Donald Trump Racks Up Few Wins So Far: Louise Radnofsky & Rebecca Ballhaus, Wall Street Journal, Apr. 1, 2017
Trump Settles in on Settlements: Elliott Abrams, Israel Hayom, Apr. 5, 2017
At Ryerson, a Rare Win for Jewish Groups on Campus (and One With a Pleasant Twist): Barbara Kay, National Post, Apr. 4, 2017
The Anti-Semitism of the American Left: Barry Shaw, Arutz Sheva, Apr. 2, 2017
WEEKLY QUOTES
“We, as a people who survived the greatest of atrocities and rose from the ashes to be a strong and secure nation, we will do all we can to continue to aid the survivors of the horrors in Syria…We know all too well how dangerous silence can be, and we cannot remain mute.” — Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. On Tuesday, reports surfaced of an aerial attack with chemical weapons, apparently carried out by the Syrian regime, on the northern city of Idlib, which killed scores of civilians, among them many children. Israeli leaders from across the political spectrum condemned the attack and called on the international community to act. “The pictures we are seeing today from Syria and the reports of the massacre of children, of civilians, with chemical weapons, is a stain on all humanity,” Rivlin said. The president went on to urge world leaders to “act now, without delay, to stop these criminal, murderous acts taking place in Syria by the hand of the Assad regime, and to work urgently to remove all stockpiles of chemical weapons from Syrian territory.” (Times of Israel, Apr. 4, 2017)
"Today's chemical attack in Syria against innocent people, including women and children, is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world…These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution… President Obama said in 2012 he would establish a red line against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing. The United States stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this intolerable act." —White House press secretary Sean Spicer. (Washington Post, Apr. 5, 2017)
“Whoever seeks to hit us will be hit. Whoever threatens our existence places himself in existential danger…We recognize the age-old adage ‘Those who dare, win.’ As an ancient people that treasures life, we continue to march in the path of King David. David’s sword in our hand, David’s Sling is in our skies and David’s shield is on our flag. We will join strength to spirit and we will ensure Israel’s victory.” — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. David’s Sling, the final piece of Israel’s air-defense shield became operational on Sunday. Netanyahu said the “cutting-edge technology” of David’s Sling will help protect Israel against its enemies. Israel’s air defenses now include the Iron Dome to shoot down short-range rockets, and the Arrow system to intercept ballistic missiles re-entering from outside the Earth’s atmosphere. The systems are designed to provide comprehensive protection against short- and mid-range missiles fired from the Gaza Strip, and more sophisticated long-range ballistic missiles from Iran. (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 2, 2017)
“Under President Donald Trump, the United States of America will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. This is a solemn promise to you, to Israel and to the world.” — US Vice President Mike Pence, in an address at AIPAC’s conference in Washington, DC. (Algemeiner, Mar. 28, 2017)
“Unfortunately, the United States’ polices in support of the Zionist regime’s aggressive measures against the people of the region and also daily crimes committed by America’s partners against the defenseless people of Yemen have worsened insecurity in the Middle East.” — Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi. Qassemi was responding to Pence’s address at AIPAC— in which Pence said Iran was destabilizing the Middle East and jeopardizing Israel’s security. Qassemi also vowed that Iran would continue its missile-development program. “In bolstering our indigenized defense power and defending our country, we will neither accept recommendations from anyone nor will allow others’ interference,” he said. (Algemeiner, Mar. 28, 2017)
“We must tighten the screws on Iranian compliance and continue to impose non-nuclear sanctions…We can’t embrace this deal as a fait accompli…all options can and must remain on the table…We must fulfill our security commitment to Israel…Despite all the turmoil and violence in the Middle East, Israel has been largely able to calm its borders and prevent terrorist attacks. Hats off to Israel.” — House of Representative Speaker Paul Ryan at AIPAC. The United States-Israel relationship “is not a one-way street. It is a strategic partnership rooted in shared interests,” he added. Ryan said that the actions of the former Obama administration “damaged this trust” between the countries. “But now it’s time to turn the page. We have a new president, and let me assure you right now: President Trump’s commitment to Israel is sacrosanct. Congress commitment to Israel is sacrosanct,” he stressed. (Arutz Sheva, Mar. 28, 2017)
“Almost 70 years ago, President Truman made history by being the first president to recognize the State of Israel…Now, President Trump can go down in history as the first president to recognize Jerusalem as its capital.” — Naftali Bennett of The Jewish Home party. “We want you to be the first nation on earth to move its embassy to Jerusalem,” Bennett said, reminding Trump that “embassies are always in the capital, and our capital is Jerusalem, not Tel Aviv.” (Jewish Press, Mar. 28, 2017)
“They get that we’re getting our strength back, that we’re getting our voice back and that we’re starting to lead again, and, honestly, at the United Nations, that’s the No. 1 comment I get is that they’re just so happy to see the United States lead again.” — U.S. ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley. Trump as president persuaded Haley to leave the governorship of South Carolina to represent the U.S. at the UN. She said she was “beating up on Russia” over issues such as its actions in Crimea and its dispute with Ukraine. When asked if she believes Trump should publicly take a harder Russia stance, she said: “Of course, he’s got a lot of things he’s doing.” (National Post, Apr. 2, 2017)
“War is horrible. I lost friends, I lost family…But to say that the response to the murder of the three youngsters was the killing of 2,300 [Palestinians] is to ignore the thousands and thousands of rockets thrown from Gaza to Israeli citizens. Each and every one of them [was] targeted to kill us. And if I will have to choose between losing more lives of Israelis, whether they are civilians or soldiers, or losing you, I will sadly, sorrily, rather lose you.” — Likud MK Amir Ohan. During a town hall meeting near Boston, four Israeli Knesset members — from across the political spectrum — each gave powerful responses to an audience member who questioned the Jewish state’s commitment to making peace with the Palestinians. At the conclusion of the discussion, an American Jewish woman came to the microphone and warned the Israelis, “You are losing me and you are losing many, many, many people in the Jewish community…I cannot look the other way when three Israeli teenagers are brutally murdered, and the response is to kill 2,300 Palestinians” — a reference to Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014 and the events that preceded it. (Algemeiner, Mar. 30, 2017)
“Israel is among the most successful in terms of economies that have figured out innovation hubs and clusters. Israel is really a world leader…The basic premise is this: It’s important to have a really robust cybersecurity infrastructure these days in a modern advanced economy…You’re not going to be competitive if any (intellectual property) that people develop is subject to getting stolen by third parties, be they other industrial players or competing governments. An economic development strategy goes hand-in-hand with a robust cybersecurity strategy.” — Christian Leuprecht, one of the research project leaders for the Smart Cybersecurity Network, a project funded in part by the Canadian government. Canada sought advice and assistance last fall from the Israeli government to toughen Canada’s cybersecurity defences and to find ways Ottawa could encourage private sector investments in cybersecurity. (National Post, Apr. 3, 2017)
“I always think that every single human being on the planet has some connection to Israel. Be it the technology in their phone or computer, or a generic drug that they take — everyone is touched by Israel in some way. They just aren’t necessarily aware of it…We have to teach them that Israel is extraordinary. That it has and is contributing incredible things to humanity, that the country is about so much more that a conflict with the Palestinians.” — Susannah Heschel, Jewish Studies Professor at Dartmouth College and the daughter of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel — who marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Heschel said that she does not believe today’s anti-Israel culture on campus is at all comparable to Holocaust-era Jew-hatred. “There are tendencies among individual professors [to be antisemitic], but there are no rules, like under the SS. In the 1930s, students were told that they can’t quote Jews in their dissertation, or were directed to re-read Mein Kampf because they hadn’t fully ‘understood’ its theories…Many people now are simply completely ignorant. They aren’t evil, they don’t deserve to be demonized. They just don’t know what they are talking about.” Heschel said. (Algemeiner, Mar. 31, 2017)
“I came to Auschwitz in 1943 as a child of 12…My parents and four siblings were consigned to the gas chambers. The daily bestiality and dehumanization was beyond words, and the world’s silence was deafening. I never wished to return to that place of our degradation and annihilation, but to return in the company of our noblest, bravest of the brave – our IDF soldiers, makes my spirit soar with pride and hope.” — Bronia Brandman, 86. Forty supporters of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces from across the US will embark on an unprecedented mission to Poland and Israel on April 24 to May 3, with IDF soldiers and officers, as well as Holocaust survivors – one of whom is returning to Auschwitz for the first time since her liberation. Brandman, who was born in Jaworzno, Poland, watched two of her sisters being sent to the gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau. (Jewish Press, Mar. 28, 2017)
SHORT TAKES
ST. PETERSBURG BOMBER SAID TO BE MAN FROM KYRGYZSTAN (Moscow) — A man from Kyrgyzstan, Akbarzhon Dzhalilov, who had a Russian passport, was responsible for the deadly subway blast in St. Petersburg. The toll from the attack rose to 14 dead and more than 60 wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing. The authorities in the Central Asian states of the former Soviet Union, which are predominantly Muslim, have said that I.S. has recruited hundreds of fighters from the region. The Islamist insurgency in the northern Caucasus has also provided thousands of fighters. (New York Times, Apr. 4, 2017)
US CONSIDERING MIDEAST PEACE SUMMIT THIS SUMMER (Washington) — The US is reportedly considering a “peace summit” this summer that will see the US host Middle Eastern countries to discuss a renewal of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. During Trump’s meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on Monday, the Egyptian leader reportedly presented the position of Arab countries in their demands for “a just solution to the Palestinian issue that rests on the Arab Peace Initiative, and against the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem.” The Arab Peace Initiative, unveiled in 2002 and re-endorsed at the 2007 Arab League summit, says that 22 Arab countries will normalize ties with Israel in return for an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. (Arutz Sheva, Apr. 4, 2017)
ISRAEL WILL CURB SETTLEMENT EXPANSION (Jerusalem) — Israel will curb construction in West Bank settlements as a goodwill gesture to President Trump, Netanyahu said. The announcement came hours after the security cabinet decided to establish a new settlement for families evicted from the razed Amona outpost, and does not apply to that community. Any future construction would be limited to existing settlement boundaries or adjacent to them. However, if legal, security or topographical limitations do not allow adherence to those guidelines, new homes will be built outside the current settlement boundaries but as close as possible to them. The announcement came after members of the security cabinet voted unanimously to establish a new settlement for Amona evacuees north of Ramallah, the first new Jewish town in the territory since the 1993 Oslo Accords. (Jerusalem Post, Mar. 31, 2017)
TWENTY TORTURED, THEN MURDERED IN PAKISTAN SUFI SHRINE (Lahore) — Twenty people were tortured and then murdered at a Pakistani Sufi shrine, in an attack purportedly carried out by the shrine's custodian and accomplices. Four others were wounded during the attack at the shrine on the edge of Sargodha, a town in the Punjab region. The custodian of the shrine, Abdul Waheed, called on the worshipers to visit the shrine and then attacked them with his accomplices. In recent months, Sufi shrines have been targeted by extremist Sunnis who consider them heretics, including a suicide bombing by I.S. that killed more than 80 worshipers at a shrine in Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 2, 2017)
SPAIN SEIZES PROPERTY WORTH $735M LINKED TO ASSAD'S UNCLE (Madrid) — Spanish police investigating a money laundering case involving former Syrian vice president Rifaat Assad — the exiled uncle of Syria's current leader — raided properties and blocked dozens of bank accounts belonging or linked to him and his relatives. Two of Rifaat Assad's wives and six of his sons are among the 15 people investigated. The judge ordered the seizure of more than 500 properties owned by Rifaat Assad and his relatives. Most of them are located in Puerto Banus, a luxury marina in Costa del Sol. The property stock, valued at 691 million euros ($735 million), includes a 33-square kilometer (12.7 sq. mile) estate valued at 60 million euros. (New York Times, Apr. 4, 2017)
STUDENTS AT RYERSON U. ADOPT DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM (Toronto) — The student union at Ryerson University in Toronto has voted to adopt a broad definition of antisemitism. The definition adopted last week includes the denial of the Jewish right to self-determination, the application of double standards to the State of Israel, the comparison of contemporary Israeli policies to that of the Nazis, and the use of symbols or imagery associated with classic anti-Semitic tropes. The definition is in line with the one used by the governments of Canada and Ontario. At the Ryerson union’s semiannual general meeting in November, a resolution to commemorate Holocaust Education Week sparked a walkout led by the Students for Justice in Palestine and the Muslim Students Association to stop a vote. The student board approved the resolution less than a month later. (Arutz Sheva, Apr. 3, 2017)
HAMAS-LINKED SLOGANS PROMOTED AT UBC ANTI-ISRAEL EVENT (Vancouver) — An anti-Israel student group at the University of British Columbia facilitated the sale of scarves with Hamas-affiliated slogans at a campus event. At an event called “A Night with Palestine” hosted by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), some attendees wore Palestinian scarves, or kaffiyehs, with the Arabic slogan, “Jerusalem is ours – We are coming!” alongside an image of the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Photos taken at the event show the same scarves being sold in order to raise money. This revelation comes as UBC students go to the polls on April 3 for a referendum on whether to support the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement initiated by SPHR. (B’nai Brith, Apr. 2, 2017)
COLUMBIA, VASSAR HAVE HIGHEST INCIDENCE OF ANTISEMITIC ACTIVITY (New York) — NYC’s Columbia University experienced the highest overall antisemitic activity last year among more than 100 US schools studied. According to the AMCHA Initiative’s report, Columbia also had the largest increase in such episodes, with 29 more incidents in 2016 than in the previous year. Vassar College came in at a close second. In total, the campuses studied experienced a 40 percent spike in antisemitic behavior, with 433 episodes recorded last year by AMCHA. California universities — including the University of California (UC) system, the University of Southern California and the Claremont Colleges — were listed by AMCHA as among the top 15 schools with the highest incidence of overall antisemitic activity, targeting of Jews, antisemitic expression and BDS activity. (Algemeiner, Apr. 4, 2017)
AMSTERDAM RESIDENTS DEMAND REMOVAL OF HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL PLAQUE (Amsterdam) — City workers relocated a memorial plaque from the entrance to the former home in Amsterdam of a Holocaust victim following complaints by residents. The plaque — bearing the name of Joachim Elte — was moved to a location “as far away as possible from the door” of the two residents, who have recently sued the city to have the plaque removed altogether. The residents said they found it too confrontational to have to constantly be reminded of the deportation and murder of Elte, who died at a Nazi concentration camp in 1945. Amsterdam has 400 memorial cobblestones, which have been placed in front of the former homes of Holocaust victims as part of a commemoration project. To date, more than 50,000 of the cobblestones have been laid in 18 countries in Europe. (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 2, 2017)
PRO-ISRAEL GROUP HOLDS MEMORIAL FOR VICTIMS OF PALESTINIAN TERRORIST (Chicago) — Activists held an interfaith memorial service for the victims of a female Palestinian terrorist, scheduled to coincide with her speech before a gathering of an anti-Israel Jewish organization. Peggy Shapiro, of Stand With Us (SWU), said that she rented out a private suite at Chicago’s Hyatt Hotel to hold the event during convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh’s appearance at the closing plenary session of the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) event at the same venue, because Shapiro believed JVP’s “unconscionable” decision to “honor the killer and erase the victims” could not go uncontested. (Algemeiner, Apr. 2, 2017)
ISRAEL FINALIZES DEAL FOR MAJOR SUBSEA GAS PIPELINE TO EUROPE (Tel Aviv) —Israeli and European officials signed a joint declaration to promote construction of the world’s longest subsea natural-gas pipeline. “This is the beginning of a wonderful friendship between four Mediterranean countries – Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Italy,” National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Minister Yuval Steinitz said. The unprecedented $6-7 billion plan involves building a privately funded 2,200- km. deep-sea pipeline linking Israeli and Cypriot gas to the shores of Greece and Italy. If all proceeds as expected, the ministers hope to see gas flowing through the pipeline by 2025. (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 3, 2017)
ON EVE OF PASSOVER, 230 UKRANIAN JEWS RETURN TO ISRAEL (Tel Aviv) — More than 200 new immigrants (“olim”) from Ukraine landed at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion Airport in a modern reenactment of the Exodus journey from exile to freedom just weeks before the holiday of Passover begins. The “Freedom Flight” was organized by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. The olim included 78 families, four Holocaust survivors and more than 40 children. The flight was made possible thanks to the support of The Fellowship’s 1.6 million Christian donors in the United States and around the world. (Breaking Israel News, Mar. 29, 2017)
SOVIET ERA ‘BABI YAR’ POET YEVGENY YEVTUSHENKO DIES (Tulsa) — Soviet era poet, novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, publisher, actor, editor and filmmaker Yevgeny Yevtushenko , died on Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at age 83. In 1961, Yevtushenko wrote his most famous poem, “Babi Yar,” in which he denounced the Soviet distortion of historical fact regarding the Nazi massacre of the Jewish population of Kiev in September 1941, as well as the anti-Semitism still widespread in the Soviet Union. Soviet policy regarding the Holocaust in Russia was to describe it as general atrocities against Soviet citizens, and to avoid mentioning that it was a genocide of the Jews. However, Yevtushenko’s Babi Yar described both the Nazi atrocities and the Soviet government’s own persecution of Jews. (Jewish Press, Apr. 2, 2017)
Donald Trump Racks Up Few Wins So Far: Louise Radnofsky & Rebecca Ballhaus, Wall Street Journal, Apr. 1, 2017 —Ten weeks into his presidency, Donald Trump hasn’t had an easy week yet. Mr. Trump has hit regular high points—the nomination of a Supreme Court justice, a smooth speech to a joint session of Congress, an active deal-making role in health-care negotiations. But they have each been punctured, within hours or days, by low points—courts blocking his travel restrictions, an early-morning tweet about wiretapping, and the collapse of those talks to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Trump Settles in on Settlements: Elliott Abrams, Israel Hayom, Apr. 5, 2017—Israeli settlement activity has been in the news this past week because the Trump administration is steadily defining its policy. What has emerged is a good policy: sensible, flexible and realistic. Which is to say, it's a lot like former U.S. President George W. Bush's policy.
At Ryerson, a Rare Win for Jewish Groups on Campus (and One With a Pleasant Twist): Barbara Kay, National Post, Apr. 4, 2017—Last November, at Ryerson University, Students for Justice in Palestine and the Muslim Students Association led a walkout of Ryerson Student Union’s (RSU) Semi-annual General Meeting in order to suspend quorum, when the group Students Supporting Israel (SSI) brought forward a motion endorsing Holocaust Education Week. Without quorum, the motion was unable to pass.
The Anti-Semitism of the American Left: Barry Shaw, Arutz Sheva, Apr. 2, 2017 —Remember the hysteria at the start of March over a wave of bomb threats to Jewish Community Centers and the desecration of graves in Jewish cemeteries? A plague of swastikas scrawling on Jewish buildings has been going on in America since November 2016. The blame was always dumped on Trump. The wild rhetoric put the blame on white supremacists, neo Nazis, alt-right racists, anyone coming to the surface in the wake of Trump’s rise to power. This level of Jew hatred could not be put at the feet of liberal progressives, of course, who are wedded to diversity, love and peace.
