MEDIA-OCRITY OF THE WEEK: “When the biggest political story of the year reached a dramatic and unexpected climax…our newsroom turned on a dime and did what it has done for nearly two years — cover the 2016 election with agility and creativity…As we reflect on the momentous result, and the months of reporting and polling that preceded it, we aim to rededicate ourselves to the fundamental mission of Times journalism. That is to report America and the world honestly, without fear or favor, striving always to understand and reflect all political perspectives and life experiences in the stories that we bring to you. It is also to hold power to account, impartially and unflinchingly. You can rely on The New York Times to bring the same fairness, the same level of scrutiny, the same independence to our coverage of the new president and his team.” — Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher, Dean Baquet, executive editor, New York Times (New York Times, Nov. 13, 2016)
Contents: | Weekly Quotes | Short Takes | On Topic Links
How the New Republican Majority Can Succeed: Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, Nov. 10, 2016
Elites, Elections, and the Politics of Alienation: Preston Manning, Globe & Mail, Nov. 10, 2016
Why Celebrity Endorsements Didn’t Help Hillary at All: Maureen Callahan, New York Post, Nov. 12, 2016
Meet the Jews in Donald Trump’s Inner Circle: Josefin Dolsten, Times of Israel, Nov. 15, 2016
WEEKLY QUOTES
This was the year that populism went viral in America. At every stage we pundits underestimated the breadth of Trump’s appeal. It wasn’t just his economic populism: the American electorate doesn’t harbour 60,000,000 unemployed pipefitters. This new populism was, for want of a better word, “cultural.” Many of the college educated bought in. Populism as backlash, populism as whitelash, populism as hatred of both taxes and deficits, populism as resentment of the feminism of entitlement. Let’s not omit populism as irritation at preachy professors. To all these Mr. Trump sold himself as the antidote. In a world swathed in political correctness, the voting booth remains the final sanctuary where the people are free to speak. — CIJR Academic Fellow Clifford Orwin (Globe & Mail, Nov. 11, 2016)
It quickly became clear that against all the best advice from the best people (from Bruce Springsteen on down), contrary to almost all the pollsters and pundits and despite his nakedly flawed own self, Donald Trump had somehow done it…Hillary Clinton’s…easy dismissal, way back in September, of half of Trump’s supporters as falling into what she called “the basket of deplorables” — people who are racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and Islamaphobic — was at least as disgraceful as Trump’s careless appeals to those instincts in his base. Clinton tried to walk the line back, but her disdain for suffering Americans was palpable at that moment, and how they must have felt it. — Christie Blatchford (National Post, Nov. 9, 2016)
“All of us in the American family should never trust anyone from the pollster industrial complex, including those at my own newspaper. Never. Read your horoscope; it’s far more likely to be accurate.” — Timothy Egan (New York Times, Nov. 11, 2016)
“Stop the insanity! Days after Donald Trump stunned the world by winning the presidency, liberal America remains in the throes of a massive mental and emotional meltdown. Anti-Trump protests have spread to more cities and continue to turn violent. In Portland…rioters stoned police and vandalized businesses and cars. Anyone expressing support for Trump has become the target of unrestrained venom… But for pure pathos crossing into the absurd, we turn (as usual) to the college campus. Consider: The University of Michigan offered its traumatized students coloring books and Play-Doh to calm them. (Are its students in college or kindergarten?) … Cornell University, an Ivy League school, held a campus-wide “cry-in,” with officials handing out tissues and hot chocolate. Tufts University offered its devastated students arts and crafts sessions. (OK, not kindergarten — more like summer camp.) At campuses from elite Yale to Connecticut to Iowa and beyond, professors canceled classes and/or exams — either because students asked or because instructors were too distraught to teach.” — Editorial (New York Post, Nov. 11, 2016)
“While the thought of hordes of well-heeled American citizens fleeing to Canada is kind of heartwarming, perhaps a note of caution is called for. Anyone seriously thinking of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, should try a week or two in the winter…Quebec has its own challenges: Try listening to “The Apprentice” in French before making that move. Most important, why would we roll out the welcome mat for anyone who is too spineless to stay in his own homeland and fight for what he truly believes?” — Frank Taker, Prescott, ON. Before last week's stunning election result, many Americans declared their intentions, perhaps jokingly, that they would flee to Canada if Trump pulled off a win for U.S. president. (New York Times, Nov. 11, 2016)
“Count me as one of the people who are throwing in the towel. As a Canadian citizen and a permanent resident of the United States for more than 45 years, I can say with confidence that the results of this election will reveal themselves in the long-term and permanent decline of this great country. I’m a white middle-aged man in a high-income bracket. But I’m not feeling reassured and secure; I’m feeling sick to my stomach. To those who will soldier on and fight for their beliefs, I have great respect for you and wish you success. As for my family and me, we will be wrapping things up and heading north within the next year to a country where human decency is respected and valued.” — Evan A. Audette, Chicago. The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website crashed around 11 p.m. on Election Day in the U.S. due to what a department spokesperson called "a significant increase in the volume of traffic." Since then, the department has confirmed that visitors from the U.S. accounted for half of that surge. (New York Times, Nov. 11, 2016)
“If they try to attack us by moving the embassy to Jerusalem, which is a violation of Security Council resolutions and a violation of Resolution 181… it means they are showing belligerency against us…Maybe I cannot have resolutions in the Security Council…but I can make their lives miserable every day by precipitating a veto on my admission as a member state…Nobody should blame us for unleashing all of the weapons that we have in the UN to defend ourselves, and we have a lot of weapons in the UN.” — Riyad Mansour, Palestinian envoy to the UN. While campaigning, Trump said Jerusalem was Israel’s undivided capital and vowed to move the embassy there from Tel Aviv. Since winning the election, the president-elect has begun to signal a possible walking back of his stances on Israel. A Trump adviser said he would only move the embassy “under consensus,” and the next day Trump said he would prioritize solving the Israeli Palestinian conflict. (Times of Israel, Nov. 13, 2016)
“Leonard Cohen was a great creator, a talented artist, and a warm Jew, who loved the people of Israel and the state of Israel…I will not forget how he came to Israel during the Yom Kippur War in order to sing to IDF soldiers, out of a deep feeling of partnership. His touching voice will continue to accompany us, like his prayer ‘Hallelujah.’ May his memory be a blessing.” — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Tributes rolled in from around the world — including Israel — following the death of 82-year-old Canadian Jewish singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. Known for his stirring and soulful poetry, Cohen was born in Canada and later moved to California. Throughout his career of more than four decades he released 12 studio albums and wrote dozens of songs including his most famous “Hallelujah.” His most recent release, “You Want it Darker,” included the lyrics, “Hineni (here I am), I’m ready my Lord.” (Algemeiner, Nov. 11, 2016)
SHORT TAKES
RUSSIA LAUNCHES NEW AIRSTRIKES ON ALEPPO (Damascus) — Russia launched new strikes in Syria involving carrier-borne jets and long-range missiles, the first airstrikes in nearly a month of rebel-held parts of Aleppo. Between four and 10 people were killed in the strikes, raising concerns of a return to daily deadly bombardment in Syria’s largest city. The Russian blitz began hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President-elect Trump discussed Syria over the phone and agreed on the need to combine efforts in the fight against terrorism. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that Su-33 jets from the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov are involved in the operation, marking its combat debut. (Globe & Mail, Nov. 15, 2016)
SUICIDE BOMBERS KILL 12 IN IRAQI CITIES OF FALLUJAH, KARBALA (Baghdad) — Suicide bombers targeted two major cities in Iraq on Monday, striking security forces in the Sunni city of Fallujah and Shiite pilgrims in the holy city of Karbala, killing at least six people in each attack. The bombings are an apparent attempt by I.S. to strike back as government troops' advance on their stronghold in Mosul. I.S. claimed responsibility for both bombings. In Fallujah, the attack was carried out by twin suicide car bombers in the city center — the first such incidents since Iraqi forces in late June declared it "fully liberated" of I.S. after a month-long operation. (New York Times, Nov. 14, 2016)
FOUR AMERICANS KILLED IN SUICIDE BOMBING AT US BASE IN AFGHANISTAN (Kabul) — Four Americans were killed Saturday in an attack at a U.S. airfield in Afghanistan carried out by a suicide bomber. The explosion at Bagram Airfield killed two U.S. service members and two U.S. contractors and wounded 16 other U.S. service members and one Police solider. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. The explosion follows an attack on German consulate in northern Afghanistan. The Taliban have made gains in recent months. The top US commander in Afghanistan said over a month ago the Taliban control or contest up to a quarter of country. (Fox News, Nov. 12, 2016)
I.S. URGES ATTACK AT MACY’S THANKSGIVING PARADE (New York) — I.S. is urging Muslims to carry out vehicle terror attacks, this time suggesting the 90th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York would be an “excellent target.” The latest issue of Rumiyah, the magazine produced by I.S., included photos of the parade. An article suggesting the event would make a good target also described in graphic detail how to carry out such an attack, explaining that one can achieve the murder of more people with the use of high speed and a large truck. One must carry it out, however, “solely to please Allah.” Macy’s said in a statement that it is working together closely with the New York Police Department in a security plan for the parade, and that safety is the top priority for the event. (Jewish Press, Nov. 15, 2016)
EGYPTIAN COURT STRIKES DOWN MORSI'S DEATH SENTENCE (Cairo) — An Egyptian court has struck down a death sentence passed by a lower tribunal against an ousted Islamist president for his part in a mass prison break during the 2011 uprising. The ruling means that Mohammed Morsi would be given a new trial, alongside five other leaders of his now-banned Muslim Brotherhood group, whose death sentences in the same case were also quashed. The court also struck down life sentences passed in the same case against 21 Brotherhood members. Last month, a court upheld a 20-year sentence for Morsi on charges arising from the killing of protesters in December 2012. It was the first final verdict against Morsi, who was ousted by the military in 2013 after just one year in office. (CBC, Nov. 15, 2016)
ISRAEL’S PARLIAMENT GIVES PRELIMINARY APPROVAL TO PRO-SETTLEMENT BILL (Jerusalem) — Israel’s parliament gave preliminary approval to a bill that would legalize settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank. The approval came despite Prime Minister Netanyahu’s opposition to the bill. He nonetheless voted in favor of the legislation, which would retroactively make legal those Jewish settlements built in the Israeli-occupied territory. The bill still faces many legislative hurdles before becoming law, including three readings in Israel’s Knesset. The settlement bill was introduced ahead of a December deadline set by Israel’s highest court to evacuate the Amona, an illegal settlement built on Palestinian land and home to 40 Jewish Israeli families. (Wall Street Journal, Nov. 16, 2016)
TURKEY TAPS AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL (Ankara) — Turkish President Erdogan named his country's ambassador to Israel, signaling the nearing of the full renewal of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Kemal Ökem was selected to head the embassy in Tel Aviv the day after Eitan Na'eh was nominated as Israel's ambassador in Ankara. The exchange of ambassadors will represent the renewal of full diplomatic ties, which ruptured following the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident. Na’eh, currently Israel’s deputy ambassador in London, has specialized on Turkish affairs during his diplomatic career. Turkey expelled Israel’s last ambassador to Turkey in 2011, more than a year after the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident poisoned ties between the two countries in May 2010. (Jerusalem Post, Nov. 16, 2016)
ISRAEL NAVY TO UPGRADE SONAR ON SUBMARINES (Haifa) — A new sonar system developed by the Israel navy and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. significantly improves the detection capabilities of Israel's fleet of Dolphin submarines. Another submarine, the INS Rahav, was added to Israel's fleet at the beginning of the year, bringing its total to five submarines. German company HDW supplied the vessel. Sonar systems are a submarine's eyes and ears. The systems are built to detect noise and voices coming from various occurrences both above and below the surface, so that the occurrences can be analyzed and turned into operational information. (Globes, Nov. 11, 2016)
WHO: IDF FIELD HOSPITAL ‘BEST IN WORLD’ (Geneva) — The World Health Organization (WHO) has awarded the IDF Medical Corps field hospital a ‘Type 3’ score: the highest rating that exists. The rating is used in the set of criteria set forth by the UN public health agency to rate foreign medical assistance teams during times of disaster. The physician responsible for developing the scoring system, Dr. Ian Norton, said last month that up to this point, no nation has reached a score of 3. In September a WHO delegation traveled to Israel to evaluate the state-of-the-art IDF field hospital. The 26-tent structure was assembled as part of a large-scale military exercise at the time as part of a general drill in northern Israel. (Jewish Press, Nov. 13, 2016)
ARAFAT MUSEUM INAUGURATED (Ramallah) — The PA on Wednesday inaugurated the Yasser Arafat Museum in a shiny new building in the Muqata compound in Ramallah, marking the 12th anniversary of the late chairman’s death. Arafat’s successor Mahmoud Abbas attended the opening ceremony. Construction on the two-story museum began in 2010. It covers an area of 26 acres and cost close to $7 million to build. The museum features photos, looped video, explanatory texts, documents and Arafat’s personal effects, including the Nobel Peace Prize he won following the signing of the Oslo Accords between the PLO and Israel in 1993. (Jewish Press, Nov. 10, 2016)
JEWISH STUDENTS AT TEXAS U CANCEL GLICK LECTURE (Austin) — A program featuring American-Israeli writer Caroline Glick — author of The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East — has caused Jewish and pro-Israel students at the University of Texas at Austin to fear that her message might anger anti-Zionists on campus. The students who expressed displeasure with the program belong to groups such as Hillel, Texans for Israel and AIPAC on Campus. Rabbi Moshe Trepp, a Jewish life educator at UT Austin’s Hillel and one of the main campus organizers of the event, said the move came after student leaders “did their own research into Glick and saw that she was listed by liberal organizations as associated with a hate group — which is a false accusation, Glick is not full of hate, but she does say things about Israel that makes others uncomfortable.” (Algemeiner, Nov. 13, 2016)
OBERLIN DISMISSES PROFESSOR WHO POSTED ANTISEMITIC MESSAGES (Cleveland) — Eight months after the Oberlin College Board of Trustees condemned social-media posts by assistant professor Joy Karega as “anti-Semitic and abhorrent,” it has dismissed her “for failing to meet” academic standards and “failing to demonstrate intellectual honesty.” Karega, an assistant professor of rhetoric and composition, was criticized early this year for sharing Facebook postings that claimed that “Israeli and Zionist Jews” were responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and for the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris. Karega, whose academic interests include black political and protest literacies as well as social justice writing, also wrote that I.S. is not “a jihadist, Islamic terrorist organization” but rather “an operation” of the CIA and the Mossad. (Washington Post, Nov. 15, 2016)
ANTI-ISRAEL MARCHERS JOIN TRUMP PROTESTS (New York) — Anti-Israel activists are seeking to co-opt the protests that have erupted across the US following Trump’s victory to further their cause, Cornell Law Professor William A. Jacobson said. According to Jacobson, the New York branch of Students for Justice in Palestine has been calling on its members to join the anti-Trump demonstrations. In video uploaded to Facebook protesters can be heard chanting, “There is only one solution…intifada revolution,” and “Trump, Obama, you will feel the intifada.” (Algemeiner, Nov. 14, 2016)
ANTISEMITIC VANDALS TARGET JEWISH SITES IN MONTREAL, OTTAWA (Montreal) — Over the past few days, Jewish sites in both Montreal and Ottawa have been targeted with an unusually heavy barrage of antisemitic vandalism. On Monday, a swastika was discovered on the wall of Hof Kelsten, an iconic Jewish bakery on Boulevard Saint-Laurent in Montreal. Later that evening, a blood-red swastika accompanied by the slur “kike” was discovered on the window of a rabbi’s home in Ottawa. The attacks in Canada come on the heels of a number of similar incidents across the US, as well as London, UK, where vans used by a Jewish school were recently defaced by swastikas. (B’nai Brith, Nov. 15, 2016)
HOME-SCHOOLING RISES SHARPLY AMONG MONTREAL'S HASIDIC FAMILIES (Montreal) — In the months after police and social workers raided an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school to investigate allegations of educational neglect, more than 400 Hasidic families have signed home-schooling contracts with the English Montreal School Board. The board now has 654 Hasidic students being followed by teaching consultants who will track their progress to ensure they’re being taught the curriculum at home. Last year, the EMSB had home-schooling agreements with 236 Hasidic students. The sudden increase means the EMSB will hire educational consultants who will meet with the students and their parents three times a year to evaluate their progress. (Montreal Gazette, Nov. 9, 2016)
MAYORS OF MONTRÉAL, TORONTO ON ECONOMIC MISSION TO MIDEAST (Montreal) — The Mayor of Montréal, Denis Coderre, and the Mayor of Toronto, John Tory, will lead a joint economic mission to Israel and the West Bank from November 13 to 18, 2016. The mayors, accompanied by 120 entrepreneurs, business people and representatives of institutional and community organizations, will visit Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Be'er Sheva, Ramallah and Bethlehem. This mission will also take place as part of the 4th International HLS & Cyber 2016 Conference on physical and cyber security, and the 31st International Conference of Mayors. (Newswire, Nov. 9, 2016)
ISRAEL PRESIDENT ARRIVES IN MUMBAI ON 6-DAY VISIT (Mumbai) — Setting the stage for a prime ministerial visit from India in 2017, Israeli president Reuven Rivlin arrived here on a six-day visit on Monday. Rivlin landed in Mumbai and then left for Delhi with leading agriculture, defence and university figures from Israel. Rivlin’s visit is expected to pave the way for the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Israel, which had been expected since his election in 2014. Rivlin is the second president of Israel to visit India in two decades. The first Israeli president to visit India was Ezer Weizman who visited Delhi in 1997. Rivlin’s arrival will set in motion bilateral exchanges to mark twenty-five years of formal diplomatic ties which was started in 1992 at the end of the Cold War. (The Hindu, Nov. 14, 2016)
ISRAEL TO LAUNCH MAJOR EXPEDITION TO FIND MORE DEAD SEA SCROLLS (Jerusalem) — Israel is embarking on a major archaeological expedition to find yet undiscovered Dead Sea Scrolls. The Israel Antiquities Authority said a government research team will spend the next three years surveying hundreds of caves in the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea, the arid region where the Dead Sea Scrolls, the world’s oldest biblical manuscripts, were preserved for thousands of years and discovered in 1947. The upcoming expedition will be the first large-scale archaeological survey of the area since Operation Scroll, an effort in 1993 to find any remaining Dead Sea Scrolls hidden in an area of the West Bank before Israel transferred partial control of the area to the PA. (Times of Israel, Nov. 14, 2016)
How the New Republican Majority Can Succeed: Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, Nov. 10, 2016 —Donald Trump won fair and square and, as Hillary Clinton said in her concession speech, is owed an open mind and a chance to lead. It is therefore incumbent upon conservatives (like me) who have been highly critical of Trump to think through how to make a success of the coming years of Republican rule.
Elites, Elections, and the Politics of Alienation: Preston Manning, Globe & Mail, Nov. 10, 2016 —The victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election is further dramatic evidence that politics across the Western world has become increasingly characterized by an anti-establishment, anti-elite, anti-“talking heads” sentiment.
Why Celebrity Endorsements Didn’t Help Hillary at All: Maureen Callahan, New York Post, Nov. 12, 2016—Donald Trump had Scott Baio and a “Duck Dynasty” star. Hillary Clinton had Jay-Z and Beyonce, Katy Perry and Bruce Springsteen, Clooney and Leo, Lena Dunham and Amy Schumer, among many, many other A-listers who hosted glittering fundraisers, who raised hundreds of millions of dollars for her. One takeaway: celebrity endorsements in presidential politics don’t matter anymore. Another, more likely and long-term: They hurt.
Meet the Jews in Donald Trump’s Inner Circle: Josefin Dolsten, Times of Israel, Nov. 15, 2016 —President-elect Donald Trump has a complicated history with Jews. On the one hand, his daughter Ivanka converted to Orthodox Judaism before marrying Jared Kushner, and he’s spoken fondly about having Jewish grandchildren.
