Contents: Media-ocrities of the Week | Weekly Quotes | Short Takes|On Topic
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Clarifying the Misconceptions
“…[H]ere’s a leader [Barack Obama] who, using growth-based policies, has ended the recession in his country much earlier than those that resorted to austerity. He has negotiated an important public health program through his legislature. And he has forged a new electoral base from an emerging generation of voters, something that dozens of less fortunate leaders are struggling to do. The old America of force may have vanished from the scene. But people around the world would like to have a piece of this new America, the one that seems to be solving its problems. Mr. Obama[’s] democrats will be ruling for at least four, and possibly eight, more years. So we might see a positive influence, say, in the January 22 [2013] Israeli election, where Mr. Netanyahu’s bellicose anti-Obama stand might cost him and help usher in a more peace-minded coalition.” [Doug Saunders op-ed in the Globe and Mail, November 10, 2012)
“As the Israeli columnist Ari Shavit noted in the newspaper Haaretz last week: In the past, both the Zionist movement and the Jewish state were careful to be identified with the progressive forces in the world. … But in recent decades more and more Israelis took to leaning on the reactionary forces in American society. It was convenient to lean on them….The Republican Party’s white, religious, conservative wing was not agitated when the Israeli Supreme Court was attacked and the rule of law in Israel was trampled. Israel, Shavit added, assumed that under the patronage of a radical, rightist America we can conduct a radical, rightist policy without paying the price. No more. Netanyahu can still get a standing ovation from the Israel lobby, but not at U.C.L.A….Don’t count on America to ride to the rescue. It has to start with you [Israelis]. My president is busy.” [Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, November 11, 2012)
"If an alarm sounds, people in southern Israel – 1 million people – have 15 seconds to find shelter," —Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to a group of foreign ambassadors following increased rocket fire from Gaza over the weekend. "I don't know if any of your governments will accept this reality. I cannot accept this. The world needs to understand that Israel has the right and duty to defend its citizens. We will act to stop the rocket fire." (Jerusalem Post, Nov. 12, 2012)
"The occupation has committed a grave crime and crossed all red lines." —Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman commenting following the IDF’s assassination of Hamas’ top military commander, Ahmed Jabari. "This is a real declaration of war. The enemy will pay a heavy price for its crime and will regret the moment it thought of perpetrating it." (Jerusalem Post, November 14, 2012)
“Today we sent a clear message to the Hamas organization and to other terrorist organizations, and should the need arise, the IDF is prepared to broaden the operation,”—Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a joint press conference with Defense Minster Ehud Barak. “We will continue to do everything to protect our citizens.” [Israel is] “not prepared to make peace with a situation in which Israel’s citizens are menaced by the terror of rocket fire. No country would agree to such a situation; Israel is not prepared to reconcile itself to such a situation.” (Times of Israel, November 14, 2012)
"Anyone who trusts the international community should look at its failure to stop 22 months of Syrian violence, with 40,000 dead," —Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman commenting on a possible Israeli military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Israel "knows how to act" to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb Lieberman continued, saying that Israel's handling of the Iranian threat will be the same as actions taken against Iraq and Syria. [referring to Israel’s bombing of nuclear installations in both countries] (Jerusalem Post, November 14, 2012)
“To carry on an investigation of the CIA director [David Petraeus] that long, the FBI would have had to think it was serious — and if it was serious, they would have had to tell the President,” — Rep. Peter King (R-LI), chairman of the house Committee on Homeland Security. “It’s hard to believe that the investigation was going on for six months and nothing serious happened until after the election. The whole thing just doesn’t add up.” (New York Post, November 11, 2012)
"I will explain how my parents raised you in an atmosphere of racism and hate before the Salafis could douse you in religious extremism."—Abdelghani [Merah], brother of Mohamed Merah, who murdered three Jewish children, a rabbi and three paratroopers in and around the southern city of Toulouse in March of this year, in his new book "My Brother, That Terrorist."…"My mother always said, ‘We, the Arabs, we were born to hate Jews.’ This speech, I heard it all throughout my childhood." (Ynet News, November 11, 2012)
“I have sworn to Allah, that any dog—for that is how Allah described them, for they are like dogs that are constantly panting—that any dog who mocks the Sharia, or mocks Islam, or blames it, we will cut out his tongue. I say this without hesitation: We will cut out his tongue! That's it. The time of transgressing against Islam, and speaking insolence, has passed—it is over. Today, the People of Lies [code for secular people] defend their falsehoods with great zeal; so shall we defend Islam with all our might—no matter what it costs, no matter what it costs! Let the whole world burn, but Islam not be mocked.” —Dr. Abdullah Badr, professor of Islamic exegesis at Cairo's preeminent Islamic university, Al Ahzar, on Egyptian television. (Gatestone Institute, November 12, 2012)
“The world cannot be left to what the five permanent members [of the UN Security Council] have to say,” —Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a conference in Indonesia bitterly denouncing the UN’s inability to respond to the Syrian crisis following a UN announcement that 11,000 Syrians had fled the civil war in one day, 9,000 of whom had fled to Turkey. “If we leave it to the five permanent members, humanity will continue to bleed.” (New York Times, November 10, 2012)
“We thought freedom was so near,” —Abu Ahmed, a Syrian rebel fighter speaking on Skype last month from Maarat al-Noaman, a strategic town on the Aleppo-Damascus highway. Hours earlier, a rebel victory there ended in disaster, as government airstrikes pulverized civilians returning to what they thought was safety. “This shows it was a big lie,” he said of the dream of self-government that he said had inspired him to lead a small rebel fighting group from his nearby village, Sinbol. “We cannot reach it. We can’t even think of democracy — we will be sad for years. We are losing victims from both sides.” Anna, a finance worker in Damascus added, “All the ugly stuff the regime practiced, the F.S.A. [Free Syrian Army] is copying,”, (New York Times, November 9, 2012)
“I am not a puppet. I was not made by the West to go to the West or to any other country,” —Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in an interview with Russia Today in response to a Western proposal broached by British Prime Minister David Cameron, that he leave Syria to make room for a transitional government. “I am Syrian, I was made in Syria, I have to live in Syria and die in Syrin” Responding to a question about the possibility of Western military intervention Assad said, “We are the last stronghold of secularism and stability in the region and coexistence. Let’s say, [a Western intervention] will have a domino effect that will affect the world from the Atlantic to the Pacific and you know the implication on the rest of the world.” He added he did not believe the West planned to intervene “but if they do so, nobody can tell what is next.” The price of an “invasion if it happened is going to be more than the whole world can afford,” (National Post, November 9, 2012)
"Last week an unidentified aircraft entered the airspace over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, which was forced to flee due to the prompt, smart and decisive action of the Islamic Republic of Iran's armed forces." —Iranian Brig Gen. Ahmad Vahidi to Iranian state media Friday [Nov. 9] referring to Iran’s attack on a U.S. drone which Iran says breached Iranian airspace. (Wall Street Journal, November 11, 2012)
"It was inappropriate for the president to wait seven days—until after the election—before making this serious national-security incident public, just as it is totally unacceptable that this administration still has not answered our repeated and numerous inquiries about the terrorist attack in Benghazi, which occurred two months ago," —Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), ranking GOP member on the Senate Armed Services Committee. (Wall Street Journal, November 11, 2012)
“This country [the United States] must prove that it has become a human being [has developed the faculty of reason] and in doing so has closed its military bases in fifty countries of the world, dissolves the CIA so that this agency no longer plans coups against other states, lets the Palestinian be free, and shuts down its torture chambers and prisons. And since this country is not domestically free and the American people do not have the freedom of choice, it should give freedoms to its people. Based on these principles, if it [the United States] desires relations with Iran, it must deliver these reforms and become humane." — Iranian Basij Commander Mohammad-Reza Naqdi at the Islamic Republic’s yearly commemoration of the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the United States Embassy in Tehran. (The Commentator, November 5, 2012)
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IRON DOME INTERCEPTS 13 GAZA ROCKETS; 6 LAND NEAR BEERSHEBA—( Tel Aviv) Palestinians in Gaza launched at least 55 rockets into southern Israel following assassination of Hamas military leader Ahmed Jabari and following the beginning of Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense Wednesday night [Nov. 14], which struck terrorist targets in the Palestinian enclave. The Iron Dome rocket defense system intercepted 17 rockets, most of which were Grad missiles launched toward Beersheba. Six rockets landed near Beersheba, one causing damage, and Channel 2 reported that for the first time, a rocket was fired toward Dimona, home of Israel's nuclear reactor. A rocket also damaged a house in Ashdod. (Jerusalem Post, November 14, 2012)
ISRAELI AIR STRIKE KILLS TOP HAMAS COMMANDER JABARI—( Tel Aviv) The IAF struck and killed Hamas's head of military operations Ahmed Jabari in central Gaza on Wednesday. The airstrike marked the beginning of a campaign to target Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations in Gaza, IDF spokesman Yoav Mordechai said. "The first aim of this operation is to bring back quiet to southern Israel, and the second target is to strike at terror organizations," Mordechai said. (Jerusalem Post, November 14, 2012)
IDF HITS 20 UNDERGROUND LONG-RANGE ROCKET SITES IN GAZA—( Tel Aviv)
The IDF has struck over 20 underground rocket launchers belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad in an airstrike. The airstrikes targeted long-range rockets in the possession of terror organizations, such as the Fajr-5 and other rockets that are capable of striking Tel Aviv from Gaza. IDF spokesman Yoav Mordechai said that Gaza is a "forward Iranian base," adding that the latest campaign of air strikes targeted most of the long-range offensive capabilities in the hands of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. (Jerusalem Post, November14, 2012)
EGYPT RECALLS AMBASSADOR FOLLOWING GAZA STRIKES —( Tel Aviv) Egypt recalled its ambassador from Israel on Wednesday [Nov. 14] after Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed Hamas's top military commander and at least six other Palestinians, Presidential spokesman Yasser Ali said. "President Mohamed Morsi has followed the Israeli brutal assault in which a number of martyrs and sons of the Palestinian people were killed," Yasser Ali said in a statement on television…. " On this basis he has recalled the Egyptian ambassador from Israel; has ordered the Egyptian representative at the United Nations to call for an emergency meeting at the Security Council … and summoned the Israeli ambassador in Egypt in protest over the assault," (Jerusalem Post, November 14, 2012)
MINISTERS UP RHETORIC AGAINST PALESTINIAN UN BID —(Jerusalem) Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz [Nov. 12] called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and said his determination to seek non-member [state] status at the UN later this month posed a “strategic threat” to Israel. “I am not in favor of crushing the Palestinian Authority, but if we have no choice in the face of a strategic threat, we should not fear taking such measures,” said Steinitz in an interview to Israel Radio. “Look at what happened in Gaza. The same thing would happen in Nablus, Kalkilya and Ramalla. We would see Kassam and Grad rockets fall on Kfar Saba and Petah Tikva. That — we cannot live with,” he said. Steinitz repeated his threat that Israel would not collect taxes on the Palestinians’ behalf, nor deliver the money to the PA, nor assist Ramallah in economic matters if the Palestinians insist on advancing their bid. (Times of Israel, November 14, 2012)
IAEA: DRAMATIC INCREASE OF URANIUM PRODUCTION IN IRAN—( New York) The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will soon issue a report showing that Iranian nuclear centrifuges are dramatically increasing their production, according to a report by the AFP. The watchdog group says Iran has completed the installation of 2,700 new centrifuges at its Fordo plant, which is buried deep in a mountain range and is considered impenetrable by air assault. Aerial photos have shown Iran conducting clean-ups of the areas around nuclear plants to eliminate evidence of their activities. (Jewish Press, November 14th, 2012)
IN ONE DAY, 11,000 FLEE SYRIA AS WAR AND HARDSHIP WORSEN —(New York)
The United Nations reported that 11,000 Syrians fled to neighboring countries on Friday, the vast majority clambering for safety over the Turkish border, in one of the largest single-day torrents of refugees since the Syrian conflict began. It came as mayhem and deprivations were worsening inside the country, its president more determined than ever to stay and his fractious enemies still politically paralyzed. (New York Times, November 9, 2012)
PALESTINIAN UN VOTE COULD CHALLENGE ISRAELI CONTROL OF AIRSPACE AND TERRITORIAL WATERS —(New York) The vote in the UN General Assembly this month [Nov. 29] to make the Palestinian Authority an observer state could give the PA the right over its airspace and territorial waters, which are now under Israeli control, and to press charges against Israelis before the International Criminal Court. Observer state status would allow the authority to accede to treaties and join specialized UN agencies such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Law of the Sea Treaty, and the International Criminal Court. Denis Changnon, an ICAO spokesman, said the treaty gives members full sovereign rights over airspace. The Law of the Sea Treaty would give the PA control of its national waters off Gaza, now under an Israeli naval blockade. The U.S. Congress has threatened to cut off $500 million in security and economic aid to the Authority if it becomes an observer state. (Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2012)
FRANCE RECOGNIZES SYRIAN OPPOSITION COALITION —(Paris) France became the first Western country to recognize a newly created opposition coalition as Syria's only legitimate authority …"France recognizes the National Syrian Coalition as the only representative body of the Syrian people and therefore as the future government of a democratic Syria," French President François Hollande told reporters in Paris. Mr. Hollande also said Paris would "look again" into the question of arming Syrian opposition groups, now that they are offering better guarantees of representation. (Wall Street Journal, November 13, 2012)
ISRAEL FLYING AID GIVES FOOD, GENERATORS, GAS TO HURRICANE SANDY VICTIMS —(New York, NY) Israel Flying Aid, the Israeli global humanitarian organization which was first to land in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, has been distributing large supplies of gas to hospitals, food, batteries and generators to Hurricane Sandy victims. "We have many years of disaster relief experience," said Israel Flying Aid North American Operations Manager Moti Kahana. "Israel Flying Aid, in having Israelis on the ground here in New York and New Jersey, have made Israel the only foreign nation to provide humanitarian assistance to the US during this disaster. We are working in coordination with FEMA, local police, the American Red Cross and Jewish communities in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut."(Israel News Agency, Jewish Week, November 4, 2012)
PETRAEUS WILL TESTIFY ON LIBYA —(Washington, DC) Former Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus has agreed to testify on Capitol Hill about the September attacks on the U.S. Consulate and a CIA annex in Libya, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) said Wednesday. The date for his appearance before Ms. Feinstein's panel, the Senate Intelligence Committee, is still being decided… (Wall Street Journal, November 14, 2012)
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Labor, Kadima, Olmert, Livni Back Government’s Air Assault On Hamas: Raphael Ahren, Times of Israel, November 14, 2012— Israeli politicians from almost across the spectrum Wednesday hailed the government’s decision to embark on a major air operation in Gaza and the killing of the leader of Hamas’s military wing, Ahmed Jabari.
Ahmed Jabari: The Ruthless Terror Chief Whose Bloody End Was Only A Matter Of Time: Mitch Ginsburg, Times of Israel, November 14, 2012—For the past 10 years Jabari has been the commander of the military wing of the organization. He was promoted to that post in everything but title on September 26, 2002, when an Israeli Hellfire missile slammed into the car carrying the previous commander, Mohammed Deif, who was seen crawling out of the smoldering vehicle, badly injured, and has never returned to a true command position.
Israel Destroys Hamas Drone Program: Jewish Press, November 14th, 2012 —IDF announces that not only did they destroy most of the long-range Fajr missiles, but also Hamas’s unmanned military drone program. Hamas didn’t even know that Israel knew all about it.
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