Daily Briefing: WEDNESDAYS- NEWS OF THE WEEK IN REVIEW (August 19,2020)

Harris for co-President:  Lawrence Martin, Globe and Mail, Aug. 13, 2020 — “Given Joe Biden’s age and his running mate’s strong presence, she’ll take on a more prominent role than the typical veep. Kamala Harris is a woman of dynamic power. … She is so strong that, should the Democrats win in November, she could very well take on a role more like that of a copresident than a vice-president, given Mr. Biden’s advanced age. With her selection Tuesday – a popular one despite her abject failure in the presidential nomination race – Ms. Harris has become the face of the Democratic Party of the future…. She is more articulate, more poised, more energetic, and more cold-blooded than Mr. Biden. … Given the perception that he will only be a one-term president, Mr. Biden had to decide whether he wanted someone as visible as Ms. Harris in the VP role – someone who might overshadow him. … All that said, Ms. Harris is not the safe pick so many are saying she is. In her biggest test as a politician to date, the Democratic nomination race, she dropped out before the first primary test in Iowa. … Being a policy moderate, her selection will do little to mobilize the large left flank of the party, whose adherents were hoping for a more ideological pick.”

Kamala Harris is Biden’s Best Bet. Will it Pay Off?:  Debra Thompson, Globe and Mail, Aug. 12, 2020 —  “The general consensus is that Ms. Harris is Mr. Biden’s best bet as a vice-presidential pick. And in case we need reminding, this political wager isn’t just on the four years that will follow the 2020 election. It’s about whether the United States will be able to recover from COVID-19. It will likely decide at least two replacements on the Supreme Court and will shape the direction of American jurisprudence for a generation. This electoral gamble will determine whether the Donald Trump presidency will be written about by future historians as the last dying breath of a coalition that seethes with racial resentment, or if the worst is yet to come. …”

“You’re going to end up with … real peace in the Middle East.  Now, by the way, UAE was the leader and they signed the first one and now all of the countries, almost all, are calling, ‘Well what about us? We want to sign too. It’s an incredible thing for Israel.  It’s incredible for the evangelicals by the way, the evangelicals love Israel. Love Israel. So, we’re doing things that nobody else would do or could do,” – President Donald J. Trump told Fox & Friends.  (Mediaite, Aug. 17, 2020)“It [Israel UAE peace agreement] also sends a message to Biden and the Democrats, who during the Obama years concluded a nuclear deal with Iran, viewed by Israel and the entire Sunni Arab world as weak and ineffective. Biden said he would restore the Obama approach and the Israel-UAE agreement is telling him to better consider the interests of American allies in the region. … The Israel-UAE agreement prevented Israel’s plan to unilaterally annex areas in the West Bank that the Trump peace plan allocated to Israel. But it also sends the Palestinians four messages: The Palestinians can no longer exercise veto power on relations between Israel and Arab states … Blocking the Iran threats is more important than the Palestinian cause. … Time is not on the Palestinians side. … The agreement undermines the Palestinians’ strategy of conditioning peace agreements between Israel and Arab countries until there is an agreement between them and Israel,” – writes BESA research associate Prof. Eytan Gilboa (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 17, 2020)

“…the imperishable but tedious Palestinian spokesman Hanan Ashrawi wanly declared that ‘We are no one’s fig-leaf’. Perhaps not, but they have no influence, either. Mercifully almost the entire Palestinian public relations campaign against Israel, all the nauseating rubbish about boycotts and disinvestment of the ‘Jewish apartheid state’ is now almost inaudible. U.S.  President Donald Trump with his often annoying bluntness, recognized these realities,” – writes columnist Conrad Black on “the finalization of talks to normalize and tighten relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates,” which he calls “an important step toward general Arab acceptance of the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state.”  (National Post, Aug. 14, 2020)

It is “like a knife in the back,” says taxi driver Ribhy Abu Latifa as regards the U.A.E.-Israel agreement, which included an Israeli pledge to suspend efforts to annex parts of the West Bank.  “It’s a black future.  We have no real leadership. There is no strategic thinking,” — adds Mohammad Hmaidat, 35 years old, an engineer in the local government who has received only one paycheck over the past three months.  Both Palestinians articulated the anger they feel towards the United Arab Emirates for concluding a peace agreement with Israel, as well as their disappointment with the Palestinian Authority leadership to continues to not deliver on their promises for an independent Palestinian state.  (WSJ, Aug. 14, 2020)

“The secretary-general of Hezbollah is above the president of Lebanon. The secretary-general of Hezbollah is above the parliament speaker. The secretary-general of Hezbollah is above [Lebanese prime minister] Hassan Diab. So he is the main [culprit], and he should be the first to stand trial, as a Lebanese citizen, with Khamenei in tow,” — said Hezbollah’s first secretary-general, Subhi al-Tufayli in a televised sermon.  He added that the group’s current leader, Hassan Nasrallah, should be first in line to stand trial over the Aug. 4 explosion at the Beirut port. (JNS, Aug. 13, 2020)

“We thought we were governed by corrupt people, but in fact we were governed by murderers. Every person who could have known and should have known—we want them tried. We have to topple all of them,” – said Nawal Elmeouchi, a 67-year-old Lebanese-Canadian woman in the wake of the Aug. 4 explosion that devastated entire neighbourhoods in Beirut.  Elmeouchi represented her four children, whose homes had all been damaged in the blast. (Globe and Mail, Aug. 15, 2020)

”The battle for the survival of the United States of America is upon us. Leftist radicals “are demanding…a new and exotic country… buildings are burning, and the demands are ever growing… A revolution “is the transformation of popular ideas and, most important, of a country’s national character…what we are living through might well be akin to the French or Russian revolutions,” – writes editor Abe Greenwald.  (Commentary Magazine, Sept. 2020)

“An obsession with disparities of race has colonized the thinking of left and liberal types,” Professor [Adolph] Reed told me. “There’s this insistence that race and racism are fundamental determinants of all Black people’s existence.” [At end of story, he is quoted re visiting a New England Civil War cemetery]: “I got this warm feeling reading those tombstones…. So-and-so died so that all men could be free…here was something so damned moving about that,” — writes columnist Michael Powell about the decision to disinvite Prof. Adolph Reed, a socialist scholar and activist, from addressing the Democratic Socialists of America’s New York City chapter. He intended on speaking on how the left’s intense focus on the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on Black people undermined multiracial organizing, which he sees as key to health and economic justice. (NYTimes, Aug. 14, 2020)

BAHRAIN, OMAN COULD FOLLOW U.A.E. ON ISRAEL (Jerusalem) — Bahrain and Oman could be the next Gulf countries to follow the United Arab Emirates in formalizing ties with Israel. As regards Iran, the U.A.E. had summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires in Abu Dhabi in response to a speech by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that the foreign ministry described as “unacceptable.” Rouhani said that the U.A.E. had made a “huge mistake” in agreeing to the peace deal. (Vancouver Sun, Aug 17, 2020)

SUDAN’S FOREIGN MINISTRY WALKS BACK OWN SPOKESMAN’S REMARKS ON POTENTIAL NORMALIZATION DEAL WITH ISRAEL (Khartoum) — Sudan’s Foreign Ministry walked back remarks made by its own spokesman in which he said Khartoum had “contacts” with Israel, stressing that the government had not discussed the possibility of diplomatic relations. Haydar Sadig, the ministry’s spokesman, made the comment to Reutersearlier in the day and praised the United Arab Emirates’ decision to normalize relations with Israel as “a brave and bold step.” (Algemeiner, Aug. 18, 2020)

ARROW 2 MISSILE-DEFENSE SYSTEM SUCCESSFULLY TESTED IN JOINT US-ISRAEL EXERCISE (Central Israel) — During the test conducted in central Israel, the Arrow 2 successfully engaged a Sparrow target missile, which simulates a long-range surface-to-surface warhead. The interception was conducted by members of the Israel Air Force together with engineers from the various institutions involved in the system’s development.  (JNS, Aug. 18, 2020)

FBI LAWYER TO PLEAD GUILTY OF FALSIFYING DOCUMENT FOR CARTER PAGE FISA WARRANT (Washington) — Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith will plead guilty to falsifying a document used to obtain a FISA warrant on former Trump-campaign adviser Carter Page. Clinesmith was charged in Washington, D.C. with one felony count of making a false statement and will plead guilty in a plea deal with prosecutors conducting a criminal probe of the Russia investigation.  (National Review, Aug. 14, 2020)

CONGRESSMAN URGES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO SEVER TIES WITH PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY (Washington) — Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) called on the Trump administration to cut off all ties with the Palestinian Authority until it gives up “its obsession with violence” and ceases the payments it provides for terrorists and their families. Lamborn has been a leader in the fight against the P.A.’s “pay for slay” policy and was one of the initiators of the Taylor Force Act, a law that seeks to cut financial aid to the P.A. until it ends this practice. (JNS, Aug. 13, 2020)

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION HOSTS IMAM FROM ISLAMIC EXTREMIST INSTITUTION (Washington) — Noman Hussain, imam of ISM Brookfield in Wisconsin, was one of the religious leaders who took part in the National Democratic Party convention’s “Interfaith Welcome Service.” Hussain is a scholar at the Texas-based Qalam Institute, whose officials have advocated “the use of female sex slaves, the killing of adulterers, and incite hatred against Jews and other non-Muslims,” according to the Middle East Forum. One of the Qalam Institute’s courses, “The Prophetic Code,” warns Muslims to strive for “cleanliness” and “purity,” so that they “do not resemble the Jews.” (WIN, Aug. 18, 2020)

DOZENS OF STATE LEGISLATORS SLAM DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA FOR ‘BLATANTLY ANTISEMITIC LITMUS TEST’ OF NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES (NY) — Dozens of members of the New York State Assembly have condemned the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) for issuing what they called a “blatantly antisemitic litmus test” to prospective City Council candidates. The DSA’s questionnaire to candidates included the line, “Do you pledge not to travel to Israel if elected to City Council in solidarity with Palestinians living under occupation?” (Algemeiner, Aug. 18, 2020)

NYC MAYOR CALLS ON CANDIDATES TO REJECT DSA PLEDGE AGAINST ISRAEL TRIPS(NYC) — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling on local candidates seeking the support of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) to decline a pledge not to visit Israel if elected. “You can dislike the Israeli government at this moment or specific policies, but to suggest that people shouldn’t visit there, I think is wrong,” de Blasio continued, “to support the BDS movement, is wrong.” (Jewish Insider, Aug. 17, 2020)

UN SECURITY COUNCIL REJECTS US PROPOSAL TO EXTEND ARMS EMBARGO ON IRAN (NYC) — The United Nations Security Council voted against a U.S.-drafted resolution to extend the international arms embargo on Iran. Russia and China opposed the proposal offered on Friday. Only the United States and the Dominican Republic voted for the resolution.  Britain, France, and Germany were among the 11 abstentions. A resolution requires at least nine yes votes and no vetoes to pass. (Cleveland Jewish News, Aug. 17, 2020)

GCC TELLS IRAN THAT GULF SECURITY IS ‘RED LINE’ (Abu Dhabi) — The Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Dr. Nayef Falah Mubarak Al Hajraf, has expressed his condemnation of the threats of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and some Iranian officials towards the UAE, which carry serious repercussions on the security and stability of the Gulf region, and are inconsistent with diplomatic norms.  Al Hajraf demanded that Iran adhere to the basic principles, principles and pillars of the United Nations Charter and the international law, which are based on respect for state sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs, resolving disputes by peaceful means, and not using or threatening to use force. Al Hajraf affirmed that GCC stands with the UAE against any threats to its sovereignty, security and stability, based on the principle of joint defence, and that the security and stability of the Gulf Cooperation Council is an indivisible whole, calling on Iran to adhere to the policy of good neighbourliness and to stop the threatening rhetoric. (Gulf News, Aug. 18, 2020)

FACEBOOK ANNOUNCES NEW POLICY TO CRACK DOWN ON ANTI-SEMITISM (Washington) — Facebook has updated its community standards policy to include combatting anti-Semitism on its platform. This development comes as more than 120 organizations, many of them Jewish, submitted a letter to Facebook, urging the social-media company to implement a comprehensive hate-speech policy on anti-Semitism that incorporates the widely accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism. (JNS, Aug. 13, 2020)

U.S. BACKS CYPRUS’S RIGHT TO HYDROCARBONS, CALLS FOR MEDITERRANEAN CO-OPERATION (Cypress) — The U.S. wants tighter co-operation on developing gas finds in the “strategically significant” eastern Mediterranean and supports Cyprus’s right to exploit hydrocarbon deposits discovered in its waters. (Globe and Mail, Aug. 17, 2020)

CRIMINOLOGY SCHOOL SEVERS TIES TO LAW ENFORCEMENT (Ottawa) — Issuing a harsh indictment of policing in Canada, Carleton University’s Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice says it is severing its student placement programs with law enforcement agencies to address systemic racism and colonialism. Rémi Boivin, director of the International Centre for Comparative Criminology at the Université de Montréal, said Carleton’s decision is bad for research and bad for students.  (National Post, Aug. 13, 2020)

‘DANGEROUS’ TALIBAN PRISONERS RELEASED (Islamabad) — Afghanistan has released the first batch of the final 400-strong tranche of Taliban prisoners who are due to be freed to pave the way for negotiations between the warring sides. The high- security prisoners reportedly include hardcore militants accused of some of the most heinous crimes of the recent conflict and who pose a danger to the world. (National Post, Aug. 15, 2020)
 

The Moment the Israeli Air Force, led by Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin, Entered into German Airspace For The First Time Ever & Was Welcomed by the Luftwaffe Commander, Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhatz: Israel Defense Forces, Twitter, Aug. 17, 2020

Hydroxychloroquine: A Morality Tale:  Norman Doidge, Tablet, Aug. 14, 2020 — Early in the coronavirus pandemic, a survey of the world’s frontline physicians showed hydroxychloroquine to be the drug they considered the most effective at treating COVID-19 patients.

The United Nations Failed to Renew the Arms Embargo on Iran. What Does That Mean?:  Hollie McKay, Fox News, Aug. 18, 2020 — The United Nations Security Council last week rejected a U.S. effort to extend a 13-year-old embargo on Iran imports and exports of conventional weapons, including aircraft and tanks in and out of the Middle Eastern country.