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WEDNESDAY’S “NEWS IN REVIEW” ROUND-UP

 

 

 

On Topic Links

           

Here’s How to Take Out North Korea’s Nukes: Ralph Peters, New York Post, Aug. 9, 2017

Iran Is a Rich Market for NKorea Nukes: Larry Bell, Newsmax, Aug. 14, 2017

Thanks to the Left: Ruthie Blum, Algemeiner, Aug. 11, 2017

Trump Loses Corporate America: Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, Aug. 15, 2017

 

WEEKLY QUOTES

 

"Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!" — President Donald Trump. In an early morning tweet, Trump appeared to warn the Pyonyang regime that the US military was on the verge of a strike. It was the third consecutive day that Trump has used incendiary language to describe the threat posed by North Korea, which has responded with a threat to launch a series of missiles in the direction of the US Pacific territory of Guam.  On Wednesday, Trump said he would unleash "fire and fury like the world has never seen" on North Korea, which has conducted successful tests in recent months of intercontinental ballistic missiles. On Thursday, Trump said his threat may not have been tough enough and claimed past administrations had not done enough to take on North Korea. (CNN, Aug. 11, 2017)

 

“The president’s detractors have criticized his rhetoric. To be clear, nothing that has happened thus far is Trump’s fault. And his “fire and fury” language might create a new dynamic. It certainly won’t hurt. The trajectory that North Korea is on is very bad. And yet, Democrats and their allies in the media are suggesting that if we were just a bit nicer to Kim, a la former President Barack Obama, maybe he won’t kill us. Well, we had eight years of the Obama approach and here we are. We are on the brink of allowing a madman to have the capability to kill millions of our allies and fellow Americans.” — Ed Rogers. (New York Post, Aug. 12, 2017)

 

“Guam is subject to an intermediate missile threat. You have our friends and neighbors in Seoul that are in the range of artillery. You’ve got our friends in Japan who are in the range of short range missiles. And of course, North Korea is looking toward ICBMs, where a great deal of the United States would also potentially be a target…So, like Israel, we’ve had practice here…Some of the threats have been made by a gentleman from North Korea. But we are as prepared as any American community can be for a potential crisis. If that were to occur, you’re seeing not only catastrophe… in the Korean peninsula, catastrophe in Japan, but catastrophe in the world. So let’s hope and pray that we are not put in that position.” — Guam’s Governor Eddie Baza Calvo, answering a question from an Israel reporter. (Pacific Island Times, Aug. 14, 2017)

 

"Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans," — President Donald Trump said in a statement to reporters at the White House on Monday. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence.” President Donald Trump denounced neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan as criminals and thugs on Monday, bowing to mounting political pressure to condemn such groups explicitly after a white-nationalist rally turned deadly in Virginia. Critics denounced Trump for waiting too long to address the bloodshed, and for initially faulting hatred and violence “on many sides,” rather than singling out the white supremacists widely seen as instigating the melee. (Reuters, Aug. 14, 2017)

 

“They don’t want to just take me down, they want to take us all down…They know that they can’t beat us at the ballot boxes, so they are trying to circumvent democracy and topple us in other ways…But we keep winning in the ballots because we’ve brought Israel to the best place it has ever been in Israel’s history.” — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a speech to some 3,000 supporters who gathered in Tel Aviv last week, Netanyahu accused the left and the media of using corruption investigations against him and his family to try to oust him from power. “We know that the left and the media — and we know that it’s the same thing — is on an obsessive witch hunt against me and my family with the goal of achieving a coup against the government,” he said. (Times of Israel, Aug. 9, 2017)

 

 “The only country that really acted rapidly was Israel…As opposed to all the things that are being said, especially in Iran, about Israel, that it violates human rights, I saw that Israel took steps to keep human rights, to save the life of a human being.” — Neda Amin. Hours after she arrived at Ben Gurion Airport last week, Amin, an Iranian-born journalist and dissident who feared being deported to her native country, thanked the Israeli government for granting her refuge, adding that she has Jewish roots and would love to live in Israel. Amin — who blogged regularly and freelanced for The Times of Israel’s Persian site — described her anguish as she feared Turkey, where she had lived as a refugee since 2014, would deport her back to Iran. Having written critically about the regime, Amin feared she would have been arrested, tortured, and that her life would have been in danger had she been forced to return to the Islamic Republic. “I am very happy. Israel is my country,” she said. (New York Times, Aug. 8, 2017)

 

“If (the Americans) want to visit a base, they should go to the military sites in the US.” — Lieutenant Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Hossein Salami said on Iranian-state run television on Saturday night. Salami stressed Tehran’s vehement opposition to the United States inspecting its military sites. “Both the great Iranian nation and the US and the world should know that if there is only one demand in the whole world which will be rejected and if there is only one wish that will be taken to the grave, it is the Americans' demand to visit our military centers” Salami had said, as reported by the Iranian Fars news agency. (i24News, Aug. 14, 2017)

 

“If America wants to go back to the experience (of imposing sanctions), Iran would certainly return in a short time – not a week or a month but within hours – to conditions more advanced than before the start of negotiations,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told a session of parliament broadcast live on state television. Iran says new US sanctions breach the agreement it reached in 2015 with the United States, Russia, China and three European powers in which it agreed to curb its nuclear work in return for the lifting of most sanctions. US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the new US sanctions were unrelated to the Iran nuclear deal and that Iran must be held responsible for “its missile launches, support for terrorism, disregard for human rights, and violations of UN Security Council resolutions.” “Iran cannot be allowed to use the nuclear deal to hold the world hostage … The nuclear deal must not become 'too big to fail',” Haley said in a statement on Tuesday, responding to Rouhani. (The Jerusalem Post, Aug. 15, 2017)

 

“I had to read it twice to believe it. Argentina harbored Adolf Eichmann, the criminal who ran the most outrageous genocide in history, and The New York Times publishes an article in which an art critic questions the morality and legality of Israel’s capturing him and bringing him to trial? Talk about a missing moral compass!” — Alan Stein, responding to a NYT exhibition review: “Eichmann in Manhattan: See the Glass Cage From His Trial” (New York Times, Aug. 9, 2017)

 

“I’m not going to bow down to these people…Israel is a miracle … I’m not going to allow this miracle to be tainted the way it is.” — Hen Mazzig, an openly gay former Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) commander. The Tel Aviv-based activist spoke at a free speech event in Toronto (organized by the Canadian Institute for Jewish Research, Hasbara Fellowships, and LGBTory). Mazzig had been invited to a speaking engagement at prestigious University College in London, England, last October. Invited by the university’s Friends of Israel society to speak about his humanitarian work in Ramallah, Hebron and Jerusalem, Mazzig found himself facing down 100 aggressive anti-Israel protesters. Mazzig said he only managed to speak for about 10 minutes — screaming to be heard above the mob — before the police put a coat on him and escorted him running out of the university and into a dark London alley. “So the university was not safe but a dark alley in London was safe,” he told about 75 people at the Toronto event. “It was a disturbing night…It was terrifying, it was shocking … but it’s a confirmation that what I’m doing is right…if it wasn’t right, they wouldn’t be afraid of me so much.” said Mazzig. (Toronto Sun, Aug. 13, 2017)

 

Contents

SHORT TAKES

 

IDF REVEALS DETAILS ABOUT GAZA TUNNEL BARRIER (Tel Aviv) — The IDF has revealed the extent of the new concrete barrier currently being built around the Gaza Strip. The concrete barrier aims to eliminate the existing tunnel threat posed by Hamas, as well as any future tunnels that reach into Israel. It will include sensors that can reach dozens of meters into the ground and stand six meters above ground level. The barrier wall will consist of reinforced concrete and sensors that will sound an alarm if anyone approaches it and warn Israel of any future tunnel digging. In addition, IDF sources said that Israel is planning to build an underwater barrier and a breakwater a few kilometers long in the sea on the Gaza border. (The Tower, Aug. 10, 2017)

 

TRUMP TO DISPATCH TEAM TO WORK ON ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN PEACE (Washington) — President Trump is sending three senior officials to the Middle East in coming days to discuss prospects for resuming the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the White House said Friday. In a statement, it said Trump believes the return of calm to Jerusalem after a period of unrest over a contested holy site has created an opportunity to restart discussions. To explore that opportunity, it said departing “soon” for the region will be Trump’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner; his envoy for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt; and deputy national security adviser Dina Powell. The three are to meet leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority “about how best to support the peace effort,” it said. (National Post, Aug. 11, 2017)

 

TWO CANADIANS KILLED IN BURKINA FASO ATTACK (Ouagadougou) — Two Canadians have been killed in an attack in Burkina Faso. The identities of the Canadians killed in the attack were not disclosed. Suspected Islamic extremists opened fire on crowds dining at a restaurant popular with tourists in the West African country’s capital Ouagadougou on Sunday. Eighteen people died and at least eight others were wounded in the attack. The victims included two Kuwaitis and one person each from France, Senegal, Nigeria, Lebanon and Turkey. The assault is reminiscent of a January 2016 attack at another café frequented by foreigners that left 30 people dead. That attack was claimed by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and a jihadist group called Al Mourabitoun. (CTV, Aug. 14, 2017)

 

TURKEY: POLICE OFFICER STABBED TO DEATH BY I.S. TERRORIST (Istanbul) — A Turkish police officer was stabbed to death at an Istanbul police station, according to Turkish media. According to a report, the suspect admitted to being a member of I.S. and was being held at a police station after he was arrested by the local anti-terror police on the suspicion of planning a suicide attack. Police forces at the station shot the terrorist to neutralize him and he died from his injuries shortly thereafter. In 2016, the number of people who were murdered in terror attacks peaked in Turkey, which has been facing threats from ISIS on one side and from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group that is recognized as a terror organization by Ankara, on the other. (Jerusalem Online, Aug. 14, 2017)

 

MOSSAD CHIEF SAYS IRAN WORKING TO 'FILL VOID' LEFT BY I.S. (Tel Aviv) — The head of Israel's Mossad warned on Sunday that the country's arch-foe Iran is expanding its presence in the region, working to "fill a void" left by the radical I.S. In the briefing to ministers, Yossi Cohen emphasized that Iran is expanding through Iranian forces and local emissaries based in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen – including areas that were former IS strongholds. "In places where the presence of Daesh [Arabic acronym for I.S.] is limited, Iran is working to fill the void," Cohen said. Prime Minister Netanyahu echoed Cohen's warnings, summarizing his analysis as "Daesh departs, Iran enters". (I24, Aug. 13, 2017)

 

SWISS HOTEL SPARKS OUTRAGE WITH SIGNS ABOUT 'JEWISH GUESTS' (Bern) — Swiss hotel has sparked outrage after posting signs addressed to “Jewish guests”, warning them to shower before going swimming and that they can only use the refrigerator at certain times. “To our Jewish guests, women, men and children, please take a shower before you go swimming and…after swimming,” read the sign at the Aparthaus Paradies in Arosa, an Alpine resort village in east Switzerland. A second sign, also addressed to “our Jewish guests”, warned that they could only access the refrigerator at certain times of the day. “I hope you understand that our team does not like being disturbed all the time,” it read. “If you break the rules I’m forced to close the swimming pool for you.” Photographs of the signs quickly went viral on social media and sparked an official complaint from the Israeli Foreign Minister. The Aparthaus Paradies rushed to remove the signs and try to contain the fall out. Ruth Thomann, the hotel manager who signed the notices, said the signs were “a mistake”. The hotel management also insisted they had not mean to be offensive. (The Telegraph, Aug. 15, 2017)

 

COLUMBIA U. MAY FACE FINE FOR TREATMENT OF MUSLIM EX-EMPLOYEE (New York) — Columbia University faces fines up to $250,000 from New York City's Commission on Human Rights after a Muslim former employee accused the university of not allowing enough prayer breaks during the holy month of Ramadan. The ex-employee accused university chaplain Jewelnel Davis of discrimination based on religion after Davis allegedly did not let the employee work different hours during Ramadan and punished her for taking five prayer breaks a day. The complaint claims Davis provided similar religious accommodations for staff members of other religions, while the Muslim employee was reprimanded for taking multiple breaks and saw her workload increase. (Fox News, Aug. 11, 2017)

 

ISRAELI WINS BRONZE AT THAI BOXING CHAMPIONSHIPS AFTER PALESTINIAN RIVAL REFUSES TO FIGHT (Bangkok) — An Israeli teenager has won bronze at the Thai boxing world championships after a Palestinian opponent refused to fight him. Amit Mdah, 16, was declared the bronze medallist at the Muay Thai event in Thailand yesterday. The Palestinian competitor may now face a penalty for refusing to take part in the quarter-finals. The Israeli youngster hails from Sumei, an Arab town in the Galilee, though it is unclear which community he is from. More than 2,000 participants from around the world competed in the event. The Israeli teenager defeated a rival from Madagascar to reach the cancelled bronze medal fight. (The Jewish Chronicle, Aug. 9, 2017)

 

JEWS COMPRISED LESS THAN A QUARTER OF TOURISTS VISITING ISRAEL IN 2016 (Haifa) — New data analyzes the rising number of tourists arriving in the Jewish state, including visitors’ age, religion and the nature of their trips. A record-high 2.9 million tourists visited Israel in 2016. Fifty-four percent of the tourists who visited Israel last year were Christians. Of the Christian visitors, 38 percent were Catholic, 28 percent were Protestant and 28 percent were Eastern Orthodox. Jews comprised only 24 percent of tourists visiting Israel in 2016. (Algemeiner, Aug. 13, 2017)

 

WORLD’S OLDEST MAN, AUSCHWITZ SURVIVOR, DIES IN HAIFA AT AGE 113 (Haifa) — Yisrael Kristal, a survivor of Auschwitz recognized as the world’s oldest man, died one month before his 114th birthday in Haifa, Israel. Kristal was born in Poland on September 15, 1903. His father was a Torah scholar and Kristal remained religious his entire life. At age 17 he became a confectioner, a profession he stayed with his entire working life. When World War II broke out and the Nazis invaded, Kristal was deported to Auschwitz. His wife and two children did not survive the Holocaust. In 1947, he remarried and had two children. In 1950, the family moved to Haifa. (Breaking Israel News, Aug. 12, 2017)

 

FBI SAYS ISIS USED EBAY TO SEND TERROR CASH TO U.S. (New York) — U.S. investigators uncovered a global financial network run by a senior Islamic State official that funneled money to an alleged ISIS operative in the U.S. through fake eBay transactions, according to a recently unsealed FBI affidavit. The alleged recipient of the funds, Mohamed Elshinawy, was an alleged American citizen who had been arrested more than a year ago in Maryland after a lengthy FBI investigation. Elshinawy, received a total of $8,700 from individuals working with the self-proclaimed Islamic State in order to aid in domestic attacks. Elishinawy was later found to be part of a global network stretching from Britain to Bangladesh, built to fund a now-deceased senior ISIS official. (Wall Street Journal, Aug. 10, 2017)

 

POLICE TO CHARGE FAMILY OF HALAMISH TERRORIST WITH FAILING TO PREVENT ATTACK (Jerusalem) — Police on Tuesday said that a pre-indictment notice had been filed against five family members of a Palestinian terrorist on suspicion of having failed to prevent him from carrying out a deadly attack in which he stabbed to death three members of a family at their home in the West Bank settlement of Halamish. Since last month’s attack, Israeli security forces have arrested the father, mother, two brothers and cousin of Omar al-Abed, who police say knew beforehand of Abed’s intention to carry out the stabbing yet took no actions to stop him or inform Israeli or Palestinian authorities. On the eve of July 21, 19-year-old Abed left his village, climbed over the Halamish fence, and knocked on the door of the Salomon home. The family had been celebrating the birth of a new grandson and thought that Abed was the first guest to arrive. Shortly after walking in, the young Palestinian took out his knife and stabbed to death Yosef Salomon, 70, and his two children, Chaya, 46, and Elad, 36. Yosef’s wife, Tova, sustained several stab wounds to her back but survived. (The Times of Israel, Aug. 15, 2017)

 

ISRAEL INDEPENDENCE REENACTMENT EVENT AT QUEENS MUSEUM CANCELED (New York) — Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, says that the New York-based Queens Museum, which once housed the UN headquarters assembly where the vote leading to the establishment of the State of Israel took place, refuses to hold a reenactment of the historic UN vote for Israeli independence, which had been planned for November. In recent days, Danon has been campaigning with support of major Jewish organizations in the United States to change the decision, marking the 70th anniversary of the UN's decision to be held in the original hall where the vote was held, with the participation of diplomats and supporters from around the world. The Queens Museum belongs to the City of New York and is defined as a "public museum". (Arutz Sheva, Aug. 16, 2017)

 

CHINESE ENROLLMENT AT ISRAELI UNIVERSITIES SKYROCKETS (Jerusalem) — The influx of Chinese students at Israeli universities has been growing steadily in recent years. On the forefront of this enrollment boom is the University of Haifa, which currently boasts some 200 Chinese students among its student body, compared to 20 in 2013, representing a 1,000% increase. A majority of these students come from the University of East China Normal University in Shanghai, which is a sister city of Haifa. The Technion has been intensifying its academic cooperation with Chinese universities and students, and in 2013, together with Shantou University (STU), received a $130m. grant from the Li Ka Shing Foundation to establish a branch of the Technion in the Guangdong Province. The Technion hailed the partnership as “a new era of research and innovation in science, engineering and life sciences, an unprecedented cooperation between the People’s Government of Guangdong Province and Shantou Municipal Government, Technion, and STU.” (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 14, 2017)

 

ISRAEL ARRESTS MUSLIM LEADER RAED SALAH ON SUSPICION OF INCITING TO TERROR (Jerusalem) — Israel Police arrested Sheikh Raed Salah early Tuesday on suspicion of incitement to violence, terrorism and illegal organizational activity. The police also raided Salah's home and confiscated two computers. Salah had been the head of the now-outlawed northern branch of Israel's Islamic Movement and was convicted of inciting to violence for a sermon that he had delivered years before in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi al-Joz. Salah had been released from prison in January after serving a nine-month prison term for incitement. (Haaretz, Aug. 15, 2017)

 

IRAN BUILDING LONG-RANGE ROCKET FACTORY IN SYRIA (Jerusalem) — An Israeli television report said on Tuesday that Iran is building a facility in northwest Syria to manufacture long-range rockets, and showed satellite images it said were of the site under construction. The Channel 2 television news report showed images it said were taken by an Israeli satellite showing a site in northwest Syria near the Mediterranean coastal town of Baniyas, saying some of the construction indicated explosives would be stored there. It compared images of buildings it said were of a rocket factory near Tehran to structures at the Syrian site, and said there was a strong resemblance between them. U.S. news reports have said that Israeli intelligence officials will discuss the situation in Syria and Lebanon with U.S. counterparts in Washington this week. (Reuters, August 15, 2017)

 

Contents

On Topic Links

 

Here’s How to Take Out North Korea’s Nukes: Ralph Peters, New York Post, Aug. 9, 2017—Should North Korea’s nuclear antics compel us to launch a self-defense attack, success would require far more than pinpoint strikes. The choice would come down to this: Do we kill our enemies with sufficient ruthlessness at the outset, or do we attempt to minimize North Korean casualties and expose ourselves and our allies to the prospect of a drawn-out mutual butchery?

Iran Is a Rich Market for NKorea Nukes: Larry Bell, Newsmax, Aug. 14, 2017—Decades of U.S. and U.N. diplomatic dithering and devastatingly disastrous capitulation have enabled North Korea and Iran to collaboratively and separately pose grave and imminent global dangers.

Thanks to the Left: Ruthie Blum, Algemeiner, Aug. 11, 2017—On Wednesday evening, thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv to demonstrate solidarity with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump Loses Corporate America: Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, Aug. 15, 2017— Companies get in bed with politicians when it serves their interests and are quick to run away when it doesn’t. Thus nobody is obliged to interpret the flutter of CEOs away from President Trump’s advisory council since the Charlottesville riot as occasions of courage. Still, these are some of America’s most delicate PR canaries, surrounded by risk-averse advisers. Mr. Trump’s administration is turning out not to be the administration they were hoping for, though probably the one they realistically expected.

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