to the public when it determines when they can be set free, and they will face monitoring from counter terror policing in the future.
The Elbit raid in August 2024 was one of the triggers which caused the UK Government to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.
Mr Justice Johnson ruled last year in pre-trial hearings that the Elbit raid had a 'terrorist connection', and decided during a day-long hearing today to pass tougher sentences on the activists as a consequence.
Charlotte Head (pictured), 30, was driving a prison van that was used as a 'battering ram' to break into the Elbit facility, Woolwich Crown Court heard
Fatema Rajwani (pictured), 21, was among six defendants standing trial - she was found guilty of criminal damage
Leona Kamio (pictured), 30, was found guilty of criminal damage by jurors
Sergeant Kate Evans told jurors at an earlier hearing how she believed her spine could have been 'shattered' and feared she may have been 'paralysed' after being hit by Samuel Corner
Head was behind the wheel of an old prison van that crashed through the gates of the Elbit Systems factory in Bristol on August 6 2024.
The four activists, dressed in red jumpsuits, began destroying property before ending up in a fight with security guards and police.
Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said the attack was 'meticulously organised' to cause maximum damage and get information about the company.
Prosecutor Ms Heer KC told the sentencing hearing Palestine Action has ideological aims to 'influence government decisions and policies' in the UK and Israel.
She said the group had vowed to 'shut Elbit down' through direct action.
She pushed for the judge to sentence the defendants for a crime with a 'terrorist connection'.
The police officer struck with the sledgehammer as she was on her knees during the attack said she still suffers from panic attacks and ongoing pain.
She has been forced to accept a demotion from Sergeant to the rank of Pc, and has received abuse on email over what happened.
Ms Evans told the court she felt 'dehumanised' by the first trial's outcome.
She said: 'I found this extremely difficult to process, particularly as the attack had been captured on CCTV and clearly showed I posed no threat.
'I struggled to understand how a verdict could not be reached given the evidence that had been presented in court.
'This left me feeling dehumanised, as though the impact on me did not matter because I am a police officer.'
A spokesman for the Avon and Somerset Police Federation, representing Ms Evans and other officers, said in a statement: 'The distressing scenes we have seen during this trial show some of the worst side of police work that our officers are faced with.
'Samuel Corner is a violent criminal - and his actions have had devastating consequences for a courageous and dedicated police officer.
'The sentence given to the perpetrator today is a semblance of justice. Our colleague Sgt Kate Evans will have life-lasting effects from this despicable attack.
'Fracturing a brave police officer's spine with a sledgehammer is not protesting a cause - it's pure evil.'
Israel set to approve funding plan for 61 West Bank settlements
Sa-Nur
Israel's cabinet is expected to approve a plan to fund the de facto establishment of 61 new settlements in the West Bank on Thursday, according to Axios's Barak Ravid.
The plan involves the allocation of over 350 million dollars over several years, Ravid wrote in a post on X/Twitter citing a source familiar with the proposal, and is being promoted by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
"Many of the settlements included in the proposal are located in strategically sensitive areas," Ravid wrote, "including along Highway 90 in the Jordan Valley, in the South Hebron Hills, and in locations designed to create territorial continuity between existing settlements."
The funding will cover temporary mobile homes, public facilities, community infrastructure and support services, in what Ravid called "one of the most significant settlement expansion moves in decades," adding that the funding for these structures would begin even before the planning process was fully completed.
In later stages of the proposal, the government would also fund more permanent development work for the settlements, including building roads and installing utilities.
Fiance Minsiter Bezalel Smotrich and members of the Religious Zionist Party as Knesset passes law for West Bank settlements to receive tax benefits. (credit: Religious Zionist party)
Ravid highlighted that the proposal's unusual move of allowing a temporary site to be established before planning procedures could be completed would set a significant precedent, allowing the government to set "facts on the ground" to later evolve into permanent settlements.
Right-wing pushing for Israeli sovereignty over West Bank
Right-wing ministers and lawmakers have continuously pushed for Israeli sovereignty over all areas in the West Bank, drawing sharp criticism and condemnation from leaders of various countries worldwide.
In another decision, 2,162 new housing units were approved to be developed in West Bank settlements by the Higher Planning Council, which is a body that operates under the Defense Ministry, Smotrich announced earlier this month.
Smotrich welcomed this decision, saying that “we are continuing to build the Land of Israel in practice.”
He added that the establishment of the new housing units was “not merely planning measures."
“They are national initiatives that strengthen our hold on the land, reinforce Israel’s security, and establish clear facts on the ground that prevent the creation of an Arab terrorist state in the heart of the country.”
