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Contents: Weekly Quotes | Short Takes | On Topic Links
Israeli Study Highlights Cellphone Cancer Risk: Anouk Lorie NoCamels, Aug. 4, 2013
UN Condemns Hate by Marginal Individuals, But Ignores Hate by Gov’t Leaders: UN Watch , Aug. 5, 2013
American Jewish Singer Eydie Gorme Dies: Jerusalem Post, Aug.11, 2013
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EGYPT DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY, SCORES CONFIRMED KILLED—(Cairo) Egypt’s Health Ministry says the death toll from nationwide clashes, police raids rose to 95, with 874 wounded in push by Egyptian military to remove Islamist protestors demanding reinstatement of deposed President Mohamed Morsi. Egyptian authorities have declared a state of emergency as violent clashes between supporters of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and the military that ousted him spread across the country Wednesday. Dozens were killed in a push to remove protesters from numerous points throughout Cairo. Egypt's Health Ministry said on Wednesday that 95 people had been killed on Wednesday in a police raid on supporters of deposed President Mohamed Mursi at a Cairo protest camp and in clashes nationwide. "The dead are both from police and civilians. We are waiting to get more details," said the ministry's spokesman, Hamdi Abdel Karim, adding that 874 people had been wounded. The Islamist demonstrators were demanding the reinstatement of deposed President Mohamed Morsi, his Muslim Brotherhood movement said. The new Egyptian presidency announced a one-month state of emergency across the country on Wednesday and ordered the armed forces to help the Interior Ministry enforce security. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 14, 2013)
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“We thought about the murderers who would be released to a hero’s welcome….[It is legitmate to ask] why is this being done now as a prelude to negotiations – a move I believe is unprecedented – and not later, if at all, as a result of headway in the talks? Why is such a move, which the American broker would probably not agree to at all if the terrorists had killed US citizens, let alone as a condition for starting negotiations, become a legitimate condition because Palestinians are demanding it of Israel? And yet the court must rule in accordance with the law.” — Israeli Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein – who admitted to the petitioners [families of victims of the terrorists about to be released] that he was devastated by the desperate pleading in court Monday of the mother of Lior Tubol, ruthlessly stabbed to death in 1990 at the age of 17 – made it clear that the decision was made with “a heavy heart.” The Court ultimately rejected a petition brought by the families of the victims against the release of the cold-blooded murderers responsible for these atrocities and others. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 14, 2013)
“All of these years we've been in pain. But when you open the newspaper or the internet in the morning and you see that among the 26 [Palestinian terrorists] there's the man who killed your father in cold blood, it's a shock. With the Gilad Schalit deal no one asked me what I thought but I thought at the time I don't want him [Schalit] to end up like [missing Israeli airman] Ron Arad. But this time? Who are they saving?…I don't think that there will ever be peace. And when you think about these killers, why won't they do it again?..The government is stabbing us in the back, that’s how it feels.” — Tzviah Dahan, 56, whose father, Moshe Beker, was beaten and stabbed to death with a knife and pruning shears by three Palestinian men in a grove outside Rishon Letzion in January 1994. One of those men was released from Israeli prison as part of Israel’s “gesture” persuading the PA to resume peace talks. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 12, 2013)
"Incitement and peace cannot coexist. Rather than educate the next generation of Palestinians to live in peace with Israel, this hate education lays the ground for continued violence, terror and conflict." — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry following Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' assertion on July 29 that a future Palestinian state "would not see the presence of a single Israeli – civilian or soldier." (Yahoo! News, Aug. 11, 2013)
“I don't want to announce in front of cameras what we will do. But I repeat what I've said many times when I was in power and repeat it now. When we say that we are determined to prevent Iran from turning nuclear, we mean what we say.” — Ehud Barak, former Israeli minister of Defense, in an interview with Fareed Zakaria on CNN. (CNN , Aug 12, 2013)
“The lack of successful terror attacks from the West Bank in recent years should never be confused with a lack of motivation or desire on the part of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or the dozens of other organizations that work tirelessly in order to reestablish themselves in the region. While many have grown accustomed to the current situation, the relative calm and security stability that exists in the West Bank today, we mustn't kid ourselves – the violent currents are strong and they are just beneath the surface. The hard-won security stability is the product of over a decade of effective counterterrorism and routine security operations; and it can all vanish in an instant.” — Capt. Barak Raz, a spokesperson for the Judea and Samaria Division of the Israel Defense Forces, who has just completed two years of IDF service. (Times of Israel, Aug. 10, 2013)
"Prime Minister Netanyahu was completely upfront with me and with President Abbas that he would be announcing some additional building that would take place in places that will not affect the peace map, that will not have any impact on the capacity to have a peace agreement. That means that it is building within the so-called blocs in areas that many people make a presumption – obviously not some Palestinians or others – will be part of Israel in the future," Kerry added. "He has specifically agreed not to disturb what might be the potential for peace….There are realities within life in Israel that also have to be taken into account here going forward. President Abbas understood that coming into these talks." — US Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking during a press conference with the foreign minister of Brazil. Kerry made clear, however, that settlements at any time, and not just during the peace process, were considered illegitimate by the United States.
“In Judea and Samaria, and across the state of Israel, thousands of housing units will be built in the coming year. We will strive to build more in every part of the country. There is no area we won’t build in. It is unimaginable that there would be an area in which they dictate to us whether or not to build….There is no difference between Judea and Samaria and the rest of the country,” he said, using the Israeli term for the West Bank. “We will build everywhere.” — Uri Ariel, Israel’s Minister of Housing and Construction, from the right-wing Jewish Home party, promising more construction on both sides of the “Green Line” while touring Ariel, a settlement north of Jerusalem. (Times of Israel, Aug. 13, 2013)
"They [Israelis] know for certain that our [Palestinian] roots are deeper than their false history. We, from the balcony of our home, look out over [Islamic] holiness (visual: Western Wall from a distance) and on sin and filth (visual: close up of Western Wall showing Jews praying) in an area that used to have [Arab] people and homes. We are drawing our new maps. When they [Israelis] disappear from the picture, like a forgotten chapter in the pages of our city's history, we will build it anew (residential area). The Mughrabi Quarter will be built here (on the Western Wall Plaza).” — official Palestinian Authority TV broadcast Sept. 10, 2010, uncovered and documented by Palestinian Media Watch. (Palestinian Media Watch, Aug. 12, 2013)
“This is a nation [Israel] that is asking for nothing more than the ability to be recognized and for people to acknowledge their right to exist. That is not too much to ask,” — United States Congressman Joseph Kennedy (D-MA), son of slain U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post, during his five-day visit as part of a 36-member U.S. Congressional delegation to Israel, affirming how important security is for a small country like Israel with hostile neighbors. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 12, 2013)
“We are living in a state of constant terror, but we see nothing from the police or army. Everything has stopped for us. There is no work, all the churches have closed, the priests have fled.” — Mitri Shawqui Mitri, a 53-year-old Egyptian Christian shopkeeper whose son, Mina, was kidnapped by gunmen early this month. (New York Times, Aug. 11, 2013)
“The intervening events that indicate that the U.S. administration is deliberately diminishing American influence in all the theatres of the world are the imbroglio over Edward Snowden in Russia, and the ludicrous fiasco of the visit of Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham to Egypt on the conceit that they have some standing to announce and enact American foreign policy.” — Conrad Black, in an op-ed in the National Post. (National Post, Aug. 10, 2013)
“He [Obama] desperately wants to end the whole struggle. This is no secret wish. In a major address to the National Defense University just three months ago he declared: ‘this war, like all wars, must end.’ The plaintive cry of a man hoping that saying so makes it so. The result is visible ambivalence that leads to vacillating policy reeking of incoherence. Obama defends the vast NSA data dragnet because of the terrible continuing threat of terrorism. Yet at the same time, he calls for not just amending but actually repealing the legal basis for the entire war on terror, the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force. Well, which is it? If the tide of war is receding, why the giant NSA snooping programs? If al-Qaeda is on the run, as he incessantly assured the nation throughout 2012, why is America cowering in 19 closed-down embassies and consulates?” — Charles Krauthammer, in an op-ed article in National Post (National Post, Aug. 10, 2013)
“It’s not enough for me as President, to have confidence in these programs. The American people need to have confidence in them as well.” — President Barak Obama, in the East Room of the White House, commenting on his plan to amend the legislation governing the secret National Security Agency surveillance program.(National Post, Aug. 10, 2013)
“You [Obama] left the Egyptians, you turned your back on the Egyptians, and they won’t forget that.” — Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, head of the Egyptian Armed Forces and current military leader of Egypt. (National Post, Aug. 9, 2013)
“You have to leave Jerusalem. You have to leave Palestine. We say get out or you’re dead! We give them two minutes and then we start shooting. And that’s the only way that they will understand.” — Elias Hazineh, former president of Palestine House in suburban Toronto, addressing an Al-Quds Day there to cheers from a crowd of approximately 400. The Toronto Police has launched a hate crimes investigation into the incident after receiving a complaint. (Jewish Press, Aug. 14, 2013)
"I'm paraplegic and could be in jail for the rest of my life. However, if I died by lethal injection, I would still be a martyr." — Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Islamist U.S Army psychiatrist on trial for the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, where 13 dies, to a panel of mental health experts shortly after the attack. (Yahoo News, Aug.13, 2013)
ISRAEL FREES 26 TERRORISTS FOR PEACE TALKS — (Ramle) Two convoys left the Ayalon prison Tuesday night at around 9 pm, carrying 26 terrorists who were released as the first part of an Israeli gesture to the Palestinian Authority. One convoy, carrying 15 terrorists traveled to the Erez junction, near Gaza, where those terrorists were released. The second convoy, carrying 11 terrorists, went to Ofer prison, and then on to the Beitunia checkpoint. Over 1000 Arabs have gathered at the Muqata in Ramallah to greet the freed terrorists, and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas will be leading a welcoming ceremony. Correcting a mistake made in the many previous terrorist releases, Israel decided to use windowless vans to transport the terrorists, so at least within Israel controlled areas, they couldn’t make their victory displays to the media. Israel also released the prisoners late at night, in order to minimize attendance at the Palestinian Authority celebration parties. (Jewish Press, Aug. 14, 2013)
PA SPEAKS OF "TEMPORARY" PEACE DEAL — (Ramallah) Senior PA spokesmen Nabil Abu Rudeineh and Yasir Abed Rabbo declared separately on July 21 that any deal reached with Israel would only bind the Palestinians temporarily. The government of Mahmoud Abbas will not sign a final, all-encompassing peace treaty. The very most they might agree to is a hudna – a truce, a tactical device to allow them to regroup and rearm. Moreover, a genuine peace would include an end to the campaign of unrelenting, unabashed racism, spewed out every day by Arab media and every Friday by imams throughout the Muslim world. (Jewish Chronicle-UK, Aug. 9, 2013)
PROTESTERS CALL FOR 'EQUALITY,' SAYING ISRAEL SHOULD RELEASE JEWISH PRISONERS— (Ramle) Hours before 26 Palestinian security prisoners were slated to exit Ayalon Prison in Ramle for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, around 20 people protested outside the prison, calling for Israel to release Jewish prisoners held for nationalist attacks on Arabs. The protesters included relatives of Ami Popper, who on May 20, 1990, gunned down seven unarmed Palestinian men from the Gaza Strip, and wounded 11 others waiting at a bus stop in Rishon Lezion. Popper’s brother Tzvi said his family is calling for “equality, an end to discrimination. They are talking about releasing 104 terrorists for peace but what about the 10 Jewish prisoners? The only difference is we know that we [Jewish prisoners] won’t return to terror, they [Palestinian prisoners] will.” (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 13, 2013)
SHHHH, OBAMA RELEASED TALIBAN PRISONERS TO ENCOURAGE ‘PEACE’ TALKS (Guantanamo Bay) “If the U.S. president thinks it’s such a good idea for Israel to release convicted murderers, why doesn’t he release some of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay?” is the response we’ve been hearing to news stories about the United States pressuring Israel to release convicted murderers merely as a door prize for the Arab Palestinians for coming to the table to talk. It is unlikely to make the people who were asking the question feel better, but the answer is: He already did. That’s right, somehow, in a story that seems to have flown below the radar, five members of the Taliban who had been detained at the U.S.’s Guantanamo Bay Detention Center in Cuba have been freed by the U.S. It happened at the end of July. But don’t worry, those five prisoners were released under a very strict condition: they had to agree that they would not engage in any violent activity. And the reason for the release? To show the Taliban that the United States is serious about engaging in peace talks. Sound familiar? (Jewish Press, Aug. 12, 2013)
PALESTINIAN KIDS TAUGHT TO HATE ISRAEL IN UN-FUNDED CAMPS, CLIP SHOWS — (Balata Refugee Camp, West Bank) New video footage appears to show Palestinian children in summer camps run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) being taught that “Jews are the wolf,” and that they will one day conquer Israeli cities by force. In one scene, Amina Hinawi, director of the Gaza camp, explains her educational approach: “We teach the children about the villages they came from…,” she says, “this way, every child will be motivated to return to their original village.” “UNRWA finances this summer camp,” she continues. “I’m very, very, very appreciative of UNRWA.” The United States was the largest single donor to UNRWA in 2011, according to the organization’s website, with a total contribution of over $239 million, followed by the European Commission’s $175 million. These two sources accounted for about 42 per cent UNRWA’s income for its core program budget. (Times of Israel, Aug. 14, 2013)
REPORT: 400 US SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILES WENT MISSING IN BENGHAZI — (Washington) Lawyer, Joe diGenova, representing one of the whistleblowers with knowledge of the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi last September, says 400 surface-to-air missiles were "diverted to Libya" during the attack and fell into "the hands of some very ugly people." Saying his information "comes from a former intelligence official who stayed in constant contact with people in the special ops and intelligence community," diGenova said the U.S. intelligence community is terrified the missiles might be used to shoot down airliners — and that fear, in part, fueled the closing of embassies in the Middle East last week. "They were afraid that there was going to be a missile attack on one of the embassies," he said, The Daily Mail reported. "Remember, you can take a shoulder-held missile and shoot it into an embassy. Not just into the sky.” (Newsmax, Aug 12, 2013)
HAMAS TO CELEBRATE END OF RAMADAN WITH MASS PUBLIC EXECUTIONS — (Gaza City) There’s no better way to celebrate the end Ramadan than with mass executions, or at least that’s what Hamas believes. Timed to coincide with the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, Hamas plans to publicly execute anywhere up up to 40 people they claim are criminals, who “confessed” to their crimes after being severely tortured, according to a report in YNet. The stated goal of the executions is to help maintain public security. The last executions in Gaza took place in June 2013, when Hamas executed two people it claimed were collaborating with Israel. Israel on the other hand, does not execute Gazan terrorists, and instead frees them in exchange for talks with the Palestinian Authority. (Jewish Press, Aug. 8, 2013)
EGYPT APPOINTS NEW GOVERNORS— (Cairo) Egyptian revolutionary and Islamist groups voiced concern on Tuesday that the appointment of new governors by the interim president includes too many army and police officers, raising fears among critics that the old regime of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak is making a comeback. The appointments saw a total of 12 military and police officials secure posts in Egypt's 27 provinces. Many of these officials and others served in key posts during Mubarak's three decades in power. Ten governors hail from the military, and two from the police. Two deputy governors are police generals. Egypt's interim president Adly Mansour swore in the new governors, removing all 10 of ousted President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood appointees, though many had already left their posts to join protests in Cairo against the new military-backed government. (Yahoo! News, Aug. 13, 2013),
EGYPTIAN ANTI-OBAMA VIDEO GOES VIRAL, BLAMES HIM FOR SIDING WITH MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD — US President Barack Obama appears to have angered supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, as well as supporters of the army coup that toppled him on July 3. Leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is at the vanguard of the street protests against Morsi’s ouster, claim the US supported the coup. Those opposed to the Brotherhood claim Washington has been and still is supporting the Islamists (YouTube Video). (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 4, 2013)
CHRISTIAN ENLISTMENT IN IDF TRIPLES IN 2013; 500 CHRISTIANS SIGN UP FOR NATIONAL SERVICE PROGRAMS — (Nazareth) The number of Christians enlisted in the Israeli Defense Force rose sharply in 2013, tripling to 100 from 35 a year earlier, while 500 young Christians have volunteered for Israeli National Service programs, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Monday. At a meeting with Father Gabriel Nadaf, a Greek Orthodox priest from Nazareth and spiritual leader of a forum for the enlistment of Christian youth in the IDF, Netanyahu said a joint government-community forum would be established within two weeks to promote the enlistment of Christian community youth in the IDF and national service and their integration into the life of the state. (Algemeiner, Aug. 7, 2013)
TEN-YEAR-OLD CHRISTIAN GIRL SHOT DEAD AS VIOLENCE RETURNS TO EGYPT'S STREETS — (Cairo) Egypt's Christian community gathered in a church in Cairo last night to mourn Jessi Boulus, who was shot as she walked home from Bible class at the Ahmed Esmat Street Evangelical Church where her uncle serves as the pastor. The shooting happened last week, but came to light only yesterday as her family expressed anger over the failure of the police to identify the culprit. The death of the schoolgirl from a single shot to the chest is the latest blow for Egypt's Christian community as it is engulfed in a post-Arab Spring political crisis that has seen the collapse of authority and rise of Islamist militants. (The Telegraph, Aug 14 2013)
ISRAEL INTERCEPTS ROCKET FROM EGYPTIAN TERRITORY TARGETED AT COASTAL RESORT OF EILAT— (Eilat) Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system intercepted a rocket launched at the Red Sea resort town of Eilat near the border with Egypt today, the army said. Islamist militants operating in the Sinai desert peninsula said they fired the rocket at the city, which was packed with tourists, in retaliation for the killing of four guerrillas in Sinai on Friday. It was the first time the defence system has successfully intercepted a rocket attack on the resort, the military said. The incident followed days of heightened tension along the Egypt-Israel border. The army said the rocket was intercepted early today and that there were no injuries. (The Independent, Aug. 13, 2013)
Israeli Study Highlights Cellphone Cancer Risk: Anouk Lorie,NoCamels, Aug. 4, 2013—A study by Tel Aviv University has shown, for the first time, a clear connection between cellphone use and higher risk of cancer.
UN Condemns Hate by Marginal Individuals, But Ignores Hate by Government Leaders: UN Watch , Aug. 5, 2013—UN Watch is urging UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and human rights chief Navi Pillay to condemn the latest call to eliminate Israel by the leaders of Iran and Hezbollah, who invoked God and religion in their sermons of hate.
American Jewish Singer Eydie Gorme Dies: Jerusalem Post, Aug.11, 2013 —Eydie Gorme, a pop vocalist who entertained nightclub audiences and TV viewers as a solo artist and with her husband, Steve Lawrence, died Saturday. She was 84.
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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