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WEDNESDAY’S “NEWS IN REVIEW” ROUND-UP

 

ContentsDownload today's Daily Briefing.pdf

Weekly Quotes 

Short Takes

 

On Topic Links

 

 

Egyptian Cleric Threatens Copts With Genocide: Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institute, Dec. 28, 2012

Hizbullah Partners with Mexican Drug Cartels: Eldad Beck, YNet News, Dec. 29, 2012

Iran Wakes to New Syrian Reality : Walter Russell Mead, American Interest, Dec. 30, 2012

 

 

Weekly Quotes

 

 

“In choosing not to stand idly by as the age-old hatred of the Jewish people has been transferred to the ‘collective Jew,’ I have been speaking up against the new anti-Semitism that is so pervasive today in the world. It targets the Jewish people by targeting the Jewish homeland as the source of injustice and conflict in the world. It is perversely couched in the language of human rights. Just as conventional anti-Semitism denied Jews the right to live as equal members of humanity, the new anti-Semitism denies the State of Israel the right to live as an equal member of the international community.  Worse still, when this new anti- Semitism expresses itself in the call for the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people, it is no longer hate speech, it is incitement to genocide. And we have to name it for what it is.” —Canada’s Foreign Minister, John Baird quoted by Malcolm Hedding in “A Grave Decision”, Jerusalem Post. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 26, 2012)

 

“The Zionist self-haters are different than the anti-Zionists in that the former are as firm in their commitment to a Jewish State as they are to an Arab one. Since they have deluded themselves into believing that the Arab world has accommodated itself to the existence of Israel, to them the core of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict has already been resolved. What is necessary to end the current violence is only to expunge the Israeli sin of “occupation,” a sin that has badly stained their blanched humanitarian consciences. Indeed, they see resistance to the “occupation” as legitimate and believe that returning to the pre-1967 lines will end the conflict and secure Israel’s future.”—Ron Dermer, an influential aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and considered a favourite to become Israel’s next ambassador to the United States, quoted by Alison Hoffman in “Bibi’s Brain”, Tablet. (Tablet Magazine, Sept. 3, 2011)

 

"Any sensible person can understand Hamas is able to replace the Palestinian Authority – before an agreement or after an agreement – as witnessed in Gaza."—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an apparent response to President Shimon Peres's call to renew talks with "partner for peace"–Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Netanyahu said that, as opposed to the "voices that I have heard recently urging me to make concessions and withdraw," he would continue to manage the diplomatic process "responsibly and sagaciously and not in undue haste," adding that Israel must avoid allowing a "third Iranian terror base in the heart of the country." (Jerusalem Post, Jan. 1, 2013)

 

“Let us ensure that we have full sovereignty within the 1948 armistice lines,” before attempting to extend sovereignty to the areas liberated in the 1967 Six Day War. “Go to the Temple Mount and you will see Israeli police quaking in their boots from fear of the Waqf. We do not even have sovereignty over many parts of Jerusalem.”—Likud Knesset candidate Moshe Feiglin. (Arutz Sheva, Jan. 1, 2013)
 

“I just want quiet for my children and my country. [But], I don’t think any contract we’d do with them [the Palestinians] would give us quiet. We want to pay the price [for peace], but we don’t believe in the other side.”—Ayal Sheffer, a publishing executive in Rishon LeZion commenting on the aftermath of Operation Pillar of Defense. His sentiments reflect a recent poll on behalf of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs that found that 83 percent of Israeli Jews do not believe that a withdrawal to the 1967 borders and a division of Jerusalem would bring an end to the conflict. (New York Times, Dec. 31, 2012)

 

"There will be no such thing as Israel, instead there will be Palestine which will be home to Jews, Muslims and Druze and all of the people who were there from the start. Those who want to stay will stay as Palestinian citizens. Those who conquered Palestine will have to go back to their countries. Palestine houses people who conquered it and those occupiers have previous homelands."—Essam al-Aryan, Muslim Brotherhood official, Freedom and Justice Party's deputy chairman, and advisor to the Egyptian president, on his Facebook page in response to criticism across Egypt for his statement Thursday, [Dec. 27] that the return of Egyptian Jews to Egypt [would] enable Palestinians to return to their homeland: "Every Egyptian has a right to return especially if he is making room for a Palestinian. I want to enable the Palestinians to return to their land," he said. "I call upon the Jews, Egypt is worthier of you than Israel." Distancing itself from al-Aryan , Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson Mahmoud Ghozlan said the statements do not represent the movement's stance, [rather] "Egyptian Jews are criminals who must be punished for what they did to Egypt and the Palestinians," he said. (YNet News, Jan. 1. 2013)

 

"This is the first time the Palestinian authorities have issued such a ban, which poses a serious threat to freedom of information. It will also create problems for the not insignificant number of Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip who work for Israeli TV stations and newspapers. We urge the Hamas government to rescind this order."Reporters Without Borders in shocked response to the ban imposed by Hamas on Palestinian journalists in Gaza from co-operating with the Israeli media. (The Guardian, Dec. 27, 2013)

"Given there has been no let-up in the conflict since the end of November, we can assume that more than 60,000 people have been killed by the beginning of 2013. The number of casualties is much higher than we expected, and is truly shocking. The failure of the international community, in particular the Security Council, to take concrete actions to stop the blood-letting, shames us all. Collectively, we have fiddled at the edges while Syria burns."—U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay Wednesday [Jan. 2] following the release of an exhaustive UN study on the killings in Syria. (National Post, Jan. 2, 2013)

 

“People are talking about a divided Syria being split into a number of small states like Yugoslavia. This is not what is going to happen. What will happen is Somalization — warlords.” Without a peace deal Syria would be “transformed into hell.”—Lakhdar Brahimi, international envoy to Syria, at a news conference at Arab League headquarters in Cairo. (New York Times, Dec. 31, 2012)

 

“My message to the State Department has been very simple, and that is we’re going to solve this. We’re not going to be defensive about it; we’re not going to pretend that this was not a problem — this was a huge problem. It confirms what we had already seen based on some of our internal reviews; there was just some sloppiness, not intentional, in terms of how we secure embassies in areas where you essentially don’t have governments that have a lot of capacity to protect those embassies,” —U.S. President Barak Obama commenting on the independent inquiry’s report on the attack against the American diplomatic compound in Libya that killed four Americans on Sept. 11. (New York Times, Dec. 30, 2012)

"I love the army. If I was born and raised in Syria, I would have served in their army. But I live here, so I decided to do my part and enlist."—Samir (an alias), 26, an Israeli Arab who serves in the Tavor battalion, one of the Home Front Command's search and rescue battalions whose men also perform combat duties. A married father of one, Samir also had to persuade his wife to support his choice. "It is not simple, my wife opposed my enlistment; she wanted her husband close to home. But she came around in the end. She and my parents were the only ones who supported my decision.” Despite the difficulties and fears, Samir calls on Muslim youths to follow in his footsteps. "If you love this system, I definitely recommend it, it's very gratifying." (YNet News, Dec. 30, 2012) 

 

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RITA LEVI-MONTALCINI (1909-2012) NOBEL LAUREATE AND NEUROBIOLOGIST DIES AT 103 – (Rome) Dr. Rita Levi-Montalcini, a Nobel Prize-winning neurologist who discovered critical chemical tools that the body uses to direct cell growth and build nerve networks, opening the way for the study of how those processes can go wrong in diseases like dementia and cancer, died on Sunday at her home in Rome. She was 103. “I don’t use these words easily, but her work revolutionized the study of neural development, from how we think about it to how we intervene,” said Dr. Gerald D. Fishbach, a neuroscientist and professor emeritus at Columbia. (New york Times, December 31, 2012)

 

HUNDREDS PROTEST IN TEL AVIV, DEMAND MIGRANT DEPORTATIONS(Tel Aviv) Calling for the deportation of Sudanese and Eritrean migrants from Israel after an Eritrean man allegedly raped an 83-year-old Tel Aviv woman last weekend, hundreds of demonstrators marched from the city’s Hatikvah neighborhood to its central bus station Monday night. The event, called “Blowing up the Silence,” was organized by MK Michael Ben Ari, of the newly formed Otzma Leyisrael party…the demonstrators…operated under the slogan “Getting Sodom (and Gomorrah) out of Tel Aviv and returning it to Africa.”  Ben Ari told the crowd that southern Tel Aviv neighborhoods had been taken over by “infiltrators” saying, “When there are no police and there is no government, only we can stop the next rape.” (Times of Israel, Dec. 31, 2012)

 

FRENCH GOVERNMENT CUTS IMMIGRANTS WELFARE BY 83%(Paris) French Interior Minister Manuel Valls announced [Dec. 27] significant changes in the country’s migration policy. The government will reduce financial assistance to immigrants. Starting March 1 of [2013], French immigrant benefits will be reduced by 83 percent. The amount of compensation to immigrants who voluntarily want to return home will be also reduced. In March of 2013 monthly [welfare] amounts will be reduced from 300 to 50 euros for every adult and from 100 to 30 euros for every minor. If this is not done, Valls said, the costs for the maintenance of migrants now paid by the French Treasury will continue to devastate the economy of France. (EU Times, Dec. 28, 2012)

 

EGYPT PREVENTS LARGE-SCALE SMUGGLING OF WEAPONS INTO GAZA(Washington) Egypt has prevented three instances of large-scale smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip (two originating from Libya, and another from Iran through Sudan) since the end of operation Pillar of Defense, according to Western sources. The activity against the weaponry smuggling is part of Egyptian-US coordination, agreed upon in the discussions leading to the end of the operation. The agreement includes assistance with US technological measures made available for Egyptian use, and intelligence cooperation in order to counter the smuggling of weapons. Israel and the US now expect that Egypt will do everything against the smuggling of weapons through Egyptian territory into the Gaza Strip. (Israel Defense, Jan. 1, 2013)

 

JERUSALEM PRESSES CASE FOR EU TO BAN HEZBOLLAH(Berlin) The Israeli government is redoubling its efforts to convince the European Union to outlaw Hezbollah within the 27-member body because of the Lebanese group’s record of terrorism. According to reports in the Hebrew media, Israel’s new case involves showing Hezbollah’s role in the 2005 murder of Lebanese president Rafik Hariri, based on evidence culled from the international tribunal that investigated the bombing. Israel is slated to reveal documentary material about Hezbollah’s role in destabilizing Syria and joining forces with Bashar Assad’s regime in the ongoing campaign to obliterate that country’s pro-reform movement. Hezbollah’s narcotics and money-laundering operations are part of Israel’s dossier. (Jerusalem Post, Jan. 2, 2013)

 

LEBANESE MILITARY INVESTIGATING INVASION BY ISRAELI PEPPERS(Sidon, Lebanon) A Lebanese shopper discovered a bag of three kinds of [sweet] peppers made in Israel while shopping Tuesday at Spinneys, one of Lebanon’s largest retailers, in the coastal city of Sidon. He immediately contacted local authorities who in turn contacted the Lebanese Army. Members of military intelligence and police arrived to discover 13 similar bags that have the word “Israel” printed on the sale tag. The case was then referred to the military judiciary for investigation into how the products made it through the customs department at the port or the airport. (The Daily Star, Jan.1, 2013)

 

ARAB STATES ABANDON CASH-STRAPPED PA(Ramallah) Facing a billion-dollar deficit and with no funds to pay government employee salaries, the Palestinian Authority has asked Russia and China to help rescue it from financial collapse. Foreign Minister Riyad Maliki this week blasted Arab countries for not fulfilling financial pledges toward the Palestinian Authority. The Arab League decided last March to create a “financial safety net” of $100 million a month to protect the Palestinian Authority from financial collapse. Arab failure to fulfill a pledge to fund that safety net proved that “the Arab nation is, incredibly, moving away from the Palestinian issue,” Maliki said. (Times of Israel, January 2, 2013)

 

SAUDIS SWEAT AS ENERGY REVOLUTION CHANGES THE RULES—(Washington) The US shale gas boom, drastically cutting the cost of gas, is shaking the foundations of the Saudi Arabian economic model—and more is coming. The highly profitable $100bn Gulf petrochemical industry is taking a hit as its biggest customer—the U.S.—is importing less and relying instead on domestic production. The rapidly growing Saudi population wants to consume (subsidized) petrochemicals at home, air conditioning Saudi houses and running Saudi cars instead of exporting product abroad.  Falling production, demand, and prices are beginning to hurt. (American Interest, December 29, 2012)

 

EGYPT "ON THE VERGE OF BANKRUPTCY"—(Cairo) Egypt is effectively out of cash. With foreign exchange reserves at a “critical minimum,” Egypt’s central bank imposed exchange controls and let the Egyptian pound exchange rate fall by about 5 percent from the level prevailing through most of 2012. The central bank will ration foreign exchange by holding auctions at which a limited amount of hard currency is offered, and restrict corporate cash withdrawals to $30,000 per day as well as limiting the amount of cash an individual may transfer out of the country to $10,000. Because Egypt’s main source of foreign exchange is remittances from Egyptian citizens working overseas, the latest set of measures are likely to backfire. Individuals are likely to delay sending remittances until they believe that the Egyptian pound has stabilized, aggravating the foreign exchange shortage. (JINSA December 31, 2012)

 

VIEWS OF THE ISRAELI PUBLIC ON ISRAELI SECURITY AND RESOLUTION OF THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT"—(Jerusalem) Main points: 76% of Israelis (83% of Jews) believe that a withdrawal to the 1967 lines and a division of Jerusalem would not bring about an end of the conflict. 61% of the Jewish population believes that defensible borders are more important than peace for assuring Israel’s security (up from 49% in 2005). 78% of Jews indicated they would change their vote if the party they intended to support indicated that it was prepared to relinquish sovereignty in east Jerusalem. 59% of Jews said the same about the Jordan Valley. (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs/Dahaf Institute Survey, Dec. 2012)

 

SENATE REPORT WIDENS FAULT FOR BENGHAZI FAILURES(Washington) The Senate report was harshly critical of the State Department for failing to recognize and respond to security risks. The State Department and Pentagon had no viable way to rescue Americans in Benghazi, Libya, falling short of their responsibility to develop plans to evacuate U.S. citizens. But it also [found] fault with the Obama administration for being "inconsistent" about whether the assaults on U.S. posts in Benghazi were a terrorist attack. The inconsistency "contributed to the confusion in the public discourse" about the attacks, write Sens. Joe Lieberman (I., Conn.) and Susan Collins (R., Maine), the chairman and senior Republican of the committee and the report's authors. Details turned up by the investigation show "a shocking irresponsibility to protect American diplomatic personnel in Benghazi," Mr. Lieberman said in an interview on Sunday [Dec. 30]. (Wall Street Journal, Dec. 30, 2012)

 

RENDITIONS CONTINUE UNDER OBAMA(Washington) Three European men with Somali roots were arrested on a murky pretext in August as they passed through the small African country of Djibouti. U.S. agents accused the men — two of them Swedes, the other a longtime resident of Britain — of supporting al-Shabab, an Islamist militia in Somalia that Washington considers a terrorist group. Two months after their arrest, the prisoners were secretly indicted by a federal grand jury in New York, then clandestinely taken into custody by the FBI and flown to the United States to face trial. The men are the latest example of how the Obama administration has embraced rendition — the practice of holding and interrogating terrorism suspects in other countries without due process — despite widespread condemnation of the tactic in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. (Washington Post, Jan. 1, 2013)

 

ISRAEL HOME TO 8 MILLION CITIZENS(Jerusalem) A new survey by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) says that as 2012 draws to an end Israel's population numbers 7,981,000 people. According to the CBS, 6,015,000 (75.4%) of Israelis are Jews, 1,648,000 are Arabs and 319,000 are affiliated with other various religions and ethnic groups.  In the course of 2012, the population of Israel increased by 145,000 people, or 1.8%, similar to the increase in the last decade. Some 170,000 babies were born in 2012, in addition to the arrival of 16,500 new immigrants. (YNet News, Dec. 30, 2012) 

 

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Egyptian Cleric Threatens Egypt's Copts With Genocide: Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institute, Dec. 28, 2012—"The day Egyptians…feel you [Copts] are against them, you will be wiped off the face of the Earth." — Dr. Wagdi Goneim. Islamic leaders continue to portray the popular protests against President Morsi and his recently passed Sharia-heavy constitution as products of Egypt's Christians.

 

Hizbullah Partners with Mexican Drug Cartels: Eldad Beck, YNet News, Dec. 29, 2012—U.S. intelligence indicates that Mexico is home to some 200,000 Syrian and Lebanese immigrants – most of them illegal – who were able to cross the border via an extensive web of contacts with drug cartels. Western intelligence agencies have gathered ample evidence suggesting that the drug cartels in Mexico – which are the de facto rulers of the northern districts bordering the U.S. – are in cahoots with Islamic terror organizations.

 

Iran Wakes to New Syrian Reality : Walter Russell Mead, American Interest, Dec. 30, 2012—Syria is crucial to Iran's grand design in the Middle East. It was also the means by which Iran was able to support Hizbullah in Lebanon and construct an anti-Israel alliance with Hamas that helped offset Iran's deep disadvantages on the Arab street, making it look less like a "Persian" and "heretical" anti-Arab power and more like a leader of global Islam in the fight against the West. The growing likelihood that decades of building this position will end in catastrophe represents the greatest threat to the Iranian regime since its failure in the Iran-Iraq war. 

 

 

Ber Lazarus
, Publications Editor
Canadian Institute for Jewish Research
/L'institut Canadien de recherches sur le Judaïsme   www.isranet.org  Tel: (514) 486-5544 Fax: (514) 486-8284

 

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