President Donald Trump Speech US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s National Days of Remembrance: Youtube, Apr. 25, 2017
Sky Above Israel (Video): Youtube, Oct. 2, 2016
Europe’s Rising Islam-Based Political Parties: Abigail R. Esman, Algemeiner, Apr. 23, 2017
Like Father, Like Daughter: Marine Le Pen is an Anti-Semite Too: Ben-Dror Yemini, Breaking Israel News, Apr. 24, 2017
WEEKLY QUOTES
“If the powers in 1942 had acted against the death camps — and all that was needed was repeated bombing of the camps — had they acted then, they could have saved 4 million Jews and millions of other people…When terrible crimes were being committed against the Jews, when our brothers and sisters were being sent to the furnaces…the powers knew and did not act.” — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. Netanyahu launched a blistering assault on Allied policy during World War II, saying world powers’ failure to bomb the Nazi concentration camps from 1942 cost the lives of four million Jews and millions of others. Citing recently released UN documents that show the Allies were aware of the scale of the Holocaust in 1942, some two years earlier than previously assumed, Netanyahu said in a speech marking Holocaust Remembrance Day that this new research assumed “a terrible significance.” the Israeli Prime Minister said that the Holocaust was enabled by three factors: the vast hatred of the Jews, global indifference to the horrors, and “the terrible weakness of our people in the Diaspora.” Antisemitism had not disappeared, and “it would be naive to think” that it would do so in the foreseeable future, he said. It was being exacerbated by “hatred from the East,” led by Iran and the Islamic State, he added. (JTA, Apr. 18, 2017)
“On Yom HaShoah, we look back at the darkest chapter of human history…We mourn, we remember, we pray, and we pledge: Never again. I say it, never again…The mind cannot fathom the pain, the horror, and the loss. Six million Jews, two-thirds of the Jews in Europe, murdered by the Nazi genocide…They were murdered by an evil that words cannot describe, and that the human heart cannot bear.” — US President Donald Trump, in a video address to the assembly of the World Jewish Congress. Quoting Theodor Herzl’s “If you will, it is no dream”, Trump added that Israel is a “great nation that has risen from the desert”. The President reiterated his commitment to defeating terrorism, and said the US must not ignore the threats of the Iranian regime, who talks openly of Israel’s destruction. “We cannot let that ever even be thought,” he said. (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 24, 2017)
“The Jewish people have learned the brutal lesson from the Nazi Holocaust, that when a leader threatens you with genocide you take such threats seriously…The world, including many Jewish leaders, dismissed Hitler’s early threats against the Jewish people as bombast. The scope of death and destruction of WWII and the unspeakable horrors of the Shoah have taught us to never again dismiss such threats as empty rhetoric…Unfortunately…the previous administration believed that it could moderate the mullahs actions and words through negotiation and perks. We are grateful that the Trump administration is basing it’s policies on Iranian behavior, not wishful thinking.” — Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. (Algemeiner, Apr. 21, 2017)
“Iran’s provocative actions threaten the United States, the region, and the world…the Trump administration is currently conducting a comprehensive review of our Iran policy. Once we have finalized our conclusions, we will meet the challenges Iran poses with clarity and conviction.” — US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The July 2015 nuclear deal reached by Iran and six world powers, Tillerson stated, “fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran; it only delays their goal of becoming a nuclear state. This deal represents the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat we face from North Korea. The Trump administration has no intention of passing the buck to a future administration on Iran.” (Algemeiner, Apr. 21, 2017)
“The two dangers that face Israel and all of the other nations in the region that are trying to maintain a stable and peaceful and prosperous region are those that I’m here to discuss with the Prime Minister, especially the week before Holocaust remembrance…I think it’s important that we remind ourselves that if good people don’t band together then bad people can do a lot of damage in this world. And we’re committed to stopping that and doing whatever it takes to pass on peace and freedom to the next generation.” — US Secretary of Defense Mattis, before a meeting in Tel Aviv with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Mattis said he has no doubt Syria still harbors chemical weapons in violation of the UN Security Council decision. He also said the US views Iran as a regional threat. “Everywhere you look, if there’s trouble in the region, you find Iran,” Mattis said in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, adding that nations in the region are working to “checkmate Iran and the amount of disruption, the amount of instability they cause.” (Jewish Press, Apr. 21 & Wall Street Journal, Apr. 23, 2017)
“Since the inauguration it seems there has been something of a mainstreaming of (Trump’s) foreign policy…I’m more optimistic than I think many in Washington are … In many ways a number of things Trump has done already, including the Syria (missile) strikes, are an improvement over his predecessor.” — Matthew Kroenig, an advisor in both the Obama and George W. Bush administrations. Some experts — even some who were harshly critical of the president during the campaign — are beginning to glimpse consistent themes, even positive ones, emerging from the noise of Trump’s first months in office. If Trump’s election rhetoric was all about blowing up the foreign-policy orthodoxy — ripping apart free-trade deals, questioning NATO and other alliances, giving up the role of world’s policeman — his presidential actions and personnel appointments, they say, have had a decidedly more conventional flavour. (National Post, Apr. 21, 2017)
“We will not bow our heads to the violence and incitement of the radical Left…It is unfortunate that those who claim to promote the values of freedom of expression try to silence those who don’t agree with them…There is one law in Jerusalem – for Jews and Arabs alike. We will continue to work, without prejudice or exemptions, to ensure law and order in Israel’s united capital.” — Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat. Far-left and Arab students disrupted Barkat’s lecture at Hebrew University, holding signs and shouting derogatory slogans at the mayor. Once the lecture began, a number of protesters stood up and began to shout at the mayor, referring to Jerusalem as an occupied city. Barkat’s lecture was delivered as part of rightwing Zionist advocacy group Im Tirtzu’s Seminars for Zionist Thought, the largest Zionist academic extra-curricular program in Israel. (Jewish Press, Apr. 20, 2017)
“Two weeks ago a French presidential candidate denied France’s responsibility for the deportation of its Jewish citizens to the Nazi concentration and death camps… As a sovereign state that has gained national independence, we have a duty to demand from other nations and states not to evade responsibility…We must wage a war against the current and dangerous wave of Holocaust denial. We must resist the renunciation of national responsibility in the name of alleged victimhood.” — Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, marking the end of Yom HaShoah. Rivlin said an attempt by some in Europe to universalize the Shoah is more dangerous than the mere refusal to acknowledge that the mass murder of Jews had taken place. Without mentioning names, Rivlin criticized French Presidential candidate Le Pen and other European politicians for shirking their countries’ responsibility in having collaborated with the Nazis. Earlier this month, Le Pen said that “if there are people responsible” for the deportation of French Jews, “it’s those who were in power at the time. It’s not France.” Le Pen said she did not “think France is responsible for the Vel d’Hiv,” the 1942 round-up of Jews at a Paris cycling track who were then sent to Nazi death camps. (Times of Israel, Apr. 24, 2017)
“I like (Marine Le Pen’s) idea for immigration. All immigrants should be stopped. There is not enough work for the French…It’s difficult to put developing countries and rich countries together…Brexit has opened the door for France to leave the EU.” — Daniel Colle, 81, a retired dentist who lives in suburban Paris. Le Pen, who came second to centrist Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the French presidential election Sunday, secured a chance to bid for the presidency in the May 7 run-off between herself and Macron. Colle said he agrees with Le Pen that the EU is a flawed project that can’t possibly unite 27 countries. (Globe & Mail, Apr. 20, 2017)
SHORT TAKES
LE PEN STEPS DOWN AT NATIONAL FRONT (Paris) — French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is stepping down as leader of the National Front. The announcement came a day after Le Pen came second to Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the French presidential election. She took 21.3 per cent of the vote on Sunday, to Macron's 24.01 per cent. She may be trying to distance herself from the antisemitic and openly racist associations of the National Front, particularly under her father and predecessor Jean-Marie Le Pen. However, some doubt whether she has left behind the old remnants of National Front racism and antisemitism. (CBC, Apr. 24, 2017)
PARIS GUNMAN CARRIED NOTE PRAISING I.S. (Paris) — The gunman who shot and killed a Paris police officer just days before France’s presidential election had a note with him defending Islamic State. Police investigating Thursday’s attack found a note praising I.S. that apparently fell from the pocket of French assailant Karim Cheurfi. Cheurfi also had addresses of police stations written on bits of paper in his car. The extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack in an unusually quick statement. Cheurfi, 39, was shot and killed by officers at the scene. He had a criminal record that included threatening police and that he was arrested in February. The attack on the Champs-Elysees came less than 72 hours before the polls open in the first round vote of the presidential election. (National Post, Apr. 21, 2017)
140 AFGHAN SOLDIERS KILLED IN TALIBAN ATTACK (Kabul) — As many as 140 Afghan soldiers were killed on Friday by Taliban attackers apparently disguised in military uniforms in what would be the deadliest attack ever on an Afghan military base. The defence ministry said the toll was "over 100" Afghan soldiers killed and wounded. One official in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, where the attack occurred, said at least 140 soldiers were killed and many others wounded. As many as 10 Taliban fighters, dressed in Afghan army uniforms and driving military vehicles, made their way onto the base and opened fire on mostly unarmed soldiers eating a meal after Friday prayers. (CBC, Apr. 22, 2017)
JCC BOMB HOAXER CHARGED (Jerusalem) — Israel filed a massive list of criminal charges against an Israeli-American teenager accused of making bomb threat calls to Jewish institutions, schools, hospitals and airlines. The 18-year-old hacker from Ashkelon was charged with thousands of counts of extortion, publishing false information that caused panic, computer offenses and money laundering. In addition to the threats to Jewish community centers, the unnamed teen also targeted hundreds of non-Jewish schools, airlines and airports, malls, and police stations, in the US, Canada, the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Britain. His lawyer claimed the defendant had a brain tumor and is on the autistic spectrum, which might have affected his behavior. (Times of Israel, Apr. 24, 2017)
6 ISRAELI-JEWS CHARGED WITH ATTACKS AGAINST ARABS (Beersheba) — Six Israeli Jews, including two soldiers and a minor, were indicted for carrying out a number of violent attacks in Beersheba against Israeli Arabs. Police alleged that the defendants, arrested in early April, carried out the attacks in an attempt to “prevent the assimilation of Jewish women with Arabs in Beersheba,” and said that the charges included terrorism. According to the indictment, the suspects carried out five violent attacks against Arabs beginning in December 2016, the most severe of which was a stabbing on February 21. Multiple defendants are also charged with torching the car of an Arab citizen. Police said the attacks were nationalistic and racially motivated. (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 23, 2017)
TWO PA CHILD-TERRORISTS ARRESTED WITH FIREBOMBS IN THEIR KNAPSACK (Jerusalem) — Two child-terrorists were arrested after they threw firebombs at a patrol jeep near the Talitha Kumi (Walleja) road in Gush Etzion. The firebombs missed the jeep and did not ignite. They found two minors who had come from nearby Dheishe, just south of nearby Bethelehem. One of them had additional Molotov cocktails in his knapsack prepared for throwing. The two Arab youths had gone to a gas station in Dheisha after school, filled up the bottles with gasoline, and then began looking for Israeli targets to attack. (Jewish Press, Apr. 18, 2017)
NETANYAHU NIXES MEETING WITH GERMAN FM OVER NGO CRITICAL OF IDF (Jerusalem) — Prime Minister Netanyahu will not hold talks with visiting German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel because of Gabriel's intention to meet with an Israeli NGO critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians. Israeli media had reported that Gabriel would meet "Breaking the Silence", a controversial group that collects testimonies from Israeli veterans about their service experiences in volatile areas such as east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Gabriel, who has described Israel as an apartheid state, said it would be a "remarkable event, to put it mildly," if Netanyahu canceled their planned talks, arguing it was normal to talk to civil society representatives. (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 25, 2017)
ISRAEL SAID TO STRIKE PRO-ASSAD FORCES IN SYRIA, KILLING 3 (Damascus) — An Israeli attack on a Syrian camp for pro-government forces killed three fighters near the Golan Heights on Sunday. The National Defense Forces, a pro-regime militia, said that the alleged Israeli strike targeted the Naba Fawar base in the area. An NDF official told AFP that it was unclear whether the damage was inflicted by an airstrike or shelling. On Friday the IDF struck positions affiliated with the Syrian army after three mortars fired from the Quneitra area landed in the Israeli Golan heights, Israeli military sources said. No one was injured by the mortar fire. (Times of Israel, Apr. 23, 2017)
CANADA EXPANDS SYRIAN SANCTIONS LIST (Ottawa) — Canada has expanded its Syrian sanctions list to include 17 high-ranking individuals in the Assad government and five entities linked to the use of chemical weapons. They will now be subject to an asset freeze and a prohibition on having any dealings with them. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says this will put additional pressure on President Bashar Assad to stop attacks on his own people. Canada is contributing more than $1.6 billion over the course of three years toward security, stabilization, and humanitarian and development assistance in response to the crises in Iraq and Syria. (Globe & Mail, Apr. 21, 2017)
SAUDI ARABIA ELECTED TO UN WOMEN'S COUNCIL (Riyadh) — Saudi Arabia has been elected to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, despite the country being ranked by human rights experts as one of the worst for gender equality. The Middle Eastern kingdom was one of 12 new countries elected to the UN body in a secret ballot. It will serve a four-year term beginning next year. The role of the UN's Commission on the Status of Women is to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. Saudi women are forbidden from obtaining a passport, marrying or accessing higher education without the approval of a male guardian. Saudi women are also banned from driving and are forced to have the permission of a male guardian to travel or work. (ABC News, Apr. 24, 2017)
UNRWA EMPLOYEE QUITS FOLLOWING ALLEGATIONS THAT HE IS A HAMAS LEADER (Gaza) — Dr. Suhail al-Hindi, chairman of the UNRWA staff union in the Gaza Strip and principal of UNRWA’s “Palestine Boys’ Elementary School”, resigned from UNRWA after apparently solid allegations emerged that he was elected to a Hamas political leadership position, according to a report in the Republic. On February 26, UNRWA decided to suspend al-Hindi until an investigation into the allegations was completed. UNRWA wouldn’t confirm if al-Hinidi quit or was fired. In 2011, al-Hindi was suspended from his UNRWA teaching job after meeting with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. He was reinstated a few months later, apparently due to Hamas pressure. (Jewish Press, Apr. 22, 2017)
ROTTERDAM ALLOWS PRO-HAMAS CONFERENCE, BLOCKS ANTI-HAMAS PROTEST (Rotterdam) — A Hamas front group hosted a conference in Rotterdam as Dutch authorities denied pro-Israel activists from protesting the event. The Palestinian Return Center (PRC) – banned by Israel in 2010 for alleged Hamas ties – organized the "Palestinians in Europe" conference that attracted a few hundred people. The conference featured speakers like Dyab Abou Jahjah, who has a history of anti-Israel and antisemitic statements. He was fired by a Belgian newspaper earlier this year after praising a truck ramming in Jerusalem that killed four soldiers. Meanwhile, officials denied a petition to protest the conference by Christians for Israel – a move condemned by some Dutch politicians. (IPT, Apr. 18, 2017)
UK TAXPAYERS TO PAY HANNAH BLADON’S KILLER A MONTHLY SALARY (London) — The Daily Mail published a report detailing how the terrorist who murdered British exchange student Hannah Bladon on a Jerusalem train will receive a monthly salary from the PA of 800 British pounds. Bladon, 20, was attacked on a train last week, allegedly by a Palestinian man with a history of mental health issues. The UK sends over 25 million British pounds each year in foreign aid to the PA, a percentage of which is directed to Islamic terrorists and their families. (Jewish Press, Apr. 23, 2017)
UK HOTEL CANCELS BARGHOUTI FILM SCREENING (London) — After the release of a bulletin exposing that the Palestinian Mission in the UK had changed the venue of its Marwan Barghouti film screening to the Copthorne Tara Hotel in London, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) contacted the hotel to bring its manager’s attention to the potential consequences of hosting such an event. A letter from PMW’s legal director noted that Barghouti is a convicted terrorist responsible for the murder of 5 people. The letter asserted that hosting an event glorifying such a terrorist could result in “potentially criminal repercussions,” in accordance with the Terrorism Act, which prohibits the glorification of acts of terrorism as incitement. The hotel confirmed that the event had been canceled. (Jewish Press, Apr. 23, 2017)
PRINCETON PLASTERED WITH ANTISEMITIC, RACIST FLIERS (Princeton) — Fliers with antisemitic and racist messages were posted on the campus of Princeton University. The fliers were discovered in at least four areas of the campus, including on the door to the campus Center for Jewish Life. The fliers were from a white nationalist organization called Vanguard America, which bills itself as a group for “White Nationalist American youth working to secure the existence of their people.” Among the charges made on the flier: “Jews are 10% of Princeton’s students, an overrepresentation of 500%,” and 80% of the first Soviet government was Jewish.” (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 25, 2017)
MUSLIM ACTIVIST LINDA SARSOUR TO SPEAK AT NYC UNIVERSITY (New York) — Linda Sarsour, who has referred to “Zionist trolls” and lauded the “courage” of rock-throwing Palestinians will deliver this year’s keynote address at the commencement ceremony of a New York City university. Sarsour is listed as a featured speaker for the graduation at CUNY’s Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy. The Brooklyn-born activist, who is co-organizer of the Women’s March and a former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York, is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants. Sarsour’s anti-Israel tweets include a photo of a young Palestinian boy with a rock in each hand. It is captioned: “The definition of courage. #Palestine” (Fox News, Apr. 23, 2017)
AHMADINEJAD DISQUALIFIED FROM IRAN’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION (Tehran) — The Guardian Council, a very powerful and influential body in Iran’s theocracy, voted to disqualify Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the regime’s president from 2005 to 2013, announcing he lacks the necessary standards to take part as a candidate in the May 19 presidential election. This council, consisting of six senior mullahs appointed directly by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, stamps approval to the parliament’s bills and vets all election candidates. Ahmadinejad’s disqualification was not unexpected. Last September Khamenei used a public speech to ban him from announcing his candidacy. However, last week he officially registered as a presidential candidate. (National Post, Apr. 24, 2017)
UK REFUSES PALESTINIANS' REQUEST FOR BALFOUR DECLARATION APOLOGY (London) — Britain has rejected a request by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for a formal apology over the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which declared support for the establishment of a Jewish state, Palestinian leaders said. Abbas called for the apology during an address to the UN General Assembly in September, with Britain and Israel set to mark the 100th anniversary of the Declaration that paved the way for the establishment of the State of Israel in 2017. The historic declaration, written by Lord Balfour on November 2, 1917, made way for the creation of an independent Jewish state following the British mandate over Palestine. (I24, Apr. 25, 2017)
President Donald Trump Speech US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s National Days of Remembrance: Youtube, Apr. 25, 2017— President Trump Gives Remarks at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s National Days of Remembrance
Sky Above Israel (Video): Youtube, Oct. 2, 2016
Europe’s Rising Islam-Based Political Parties: Abigail R. Esman, Algemeiner, Apr. 23, 2017—For the past several months, eyes across the world have been trained on the growing far-right movements sweeping Europe and America — from the neo-Nazi groups in Germany and the United States, to the increasing popularity of France’s National Front.
Like Father, Like Daughter: Marine Le Pen is an Anti-Semite Too: Ben-Dror Yemini, Breaking Israel News, Apr. 24, 2017 —For years, Marine Le Pen tried to explain to France and the world that she wasn’t following her father’s path. Her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the National Front party, was convicted by a French court after describing the gas chambers used in concentration camps during the Holocaust as a “detail” of history.
