Friday, March 29, 2024
Friday, March 29, 2024
Get the Daily
Briefing by Email

Subscribe

WEDNESDAY’S “NEWS IN REVIEW” ROUND-UP

 

 

 

MEDIA-OCRITY OF THE WEEK: NETANYAHU’S NO-STATE SOLUTION“No democracy can be immune to running an undemocratic system of oppression for a half-century in territory under its control. Israel was conceived as a state of laws. If it is not, it betrays its 1948 founding charter. This commits the nascent state to “freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel.” James Baker, as United States secretary of state, once gave the number of the White House switchboard and told the Israelis: “When you’re serious about peace, call us.” Trump should give his alter ego the same treatment — and wait for those investigations to run their course.” Roger Cohen. (New York Times, Sept. 8, 2017)

 

On Topic Links

           

The Last Days of ISIS’ Capital: Airstrikes if You Stay, Land Mines if You Flee: Somini Sengupta, New York Times, Sept. 8, 2017

Kim Jong-un and the Art of Tyranny: Bret Stephens, New York Times, Sept. 7, 2017

How Democrats Left Us Vulnerable to North Korea’s Nukes: Marc A. Thiessen, Washington Post, Sept. 6, 2017

Yale Saves Fragile Students From a Carving of a Musket

: George F. Will, Washingon Post, Aug. 30, 2017

 

 

WEEKLY QUOTES

 

“What’s happening now with the Arab bloc states has never before happened in our history – even when we signed agreements…What we have now is greater than anything else during any other period in Israel’s history." — Prime Minister Netanyahu. Netanyahu said the dramatic shift in the Arab world’s behavior towards Israel was unprecedented, and more significant than the thawing of relations which occurred following the Oslo Accords and peace treaty with Jordan. In Africa, as well, Netanyahu said Israel was fostering closer ties. “Our return [diplomatically] to Africa expands the scope of technological assistance, and that in turn creates a lot of interest [in ties with Israel] on the continent.” (Arutz Sheva, Sept. 6, 2017)

 

“As far as Syria is concerned, we have very little to do with Syria other than killing ISIS…What we do is we kill ISIS. And we have succeeded in that respect. We have done better in eight months of my Presidency than the previous eight years against ISIS.” — President Trump. (Wall Street Journal, Sept. 7, 2017)

 

“The recent self-defense measures by my country DPRK are gift package addressed to none other than the U.S…The U.S. will receive more gift packages from my country as long as it relies on reckless provocations and futile attempts to put pressure on the DPRK.” — North Korea’s Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Han Tae Song, in an address to the UN Conference on Disarmament. (National Post, Sept. 4, 2017)

 

"Israel and countries of the West have a major interest in the establishment of the state of Kurdistan…I think that the time has come for the U.S. to support the process." — Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked. Shaked told an international counter-terrorism conference that Israel supports Kurdish independence, "at least in the Iraqi part." The Kurdistan Regional Government, the semi-autonomous administration of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq, intends to hold an independence referendum on September 25. (Ha’aretz, Sept. 11, 2017)

 

“Qatar has emerged in recent years as the undisputed chief financier of Hamas, the foremost antisemitic terrorist organization in the world…In 2012, the former Qatari emir pledged $400 million to the Gaza-based terrorist group…Just two years later, Hamas would launch a war against Israel with a lavish arsenal of over 5,000 rockets, aimed at Israeli civilians. In the 2014 Gaza war Hamas showcased a network of complex and deadly tunnel projects built to kidnap, murder and terrorize Israeli civilians and soldiers. Though Hamas had clearly used Qatar’s funding to stock itself with weapons, the emirate would not repudiate or cut off the terrorist group. On the contrary, Qatar would double down. Following the Gaza war of 2014, Qatar would pledge $1 billion to the blood-cartel of Gaza.” — Shmuley Boteach. (Jerusalem Post, September 11, 2017)

 

“…In response to the disruption of a pro-Israel event last May, UC Irvine has taken disciplinary measures against the perpetrators, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), that include placing the group on probation for two years as well as requiring that members meet with the dean of students to discuss free speech issues and consult with a representative prior to hosting any campus event. While this is a positive step forward, for it to make a meaningful difference to Jewish and pro-Israel students at UCI, it’s critical that the University’s leadership use the lessons from the incident as a springboard to implementing a comprehensive, campus-wide plan to address intolerance and free speech issues that frequently arise on campus and have affected many Jewish and Zionist students.” — Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, cofounder and director of AMCHA Initiative. (Sept. 12, 2017)

 

“Unfortunately, we see these two incidents, and many others, as intertwined — where parts of French society are becoming increasingly anti-Semitic on the one hand, and this hate towards Jews is being accepted and tolerated by other parts… We call on French authorities to firmly root out societal anti-Semitism and its passive acceptance.” — European Jewish Congress President Dr. Moshe Kantor. Kantor has called for stronger measures to be taken by French authorities in the wake of an attack on prominent 78-year-old French Sephardic Jewish community leader Roger Pinto and his family, assaulted in an antisemitic attack last week at home in a Paris suburb. The attack took place just days after a report that a former principal at a preparatory school for teenagers in Marseille said he regularly advises Jews not to attend his institution for fear of harassment by other students. (Jewish Press, Sept. 12, 2017)

 

"The ability of Trump and his administration to exert pressure on Israel is currently limited. Trump is surrounded by a group of extremist Zionists. Even in his family, Trump has extremist Jews, which questions his ability to put pressure on Israel. It's hard to see how Kushner and Greenblatt would be able to achieve a breakthrough toward peace." — Faisal Abu Khadra, a Palestinian political analyst. Among the accusations that Palestinians have lodged against presidential son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner and Mideast negotiator Jason D. Greenblatt, is the claim that when the envoys come to meet with Palestinian leaders, they parrot the positions of the Israeli government, and not the US. According to the Palestinians, the two US envoys seem fully to have endorsed Netanyahu's positions instead of representing the interests of the US. (Gatestone Institute, Sept. 13, 2017)

 

“Few people know the extent of slavery in this era…Historians estimate that about 13 million people were sold as slaves by professional traders between the 15th and 19th centuries. Now the UN’s labour organization has calculated that at least 21 million people are kept in some form of modern slavery. We may imagine that the age of slavery was a long time ago—before the serfs were freed in Russia, before slavery was made illegal in the British Empire, and before the Civil War in the U.S. But if the estimates of scholars are accurate (as they seem to be) we are living in the real age of slavery right now. It is the least-known global atrocity. Because it is illegal, it operates mainly in secret and seldom produces headlines.” — Robert Fulford. (National Post, Sept. 8, 2017)

 

“Obama’s (Iran nuclear deal) is trumpeted primarily for one alleged achievement: it bought us time. In reality, it did precisely the opposite.  It bought Iran time. Instead of ratcheting up the pressure on Tehran on our terms and our timetable, Americans paid to give Iran time to hone missile delivery systems (Obama omitted from the deal) and get itself to the brink of acquiring a nuclear weapon before the JCPOA’s terrifying hourglass runs out…The Iran deal was exceptional for one other characteristic: it claims to put vital aspects of U.S. national security in the hands of non-Americans, the UN Security Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and our negotiation partners China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the European Union and Iran.” —  Anne Bayefsky. (Fox News, Sept. 6, 2017)

 

Contents

 

SHORT TAKES

 

SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW DAMAGE TO SYRIAN WEAPONS FACILITY (Hama) — An Israeli satellite released photographs showing the effects of an airstrike on a Syrian weapons base that was attributed to the Israeli Air Force. Last week, the Syrian military’s Scientific Studies and Research Center (CERS) facility in the Hama province, was hit from the air, damaging several buildings and killing two Syrian soldiers. Western officials have long associated the CERS facility with the production of precision missiles, as well as chemical weapons. Satellite images, provided by ImageSat International, show the extent of the damage to the site. Israel says it maintains a hands-off policy toward the Syrian civil war, only getting involved when one of its “red lines” is transgressed. (Times of Israel, Sept. 10, 2017)

 

NETANYAHU IN ARGENTINA FOR 'HISTORIC' VISIT (Buenos Aires) — Prime Minister Netanyahu is in Argentina on a visit seeking to strengthen ties with the country harboring Latin America's largest Jewish community. Netanyahu is marking the first visit to Latin America by an Israeli leader since the creation of the Israeli state in 1948. He is also scheduled to visit Colombia and Mexico before going to New York, where he will address the UN General Assembly. While in Buenos Aires Netanyahu will attend a ceremony at the Israeli Embassy, where a terror bombing killed 29 people in 1992. He will also visit the Association Mutual Israelita Argentina building, which was attacked in 1994, killing 85 people. Israel has long accused Iran and Hezbollah of being behind the bombings. (Ha’aretz, Sept. 11, 2017)  

 

ISRAEL-AFRICA SUMMIT CANCELED FOLLOWING BOYCOTT THREATS (Lome) — Next month’s Israel-Africa summit has been called off at the request of the president of Togo, where the event was set to take place, following attempts by the Palestinians and African countries to derail the gathering. The summit, which was meant to bring 54 countries on the continent to the capital of Lome on October 23-27, will be moved “to a date to be agreed upon between the two countries,” the Foreign Ministry said. The cancellation is a blow to Netanyahu’s efforts to foster stronger relations with African nations. Togo has been experiencing unrest in recent days, with thousands of protesters demanding presidential term limits amid anger over the 50-year rule of the Gnassingbe family. (Times of Israel, Sept. 11, 2017)

 

UN WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION NIXES PA MEMBERSHIP BID (Geneva) — The United Nations' World Tourism Organization has announced that will postpone until its next session, in two years, a decision on allowing the Palestinian Authority to join its ranks. The PA’s Ministry of Tourism applied for membership for “Palestine” into the organization last year. Had the bid been successful, the UNWTO would have been the second UN organization, after UNESCO, to which the Palestinians gained full membership. The Foreign Ministry's spokesman said that Israel's position is that the “State Of Palestine” does not exist, and therefore it cannot be accepted as a state in the UN or in any of its affiliated organizations. (Jerusalem Post, Sept. 13, 2017)

 

IRANIAN OFFICIAL DENOUNCES IAEA CHIEF, CONFIRMS TEHRAN WILL NOT OPEN MILITARY SITES TO INSPECTION (Tehran) — A senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader has denounced Yukiya Amano – the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – for his assertion that IAEA inspectors are entitled to access all “relevant locations,” including military sites, inside Iran. “The claim of such a right is fabricated by Mr. Amano,” Ali Akbar Velayati – a former Iranian foreign minister – said. Velayati’s attack on Amano is notable in that it comes two days after the IAEA chief confirmed that Iran, in the view of the agency, is abiding by the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). (Algemeiner, Sept. 12, 2017)

 

OFFICIALS INVESTIGATING WHETHER IRAN ASSISTED N. KOREA (London) — British officials fear that the recent technological advancement in North Korea’s nuclear capabilities may be the result of Iranian aid, The Telegraph reported. According to the report, Iran may have helped Pyongyang in its quest to attach nuclear warheads onto missiles. a British minister told the newspaper that Iran is at the top of the list of states suspected of providing North Korea with some kind of aid. The possibility of Russian assistance is also being reviewed. In addition, the report stated that Western officials believe that foreign countries likely supplied North Korea with either the equipment or the expertise needed in order to take additional steps on its path toward becoming a nuclear state. (Jerusalem Online, Sept. 10, 2017)

 

U.S. APPROVES SALE OF 18 SUPER HORNET JETS TO CANADA FOR $6.4-BILLION (Ottawa) — The U.S. government has put a price tag of $6.4-billion on the sale of 18 Super Hornet jets to the Canadian military, even though Ottawa has vowed not to strike a deal with the aircraft’s manufacturer, Boeing Co., over an unrelated trade dispute. Ottawa has been engaged in an increasingly bitter dispute with Boeing, which filed a complaint last April against Canadian-based Bombardier Inc. with the U.S. Department of Commerce. The federal government has used the Super Hornet acquisition as its main bargaining chip in its efforts to get Boeing to drop its case against Bombardier over allegations of illegal subsidies and dumping. (Globe & Mail, Sept. 12, 2017)

 

ERDOGAN ASSAILS U.S. OVER INDICTMENT OF EX-MINISTER (Ankara) — President Erdogan of Turkey criticized the U.S. over the indictment of a former Turkish economy minister who was accused of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions, depicting the charges as a political move against his country. The indictment of the former minister, Zafer Caglayan, has heightened already tense relations between Turkey and the U.S. The case is part of a widening investigation over Iran’s efforts to evade sanctions and involves a Turkish-Iranian gold trader and Turkish officials. Turkey is angered by U.S. support for a Syrian Kurdish militia, which it considers to be a terrorist organization, and complains of a lack of support from the United States, a NATO ally, after a coup attempt last year. (New York Times, Sept. 8, 2017)

 

SAUDI GOVERNMENT ALLEGEDLY FUNDED A ‘DRY RUN’ FOR 9/11 (Washington) — Fresh evidence submitted in a major 9/11 lawsuit moving forward against the Saudi government reveals its embassy in Washington may have funded a “dry run” for the hijackings carried out by two Saudi employees, further reinforcing the claim that agents of the kingdom directed and aided the 9/11 hijackers and plotters. Two years before 9/11, the Saudi Embassy paid for two Saudi nationals, living undercover in the US as students, to fly from Phoenix to Washington “in a dry run for the 9/11 attacks,” alleges the complaint. The complaint alleges that the Saudi students were in fact members of “the Kingdom’s network of agents in the US,” and participated in the terrorist conspiracy. (New York Post, Sept. 9, 2017)

 

SUU KYI TO SKIP UN ASSEMBLY AMID ALLEGATIONS OF ETHNIC CLEANSING (New York) — Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi, facing outrage over violence that has forced about 370,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh, will not attend the upcoming UN General Assembly because of the crisis. The exodus of refugees, sparked by security forces' fierce response to a series of Rohingya militant attacks, is the biggest problem Suu Kyi has faced since becoming Myanmar's leader last year. Pressure has been growing on Buddhist-majority Myanmar to end the violence in the western state of Rakhine that began on Aug. 25 when Rohingya militants attacked about 30 police posts and an army camp. The attacks triggered a sweeping military counter-offensive against the insurgents, who the government has described as terrorists. (CBC, Sept. 13, 2017)

 

ISRAEL ENDORSES INDEPENDENCE FOR KURDS (Jerusalem) — Israel said it supports Kurdish independence ahead of a referendum on the matter. Netanyahu's office said Israel considers the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a terrorist organization. But also said Israel "supports the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to attain a state of its own." The Kurds are spread across the region, with large populations in Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. Iraq's Kurds plan to hold the referendum in three governorates that make up their self-ruled region as well as disputed areas that are controlled by Kurdish forces but claimed by Baghdad, including the oil-rich province of Kirkuk. The vote is nonbinding, but Kurds hope a victory will kick-start negotiations with Baghdad on independence. (Miami Herald, Sept. 13, 2017)

 

GERMAN RIGHT-WING PARTY ON COURSE TO ENTER PARLIAMENT (Berlin) — A nationalist party that wants Germany to close its borders to migrants, leave Europe’s common currency and end sanctions against Russia is predicted to enter Parliament for the first time this month, propelled by voters’ anger at Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to let over a million refugees into the country since 2015. Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is forecast to take between 8 and 11 per cent of the vote on Sept. 24, giving it dozens of lawmakers in the national Parliament. If the predictions are correct, it would be the first time in 60 years that a party to the right of Merkel’s conservative Union bloc has attracted enough votes to enter the Bundestag. (National Post, Sept. 13, 2017)

 

HOLOCAUST MUSEUM PULLS STUDY OF OBAMA'S SYRIA POLICY (Washington) — The US Holocaust Memorial Museum withdrew from its website a study that critics said absolved the Obama administration of criticism that it did too little to prevent genocide in Syria. The paper argued that “a variety of factors…made it very difficult from the beginning for the US government to take effective action to prevent atrocities in Syria, even compared with other challenging policy contexts.” Critics of Obama have argued that he did too little to arrest the carnage in a civil war in which 400,000 people have died and Syria has been accused of using sarin gas, chlorine gas and barrel bombs. Many point to his decision in to postpone a military strike against the Syrian government in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack and instead to seek authorization from Congress. (JTA, Sept. 6, 2017)

 

MONTREAL COUPLE WAS INTENT ON WAGING JIHAD, CROWN SAYS (Montreal) — The Crown says a young Montreal couple was intent on answering the call from Islamic State to wage jihad in the Middle East and had amassed bomb-making materials at their home. El Mahdi Jamali, 20, and Sabrine Djermane, 21 are on trial on four charges: attempting to leave Canada to commit a terror act abroad; possession of an explosive substance; facilitating a terrorist act; and committing an act under the direction or for the profit of a terrorist organization. They have pleaded not guilty. Authorities say they found the couple had bags packed with new clothes and had booked plane tickets for a flight to Syria the following month. (CTV, Sept. 13, 2017)

 

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS PROTEST SALE OF CHURCH PROPERTY IN JERUSALEM (Jerusalem) — About 300 Orthodox Christians staged a demonstration in Jerusalem's Old City on September 9 against Greek Orthodox patriarch Theophilos III's decision to sell a substantial portion of the Greek Orthodox church's property in Israel. The protestors were demonstrating the sale of property to private buyers in downtown Jerusalem as well as residential neighborhoods. In addition, the church has sold extensive plots of land in Caesarea, Jaffa, Tiberias and elsewhere. Some demonstrators said that the sales were the product of corruption and called for the patriarch's resignation. (Ha’aretz, Sept. 10, 2017)

 

ISRAEL, CHINA SIGN $300M CLEANTECH DEAL (Jerusalem) — Israel and China signed a $300 million extension of a financial protocol between the two countries in Beijing on Monday, aimed at increasing Israeli exports of clean tech and agricultural technologies to China. The deal is an intergovernmental agreement that provides state guarantees for Israeli banks to provide long-term credit to Chinese importers to make purchases from Israeli exporters. Since the original financial protocol was signed in 1995, some 320 transactions worth some $1.75 billion have been signed in various fields including health, agriculture and education. (Jewish Press, Sept. 11, 2017)

 

TOURIST ARRIVALS CONTINUE TO BREAK RECORDS (Jerusalem) — The number of tourists visiting Israel continues to soar with some 254,000 tourists arriving in the country in August – a 20 percent increase from last year. Tourist arrivals for the year so far stand at 2.3 million, up 24 percent from the same period last year, and on course to beat the 12-month record of 2.95 million set in 2013. Since January, tourism in Israel has brought in nearly $3.5 billion. (Jewish Press, Sept. 11, 2017)

 

 

On Topic Links

 

The Last Days of ISIS’ Capital: Airstrikes if You Stay, Land Mines if You Flee: Somini Sengupta, New York Times, Sept. 8, 2017—Every few minutes, a deafening boom. Then a whistle of artillery. Occasionally, the clatter of a pickup truck, piled with soldiers, advancing to the front line. This was the neighborhood, on the western edge of Raqqa, the Islamic State’s de facto capital, where I met Hassan Hashem Ramadan on a scorching Thursday in late August.

Kim Jong-un and the Art of Tyranny: Bret Stephens, New York Times, Sept. 7, 2017—Imagine yourself as Kim Jong-un, North Korean despot. Unlike your father Kim Jong-il, who took the throne in late middle age and died 17 years later, you came to it before your 30th birthday. Yours is the longer, harder road, albeit with the same constant aim: to rule for life and die comfortably in your bed.

How Democrats Left Us Vulnerable to North Korea’s Nukes: Marc A. Thiessen, Washington Post, Sept. 6, 2017 —With last weekend’s surprise nuclear test, North Korea has reached final stage of its crash course to develop thermonuclear weapons that can reach and destroy U.S. cities. So why are we not on a crash course to protect our cities from North Korean nuclear missiles?

Yale Saves Fragile Students From a Carving of a Musket: George F. Will, Washingon Post, Aug. 30, 2017—Summer brings no respite for academics committed to campus purifications, particularly at the institution that is the leader in the silliness sweepstakes, Yale. Its Committee on Art in Public Spaces has discovered that a stone carving that has adorned an entrance to Sterling Memorial Library since it opened 86 years ago has become “not appropriate.”

 

Donate CIJR

Become a CIJR Supporting Member!

Most Recent Articles

Day 5 of the War: Israel Internalizes the Horrors, and Knows Its Survival Is...

0
David Horovitz Times of Israel, Oct. 11, 2023 “The more credible assessments are that the regime in Iran, avowedly bent on Israel’s elimination, did not work...

Sukkah in the Skies with Diamonds

0
  Gershon Winkler Isranet.org, Oct. 14, 2022 “But my father, he was unconcerned that he and his sukkah could conceivably - at any moment - break loose...

Open Letter to the Students of Concordia re: CUTV

0
Abigail Hirsch AskAbigail Productions, Dec. 6, 2014 My name is Abigail Hirsch. I have been an active volunteer at CUTV (Concordia University Television) prior to its...

« Nous voulons faire de l’Ukraine un Israël européen »

0
12 juillet 2022 971 vues 3 https://www.jforum.fr/nous-voulons-faire-de-lukraine-un-israel-europeen.html La reconstruction de l’Ukraine doit également porter sur la numérisation des institutions étatiques. C’est ce qu’a déclaré le ministre...

Subscribe Now!

Subscribe now to receive the
free Daily Briefing by email

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

  • Subscribe to the Daily Briefing

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.