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Contents: | Weekly Quotes | Short Takes | On Topic Links
Islamist Turkey is Imploding: Alex Alexiev, American Thinker, Feb. 24, 2016
Canadian FM Outdoes Himself: Ruthie Blum, Algemeiner, Feb. 23, 2016
What Is Canada Doing Celebrating Hijab Day?: Shabnam Assadollahi, Gatestone Institute, Feb. 21, 2016
Congratulations North Korea! (Video): Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jan. 7, 2016
WEEKLY QUOTES
“That, given Canada and Israel share a long history of friendship as well as economic and diplomatic relations, the House reject the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which promotes the demonization and delegitimization of the State of Israel, and call upon the government to condemn any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups or individuals to promote the BDS movement, both here at home and abroad.” — Text of a motion by Conservative foreign affairs critic Tony Clement and Michelle Rempel. By a vote of 229 for and 51 against, the Canadian Parliament passed a motion which formally condemned the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) anti-Israel movement. The Conservatives (including former Prime Minister Stephen Harper who attended the session to cast his vote against BDS), as well as the Liberals voted for the motion. Tom Muclair, leader of the NDP, opposed it as well as Bloc Québécois and three MPs of the Liberal Party (René Arseneault, Larry Bagnell and Nick Whalen). (National Post, Feb. 17, 2016 & CIJ, Feb. 22, 2016)
“The BDS movement … is wrong because the thrust of what it is asking for is the disappearance of the State of Israel. BDS is saying that all Palestinian refugees must have the right of return to what is today Israel, which would automatically create a situation where we would not have a two-state solution. We would have a one-state solution where Israel was not a majority Jewish state…BDS, which again singles out Israel, is not looking at all those other countries in the world that engage in egregious human rights violations…Only Israel is condemned, as BDS holds it to a complete double standard. Indeed, I have been to many meeting where there is talk of BDS. I have heard that Israel should be held to a higher standard, that people do not think it is like other Arab countries. That is the new form of anti-Semitism. The whole idea of holding Israel to a higher moral standard than anyone else is clearly anti-Semitic.” — Anthony Housefather, Liberal MP for Mount Royal, Quebec, during a House of Commons debate over the anti-BDS motion brought by Tony Clement and Michelle Rempel. WATCH HOUSEFATHER’S HOUSE OF COMMONS SPEECH HERE. (CIJ, Feb. 22, 2016)
“The problem comes when a small group of closed-minded students attempts to impose one view of a complex regional conflict on the entire student body…There are so many opportunities for dialogue, so many opportunities for cooperation on the McGill campus. And yet it doesn’t happen. What we get is maybe eight months of silence from pro-Palestinian groups, and then a [resolution] is thrown at us on a moment’s notice. That’s not productive. That’s not cooperative. That isn’t the proper way to address the situation.” — Simon, a law student at McGill University. McGill’s student government on Monday passed a resolution endorsing the anti-Israel BDS movement, by a large margin. The final tally in the secret ballot was 512 for, 357 opposed and 14 abstentions. The group behind the resolution, the McGill BDS Action Network, worked during the week before the vote to rally support for it, sponsoring a series of events on campus, including lectures, panel discussions, and films. Similar BDS resolutions at McGill failed in 2009, 2014 and as recently as 2015. (Algemeiner, Feb. 23, 2016)
“The BDS movement is wholly anti-semitic, seeks to destroy Israel, and promotes alliances with people whose values are absolutely counter to Western values of law and civil rights. Palestinian society has no freedom of religion, no rights for gays, no freedom of speech, no rule of law, no equal rights for women, no concept of civil rights, and proposes a state in which no Jews would be allowed to live. The claim that BDS opposes only “Israeli occupation” is belied by the wholesale belief across the Palestinian spectrum that “occupation” refers to all of the land of Israel. If the Palestinians really wanted a state and could accept living in peace next to Israel (rather than seeking to destroy it), they could have had one long ago.” — David M. Sherman. The executive of the York University Faculty Association (YUFA) voted Feb. 12 to endorse the YUDivest Coalition, made up of groups including Amnesty International at York and Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA), to urge York to divest from arms manufacturers, such as Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, FLIR Systems, and Textron. Jewish groups and some York faculty believe that although this campaign doesn’t openly single out Israel, it is part of a “backdoor” BDS campaign against Israel. (CJN, Feb. 18, 2016)
“This is going to be difficult to implement…We know there are a lot of obstacles, and there are sure to be some setbacks.” — White House spokesman Josh Earnest. The U.S. and Russia have agreed on a new cease-fire for Syria that will take effect Saturday, even as major questions over enforcing and responding to violations of the truce were left unresolved. Syria’s warring government and rebels still need to accept the deal. The timeline for a hoped-for breakthrough comes after the former Cold War foes, backing opposing sides in the conflict, said they finalized the details of a “cessation of hostilities” between President Bashar Assad’s government and armed opposition groups after five years of violence that has killed more than 250,000 people. The truce will not cover Islamic State (I.S.), the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and any other militias designated as terrorist organizations. (Global, Feb. 22, 2016)
“Russia must understand that its unconditional support to Bashar al-Assad is a dead end and a dead end that could be extremely dangerous.” — François Delattre, French Ambassador to the UN. Delattre put the blame for the latest military escalation on the new push by the government of Syria’s President Assad, and his backers in Moscow, and he warned that it could further inflame the region. (New York Times, Feb. 19, 2016)
“There is a risk of war between Turkey and Russia…There must be pressure on Moscow so that we have negotiations…You are not striking the right spots and you are striking civilian populations, which is unacceptable.” — President François Hollande of France. (New York Times, Feb. 19, 2016)
“If Russia continues behaving like a terrorist organization and forcing civilians to flee, we will deliver an extremely decisive response…Unfortunately, barbaric attacks on civilians are continuing in Syria, and these attacks are being waged by both Russia and terrorist groups.” — Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Turkish President Erdogan is angry with Russia (and the U.S.) for helping Syria’s Kurds. Under Russian air support, the Kurds are expanding their territory into areas near the Turkish border, where the Turkish air force has been active. The problem intensified when at least 27 people were killed in a suicide bombing in Ankara last week. Turkish officials quickly blamed a Syrian Kurdish group, the YPG — which the U.S. supports and trains, and which Russia helps from the air. (YPG denies involvement in the Ankara bombing.) Turkey says the Kurds are allied with Bashar al-Assad — the man whose power Russia fights to preserve. (New York Post, Feb. 18, 2016)
“The “dimensions of shame” awaiting the perpetrators of and the bystanders to the crimes of the Syrian war are as yet unknown, but they will be ample. German has a better word than bystander for those — always the majority — who make their accommodations with evil. That word is “mitläufer,” roughly “fellow traveler.” There has been a lot of discussion of the origins of ISIS, of the complexity of defeating it, of its digital slickness, but little of its pure evil — its desecration of human life and its exaltation of death (even delivered by children). To dwell on the group’s iniquity — its contempt for humanity — would be to suggest the necessity of its immediate extirpation; and no Western government wants to deploy soldiers to do that. That is a moral capitulation, whatever else it may be.” — Roger Cohen (New York Times, Feb. 18, 2016)
“Libya has become a magnet for individuals not only inside of Libya, but from the African continent as well as from outside.” — John O. Brennan, the director of the C.I.A. I.S.’s branch in Libya is deepening its reach across a wide area of Africa, attracting new recruits from countries like Senegal that had been largely immune to the jihadist propaganda — and forcing the African authorities and their Western allies to increase efforts to combat the fast-moving threat. Even as American intelligence agencies say the number of I.S. fighters in Iraq and Syria has dropped to about 25,000 from a high of about 31,500, partly because of the United States-led air campaign there, the group’s ranks in Libya have roughly doubled in the same period, to about 6,500 fighters. (New York Times, Feb. 21, 2016)
“America will stand unapologetically with the nation of Israel – if I am president – because I am not neutral between terrorists who are blowing up and murdering women and children, and the people of Israel who are trying to defend their nation.” — Texas senator and Republican Presidential hopeful Ted Cruz. Cruz derided Donald Trump for claiming “neutrality” on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Last week, Cruz’s rival Trump said that he would like to remain “neutral” in order to maintain credibility with both sides as a potential peace negotiator, though he hinted Israel is justified in its actions against Palestinian terror and incitement. (Breaking Israel News, Feb. 22, 2016)
“I will defend and do everything I can to support Israel, particularly as the neighborhood around it seems to become more dangerous and difficult…I also believe the Palestinians deserve to have a state of their own. That’s why I support a two-state solution. That’s what I have worked on. That’s what I tried to move forward when I was secretary, and holding three very intense conversations between the prime minister of Israel and the president of the Palestinian Authority.” — Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton. Despite her warm words in public, however, emails released as part of the ongoing investigation of her use of a private email address during her tenure as Secretary of State suggest a less-than-positive attitude towards Israel. In one she calls Israelis “always cocky”, while in another, dated 2011, she considers a suggestion from a senior aide to stir up Palestinian unrest as a means to bring Israel back to the negotiating table. (Breaking Israel News, Feb. 22, 2016)
SHORT TAKES
THREE PALESTINIANS KILLED IN ATTACKS ON ISRAELI FORCES (Jerusalem) — Three Palestinian attackers were killed in separate assaults on Israeli forces on Friday, including a stabbing attack in Jerusalem that left two Israeli officers wounded before one of them overpowered and killed the attacker. The assaults were the latest in a five month-long wave of Palestinian violence that shows no sign of abating. Palestinian attackers have carried out numerous assaults at the Damascus Gate over the past five months, prompting Israel to significantly beef up security there in response. Since mid-September, 28 Israelis have been killed. During that time, 165 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, the majority said by Israel to be attackers. The rest died in clashes with security forces. (Washington Post, Feb. 19, 2016)
IRAN OFFERS REWARD FOR FAMILIES OF PALESTINIAN ‘INTIFADA MARTYRS’ (Tehran) — Iran announced its support for the “Jerusalem intifada” that Israel has been witnessing for months, declaring that it would give financial rewards to families of Palestinian terrorists. Speaking at a press conference in Beirut, with the participation of several Palestinian leaders, Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammad Fathali, said: “Continuing Iran’s support for the oppressed Palestinian people, Iran announces the provision of financial aid to families of Palestinian martyrs who were killed in the “Jerusalem intifada.” According to the ambassador, every family of a martyr will receive $7,000, while a family whose home was demolished by the IDF will receive $30,000. (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 24, 2016)
US ‘TARGETS TUNISIA MASSACRE ORGANISER’ IN LIBYA STRIKES (Tripoli) — One of the masterminds behind last summer’s massacre of British tourists in Tunisia is believed to have been killed in a US bombing raid on an I.S. camp in Libya. American warplanes targeted Noureddine Chouchane, a Tunisian terrorist who helped organize the attack that killed 30 Britons at a beach hotel in June. US intelligence is still trying to confirm whether Chouchane was killed but more than 30 other I.S. fighters died in the bombing. The raid is symbol of growing Western alarm at how I.S. has expanded its control over swathes of Libya even as it faces setbacks in Iraq and Syria. (Telegraph, Feb. 19, 2016)
I.S. RELEASES 43 ASSYRIAN HOSTAGES AFTER RANSOM PAYMENTS (Raqqa) — I.S. released 43 Assyrian hostages from its capital of Raqqa after receiving ransom payments. Those released are the final group of captives that I.S. kidnapped one year ago from villages in northern Syria, including many children. In 2015, I.S. forced more than 200 Assyrians to live under its strict version of Islam after making them pay jizya (tax) and sign a dhimma (social contract). As of July, a third of Syria’s 600,000 Christians had fled; Lebanon’s Christian population has shrunk from 78 percent to 34 percent; and only a third of the 1.5 million Christians who lived in Iraq in 2003 remain today. (Newsweek, Feb. 22, 2016)
SAUDI ARABIA SCRAPS $3 BILLION FUNDING TO LEBANON FOR ARMS (Riyadh) — Saudi Arabia scrapped $3 billion in pledged military aid to Lebanon, blaming the prominent role in national affairs of the Hezbollah group backed by Iran. The decision was taken to protest Lebanon’s failure to condemn an attack on the Saudi embassy in Iran “as the so-called Hezbollah confiscates the will of the state,” the Saudi Press Agency reported. The Saudi assistance was destined to buy French weapons for the Lebanese army as part of the government’s plan to modernize its forces. Saudi Arabia is unable to ensure the French weapons won’t fall into the hands of Hezbollah, whose fighters are supporting President Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria’s war. (Bloomberg, Feb. 19, 2016)
OTTAWA EYES FRESH FUNDING FOR UN GROUP WITH ALLEGED TIES TO HAMAS (Ottawa) — The Liberal government is now reviewing whether to extend funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which was established in 1950 to deal with Palestinian refugees. The Liberals are eyeing a plan to provide $15-million to the agency. UNRWA has been criticized by pro-Israel lobbyists in Canada and the U.S. for working closely with Hamas supporters in Gaza by providing schools and employment and humanitarian assistance for Palestinians who are still considered refugees by the UN. The former Harper government eliminated its funding for UNRWA in 2010, amid mounting criticism that its schools were hotbeds of anti-Israeli extremism. (Globe & Mail, Feb. 14, 2016)
PA OFFICIAL: JEWS SHOULD RETURN TO THEIR COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN (Ramallah) — Ibrahim Khreisheh, the Palestinian Authority’s envoy to the UN Human Rights Council, recently said that it may “be useful” to ask Arab and European countries “to allow the Jews to return to their former lands and homes…We never had people from Poland, the Ukraine, France, or England,” he added. Khreisheh is the same PA official who admitted in the past that the PA has no hope of pressing charges against Israel in international courts because Palestinian terrorist groups are far worse violators of international law themselves. (Arutz Sheva, Feb. 17, 2016)
ANTI-ISRAEL ADS COVER LONDON UNDERGROUND TRAINS (London) — Millions of Monday morning passengers on the London Underground were greeted with a number of ads taken out by the BDS Movement accusing Israel of torturing and massacring Palestinians and slamming UK companies with links to the Jewish state. According to a report, the campaign includes four ads purportedly put up in 500 trains. The posters were made for what anti-Israel activists dub “Israel Apartheid Week”. Transport for London, the body that oversees the London Underground, said in a statement that it had not approved the ads. “These are not authorized adverts,” read the statement. “It is fly posting and therefore an act of vandalism which we take extremely seriously.” (Ynet, Feb. 22, 2016)
AFTER PALESTINE TALK, HARVARD DONOR STOPS SPONSORING EVENTS (Boston) — A major backer of Harvard Law School has stopped sponsoring student events after its donation helped pay for a discussion on Palestine. In 2012, law firm Milbank promised Harvard $1 million over five years to pay for scholarly conferences organized by law students. But after the money was used to support an event hosted by the student group Justice for Palestine, the law firm asked Harvard Law School to use the money for other purposes. In October, students in Justice for Palestine hosted a talk examining what they say is a movement to suppress advocates of Palestine. (Washington Post, Feb. 19, 2016)
STUDENTS IN BROOKLYN COLLEGE DEMAND ‘ZIONISTS OFF CAMPUS’ (New York) — A group of Brooklyn College students interrupted a faculty council meeting last week and allegedly demanded that “Zionists” leave campus. Brooklyn state Assemblyman Dov Hikind said he received complaints after the meeting from “dozens” of faculty members. The Anti-Defamation League denounced the incident and commended the Brooklyn College president and senior vice president for their strong condemnation. Back in November, ADL had commended CUNY (City University of New York) for standing up against bigotry, prejudice and antisemitism after the student group “Students for Justice in Palestine” invoked antisemitic stereotypes when referring to CUNY leadership as a “Zionist administration” at Hunter College. (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 18, 2016)
ISRAEL INTERCEPTS GAZA-BOUND DRONE SHIPMENT DISGUISED AS TOYS (Gaza) — A shipment of drones disguised as toys that was bound for the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip was recently intercepted by Israeli security personnel at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, the Israeli Defense Ministry announced Sunday. The drones were discovered during a search of a truck carrying toys. Security personnel found drones of different sizes and types. All were equipped with quality cameras. It is believed the drones were meant to be used to gather intelligence on Israel Defense Forces activities. According to the Defense Ministry, a number of other drone-smuggling attempts have been foiled by Israel’s Shin Bet security agency in recent weeks. (Algemeiner, Feb. 22, 2016)
FROM CHINA TO ISRAEL: FIVE WOMEN FROM JEWISH COMMUNITY TO MAKE ALIYA (Bejing) — Five women in their twenties from the ancient Chinese Jewish community of Kaifeng are due to make aliya in late February in what will mark the first aliya of its kind in nearly seven years. The women plan to pursue Jewish studies in Jerusalem upon arrival. The last time a group of Kaifeng Jews made aliya was in 2009, when Shavei Israel assisted seven young men in their journey from China to Israel. According to a press release issued by Shavei Israel, the Kaifeng Jews were found by Iraqi or Persian Jewish merchants around the 8th century. The community peaked during the Ming Dynasty with 5,000 members. Yet widespread intermarriage and assimilation brought about their demise by the early 19th century. Today only 500-1000 are believed to be remaining. (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 24, 2016)
GERMANY: MIGRANT CRIME SKYROCKETS (Berlin) — Migrants committed 208,344 crimes in 2015, according to a confidential police report that was leaked to the German newspaper, Bild. This figure represents an 80% increase over 2014. The actual number of migrant crimes is far higher, however, because the report, produced by the Federal Criminal Police Office, includes only crimes that have been solved. Moreover, the report does not include crime data from North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state in Germany and also the state with the largest number of migrants. North Rhine-Westphalia’s biggest city is Cologne, where, on New Year’s Eve, hundreds of German women were sexually assaulted by migrants. Further, many crimes are simply not reported or are deliberately overlooked: political leaders across Germany have ordered police to turn a blind eye to crimes perpetrated by migrants, apparently to avoid fueling anti-immigration sentiments. (Gatestone Institute, Feb. 21, 2016)
NAZI HUNTER BEATE KLARSFELD GETS ISRAELI CITIZENSHIP (Berlin) — German Nazi hunter Beate Klarsfeld, 77, has been granted Israeli citizenship. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri presented Klarsfeld, who is not Jewish, with the citizenship in a ceremony in Jerusalem. A German journalist, Klarsfeld is the daughter of a Wehrmacht soldier, while her husband Serge, 79, is the son of French Jews deported from France during the Holocaust. The Klarsfelds played a vital role in bringing Klaus Barbie, the former Gestapo chief in Lyon during World War II, to justice, as well as French officials who collaborated with the Nazi occupiers. (Times of Israel, Feb. 19, 2016)
LAST SURVIVOR OF TREBLINKA REVOLT IS LAID TO REST (Jerusalem) — Israeli President Rivlin was among those attending the funeral of Samuel Willenberg, the last remaining survivor of the revolt at the Treblinka death camp in Poland, who died on Saturday at the age of 93. Willenberg was born in 1923 in Częstochowa, Poland. At the age of 19, he was rounded up with the Jews during the liquidation of the ghetto in Opatow, and sent to Treblinka. Acting on the advice of another Jewish prisoner, he posed as a bricklayer upon his arrival at the extermination camp. He was the only person from his transport not to perish in the gas chambers. Willenberg took part in the 1943 revolt at Treblinka, becoming one of the few hundred who managed to escape the camp. Willenberg moved to Israel in 1950 with his wife and his mother. After retirement, he found success as a sculptor and held several international exhibits of his work, which focused on the Holocaust and his own experiences in Treblinka. (Times of Israel, Feb. 22, 2016)
Islamist Turkey is Imploding: Alex Alexiev, American Thinker, Feb. 24, 2016 —In the past two weeks a number of events have taken place in Turkey that, taken together, indicate that this erstwhile U.S. ally is spinning dangerously out of control with neither Ankara nor Washington and its European allies having the slightest clue of what to do.
Canadian FM Outdoes Himself: Ruthie Blum, Algemeiner, Feb. 23, 2016 —Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion exhibited a real knack for the twofer on Friday, by going after both his political opposition and the Israeli government in one disingenuous swoop.
What Is Canada Doing Celebrating Hijab Day?: Shabnam Assadollahi, Gatestone Institute, Feb. 21, 2016 —This Thursday, February 25, 2016, the city of Ottawa will be holding a public event celebrating the hijab, Islam’s physical repression of women. The City for All Women Initiative (CAWI) organization, backed by the City Council of Ottawa, is hosting the Ottawa Hijab Solidarity Day celebration, also called “Walking with Our Muslims Sisters,” at City Hall. According to CAWI, the main purpose of this event is to encourage non-Muslim women to wear a hijab to understand life as a Muslim woman.
Congratulations North Korea! (Video): Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jan. 7, 2016 —North Korea is claiming that they successfully detonated their first hydrogen bomb. You’d think that the idea that they might have an H bomb would be somewhat alarming to those of us who are here on the West coast, but we went out on the street and it seems like if you ask people a question in a cheerful enough way, we will offer congratulations for just about anything.