Contents: Weekly Quotes | Short Takes
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British Officials Predicted War and Arab Defeat in Palestine in 1948: Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian, Apr. 26, 2013
Haredim See Lapid As a Force Majeure: Avishai Ben Haim, Jerusalem Post, Apr. 29, 2013
Family, ‘Not Willing to Forget,’ Pursues Art It Lost to Nazis: Patricia Cohen & Tom Mashberg, New York Times, Apr. 26, 2013
Hanging Haman with the Igbo Jews of Abuja: Shai Afsai, Times of Israel, April 30, 2013
“The root of the conflict is not Yitzhar, Haifa, Acre, Jaffa or Ashkelon. The purpose of the future agreement with the Palestinians is to prevent the eventuality of a binational state and to guarantee stability and security.” —Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, serving as acting foreign minister, in his first meeting with the Foreign Ministry’s top officials since taking office in March. The root of the conflict, he said, was the Palestinians’ refusal to recognize the Jews’ right to a country. Israel, “has to make sure that, at the end of the negotiations, it will be clear it is the end of the conflict and Palestinian demands, and that there is recognition for our nation state. It’s not about a Palestinian state, it’s about a Jewish state,” he said. (Times of Israel, May 1, 2013)
"…And about your question about the hunger of children, we will not let any child in Israel starve. But I want to remind you of one thing. The parties responsible for feeding children are called their parents. When you bring a child into this world it is a serious responsibility, and you cannot have children under the assumption that other people will provide for them. You have to understand that you must be the ones to support your child." — Yair Lapid, leader of Yesh Atid, in his first speech to the Knesset addressing three non-confidence motions brought against the new budget by Haredi parties. "The most interesting thing," Lapid told United Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush, "is that that you had the courage to say that the central issue in the State of Israel is security – and you're worried about the diminishing percentage of draftees. You are worried? Well don't worry, the government will make sure that there are plenty of new recruits, straight from your own backyard." (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 29, 2013)
“There is a special tie between the Jewish people and the Druse community. I want to express Israel’s appreciation to those Druse who fell defending the State of Israel. I am speaking from personal experience in saying they are courageous and dedicated fighters. I fought shoulder to shoulder with Druse fighters and officers, and my brother of blessed memory [Lt.-Col. Yonatan Netanyahu] fought alongside Druse fighters who brought honor and security to Israel. Neither I nor the people of Israel forget that for a minute.” — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking to Druse leaders in the Druse villages of Julius and Daliat al-Carmel. (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 26, 2013)
"Jewish victories…have reduced Arab morale to zero and, following the cowardly example of their inept leaders, they are fleeing from the mixed areas in their thousands." — from recently declassified secret British government documents which show that the British government of the day knew from the moment it planned to withdraw its forces from Palestine that partition of the territory and the founding of the State of Israel would lead to war and defeat for the Arabs. By early 1948 British officials were reporting that "the Arabs have suffered a series of overwhelming defeats." A few days later, British officials spoke of the "steady influx of Arab volunteers" from neighbouring countries. (Guardian-UK, Apr. 26, 2013)
“Sadly, there are many religious leaders in the Middle East and across the world who advocate terror and bloodshed and do so in the name of the Lord. We all have an obligation to stand up and say, in a loud and clear voice, that the Lord did not give anyone the authority to murder and carry out bloodshed. Your voice has a great impact in this matter." — Israeli President Shimon Peres, in a statement during his audience with Pope Francis I on Tuesday [Apr. 30]. Taking the opportunity to invite the Pope to Israel, Peres said, “I am expecting you in Jerusalem and not just me, but all the people of Israel. The sooner you visit the better, as in these days a new opportunity is being created for peace, and your arrival could contribute significantly to increasing the trust and belief in peace." (Newsmax, May 1, 2013)
“Once again, United Nations official Richard Falk has spewed more mean-spirited, anti-Semitic rhetoric…. “I respectfully call on the United Nations Human Rights Council — again — to remove Mr. Falk from his position.” — John Baird, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, following Mr. Falk’s statements suggesting that somehow Israel and the U.S. were responsible for the Boston Marathon terrorist attack. (National Post, Apr. 27, 2013)
“The continued subversion of the UN human rights system — whereby thugs, murderers and rapists purport to judge the human rights record of a liberal democracy — undermines the founding principles and credibility of the United Nations. The UN squandered a golden opportunity to contribute to the promotion and protection of human rights in Canada….It’s the foxes guarding the chickens, with the world’s worst tyrannies abusing a legitimate process…to deflect attention from their own sordid practices.” — Hillel Neuer, a Montreal-born lawyer who directs UN Watch in Geneva, commenting on the UN decision send three human rights rapporteurs to investigate Canadian human rights abuses alleged by such countries as North Korea, Iran and China. Hillel Neuer will be Keynote Speaker at the Canadian Institute for Jewish Research’s 25th Silver Anniversary Gala Dinner to be held June 18 in Montreal. (National Post, Apr. 27, 2013)
“Knowing that potentially chemical weapons have been used inside of Syria doesn’t tell us when they were used, how they were used….We have to act prudently. We have to make these assessments deliberately….But I meant what I’d said, to use potential weapons of mass destruction on civilian populations crosses another line with respect to international norms and international law. And that is going to be a game changer.” — U.S. President Barack Obama, to reporters in the Oval Office. (New York Times, Apr. 27, 2013)
“There is a question here: when a red line is set, can we stick by it? If the Iranians will see that the red lines laid by the international community are flexible, then will they continue to progress?” — Zeev Elkin, Israel’s deputy Foreign Minister, referring to the use of chemical weapons in Syria, in a radio interview Friday [Apr. 26].
“If you ask me why they used it [chemical weapons] I would say it was just to test the world. If somebody would take any reaction, maybe it would deter them from using it again.” — an Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of army rules. (New York Times, Apr. 27, 2013)
"The president has laid down the line, and it can't be a dotted line. It can't be anything other than a red line. A failure to make good on U.S. threats would send a bad signal to other problem nations such as North Korea and Iran” — Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) U.S.House Intelligence Committee Chairman. (NTI, Reuters, Apr. 27, 2013)
"[T]hese are not intelligence estimates…rather proof, and even more than proof. There is substantial material about the use of chemical weapons by Assad's army. It is known to all intelligence agencies. One of the central dangers in Israel's view is the transfer of Syrian weapons to Hizbullah and Lebanon, as well as to terrorist organizations trying to reach the border. The possibility of them acquiring chemical or conventional weapons they never had before has implications for the State of Israel." — a senior Israeli official, in a briefing to reporters on Monday [Apr. 27] (Ha'aretz, Apr. 29, 2013)
“Mr. President, I understand the reasons behind your cautious involvement in Syria. We desperately need your support, as the Free Syrian Army under my command has neither the requisite training nor equipment to counter the effects of Assad’s chemical weapons or to destroy them.” — Gen. Salim Idriss, the commander of rebel forces in Syria, in a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama expressing his frustration at the President’s caution in acting against the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons, despite his tough talk of red lines. (Washington Post, Apr. 30, 2013)
“The use of chemical weapons in Syria and elsewhere in the world is not only a red line, it’s a purple line, it’s a blood line, and nobody is tolerated or will be tolerated to use such horrific weapon of mass destruction.” — Bashar Ja’afari, Syria’s UN ambassador, in a statement demanding a UN investigation into an alleged chemical weapons attack in Aleppo which the Syrian government blames on the rebels. (National Post, May 1, 2013)
"Abbas cooked up the ousting [of Salman Fayyad] together with international elements. He needed the money not for his own pockets but for his political survival." — a senior Israeli official, speaking to reporters on Monday [Apr. 27] about the resignation of former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, saying he was in reality, ousted in a move intended to strengthen President Mahmoud Abbas’ hold on the Palestinian Authority funds. "He [Fayyad] was the only address that donor countries trusted and the fact that the donor countries eventually agreed to sacrifice him with their consensual silence does not bode well." (Ha'aretz, Apr. 29, 2013)
“I’m looking at all aspects of this case to see if we can learn whether anything more could have been done. But I can certainly tell you that I cannot tolerate that serious criminals would be allowed to stay in Canada in perpetuity based on some pardon.” — Jason Kenny, Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, commenting to the press after the arrest of two al-Qaeda-linked men accused of allegedly conspiring to derail a Via Rail train bound for New York. Mr. Kenney added that he would be meeting with [immigration] officials to “see if there was any way to work to still remove someone like this who allegedly is stateless.” (National Post, Apr. 26, 2013)
“We are not willing to forget, or let it go. I think of it as a crusade.” — Marianne Rosenberg, a New York lawyer, who is negotiating with the Henie Onstad Arts Center in Norway for the return of a Matisse, one of four hundred art pieces stolen by the Nazis from the Paris home of her grandfather Paul Rosenberg, then one of the world’s leading dealers in Modern art. Thus far the Rosenberg family, which has been searching for their stolen art for three generations, has managed to recover more than 340 of the roughly 400 works stolen. (New York Times, Apr. 27, 2013)
"The Holocaust wouldn't have been possible, first of all, without enormous indifference throughout Germany and German-occupied Europe, but also thousands of people who were, say, just doing their jobs." — Susan Bachrach, curator of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, on the occasion of its Twentieth anniversary. The museum is compiling an encyclopaedia of all German incarceration Holocaust and killing sites throughout Europe. When the project began, scholars expected to list 10,000 such sites. Now the number stands at 42,000. (Vancouver Sun, Apr. 30, 2016)
CIJA PARTNERING WITH PEACE NOW GROUP — (Montreal-Toronto) The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) is partnering with an organization that has endorsed the boycott of Jewish goods produced in Judea and Samaria. Canadian Friends of Peace Now (CFPN) is sponsoring three appearances in Canada next month by Yossi Alpher, a writer for Americans for Peace Now who is billed as an “Israeli security consultant.” The ad for Alpher’s Canadian appearances features CIJA’s logo next to information about his May 7 date in Montreal. The ad featuring CIJA’s logo is posted only on CIJA’s French-language website www.cerji.ca. The same brochure, minus CIJA’s logo, appears on CIJA’s English-language website www.cija.ca. Peace Now (the parent organization headquartered in Israel), CFPN and Americans for Peace Now have all openly supported the targetted boycott of goods produced by Jewish businesses in Judea and Samaria. (Jewish Tribune, Apr. 23, 2013)
FRENCH COURT: JERUSALEM LIGHT RAIL PROJECT LEGAL — (Paris) A French court ruled that Israel did not violate international law by building a light rail line in eastern Jerusalem. The ruling on March 22 by the Versailles Court of Appeals came in response to a lawsuit filed in 2007 by the Palestine Liberation Organization and the France-Palestine Solidarity association against three French firms that participated in the construction of the light rail network. The judges ruled that international treaties applied to lands Israel captured in 1967 and that those conventions — including the Hague Convention of 1907 — state that the ruling power "can and even must establish normal, public activity" in that territory. (JTA, Apr. 26, 2013)
MOROCCAN IMMIGRANT GETS FIVE YEARS IN NYC SYNAGOGUE PLOT — (New York City) Mohammed Mamdouh, 22, a Moroccan immigrant to the U.S., was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday for plotting to bomb synagogues in New York City. Mamdouh and Ahmed Ferhani, a native of Algeria, were arrested in May 2011 after buying two Browning semi-automatic pistols, a revolver, ammunition and an inert grenade, police said. "Their intent was to create chaos and to intimidate and coerce Jews living in New York City, and thereby send a message far beyond New York," Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Gary J. Galperin said. Ferhani, 28, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on March 15. (Bloomberg, Apr. 26, 2013)
ISRAEL INAUGURATES 5TH DOLPHIN-CLASS SUB — (Kiel, Germany) Israel inaugurated its fifth nuclear missile-capable Dolphin-class submarine on April 29 in Kiel, Germany, home of the shipbuilding division of Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS). The INS Rahav, the fifth of six Israeli submarines built at the German shipyard with funding assistance from Berlin, is expected to arrive in Israel in 2014. It follows the May 2012 inauguration of Israel's fourth Dolphin-class submarine, the INS Tanin, which is scheduled for operational deployment in the coming months. (Defense News, Apr. 29, 2013)
IRAN LIKELY BEHIND DRONE THAT ISRAEL INTERCEPTED — (Haifa) The unmanned aircraft sent from Lebanon on Thursday and intercepted by Israel 10 km. west of Haifa seems to have been launched by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon. The last drone from Lebanon, in October 2012, was eventually believed to have been launched by the Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon with Hizbullah as the host. It seems that Iran wished to openly demonstrate its potential ability to damage essential facilities in Israel, at a time when they are feeling pressure over their nuclear program. (Ha'aretz, Apr. 26, 2013)
SAUDI CENTER AIMS FOR LIFE AFTER JIHAD — (Riyad, Saudi Arabia) In Saudi Arabia's ground-breaking program for drawing convicted jihadists and other violent extremists back into the mainstream, the kingdom's top-of-the-line rehab centers show that "life after jihad" can be surprisingly comfy. The Mohammed bin Nayef Care and Counseling Center included an outdoor pool, a professional-size soccer pitch, a gym with sauna and steam room, dining halls, dorms, and classrooms.
Rehab instructors and counselors work "to correct the thoughts of these people, and bring equilibrium to their thinking," said Said Bishi, who directs the centers. (Wall Street Journal, Apr. 24, 2013)
AZERBAIJAN: AN UNUSUAL PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND JEWS — (Jerusalem) Israeli President Shimon Peres on Monday praised Azerbaijan for taking "a clear stand" against war and terrorism, on the occasion of a visit to Israel by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, accompanied by a large delegation of Azerbaijani Jews, including a Jewish member of the parliament. Azerbaijan, a secular country with a predominantly Shiite Muslim population, has had a close relationship with Israel since the beginning of its independence from the Soviet Union a generation ago. It supplies some 40% of Israel's oil, shares a border with Iran, and has a close partnership with Israel in the defense sector. A subsidiary of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic is aiding Israel’s quest for energy security by drilling off the Israeli coast in the Mediterranean. The countries also have a close partnership in the defense sector. (Washington Times, Apr. 25, 2013)
SCOTTISH JEWISH EVENT FORCED TO MOVE AFTER THREATS — (Fife, Scotland) Jewish students at St. Andrews University in Fife were forced to find another location for a charity event at the last minute after anti-Israel activists threatened staff at the original venue. The staff received threatening phone calls and email from activists of the radical fringe group Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC), saying the Jewish National Fund and Friends of the IDF were to receive money raised by the students. Joel Salmon, president of the St. Andrews Jewish Society, said the event was held at an alternative venue and had raised over five times the expected amount. "The fact that the protest was organized by people with little or no connection to St. Andrews speaks volumes about our town and university," he added. (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 30, 2013)
ITALY HANDS PERES HONORARY PEACE CITATION AWARD — (Assisi, Italy) Israeli President Shimon Peres received a citation naming him an Honorary Citizen of Peace of the town of Assisi where, during World War Two, from September 1943 to June 1944, Father Rufino Nicacci, a Franciscan friar, hid and saved hundreds of Jews by giving them shelter in his monastery and in the Cathedral. At one stage, he was even arrested by the Gestapo, but released after a higher church authority interceded on his behalf. Rufino, who had never seen a Jew before, was acting on orders from Bishop Placido Nicolini. Both have been honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations. There were other Franciscans involved in the operation to save the Jews and there was even a friar who set up a clandestine school for Jewish children. (Jerusalem Post, May 1, 2013)
HUMAN RIGHTS ORG’S NOMINATE ANTI-ISRAEL, PRO-TERROR WOMAN FOR PRIZE — (Geneva) Egyptian Mona Seif has been nominated for what is known as the “Nobel Prize for Human Rights,” the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. The nominee was chosen by a panel of human rights organizations which include Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Human Rights First and the International Service for Human Rights. Seif was nominated in her capacity as one of the main founders of an Egyptian grassroots organization, “No to Military Trials for Civilians,” But the 27-year-old biology graduate student has a darker side. Seif gleefully tweets about blowing up gas pipelines to Israel. Seif’s Twitter account reveals a propensity to express the most vulgar kind of hatred towards Israel, both in terms of how she expresses herself: ”#F[expletive deleted] Israel” is a popular choice, as well as the substance of her messages, which advocate terrorism against the Jewish State and which harshly criticize Human Rights organizations which dare to suggest the terrorist group Hamas should refrain from killing Israeli civilians. (Jewish Press, May 1, 2013)
FATAH: MURDERER OF FATHER OF FIVE IS "THE HERO, THE RELEASED PRISONER" — (Samaria) This morning [Apr. 30], an Israeli father of five, Evyatar Borovsky, was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist at the Tapuach Junction, north-east of the Israeli city of Ariel and south of the Palestinian city of Nablus in the West Bank. Fatah's Facebook page is celebrating the murder and glorifying the murderer; pictures of the terrorist and the victim were posted by Fatah's Facebook administrator: "A picture of the settler who was killed today at the Al-Za'atara military checkpoint, in south Nablus, by the hero, the released prisoner, Salam As'ad Al-Zaghal from Tulkarem." (Palestinian Media Watch, Apr. 30, 2013)
HANGING HAMAN WITH THE IGBO JEWS OF ABUJA — (Abuja, Nigeria) There is a wide-spread belief among Igbos — the third-largest ethnic group in Nigeria — that they are descendants of the tribes of Israel. Many of them are passionately Zionist. Their precise number among the 175 million people in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is not certain, but ranges somewhere between 30 and 35 million. Their claim to a Jewish lineage and their support for Israel are interesting in and of themselves, but even more fascinating is that during the last 30 years or so there has also been a movement among some Igbos to match their tradition of Jewish descent with the practice of rabbinic Judaism, the learning of Hebrew, and the fostering of connections with Jews abroad. Most Igbo Jews, numbering perhaps 3,000 to 5,000, live in Igboland, the ancestral Nigerian region of the Igbos. A smaller number of Igbo Jews live in Abuja, where they have three synagogues. (Times of Israel, April 30, 2013)
British Officials Predicted War – and Arab Defeat – in Palestine in 1948: Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian, Apr. 26, 2013—Declassified UK reports document build-up of conflict, Jewish public's endorsement of their leaders' pro-terrorist stance and declare armies of Arab states were Palestinians' 'only hope'
Haredim See Lapid As a Force Majeure: Avishai Ben Haim, Jerusalem Post, Apr. 29, 2013—Lapid shocked the haredim when he broke unwritten rule, brought up topics such as number of children in haredi families, question of who support them.
Family, ‘Not Willing to Forget,’ Pursues Art It Lost to Nazis: Patricia Cohen & Tom Mashberg, Apr. 26, 2013—Lt. Alexandre Rosenberg of the Free French forces pounded on the boxcars. Hold your fire, he told his men. There might be prisoners inside the train they had stopped outside Paris in August 1944. Slowly, a few of the heavy doors slid open, and a handful of worn German soldiers straggled out.
Hanging Haman with the Igbo Jews of Abuja: Shai Afsai, Times of Israel, April 30, 2013—Why are members of Nigeria’s third-largest ethnic group, numbering 35 million, turning to Judaism?
Ber Lazarus , Publications Editor Canadian Institute for Jewish Research /L'institut Canadien de recherches sur le Judaïsme www.isranet.org Tel: (514) 486-5544 Fax: (514) 486-82843
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