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Wednesday’s “News in Review” Round-Up

Media-ocrity of the Week

 

 

ISRAEL’S FADING DEMOCRACY

 Avraham Burg

 

“Mr. Netanyahu’s great political “achievement” has been to make Israel a partisan issue and push American Jews into a corner. He has forced them to make political decisions based on calculations that go against what they perceive to be American interests. The emotional extortion compels Jews to pressure the Obama administration, a government with which they actually share values and worldviews, when those who love Israel should be doing the opposite: helping the American government to intervene and save Israel from itself. [Our emphasis—Ed.]

 

“In the early years of statehood, the meaning of the term “Jewish” was national and secular. In the eyes of Israel’s founding fathers, to be a Jew was exactly like being an Italian, Frenchman or American….Israel arose as a secular, social democratic country inspired by Western European democracies. With time, however, its core values have become entirely different. Israel today is a religious, capitalist state. Its religiosity is defined by the most extreme Orthodox interpretations. Its capitalism has erased much of the social solidarity of the past, with the exception of a few remaining vestiges of a welfare state.

 

“If this trend continues, all vestiges of democracy will one day disappear, and Israel will become just another Middle Eastern theocracy…. As in Northern Ireland or South Africa, where citizens no longer spill one another’s blood, it will eventually become clear that many Israelis are not willing to live in an ethnic democracy, not willing to give up on the chance to live in peace, not willing to be passive patriots…I believe that creating two neighboring states for two peoples that respect one another would be the best solution. However, if our shortsighted leaders miss this [two state] opportunity, the same fair and equal principles should be applied to one state for both peoples.[Our emphasis—Ed.]  

 

[Avraham Burg, former speaker of the Knesset, New York Times, Aug. 5, 2012—what the NYT does not tell the reader is that Avraham Bur, formerly a Labour MK, was an activist with the left-wing organization Peace Now. In 2003 he published an article in the left-leaning paper The Guardian entitled  “The End of Zionism”, soon after which he resigned from the Knesset and public life. He has since left Israel and resides abroad. —Ed. )

 


 

Weekly Quotes

 

"It was an unjustified and unhelpful visit that served only the Zionist occupation,"—Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas, referring to a visit to Auschwitz death camp late last month by Ziad al-Bandak, an adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. It was "a marketing of a false Zionist alleged tragedy." coming "at the expense of a real Palestinian tragedy," Reuters reported that al-Bandak laid a wreath at Auschwitz. (JTA, Aug. 2, 2012)

 

"The problem is not hasbara; the British public may not be expert[s] but they are not stupid,"—British Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould, saying [that] the Jewish state is today viewed "as the Goliath and it is the Palestinians who are seen as the David." adding that "There is a growing concern about the lack of progress towards peace."and that Israelis and their supporters should be concerned about the erosion of popular support for the Jewish state due to  “ongoing settlement building, conditions in the West Bank and restrictions placed on the Gaza Strip” (Jerusalem Post, August 3, 2012)

 

“It appears that despite a series of steps taken by Israel, the Palestinian Authority nevertheless continues in a very negative pattern of behavior”—an [Israeli] government official.memo “We think we have taken some bold steps, but that the Palestinians have refused to pick up the ball, and refuse to cease behavior that we see as hostile,”  Israel has made a number of goodwill gestures lately toward the Palestinians…agreeing to start negotiations…on developing the Gaza Marine gas field off the Gaza Strip coast, signing…an economic accord with the PA aimed at enhancing trade, an advancing of NIS 180 million of tax money so salaries could be paid, and transfering in May to the PA of the bodies of some 90 terrorists. “The Palestinians have to make a decision,” the official continued. “Do they want to go ahead with cooperation—and there is so much to be gained by that—or do they want to continue with unilateral steps, and reflexive anti-Israel actions.” (Jerusalem Post, August 3, 2012)

 

…[W]hile it was justified to “make clear Israel’s designation of Jerusalem as its capital is not recognized by the international community, we accept that it is wrong to state that Tel Aviv—the country’s financial and diplomatic centre—is the capital. The style guide has been amended accordingly.”— The Guardian in response to Honest Reporting’s legal proceedings against it for designating Tel Aviv as Israel’s capital in it’s style guide. (Honest Reporting, August 7, 2012)

 

“Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided”— Sen. Barack Obama (D—Illinois) (AIPAC conference, June 4, 2008)
 

“Our two nations are separated by more than 5,000 miles. But for an American abroad, you can’t get much closer to the ideals and convictions of my own country than you do in Israel. We’re part of the great fellowship of democracies.  We speak the same language of freedom and justice, and the right of every person to live in peace. We serve the same cause and provoke the same hatreds in the same enemies of civilization.”— Mitt Romney in his Jerusalem address. (Jerusalem Post, July 29 , 2012)

 

“As the Levy Report correctly notes, Israel is not engaged in ‘military occupation’ in relation to the communities in Judea and Samaria,”—American Jewish leaders in their letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu. “In our opinion, the individuals who have urged you not to accept the findings of the Levy Report under the pretext that Israel’s status as a Jewish and democratic state could somehow be compromised by its adoption are doing a disservice to the State of Israel. Despite assertions to the contrary, the conclusions of the Levy Report do not ‘place…the prestige of Israel as a democratic member of the international community, in peril.’ We categorically reject this absurd declaration and sincerely hope and pray that you do the same.” (Jewish Press, Aug. 4, 2012)

 

“Given the irreversibility of the huge Israeli civilian presence in Judea and Samaria and continuing Palestinian rejectionism, Western governments must reassess their approach to resolving the Israeli—Palestinian conflict. They should acknowledge that no final—status solution is imminent. And consequently, instead of lamenting that the status quo is not sustainable, the international community should work together with the parties to improve it where possible and make it more viable.”—Dany Dayan chairman of the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria.. (New York Times, July 25, 2012)

 

“We will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon—period,”—US Secretary of Defense Panetta to  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  “We will exert all options in the effort to ensure that that does not happen.” But Israeli officials seemed unwilling to accept Panetta’s assurances that President Obama has their backs, media reports say.  “Obama will not attack Iran—never,” Netanyahu was quoted as telling Shaul Mofaz, the opposition leader. “In his second term, Obama will care even less about us than he cares now.”… Some Israelis believe that Obama was trying to make sure Israel wouldn’t attack Iran before the November election.  AnyUS attack would only come in another year or two, after Iran more fully develops its nuclear program reports in Maariv and Yedioth Ahronoth say. (New York Post, Aug. 5, 2012)

 

“There will be neither diplomatic progress nor an accord with the Palestinians as long as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas remains in power,” Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said Tuesday.  Liberman, in a meeting with visiting Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr, slammed the PA for a letter it sent to the EU on July 24, urging it to reconsider its relations with Israel. The letter, coinciding with the annual EU—Israel Association Council meeting, urged the EU not to grant Israel “any upgrade whether it be official or practical,” and not to give the country any preferential treatment, nor allow further integration into the EU.  Liberman termed the letter “slanderous,” and said it accused Israel of theft and exploitation of natural resources, closing off the Gaza Strip, destroying projects in Israeli—controlled Area C of the West Bank and settler violence.   “The style and sprit of the letter,” Liberman said…was “better suited to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Der Stuermer.” (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 6, 2012)

 

“Liberman’s statements reveal a mentality interested in killing the peace process and fueling conflict and wars,” Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh was cited as saying by official PA news agency WAFA. Abbas, speaking at Al-Najah National University in Nablus on Wednesday, warned of the diplomatic repercussions of a continued stalemate in peace talks with Israel. “Israel neither halted settlement activities, nor recognized the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967 as occupied territory," he said, according to the Ma'an new agency. "Thus, the only choice we have is to go to the UN equipped with a united Arab stance.” (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 8, 2012)

 

Short Takes

 

SINAI ATTACK TESTS NEW EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT'S RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL(Israel) Several high-ranking officials inside Israel's government and numerous independent experts said Monday that the terrorist attack on the Israel-Egypt border is the best evidence yet that the two countries are both threatened by lawlessness in the Sinai Peninsula. Hillel Frisch, a senior research fellow at Bar-Ilan University's Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, noted that the attack "will strengthen [Egyptian President Mohamed] Morsi's commitment to be a status-quo actor, which is a big, big thing strategically. He runs a state, and there are greater enemies to the Egyptian state than Israel. In that sense, it's a game-changer."  The attack brought several early signs of cooperation and coordination. An Israeli brigadier general and his Egyptian counterpart met near the border to discuss the investigation. Israel handed over to Egypt the armored car and the bodies of those killed. (New York Times, Aug. 6, 2012)

 

EGYPT ARMY KILLS SINAI MILITANTS IN BORDER ASSAULT(Sina) Egyptian military forces and jets killed 20 terrorists in the Sinai region bordering Israel in the early hours of Wednesday, striking back after armed men attacked several security checkpoints, an army commander in Sinai told Reuters. "We have succeeded in entering al—Toumah village, killed 20 terrorists and destroyed three armored cars belonging to terrorists. Operations are still ongoing," he told Reuters. The military is responding to attacks that began Sunday, which the government blamed partly on Islamists. Sixteen border guards were killed in the Sunday assault.(Egypt Independent Aug. 8, 2012)

 

IAI MOVES UP ARROW-3 TEST—(Israel) Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced Monday that it will soon hold the first full—scale test firing of the Arrow-3 missile…meant to intercept long-range missiles, even those carrying unconventional warheads. Today, two Arrow-2 missile batteries are protecting Israel against ballistic missiles. IAI has accelerated the development of the Arrow-3 ballistic missile defense system, partially with the help of US funding. (Israel Defense.Aug. 6, 2012)

 

LIBYA JEW RETURNS TO UK POST—BENGHAZI JAILING—(Libya) Businessman Raphael Luzon, a former Libyan Jew, returned to the UK safely on Sunday after security forces in Benghazi imprisoned and interrogated him for several days.  Luzon said his ordeal began in Benghazi on July 22 when “suddenly a friend sent me a text warning me to be careful that security forces are looking for me,” he recalled. “I immediately called the Italian consul who came to my hotel, but when I went to the lobby to meet him he was surrounded by 12 to 15 armed men.” Asked why he had been arrested, Luzon said he was still not sure.  “I don’t know why, but privately I’ve been told that there is a big fight between the groups and everybody wanted to be the one that arrested and released me,” he said.(Jerusalem Post July 31, 2012)

 

HOLOCAUST DENIER APPOINTMENT IRKS ROMANIAN JEWS—(Romania) Jewish parliamentarian Aurel Vainer criticized the government for making Dan Sova its new liaison to parliament, saying the Social Democratic politician’s comments last March that “No Jew suffered on Romanian territory” during World War II made him unsuitable for the job. “Historical data show that a total of 24 Jews were killed during the Iasi pogrom by the German army,” Sova said. He went on to praise Ion Antonescu, Romania’s wartime fascist dictator who was in league with Berlin and was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Jews, for supposedly protecting the country’s Jewish community. Sova was dismissed from his position as spokesman of the Social Democratic Party following his remarks and sent to the Holocaust museum in Washington for re-education by party leaders. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 7, 2012)

 

IT’S OFFICIAL: GENOCIDAL SUDAN RUNNING FOR U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL —(Geneva) The Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch condemned the candidacy of Omar Al-Bashir’s Sudanese regime, despite the International Criminal Court warrant for his arrest on charges of genocide, for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council, as confirmed by a United Nations website. “Electing Sudan to the international community’s highest human body is like putting Jack the Ripper in charge of a women’s shelter,”— said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. (UN Watch, Aug. 7, 2012)

 

THE RELIGIOUS SILENCE ON CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION—(New York) Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani marked his 1,000th day of incarceration this month in Lakan, a notorious prison in northern Iran. Mr. Nadarkhani is charged with the crime of apostasy and faces a death sentence for refusing to recant the Christian faith he embraced as a child…[B]ut his story is barely known…. The principal reason…is [because] the various church leaderships either ignore or dance around the issue of the persecution of Christians. “If churches don't speak up forcefully, then it is unrealistic to expect the world's democratic governments to do the same. At their annual convention this month, Presbyterians in America approved a divestment campaign targeting Jewish communities in the West Bank. Pastor Nadarkhani wasn't even mentioned. At the Episcopalian convention days later, resolutions about Gaza and the Israeli—Palestinian peace process were tabled, but the imprisoned Iranian pastor’s ordeal went unremarked. As for the bombings of churches in Africa and Asia, it's as if they never even happened.” (Wall Street Journal, July 29, 2012)

 

THE BLUE-AND-WHITE FLAG ON THE ‘RED PLANET’—(Israel) Israeli software was crucial to the development of the Curiosity rover now exploring the possibility of life on the red planet….PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) software, used by companies to determine how their designs and products will stand up under real—life conditions…is used today in just about every manufacturing industry…. Siemens, one of the biggest providers of the software, does all its PLM work in Israel…the company’s Israeli CEO Zvi Feuer: “We develop PLM solutions for many of the largest companies around the world.”  One of Siemens’ international customers is JPL [Jet Propulsion Laboratory], which is running the Mars Science Lab mission. Siemens PLM Israel helped develop the system needed to figure out how to ensure that Curiosity could stand up to the harsh conditions on Mars and continue operating in the face of the wind and dust, which appear to be a major feature of the Martian atmosphere. “This is one of mankind’s greatest accomplishments,” said Feuer, “and we are honored to have had a part in it.” (Times of Israel, Aug. 8, 2012)

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