Erdogan Continues to Turn the Screws: Timothy Garton Ash, Globe & Mail, Mar. 6, 2017
Pressure for More Canadian Defence Spending Will Come From Both the U.S. and Europe: Matthew Fisher, National Post, Mar. 4, 2017
Revolt of the Attorneys General: Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, Mar. 2, 2017
A Surprising Show of Confidence: Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, Mar. 2, 2017
WEEKLY QUOTES
“We received a direct message — not an indirect message and not a hint — from the United States. Imposing Israeli sovereignty on Judea and Samaria would mean an immediate crisis with the new administration.” — Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman. U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s administration has explicitly warned Israel against annexing parts of Judea and Samaria. The angry U.S. reaction was sparked by comments by Miki Zohar, a lawmaker in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party. Zohar is among a growing number of coalition members who reject the idea of a Palestinian state and instead suggested that Israel annex Judea and Samaria. “The two-state solution is dead,” Zohar told i24NEWS. “What is left is a one-state solution with the Arabs here as, not as full citizenship, because full citizenship can let them to vote to the Knesset.” (Washington Post, Mar. 6, 2017)
“In Germany, they are not allowing our friends to speak. Let them do so. Do you think that by not allowing them to speak the votes in Germany will come out ‘no’ instead of ‘yes?’ Germany, you don’t have anything to do with democracy. These current practices of yours are no different than the Nazi practices of the past.” — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan hit back after a local authority in south-west Germany prevented a Turkish minister from addressing a rally. Turkey’s justice minister cancelled a meeting with his German counterpart after local authorities in the south-west of the country withdrew permission for him to use a venue to hold a rally. It was part of a campaign to get Turks in Germany to vote “yes” in the referendum. There are about 1.4 million people in Germany who are eligible to vote in the upcoming Turkish referendum. (Jewish News, Mar. 6, 2017)
“Higher education institutions have a responsibility to ensure that they provide a safe and inclusive environment for all students, and we expect them to have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law.” — British Prime Minister Theresa May. Last week, May called on UK universities to “investigate and swiftly address” antisemitism. She also noted that the Minister for Universities and Science had urged colleges to “follow the government’s lead in adopting the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition of anti-Semitism.” (Algemeiner, Mar. 1, 2017)
“There have been terrorist attacks on our doorstep, in France, Germany and Belgium and attacks on British people overseas…We’ve seen terrorists target Jews specifically in recent years including in Paris, Brussels, Toulouse and Copenhagen. Just last month a 16-year-old girl was charged with terrorism offences in Denmark after she was caught planning to blow up a Jewish school. And Daesh literature continues to identify the Jewish community as a ‘desirable and legitimate target.’” — British Home Secretary Amber Rudd. Rudd said that the UK is doing all it can to protect Jews, including allocating £13.4 million to safeguard schools and religious sites. She added that “security measures alone are not enough. We must deal with those who promote hatred, intolerance and violence. That’s why in 2015 this government introduced our Counter Extremism Strategy which focuses on four pillars: building partnerships with all those opposed to extremism, countering extremist ideologies, disrupting extremists and building cohesive communities.” (Algemeiner, Mar. 5, 2017)
"Facebook believes it is allowed to make billions of dollars in profits every year without any obligation to demonstrate responsibility, supervise and remove content calling for the murder of Jews worldwide." — Shurat Hadin Israeli Law Center’s Nitzana Darshan-Leitner. The Brooklyn District Court began hearing arguments in the case of two federal suits against Facebook. The Center filed the billion-dollar suit in 2015 on behalf of U.S. victims of Hamas terrorist attacks and 20,000 Israeli plaintiffs, over claims that Facebook facilitates incitement against Israelis. The organization is also asking the court to issue an injunction against Facebook to remove the inciting pages, monitor the methods of incitement and block them, and hold the social networking giant responsible for allowing terrorists on its network. "The defendants invested huge sums in developing technologies which would enable them to know every detail about their users, yet they refuse to use the very same technologies to stop the incitement to violence against Jews. Facebook has become a weapon of Hamas in its efforts to encourage terror and therefore this must be stopped by using legal means," she said. (Israel Hayom, Mar. 2, 2017)
“Everyone should fight in their own way, from carrying out stabbing and vehicular attacks to launching rockets. That is how we will liberate Palestine from the river to the sea…Everyone should contribute from where they are, using the means at their disposal and in accordance with their various situations…All means of combat are legitimate in order to realize Allah’s promise for liberation: From [the traditional dance] Dabke to armed struggle.” — Salah al-Zawawi, the PLO’s Tehran envoy. Last week, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said “liberating Quds (Jerusalem) and destroying the Zionist tumor is the main duty of Muslims.” A day earlier, Iranian President Rouhani hailed the “tireless resistance” of the Palestinians, saying that “intifada” was the “sole choice by a noble nation to stay and not give up.” (Algemeiner, Mar. 2, 2017)
“A stalemate is still a win for the Taliban…We have told Gen Mattis that Afghanistan is slipping out of control, and that if things are not put right, America will have a huge crisis on its hands…(Daesh) is also developing there, and if they leave Syria and Iraq, the next place for them to gather in is Afghanistan.” — Resolute Support Mission commander Gen John Nicholson. Nicholson admitted last month that Afghan forces were now in a stalemate against a resurgent Taliban. Pakistan’s military has warned Donald Trump’s new generals that they face a ‘total mess’ in Afghanistan unless the US and UK can halt the advance of IS and the Taliban. Pakistan has criticized the Kabul government for not doing enough to seal its side of the Afghan border, from where Islamabad says terrorists are now launching attacks on both Pakistani and Afghan soil. (Express Tribune, Mar. 6, 2017)
“I am very sad…because I had to leave my friends and my school, and I don’t know if I will go back or not. I saw the threats with my own eyes, on notices and written on the walls of [my] house. I heard what they said to my father on the phone, when they said we had to leave or else they would kill us.” — 8-year-old girl from El Arish, Egypt. This young girl, along with hundreds of other Christians, was forced to flee for her life because I.S. continues to make bloodthirsty threats against Christians: “We swear that we will repay you, oh Egypt’s Christians. We will expel you, slaughter you, and subject you to Allah’s laws, oh idolaters – oh unclean ones.” I.S. has killed at least seven El Arish Christians in recent days. The believers were shot, burned alive or beheaded. In December, a suicide bomber attacked a Coptic Orthodox Church in Cairo, killing 29 and injured dozens. (Algemeiner, Mar. 5, 2017)
“I understand that the Egyptian military is facing a great challenge in Sinai, and it doesn’t seem like they are capable of restoring control. However, the attack against the Copts in El-Arish has been taking place for some time now, and the Egyptian government knows that Copts are a target for ISIS. So, either the government could have helped to evacuate the Copts from there. Or they could have done their job and secured their safety. What happened in El Arish sends a message: The Egyptian government and military don’t really care about the safety and wellbeing of the Copts. Christians in the Muslim world have been the victims of their careless, complicit governments and Islamic terrorism for so long now that our communities are vanishing in our home countries. El-Arish isn’t the first place where they’ll manage to destroy the Coptic existence. And it won’t be the last.” — Mina Abdelmalak – a Coptic activist based in Washington, DC. (Algemeiner, Mar. 5, 2017)
“I don’t think there is any question that the former president was intent on leaving behind landmines. And you are right, the NSA stuff is curious. Normally, when NSA is listening in on a foreigner, they take great care to redact any American involved. The NSA is not supposed to spy on Americans. Here it was the reverse, and there was an obvious attempt as was reported in the New York Times to make sure that this was spread as widely as possible, that it would become a problem for the Trump administration. I wouldn’t call it the “deep state,” it gives it a le Carré feel that there is this ominous enemy of the United States hidden in bureaucracy. What this is, is the revenge of the losers. These are people who wanted to make trouble for an administration of a guy who they thought wasn’t going to win and shouldn’t have won, and to see what happens.” — Charles Krauthammer (National Review, Mar. 4, 2017)
SHORT TAKES
ST. LOUIS MAN ARRESTED FOR BOMB THREATS AGAINST JEWISH INSTITUTIONS (St. Louis) — A St. Louis man has been charged for making at least eight bomb threats against Jewish community centers and the ADL. Juan Thompson, 31, has been charged with cyberstalking, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. In total, more than 100 Jewish institutions, mostly JCCs, have received bomb threats since the beginning of the year. The last two weeks saw vandalism at Jewish cemeteries in Philadelphia, St. Louis and Rochester, New York, as well as two more waves of bomb threats called into JCCs, schools and institutions across the country. No explosive device was found after any of the calls. (JTA, Mar. 3, 2017)
JCCS IN TORONTO, LONDON AMONG THREAT TARGETS (Toronto) — Jewish community centres in Toronto and London, Ont., were among several across North America that received bomb threats on Tuesday. Police say the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre in Toronto was evacuated in light of threats made in New York, Oregon, Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida, and Maryland. A bomb threat made against the London JCC was the second it has received in the past two months. In the U.S., the ADL and several Jewish community centres across the country got a round of bomb threats Tuesday, including five in New York City. U.S. federal officials have been investigating more than 120 threats against Jewish organizations in three dozen states since Jan. 9 and a rash of vandalism at Jewish cemeteries. None of the threats have resulted in physical injury. (Globe & Mail, Mar. 7, 2017)
DOZENS KILLED IN I.S. ATTACK IN KABUL (Kabul) — I.S. fighters disguised as doctors fought elite government forces inside Afghanistan’s largest military hospital on Wednesday in a seven-hour battle that left at least 30 people dead, and 50 others wounded. I.S.’s affiliate, Khorasan Province, said it carried out the attack, which began when a suicide bomber struck at the medical facility in the Afghan capital. All three gunmen were killed by government forces. Last month, an I.S. fighter detonated his suicide vest at the gates of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court, killing 21 people and wounding 41 others. I.S. also frequently target minority Shiites, whom it considers apostates. In the most recent attack, a suicide bomber killed about 30 worshipers in a Shiite mosque in Kabul. (Wall Street Journal, Mar. 8, 2017)
U.S. RAMPS UP AIRSTRIKES AGAINST AL QAEDA IN YEMEN (Sa’ana) — The U.S. carried out airstrikes Friday against suspected Qaeda terrorists in Yemen. In 2016, the U.S. conducted 38 strikes in Yemen. Trump pledged during his campaign to accelerate efforts against I.S. But the Qaeda affiliate in Yemen has emerged as the White House’s most vexing terrorism challenge. The Trump administration has been forced to defend itself against assertions that a raid in January of a Qaeda safe house in Yemen — during which a member of the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 was killed — was a failure because little meaningful intelligence had been seized. (New York Times, Mar. 3, 2017)
EGYPTIAN COURT CLEARS WAY FOR HOSNI MUBARAK’S RELEASE (Cairo) — Egypt’s top appeals court cleared former President Hosni Mubarak of any responsibility for the killing of hundreds of people during the 2011 protests that ended his 30-year rule, sweeping away the final legal hurdle to Mubarak’s release from detention. None of the Mubarak-era figures who grew rich and influential during his time in power are still in jail. The sole exception is Mubarak himself, who has been under guard for years at a hospital in Cairo. In contrast, thousands of Egyptians who rose against him in 2011 are stuck in prison. (New York Times, Mar. 2, 2017)
JORDAN HANGS 15 CONVICTS AS DETERRENT TO TERRORISM (Amman) — Jordan hanged 15 death row prisoners in a further break with the moratorium on executions it had observed between 2006 and 2014. Ten of those put to death had been convicted of terrorism offences and five of “heinous” crimes including rape. All of those hanged were Jordanians. King Abdullah II had said in 2005 that Jordan aimed to become the first Middle Eastern country to halt executions in line with most European countries. But public opinion blamed a rise in crime on the policy and in December 2014 Jordan hanged 11 men convicted of murder, drawing criticism from human rights groups. (Times of Israel, Mar. 4, 2017)
SYRIA PEACE TALKS END WITH LITTLE PROGRESS (Damascus) —The latest round of Syrian peace talks ended Friday with no progress toward reaching a political solution to end the six-year war, but with plans to reconvene later this month for more negotiations. For more than a week, the Syrian government and opposition delegations met separately with the U.N. Syria envoy, but much of the discussion was about how to conduct the talks. The opposition continues to demand the ouster of Assad even as the regime appears increasingly victorious against rebels. The government delegation insisted on making the defeat of terrorism part of the agenda. (Wall Street Journal, Mar. 3, 2017)
ANCIENT MONUMENT IN PALMYRA DAMAGED BY I.S. (Damascus) — I.S. has severely damaged a major Roman monument in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. Under heavy Russian air cover, the Syrian army and allied militias drove I.S. out of the site on Thursday, two months after it had seized it in a surprise advance. It was the second time the city had been recaptured from the militants in the course of Syria's six-year war. An antiquities official said he had seen serious damage to the Tetrapylon, a square stone platform with matching structures of four columns positioned at each corner. Only four of the 16 columns were still standing. There was also harm, but less serious, to the facade of a Roman theatre, where the damage was to a part that was restored, not original, he said. (CBC, Mar. 4, 2017)
KURDS ASK FOR STRONGER CANADIAN DIPLOMATIC PRESENCE (Erbil) — Canada is being asked to upgrade its diplomatic footprint in northern Iraq, as the Kurdish government presses for closer economic and political ties to accompany Canada's sizable military presence. The request comes as the Liberal government beefs up the number of Canadian diplomats deployed in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, including the appointment of a full-time ambassador to Baghdad. The government says no decision has been made on increasing Canada's contacts with the Kurds. Canada has had a trade office in the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, Erbil, since 2013, but the Kurds' top diplomat says his government wants to see it upgraded to a consulate general. (National Post, Mar. 7, 2017)
IRAN SAYS S-300 AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM NOW ‘OPERATIONAL’ (Tehran) — Iran’s advanced S-300 air defense system, delivered by Russia following a July 2015 nuclear deal, is now operational. Iran had been trying to acquire the system for years to ward off repeated threats by Israel to bomb its nuclear facilities, but Russia had held off delivery in line with UN sanctions imposed over the nuclear program. Iran’s activation of the defense system comes amid mounting tensions with the Trump administration, who imposed sanctions after Iran tested a medium-range ballistic missile in January. The Russian-made missile defense system is one of the most advanced of its kind in the world. (Times of Israel, Mar. 4, 2017)
ALLEGED SPY INDICTED IN IRAN LIKELY CANADIAN (Tehran) — An Iranian-Canadian who was involved in the financial aspects of Iran’s nuclear deal is believed to have been indicted in Iran on suspicion of espionage. Abdolrasoul Dorri Esfahani was arrested in August but not immediately charged. AP reported that the indicted person was only identified by his initials, D.E., but was said to be a dual national. AP described Dorri Esfahani as a member of the Ontario Institute of Chartered Accountants, a former adviser to Iran’s Central Bank, and a former diplomat in the Hague working on disputes with the United States over military equipment purchases. (National Post, Mar. 5, 2017)
BRITISH HOLOCAUST DENIER’ ALLOWED INTO CANADA (Calgary) — Canadian Jewish groups are asking why the government allowed a British woman accused of Holocaust denial into the country to speak at a neo-Nazi event. The racist group Blood & Honour said on its website that Alison Chabloz would be the “special guest” at an event in Calgary. Blood & Honour is named after a Hitler Youth slogan, publishes a magazine “promoting neo-Nazism” and has chapters in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, according to the RCMP. According to a post on the Facebook page of white nationalist Paul Fromm she is on an eight-city tour of Canada that began in London, Ont. (National Post, Mar. 2, 2017)
FREELAND KNEW HER GRANDFATHER WAS EDITOR OF NAZI NEWSPAPER (Ottawa) — Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland knew for more than two decades that her maternal Ukrainian grandfather was the chief editor of a Nazi newspaper in occupied Poland that vilified Jews during the Second World War. Freeland’s family history has become a target for Russian forces seeking to discredit one of Canada’s highly placed defenders of Ukraine. Freeland, who has paid tribute to her maternal grandparents in articles and books, helped edit a scholarly article in the Journal of Ukrainian Studies in 1996 that revealed her grandfather, Michael Chomiak, was a Nazi propagandist for Krakivski Visti (Krakow News). Freeland suggested that the allegation was part of a Russian disinformation campaign. (Globe & Mail, Mar. 7, 2017)
COLUMBIA STUDENTS LAUNCH ‘HEBREW LIBERATION WEEK’ (New York) — To counter a series of annual “Israeli Apartheid Week” events, a new program initiated by a grassroots advocacy group at Columbia University seeks to “empower Jewish and pro-Israel students to feel proud of their history, culture, identity and values.” Hebrew Liberation Week “is a positive celebration of the connection between the Jews and Israel,” contrasting the negative messages repeatedly conveyed by certain elements on campus. To this end, a series of large canvases and panels, depicting various aspects of Israeli culture and history, were displayed. These included artwork of IDF soldiers; a drawing of a young person dressed like the Lion of Judah. The installation was purposely placed near an “apartheid wall,” glorifying violent “resistance” against Israel. (Algemeiner, Mar. 1, 2017)
SHEARITH ISRAEL APPEAL AGAINST TOURO SYNAGOGUE IN COURT (Boston) — The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston will hear arguments in the dispute between the oldest Jewish U.S. congregation, Shearith Israel in New York, and the 250-year-old Touro Synagogue in Rhode Island. The $7.4 million dispute erupted in 2011, when the Newport Touro synagogue offered to sell the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston two silver Torah ornaments called “rimonim” for $7.4 million. But the ornaments, like the rest of the synagogue, were the property of Congregation Shearith Israel. Members of the Newport congregation told the court that the reason they had to sell the ornaments was that their numbers were starting to dwindle and they could no longer afford to pay a rabbi. (Jewish Press, Mar. 8, 2017)
ISRAELI TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTIONIZES HEART ATTACK DETECTION (Tel Aviv) — A health professional needs one drop of blood can tell within minutes if a patient has had a heart attack thanks to a revolutionary kit developed in Israel. If two stripes appear on the kit, the result is positive and the patient must immediately receive additional care. The test is easy, noninvasive and takes less than 15 minutes to perform. There have already been numerous heart attacks picked up by this new miniature kit that went undetected by traditional testing. The next step will be making it available to consumers, who will be able to do the simple test on their own. (World Israel News, Mar. 6, 2017)
ISRAEL CLINCHES BERTH IN WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC QUARTERFINALS (Seoul) — Israel advanced to the last eight of the World Baseball Classic on Wednesday. The Netherlands’ 6-5 win over Chinese Taipei in Seoul secured Israel’s progress, with both the blue-and-white and the Dutch owning a 2-0 record after two games. First place in Pool A will be decided when Israel faces the Netherlands on Thursday. Israel claimed a 2-1 win in 10 innings against host South Korea in its opener before beating Chinese Taipei 15-7 on Tuesday. (Jerusalem Post, Mar. 8, 2017)
Erdogan Continues to Turn the Screws: Timothy Garton Ash, Globe & Mail, Mar. 6, 2017—If this newspaper were published in Turkey, the rest of this column might be entirely blank, except for an author photograph at the top and the words, printed in large type, “124 days deprived of freedom.”
Pressure for More Canadian Defence Spending Will Come From Both the U.S. and Europe: Matthew Fisher, National Post, Mar. 4, 2017—First Barack Obama criticized NATO for being full of “free riders,” then Donald Trump called the organization “obsolete.” Now, Angela Merkel has promised that Germany will spend more on its military to meet the alliance’s target figure for defence expenditures for its member nations: at least two per cent of gross domestic product.
Revolt of the Attorneys General: Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, Mar. 2, 2017—Among the many unintended legacies of Barack Obama, one has gone largely unnoticed: the emergence of a novel form of resistance to executive overreach, a check-and-balance improvised in reaction to his various presidential power grabs.
A Surprising Show of Confidence: Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, Mar. 2, 2017—The president’s speech has been broadly, justly praised. Here, a look at particular aspects of the joint session address, and why it had power.
