Wednesday’s “News in Review” Round-Up

“Dear Mr. President: We write to urge you to exercise your power of clemency and commute Jonathan Pollard’s prison sentence to time served.… Mr. Pollard has now served more than 25 years in prison, many of which in solitary confinement, for his actions. There is no doubt that he has paid a heavy price, and, from the standpoint of either punishment or deterrence, we believe he has been imprisoned long enough. Mr. Pollard has expressed remorse for his actions, and his health is reportedly declining.… It is also clear that Mr. Pollard has served a disproportionately severe sentence.… For all of these reasons we join our voices to those who see clemency as an act of compassion justified on humanitarian grounds and for purposes of fairness and equity.…”—Excerpt of a letter to US President Barack Obama, being circulated for signing in the U.S. House of Representatives, supporting clemency for incarcerated Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard. Pollard has spent more than 26 years of an unprecedented life sentence in a federal prison for passing classified information to an American ally, Israel, during peace time, an offense which historically has garnered an average term of 2-4 years. Israeli President Shimon Peres, who is in Washington to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, has pledged personally to raise the issue with the Obama when the two meet. 70,000 Jews in Israel, the U.S. and around the world have signed a petition which urges Peres to use his influence and standing to ensure that Pollard is immediately released. (Independent Media Review and Analysis, June 12.)

 

Weekly Quotes

 

“On the same day the Obama administration exempted South Korean and Indian compliance with sanctions on Iran, the Iranian press reported that U.S. trade with Iran tripled between March and April 2012: ‘The latest figures and statistics of the Census Bureau said that despite the U.S-sponsored sanctions against Iran, the United States exported $43.8 million worth of goods to Iran in April. In March, the U.S. had exported. $13.9 million worth of exports to the Islamic Republic. The figure is the highest value of U.S. exports to Iran in the last 36 months. The figure also shows a 200 percent increase compared with April 2011.’ If the Obama administration seeks to convince the world that solidarity on coercive measures are necessary to bring Iran productively to the table and that the White House is serious about denying Iran a nuclear weapons arsenal, this is not the way to do it.”—Michael Rubin, in “US-Iran Trade Triples?” (Contentions, June 11.)

 

“The Islamic world should arise and scream that an atomic bomb is our right, and so smash America’s and Israel’s dreams.”—Alireza Forghani, an Iranian strategist allied with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an op-ed titled “Nuclear Confrontation: The Islamic World Needs to have the Atomic Bomb,” arguing that Islamic countries, including Iran, are entitled to nuclear weapons. According to Forghani, “If that right [had already been actualized], Israel would have been destroyed 30 years ago.…” (Jerusalem Post, June 11.)

 

“The people of Iran are asking for help, and Obama cares about showing Khamenei that he can reason with him. That was Jimmy Carter’s mentality in 1979 and that’s still the mentality in 2012.”—Reza Pahlavi, Persian Crown Prince and son of the last Iranian Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, accusing the White House of “a systemic failure in understanding the lay of the land” when it comes to Iran, and affirming that US President Barack Obama has “chickened out” of supporting pro-democracy forces there. According to Pahlavi, the Iranian regime is “an ideological, racist tyranny. It’s a combination of Hitler, the Soviets and apartheid which treats minorities and even women in a fascist manner. Yet the world seems to do nothing about it.” Pahlavi is currently in the Netherlands attempting to persuade the International Criminal Court to charge Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, with crimes against humanity. (Jerusalem Post, June 7.)

 

“The U.S. and West are seeking to find access to our military sites but the representatives of the people will not allow our military sites, which have nothing to do with nuclear activities, to be inspected by Western spies.”—Iranian MP Avaz Heidarpour, reiterating Tehran’s refusal to grant International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors access to the Parchin military complex. (Independent Media Review and Analysis, June 10.)

 

“We have always supported the right of the Iranian people to modern technologies, including the peaceful use of atomic energy.”—Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a Beijing conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) attended by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Nuclear negotiations with Iran resume in Moscow on June 18-19. (Jerusalem Post, June 7.)

 

“Men, while watching football, get excited and sometimes utter vulgar curses or tell dirty jokes. It is not within the dignity of women to watch football with men. Women should thank the police.”—Bahman Kargar, Iran’s deputy police commander in charge of social affairs, banning Iranian women from watching public screenings of the ongoing Euro 2012 soccer competition. (Independent Media Review and Analysis, June 10.)

 

“News reports of another massacre…are shocking and sickening. A village apparently surrounded by Syrian forces. The bodies of innocent civilians lying where they were, shot. Some allegedly burned or slashed with knives.”—UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, at a special General Assembly session on the Syrian crisis, “condemn[ing] th[e] unspeakable barbarity” of Syrian President Bashar Assad after regime forces carried out a massacre of at least 78 Syrian villagers in Mazraat al-Qubeir. According to Ban, UN monitors “were shot at with small arms” while trying to gain access to the site. (Reuters, June 7.)

 

“Assad must transfer power and depart Syria. The regime-sponsored violence that we witnessed again [last week] is simply unconscionable. Assad has doubled down on his brutality and his duplicity and Syria will not, cannot be peaceful, stable or certainly democratic until Assad goes.”—US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, calling for the immediate removal of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Immediately thereafter, however, Clinton herself doubled down, on diplomacy, reiterating that US policy remains “to give [UN-Arab League special envoy to Syria] Kofi Annan and his [peace] plan the last amount of support that can [be] muster[ed] because…there has to be a final recognition that it’s not working.” (Reuters, June 7.)

 

“The crisis is escalating. The violence is getting worse. The abuses are continuing. The country is becoming more polarized and more radicalized. And Syria’s immediate neighbors are increasingly worried about the threat of spillover.”—UN-Arab League special envoy to Syria Kofi Annan, acknowledging that his six-point peace plan is not working and warning that Syria is headed down a path of “brutal repression, massacres, sectarian violence and even all-out civil war.” (LA Times, June 7.)

 

“This axis is rearing its ugly head and the world must understand that this is the region we live in.”—Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, condemning the ongoing massacre of Syrian civilians by President Bashar Assad and blaming the violence on the Axis of Evil: Iran, Syria and Hezbollah. (Jerusalem Post, June 10.)

 

“If Israel accept[s] to free prisoners and allow us to re-arm the police then we would again sit at the same table as Netanyahu.… We will establish a dialogue, but that doesn’t mean a negotiation.”—Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, announcing his willingness to open a dialogue—not to negotiate—with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu so long as Israel first agrees to unilaterally free Palestinian prisoners and re-arm the PA police force. Otherwise, Abbas confirmed that he “will ask for recognition [of ‘Palestine’] at [September’s] UN General Assembly to obtain non-member status.” (Reuters, June 8.)

 

“We trust that the Holy See will clarify the situation…and ensure that any agreement upholds the Holy See’s position affirming the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.…”—Fatah Commissioner of International Relations, Nabil Shaath, expressing concern over a purported agreement between Israel and the Vatican that reportedly recognizes Israeli control over East Jerusalem. (Independent Media Review and Analysis, June 11.)

 

“Jerusalem doesn’t need men who hold cigarettes. It needs men who hold machine guns.…”—A Palestinian hand puppet, in a show performed by the Palestinian NGO Burj Luq-Luq Social Center Society promoting non-smoking to children in East Jerusalem. In addition, the puppet affirmed, “I wanted to stand before the audience and sing to Jerusalem, which is being kept from us. Jerusalem, whose youth are being killed by the Jews, to sing and to say: Jerusalem, we are coming; Jerusalem, the time of death has arrived.…” (Palestinian Media Watch, June 11.)

 

“[It is essential that Pakistan stop] allowing terrorists to use the country as a safety net in order to conduct their attacks on our forces. We have made that very clear time and time again and…we are reaching the limits of our patience.”—US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, warning Pakistan to do more to combat against the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani terrorist network, which continues to use Pakistani “safe havens” to plan and execute deadly operations against American forces in Afghanistan. (Wall Street Journal, June 7.)

 

“When you entered his house you would be surprised. It was a very simple house, with some wooden beds and plastic coverings and very little furniture.… He spent all his money on jihad.”—Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri, in a newly released half-hour videotape, praising the frugality of his deceased predecessor Osama bin Laden, who allegedly spent all his personal wealth on attacks against the West. (Reuters, June 3.)

 

“Whoever reveals the hideout of the idiot Obama will be rewarded with 10 camels, and whoever reveals the hideout of the old woman Hillary Clinton will be rewarded 10 chickens and 10 roosters.”—Fuad Muhammad Khalaf of the Shabaab al-Mujahideen terrorist group in Somalia, mocking the millions of dollars the US has offered for information leading to the whereabouts of leaders of the al-Qaida affiliate. (Reuters, June 10.)

 

“If an athlete/team is unable to come to the Games in [a] spirit of friendship and fair play, then they should stay at home.”—International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokeswoman Emanuelle Moreau, after the president of the Algerian Olympic Committee announced that the country’s athletes may be forbidden from competing against Israelis at the London Games. (Jerusalem Post, June 12.)

 

“As the world gathers together at the 2012 Olympics, let us pause to remember those whose lives were tragically taken by terrorism at the 1972 Munich Games. For 40 years there has been no moment of silence, no official remembrance at the Olympic Games. I trust all parties will offer their support for this cause.”—Canadian Member of Parliament Irwin Cotler, calling for bipartisan adoption of a House of Commons motion requesting a moment of silence at the upcoming London Olympics to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the murder of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, on behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, also joined the growing international campaign demanding a commemoration for the Israeli victims. In a letter to IOC president Jacques Rogge, Baird affirmed that “The [1972 Munich] terrorist attack targeted not only Israel, but the spirit and goals of the Olympic movement. Given the impact of this tragedy, on the Olympic community as a whole and the world, it should be marked publicly.… Canada strongly supports Israel’s request [for a moment of silence].” (Irwin Cotler’s Office, June 6 & National Post, June 7.)

 

Short Takes

 

NUCLEAR TALKS WITH IRAN FALTER—(Vienna) Preliminary negotiations between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency have broken down over the issue of inspections, fueling Western concerns that the upcoming, more far-reaching, talks scheduled for June 18-19 in Moscow will fail to curb Tehran’s nuclear program. According to the IAEA’s director general, Yukiya Amano, “During last week’s meeting [with Iran]…there were some setbacks. I cannot be in an optimistic mood.” Amano’s comments represent a sharp reversal from his previous May 21 statement following a visit to Tehran, in which he announced that the IAEA had reached a tentative agreement granting the agency access to Iranian scientists, documents and facilities believed related to nuclear-weapons research. The IAEA chief said his team needed time to “digest” the Iranian U-turn. (Wall Street Journal, June 8.)

 

VIRUS ATTACKING IRAN GIVEN ‘SELF DESTRUCT’ ORDER—(Jerusalem) The Flame computer virus that has been attacking Iranian energy facilities has been ordered to self destruct. In an official blog post, the Symantec company revealed that the virus had been sent an updated directive from its command-and-control (C&C) servers to completely remove itself from compromised computers and “leave no traces of the infection behind.” Security experts from the Russian Kaspersky Lab announced Flame’s discovery on May 28, saying it had been active for as long as five years as part of a sophisticated cyber warfare campaign. Flame is the third major cyber weapon directed against Iran, after the Stuxnet virus in 2010 and its data-stealing cousin Duqu. (Jerusalem Post, June 11.)

 

US GOV’T OPPOSES FORCING IRAN TO REVEAL ASSETS—(Jerusalem) Lawyers for the American victims of a Hamas triple suicide bombing who successfully sued Iran for damages have slammed the US Department of Justice’s backing of a court ruling preventing the plaintiffs from obtaining information about Iran’s US-based assets. The original lawsuit, Rubin v. The Islamic Republic of Iran, made headlines in 2003 when the US District Court in Washington, DC awarded victims of the attack $71.5 million in compensatory damages from Iran. However, in the nine years since, the Iranian government has refused to pay out the damages after another court judged that the Islamic Republic was not obligated to reveal its US-based assets. The stalled lawsuit has led to accusations that the US government is supporting Iran by filing court briefs in support of Tehran’s position. Late last month, in a move that has provoked anger among the terror victims, the US Department of Justice filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, which is expected to decide by June 25 whether to review the case, arguing that Iran is acting in accordance with its sovereign rights. (Jerusalem Post, June 12.)

 

HEZBOLLAH MAY MOVE SYRIAN ARMS TO LEBANON—(Jerusalem) Concern is mounting in Israel over the possibility that Hezbollah will try to move sophisticated weaponry, including Scud missiles, from Syria to Lebanon to protect them in the event of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s downfall. Syria is believed to have allocated a number of Scud D missiles—the most advanced missile in its arsenal with a range of about 700 km. and which can carry non-conventional warheads—to Hezbollah already in 2010, with the understanding that the missiles would only be shipped to Lebanon in the event of a war with Israel but not before so as to prevent a potential pre-emptive Israeli military strike. With Syria currently in the midst of an uprising, however, Israel fears Hezbollah is seeking to acquire the missiles to safeguard them from being captured by rebels. In the event of a weapons transfer, the IDF might be forced to intercept the convey, the ramifications of which could escalate into an all-out war especially given the Syrian regime’s readiness to deflect attention away from its ongoing atrocities. (Jerusalem Post, June 13.)

 

US EXCLUDES ISRAEL FROM ANTI-TERROR FORUM BECAUSE OF TURKEY—(Jerusalem) The US has blocked Israel’s participation in the Global Counterterrorism Forum’s (GCTF) first meeting in Istanbul because of fierce objections by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, even though Israel has one of the most extensive experiences in counterterrorism in the world. The GCTF, one of the pillars of US President Barack Obama’s antiterrorism campaign, was established in September 2011, with Turkey chosen as the forum’s joint chair. Twenty-nine countries are participating in the GCTF, ten of which are Arab and/or Muslim. Pro-Israeli sources say that the Obama administration is consciously ignoring the fact that Turkey has close ties with Hamas, which is included on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations. (Globes, June 10.)

 

NY OFFICIALS SLAM ‘ANTI-SEMITIC’ CONGRESS CANDIDATE—(New York) Several current and former New York Jewish elected officials have denounced the congressional candidacy of Charles Barron for his anti-Israel views. Ex-Mayor Ed Koch and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), among others, gathered in front of the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in downtown Battery Park to call Barron, a Brooklyn Democrat, an “enemy of the State of Israel” and the New York Jewish community. Barron, a city councilman, is facing state Assemblyman Hakeen Jeffries in a June 26 Democratic primary in a bid to succeed 24-year incumbent Rep. Edolphus Towns (D), who is retiring at the end of this year. The politicians expressed support for Jeffries and called Barron an “anti-Semite,” “hateful” and a “bigot,” highlighting that Barron has compared the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians to the Nazi treatment of Jews during World War II. (JTA, June 12.)

 

JEWISH STUDENT BURNED IN OSLO—(Berlin) A Jewish pupil at a secondary school in Oslo has been burned with a red-hot coin by a Norwegian schoolboy, triggering the Simon Wiesenthal Center to issue a strongly-worded letter to Norwegian Justice Minister Grete Faremo. According to the letter, “this child has been the subject of anti-Semitic bullying and violence for the past two years…because his father is Israeli, [yet] despite the mother’s report of assaults on her son…there has been no reaction by the school, the police or governmental authorities.” Dr. Shimon Samuels, head of the Wiesenthal Center’s division of international affairs, noted that “the boy has stated that he must stay clear of Norwegian and Muslim children and hide his parentage to avoid continued anti-Semitic attacks.” He stressed that the situation is becoming “too reminiscent of another Norway, under the WWII Nazi collaborator, Quisling.” (Jerusalem Post, June 13.)

 

GREEK ENVOY CONDEMNS ATTACK ON ‘JPOST’ REPORTER—(Jerusalem) Greece’s Ambassador to Israel Kyriakos Loukakis has strongly condemned an attack against Jerusalem Post reporter Gil Shefler in Athens. Shefler was assaulted in the Greek capital last week while trying to film a mob attack outside the National Archeological Museum. Gang members who were beating refugees, migrants and homeless people turned on Shefler after he took his camera out; they chased him down the street and brutally beat him. In a letter addressed to the JPost’s Editor-in-Chief, Loukakis said that “the Greek government unreservedly condemns the attack” and stated that the police were conducting a thorough investigation into the incident. (Jerusalem Post, June 7.)