CIJR | Canadian Institute for Jewish Research
L'institut Canadien de Recherches sur le Judaisme

Isranet Daily Briefing

WEDNESDAY’S “NEWS IN REVIEW” ROUND-UP

 We welcome your comments to this and any other CIJR publication. Please address your response to:  Rob Coles, Publications Chairman, Canadian Institute for Jewish Research, PO Box 175, Station  H, Montreal QC H3G 2K7 – Tel: (514) 486-5544 – Fax:(514) 486-8284; E-mail: rob@isranet.wpsitie.com

 

MEDIA-OCRITY OF THE WEEK: “As for Mr. Netanyahu, in the most recent Israeli election, he raised the expectation that he could never, and would never, accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank…Yet that would be an essential part of any real solution. That leaves a yawning gap between the Israeli government and the PA. So it’s not really surprising that some young Palestinians, a number of them from East Jerusalem, are acting violently on their own, by themselves, with no sign of leadership…Some media reports speak of a “wave,” a “flare,” a “spike in violence” or “lone wolves.” Others are predicting a third Intifada, including Isaac Herzog, the Leader of the Opposition in Israel, and Ismail Haniyeh, the main leader in Gaza. Mercifully, or prudently, Hamas has so far not gone beyond moral support. … As ever, the two-state solution is the only viable hope, but the path to it is unclear, and the leaders are lacking. Mr. Abbas and Mr. (Netanyahu) should move on.” —Editorial  (Globe & Mail, Oct. 15, 2015) 

 

Contents: |  Weekly QuotesShort Takes   |  On Topic Links

 

On Topic Links

 

Gaza Imam: Jews Are Brothers of Apes and Pigs, We Will Pray in Tel Aviv (Video): Memri, Oct. 14, 2015

Follow the Terror-Brick Road: Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Town Hall, Oct 14, 2015

Canada Loses a Moral Compass: Michael Rubin, Commentary, Oct. 20, 2015

A Path Out of the Middle East Collapse: Henry A. Kissinger. Wall Street Journal, Oct. 16, 2015

 

WEEKLY QUOTES

 

“I’m opposed to the BDS movement. I think that it’s an example of the new form of anti-Semitism in the world, as Irwin Cotler points out, an example of the three “Ds”: demonization of Israel, delegitimization of Israel, and double standard applied toward Israel. I’m all for freedom of speech and expression in Canada, and we need to be sure we’re defending that. But when Canadian university students are feeling unsafe on their way to classes because of BDS or Israel Apartheid Week, that just goes against Canadian values. And I have said so, not just in news interviews, but in person on university campuses.” — Liberal Party leader, and Canadian Prime Minister elect, Justin Trudeau. Trudeau will become Canada’s 23rd prime minister after his party steamrolled to a stunning majority victory Monday. (CJN, Oct. 15, 2015)

 

“Now we have a new big lie. That new big lie is that Israel is executing Palestinians.” — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. PA President Mahmoud Abbas ignited an uproar in Israel after falsely claiming in a televised speech that Israelis had “summarily executed” Ahmed Manasra, when the 13-year-old actually was recovering at an Israeli hospital after he stabbed two Israelis, including a boy his own age. Israel has repeatedly accused Abbas of fomenting violence with what it says are incendiary comments. Still, Netanyahu said he would be “perfectly open” to meeting Abbas to address what the Israeli leader said was a wave of incitement. (National Post, Oct. 16, 2015)

 

“The Palestinian attack on Joseph’s Tomb reminds us of the actions of the most extreme Islamist elements, from Afghanistan to Libya.” — Dore Gold, Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Palestinians set fire at dawn on Friday to a holy site known as Joseph’s Tomb, in the PA-controlled city of Nablus in the West Bank, damaging the tiny stone compound that many Jews believe is the burial place of the son of the biblical patriarch Jacob. (New York Times, Oct. 16, 2015)

 

“I want a gun not so much because I’m worried for my own safety, but because I’ll be better prepared to protect other people from attacks,” — Jerusalem resident Netanel Oberman. The Israeli government responded to the rising demand for weapons with a decision to ease gun ownership rules, including allowing some municipalities to issue temporary licenses for the first time. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, filmed recently carrying his own Glock pistol, has called for legal gun owners to arm themselves. (Bloomberg, Oct. 15, 2015)

 

“A wave of terror continues to spread across the nation and it spares no one – babies, children, men and women…Everyone is considered a walking target…Israelis do not feel safe walking down the street, they avoid taking the bus to work, and they fear for the lives of their children every time they walk out the door… in a particularly shocking and horrific attack, two Palestinian teenagers, one of them merely 13 years old, stabbed a 13-year-old boy riding his bicycle and an Israeli man who was walking down the street…Such acts of pitiless slaughter” are a “direct result of Palestinian incitement.” — Danny Danon, in his first appeal as Israeli ambassador to the UN. The incitement “deliberately aims to inflame Palestinian children’s minds with hate,” and the attacks are a result of the propagation of “false allegations against Israel, in particular regarding the status quo on the Temple Mount, even though the prime minister clearly stated time and again that Israel is fully committed to maintaining it.” In his statement addressed to the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council, the new ambassador stressed that “only the cessation of the incitement will alleviate this dangerous situation and bring calm and security to the region.” (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 14, 2015) 

 

“In order to want to have to go and stab somebody because of who they are, that person first has to be dehumanized. We saw this in 1939. Jews were dehumanized into Untermenschen before they were massacred by the Nazis, and today in Palestinian society, Jews are considered the children of apes and pigs and are accused of a litany of false crimes…The Palestinian Authority-controlled areas are the most antisemitic territories in the world, where, according to the ADL, 93 percent hold antisemitic views.”Algemeiner Editor Dovid Efune. (Algemeiner, Oct. 19, 2015)

 

“It’s striking how, when it comes to these issues, some otherwise intelligent and thoughtful people in government, media, or think tanks, just shut down their critical faculties. Instead, they resort to a Pavlovian response mechanism that essentially rejects any possible legitimacy for the Israeli position and blindly defends whatever Palestinian narrative comes along. In this mindset, if Israelis are being shot or stabbed, they must have done something to “deserve” it. If Israeli authorities mobilize the army and police to stop the terrorism, then, by definition, Israel is using “excessive force.” No matter how inflammatory President Abbas’s speeches at the UN may be, he is a man of “peace.” No matter how many times Israeli leaders call for face-to-face negotiations with the Palestinians, Israel is always branded as the “obstacle” to peace. Isn’t it long overdue to get real, see things as they actually are, and stop living in a world of self-imposed illusions and falsehoods?” — AJC Executive Director David Harris (Huffington Post, Oct. 11, 2015)

 

“(Iran’s) ballistic missile test is troubling for three primary reasons. First, this test furthers Iran’s ICBM program. An ICBM is not tangential or unrelated to Iran’s nuclear program. The sole purpose of an Iranian ICBM is to enable delivery of a nuclear weapon to the United States… Second, this long-range ballistic missile that Iran tested last weekend likely improves Tehran’s ability to target Israel-our closest and most reliable ally in the Middle East. A threat combines hostile intent and capability…Third…this latest violation of international law demonstrates Tehran’s continued willingness to ignore its obligations. As White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said yesterday, “We have seen Iran…almost serially violate the international community’s concerns about their ballistic missile program.” We could not agree more.” — Letter to Obama by U.S. Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R) and Mark Kirk (R). Iranian media reported last week that the regime’s military successfully tested a long-range ballistic missile, which is likely capable of hitting Europe and Israel. French officials have also condemned Iran’s rogue behavior. (Breitbart, Oct. 15, 2015) 

 

“We need to plan to confront nuclear and non-nuclear issues…Iran continues to send weapons to Hezbollah, Hamas and Assad in Syria. It is imperative that the breach with the US is healed in order to control Iran’s activities that continue to create chaos throughout the region…We must never lose sight of the fact that when the 15-year term of the Iran deal ends, Iran may very well have an unlimited stockpile of centrifuges.” — Maj. General (res.) Amos Yadlin, former head of IDF Military Intelligence. Speaking to more than 1,300 Israeli Americans in Washington, Yadlin said: “The deal is a catastrophe but it is done and unfortunately the issue is not going away. How do we go forward to deal with the deal?” (Jewish Press, Oct. 19, 2015)

 

“Syria may be beyond any solution…Half the remaining population has escaped the war zones and they lack jobs or homes. Many of the towns have suffered a great deal of damage.” —Anthony Cordesman, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. With Russian warplanes in the air and Iranian special forces on the ground, an emboldened President Assad is turning back to the biggest trophy in his country’s civil war, and this time Europe is also on the front line. Should Aleppo and other Sunni towns fall to Assad’s forces, the potential for another, larger, wave of refugees would be nightmarish, according to one official in a European government. (Bloomberg, Oct. 18, 2015)

 

“Syria is the four cities: if you own them, you own Syria…I suspect that the government believes that if they can own the four cities and win over the urban population, the countryside will eventually have to fall in line…This larger war of Sunnis versus Shiites is only at its beginning…If you create a rump state that includes all the Sunni cities, you still have this fundamental problem: who is going to rule, Sunnis or Shiites? It doesn’t solve the problem.” — Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. (Bloomberg, Oct. 18, 2015)

 

“It makes no difference whether we’re in Iraq or Syria, we consider it the same front line because we are fighting the same enemy…We are all the followers of (Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei and will go and fight to defend the holy sites and Shiites everywhere.” —a spokesman for Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iraqi Shiite militia that says it has fighters around Aleppo. Saidi said the group has been sending reinforcements to Syria for several months but declined to give numbers. (Washington Post, Oct. 19, 2015)

 

Contents

 

SHORT TAKES

 

10 ISRAELIS KILLED, 112 HURT IN PAST THREE WEEKS OF TERROR WAVE  (Jerusalem) — According to Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service, as of Tuesday, 10 Israelis have been killed and 112 wounded since the current wave of Palestinian terrorism began three weeks ago. In the near-daily attacks that include stabbings, shooting and vehicular attacks, 11 Israelis have been seriously wounded, 17 moderately hurt, and 84 lightly wounded. (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 20, 2015)

 

TWO DEAD, TEN INJURED IN SHOOTING ATTACK IN SOUTHERN ISRAEL (Beersheba) —A Palestinian terrorist opened fire on passengers at the central bus station in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba Sunday, injuring ten people and killing a soldier. Another man, an Eritrean asylum seeker, was shot and critically injured by a security guard who mistook him for a terrorist. The man was then kicked by bystanders who also believed he was a Palestinian assailant. He succumbed to his wounds. The soldier who died of his wounds has been named as Sgt. Omri Levy (19). (I24, Oct. 19, 2015)

 

PALESTINIAN POSING AS JOURNALIST STABS IDF SOLDIER IN HEBRON (Hebron) — An Israeli soldier was moderately wounded in a stabbing attack near the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba near Hebron on Friday. The Palestinian attacker posed as a photojournalist, and was wearing a yellow “press” vest at the time of the attack, according to the IDF. The attacker was shot dead by soldiers at the scene. After another week of deadly attacks and clashes with Palestinians across the country and in the West Bank, Israel beefed up its security presence Friday in preparation for an outbreak of fresh violence. (Times of Israel, Oct. 16, 2015)

 

ARAB PROPOSAL TO U.N. OVER WESTERN WALL STIRS NEW CONCERN (Jerusalem) —U.N. officials have objected to a proposal by some Arab states to classify the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in Judaism, as part of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, following denunciations by Israel and many U.S. Jewish groups. The proposal is contained in a draft resolution to the executive board of Unesco. The Unesco director general, Irina Bokova, expressed her objection to the resolution, saying it “could be seen to alter the status of the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls.” The proposal has emerged at a time when deadly violence between Israelis and Palestinians has been flaring over the Al Aqsa compound, known as the Temple Mount to Jews. Attempts to bring the measure up for a vote as early as Tuesday appeared to have been delayed. (New York Times, Oct. 20, 2015)

 

NETANYAHU ACCUSED OF ‘ABSOLVING HITLER’ FOR HOLOCAUST (Jerusalem) — Prime Minister Netanyahu was pounded with a barrage of condemnations after he claimed that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler only decided on the mass extermination of Europe’s Jews after receiving input on the matter from Jerusalem’s then-grand mufti, Haj Amin al-Husseini, a Palestinian nationalist widely acknowledged as a fervent Jew-hater. “Hitler didn’t want to exterminate the Jews at the time… He wanted to expel the Jews,” Netanyahu said. “And Haj Amin al-Husseini went to Hitler and said, ‘If you expel them, they’ll all come here [to mandatory Palestine],’” continued the prime minister. “‘So what should I do with them?’ He [Hitler] asked,” according to Netanyahu. “He [Husseini] said, ‘Burn them.’” The Prime Minister later said he had merely intended to drive home the enormity of the mufti’s role as the originator of contemporary Palestinian “incitement” against Jews. (Times of Israel, Oct. 21, 2015)

 

OBAMA ABANDONS PLEDGE TO EXIT AFGHANISTAN (Washington) — President Obama on Thursday abandoned his pledge to end America’s longest war, announcing plans to keep at least 5,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan when he leaves office in 2017 and hand the conflict off to his successor. Obama had originally planned to withdraw all but a small embassy-based force from Afghanistan at the end of next year, shortly before leaving office. The president’s decision was reinforced when Taliban fighters took control of the key northern city of Kunduz late last month, leading to a protracted battle with Afghan forces supported by U.S. airstrikes. During the fighting, a U.S. air attack hit a hospital, killing 12 Doctors Without Borders staff and 10 patients. (National Post, Oct. 16, 2015)

 

TRUDEAU TO OBAMA: CANADA TO PULL OUT OF BOMBING CAMPAIGN AGAINST ISIS (Washington) — Canada’s new leader-in-waiting says he intends to follow through on his campaign promise to pull the country out of the U.S.-led bombing campaign against I.S. in Syria and Iraq. Justin Trudeau said he has already told President Obama of his plans. Trudeau is expected to take office in the coming weeks, replacing Prime Minister Harper, who sent Canadian warplanes to carry out airstrikes against I.S. Canada’s bombing raids started hitting I.S. positions in Iraq in November 2014 and expanded into Syria in April. As of last week, Canada’s six Hornet fighters in the region had flown 1,046 sorties in the operation, according to the military. (CNN, Oct. 21, 2015)

 

SYRIAN REGIME EXPANDS GROUND OFFENSIVE TO ALEPPO (Damascus) — Syrian pro-regime forces backed by Russian airstrikes have expanded their ground offensive to the strategic city of Aleppo. Losing partial control of the city, which was once Syria’s largest, was an embarrassment to the regime. But with the backing of Russian warplanes, Iranian forces and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, Assad’s forces could now be in position to regain large parts of the city and the surrounding countryside. On Sunday, the regime captured a village and U.S.-backed rebels destroyed two regime tanks using American-supplied weapons as they tried to stem the regime’s progress. In a rare move, the offensive is being led by regime-allied Iranian fighters. (Wall Street Journal, Oct. 18, 2015)

 

‘FIRST RUSSIAN CASUALTIES’ IN SYRIA (Damascus) —  Three Russians fighting alongside government forces have been killed in Syria, it was reported on Tuesday, in what would be the first Russian casualties since Moscow’s intervention in the war there began three weeks ago. Pro-Syrian government military sources said three Russians were killed when shelling hit their positions near Latakia on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. About 20 Russians were stationed at a position near Nabi Younis where the three were killed, according to the monitoring group. The news of casualties comes as Syrian forces backed by Russian air power and Iranian troops and fighters from Hezbollah pressed on with offensives on several fronts.  (Telegraph, Oct. 20, 2015)

 

IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL FORMALLY ADOPTED  (Washington) — The White House began implementing its nuclear agreement with Iran with an eye toward lifting expansive sanctions imposed on Tehran in the past decade. Concerns from opponents of the deal continued to grow, however, as senior administration officials during the weekend played down the importance of a UN  probe into whether Tehran has attempted to secretly develop the technologies needed to build atomic weapons. The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, is committed under the deal to release a report about Iran’s alleged weaponization work. U.S. officials over the weekend said the report would have no bearing on moves by the international community to lift sanctions. U.S. officials had previously said sanctions wouldn’t be lifted unless Iran substantively cooperated with the U.N. probe. (Wall Street Journal, Oct. 19, 2015)

 

HAJJ DISASTER DEATH TOLL AT LEAST 2,121 (Mecca) — The crush and stampede that struck the hajj last month in Saudi Arabia killed at least 2,121 pilgrims, a new AP tally showed Monday, after officials in the kingdom met to discuss the tragedy. The toll keeps rising from the Sept. 24 disaster outside Mecca as individual countries identify bodies and work to determine the whereabouts of hundreds of pilgrims still missing. The official Saudi toll of 769 people killed and 934 injured has not changed since Sept. 26, and officials have yet to address the discrepancy. Iran has repeatedly blamed the disaster on the Saudi royal family, accusing it of mismanagement and of covering up the real death toll, which Tehran says exceeds 4,700, without providing evidence. (CBC, Oct. 19, 2015)

 

BRITAIN UNVEILS PLANS TO FIGHT EXTREMISM IN YOUNG MUSLIMS (London) —  Britain has announced new measures intended to prevent the radicalization of young Muslims. In a new counter-extremism strategy, the government outlined a range of plans, including moves to prevent radical material from being posted online and to bar anyone who expresses conviction to commit terrorist crimes or extremist activities from working with children. A panel will examine the application of Shariah law in Britain, and another will seek to ensure that schools, colleges and local authorities are protected against infiltration by extremists. Prime Minister Cameron has described the battle against Islamic extremism as one of the great struggles of his generation. (New York Times, Oct. 19, 2015)

 

MINISTERS APPROVE BARRING BDS ACTIVISTS’ ENTRY INTO ISRAEL (Jerusalem) — The Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Monday approved a bill by MK Yinon Magal to prevent the entry of anti-Israel boycott activists into the Jewish state. The bill amends the 1952 Entry into Israel Law, which regulates entry into the country of persons who are not citizens of Israel or immigrants, and the arrangement for their stay in the country. Under the new bill, persons active in or are members in NGOs promoting boycotting Israel will not be allowed to enter Israeli territory, for work or tourism. In the coming weeks the bill will be presented to the Knesset for first out of readings on its way to becoming law. (Jewish Press, Oct. 19, 2015)

 

BLOGGER CAMPAIGNS TO MAKE ISRAEL’S VOICE HEARD IN NYT (New York) — As terrorism in Israel continues to make international headlines, Elad Nehorai, who runs the Jewish blog Pop Chassid, has felt very frustrated following the U.S. media. Nehorai started a crowd-funding page in order to raise enough money to buy a full-page ad in The New York Times. The goal is to use it to publish a “comprehensive list of all the attacks against the Jewish people of Israel” and expose the paper’s readers to “the other side of the story.” Nehorai’s initiative was noticed by StandWithUs, an organization that advocates for Israel, who offered to let him buy the advertisement under its nonprofit status, which significantly brought down the price. (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 14, 2015)

 

CZECHS BEAT DRUMS TO MARK 1ST TRANSPORT OF JEWS TO DEATH CAMPS (Prague) — Hundreds of people are beating drums in Prague to mark the 74th anniversary of the first Czech Jews sent to Nazi death camps during World War II. The transports began Oct. 16, 1941, with the first of the five trains heading for Lodz in Poland, which was occupied by the Nazis, as was the former Czechoslovakia, where Prague was located. Of the 5,000 Jews in them, less than 300 survived. Further transports followed. Nearly 120,000 Jews lived in the country before the war. More than 80,000 of them perished in the Holocaust. (U.S. News, Oct. 16, 2015)

 

HOUSEFATHER HOLDS MOUNT ROYAL FOR THE LIBERALS  (Montreal) — In one of the most-watched races in Canada’s recent election, particularly for the Jewish community, Mount Royal was the riding the Conservatives had pinned their hopes on for making a breakthrough in Montreal. But in the end, it wasn’t even close. Liberal Anthony Housefather decisively defeated Conservative Robert Libman maintaining a 75-history of Liberal hegemony in Mount Royal, the riding held by outgoing MP Irwin Cotler. The riding has a large Jewish population, the second largest in Canada—36.3 percent. According to Elections Canada, the final tally was Housefather 50 per cent (more than 24,000 votes), Libman 38 per cent, and the NDP’s Mario Jacinto Rimbao eight per cent. (CJN, Oct. 20, 2015)

On Topic Links 

 

Gaza Imam: Jews Are Brothers of Apes and Pigs, We Will Pray in Tel Aviv (Video): Memri, Oct. 14, 2015 — Calling to wage Jihad against “the brothers of apes and pigs” in the streets and alleys of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Abu Sa’da, in a sermon delivered at the Abdallah Azzam Mosque, Gaza, said that they were awaiting their leader to proclaim: “You will all be praying your afternoon prayer in Tel Aviv, Allah willing.”

Follow the Terror-Brick Road: Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Town Hall, Oct 14, 2015—On October 3rd, Muhannad Halabi knifed his way into Palestinian hearts. The law student stabbed Rabbi Nehemiah Lavi, Aharon Bennett, Bennet’s wife and two-year-old son in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Canada Loses a Moral Compass: Michael Rubin, Commentary, Oct. 20, 2015 —Apparently antagonized by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s sometimes-brash leadership style and itching for change after almost a decade of conservative rule, Canadians have delivered Harper a surprising and decisive defeat at the polls.

A Path Out of the Middle East Collapse: Henry A. Kissinger. Wall Street Journal, Oct. 16, 2015 —The debate about whether the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran regarding its nuclear program stabilized the Middle East’s strategic framework had barely begun when the region’s geopolitical framework collapsed.

 

 

 

 

 

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