Contents: | Weekly Quotes | Short Takes | On Topic Links
Erdogan in His Labyrinth: Roger Cohen, New York Times, June 30, 2016
House of Saud in the Crosshairs: Patrick Marrtin, Globe & Mail, July 5, 2016
Jihadists Trying to Dislodge Bangladesh's Secular Government: Lawrence A. Franklin, Gatestone Institute, July 4, 2016
Entebbe and a Sad Fourth of July: Ruthie Blum, Algemeiner, July 4, 2016
WEEKLY QUOTES
“Turkey’s vengeance will come down like rain from hell…Turkey has avoided engaging Islamic State in full war…Not any longer…I would expect there will be an increase in the number of Turkish air strikes as part of the U.S.-led coalition inside Syria…I also expect there to be increased co-operation with the U.S. to seal the Turkish-Syrian border, and deeper co-operation with Western intelligence agencies to track the perpetrators of the attack and prevent future ones.” — Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish research program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Last week’s triple-suicide assault at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport claimed the lives of more than 40 people and the final number may grow, since almost a quarter of the more than 230 people injured in the attack remain in intensive care in Istanbul hospitals. Pointing the finger at Islamic State, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared it a turning point in the global fight against terrorism. (Globe & Mail, June 29, 2016)
“What I have to say to British police I will say in every place: Israel will continue to fight terror and the absurdity of arrest warrants has to stop.” — Zionist Union leader Tzipi Livni. Livni has come out with guns blazing following an attempt by British police to present her with an arrest warrant and summon her for questioning over suspected “war crimes” committed in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead in 2009. The summons against Livni was ultimately cancelled after intervention by the Israeli Embassy in London and action by senior officials in the ministries of foreign affairs and justice, which required granting Livni diplomatic immunity. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Palestinian Authority (PA) and pro-PA NGO groups have been waging international “lawfare” campaigns against Israel for more than a decade by filing criminal complaints via local the courts against senior Israeli officials and military personnel whenever they travel abroad. (Jewish Press, July 3, 2016)
“The victims’ blood is partially on Facebook’s hands…Facebook has turned into a monster. The younger generation in the Palestinian Authority runs its entire discourse of incitement and lies and finally goes out to commit murderous acts on Facebook’s platform.” — Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan. Many young Palestinians incite against Israelis on Facebook and the social network fails to take down such posts, Erdan said. Facebook also sabotages police efforts and turns down requests for collaboration, he said. Israel’s claims against Facebook are another sign of the complicated role now played by social-media giants in global affairs as their platforms become center stage for everything from political activism to promoting terror. Facebook has struggled to police images posted by terrorist groups and online weapons bazaars. Just last month, a French Jewish youth group sued the company, along with Twitter and Google, over how they monitor hate speech on the Web. (Bloomberg, July 3, 2016)
“We remain clear-eyed about the threat to Israel’s security posed by Iran, as well as Iran’s support for terrorism, its ballistic missile program, and its destabilizing activity in the region.” — Susan E. Rice, President Obama’s national security adviser, and Shaun Donovan, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, in a in a letter to senators who had written to the White House in April urging the completion of a new aid military aid package for Israel. In the letter, Rice and Donovan said that the administration was prepared to increase the existing military aid, worth nearly $30 billion, and sign a new one “that would constitute the largest pledge of military assistance to any country in U.S. history.” The White House also argued in the letter that the nuclear deal with Iran — regarded by Israel as empowering a dangerous adversary bent on its destruction — was in fact “crucial to the security interests of the United States, Israel and the entire international community.” (New York Times, July 1, 2016)
“But you know what (Saddam Hussein) did well?…He killed terrorists. He did that so good. They didn’t read them the rights. They didn’t talk. They were terrorists. It was over…Today, Iraq is Harvard for terrorism…You want to be a terrorist, you go to Iraq. It’s like Harvard, O.K.? So sad.” — Donald J. Trump, presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Donald J. Trump praised Saddam Hussein at a campaign rally on Tuesday evening, saying that he had done a good job of killing terrorists. Speaking to a packed auditorium, Trump first called Hussein, the former dictator of Iraq, a “really bad guy,” before offering him brief plaudits. But Trump’s recollections of Hussein’s thwarting terrorism are not grounded in fact. Iraq was listed as a state sponsor of terrorism by the State Department before the 2003 invasion. In the 1980s, Hussein fired scud missiles at Israel and used chemical weapons on tens of thousands of Iraqis. (New York Times, July 6, 2016)
"No one has thought more about or lost more sleep over the lives that we lost – the four Americans – which was devastating." — Hillary Clinton, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Congressional Republicans accused Clinton's State Department of failing to protect four Americans killed in a 2012 attack in Libya, in a final report that contained no major new revelations but rekindled debate on the U.S. presidential campaign trail. In an 800-page report that Democrats derided as a political vendetta, Republicans said Clinton, who served as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, and her staff showed a "shameful" lack of response to congressional investigators looking into the attacks on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. (Globe & Mail, June 30, 2016)
“Right here, I am standing in the place where my brother, Yoni, was killed, when he led the commando soldiers to release the hostages…There are few like him in history, and Entebbe is always with me. It is deep in my heart…Forty years ago, Israeli commandos landed here in the dark of night to fight against a cruel dictator who worked with terrorists…But today we came in the daylight, and we were welcomed by a leader who works to fight terrorism.” — Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, addressing Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. Forty years after Israeli commandos stormed the airport here in a daring secret mission to rescue more than 100 hostages, Netanyahu touched down in the East African nation for a special ceremony. It was the first visit of an Israeli premier to Uganda since the incident, and Netanyahu has a particularly strong connection to what happened in Entebbe in 1976: His older brother “Yoni” was the rescue unit’s commander and the only Israeli soldier to be killed during the operation. The Netanyahu will also visit Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia as part of a diplomatic and economic effort to strengthen Israel’s multilateral ties in Africa. (Washington Post, July 4, 2016)
“If anyone had told us in 1945 that there are certain battles we’ll have to fight again we wouldn’t have believed it … I was convinced then, naively, that at least something happened in history that, because of myself, certain things cannot happen again. I was convinced that hatred among nations and among people perished in Auschwitz. It didn’t. The victims died but the haters are still here.” — Elie Wiesel, in 1978. Wiesel, who died Saturday at age 87, will be remembered not just for bringing the horrors of the Holocaust to public consciousness — but for doing so in an intensely personal way. Over a 60-year career the writer, activist and Nobel Laureate was relentlessly open about his own anger, disillusionment and a gnawing fear that humanity has learned nothing. (National Post, July 3, 2016)
SHORT TAKES
BAGHDAD BOMBING DEATH TOLL HITS 250 (Baghdad) — Iraq's interior minister resigned on Tuesday and said a deputy would take over his responsibilities, a few days after the deadliest of many car bombings in Baghdad since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The death toll from a massive suicide bombing in Baghdad's central shopping district of Karrada on Saturday has reached 250, Iraq's Health Ministry said. It was the worst single car bomb attack in Iraq since U.S. forces toppled Saddam Hussein 13 years ago, and it deepened the anger of many Iraqis over the weak performance of the security apparatus. I.S., who government forces are trying to eject from large swathes of northern and western territory seized in 2014, claimed responsibility for the bombing. (CBC, July 5, 2016)
SUICIDE BOMBINGS HIT THREE CITIES IN SAUDI ARABIA (Medina) — Bombings rocked three cities across Saudi Arabia on Monday, including near the Prophet’s Mosque in the holy city of Medina. A suicide bomber struck near the U.S. Consulate in Jidda in the morning, wounding two security officers. Then, near dusk, when Muslims were ending their daily Ramadan fasts, other blasts struck near a Shiite mosque in the country’s east and at a security post in Medina, killing four guards. The blasts in Saudi Arabia followed a bloody week of terrorist attacks in Turkey, Bangladesh and Iraq. I.S. has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and in Baghdad, and it is suspected of carrying out the one in Istanbul. (New York Times, July 4, 2016)
I.S. TAKES CREDIT FOR TERRORIST STANDOFF IN BANGLADESH (Dhaka) — A 12-hour standoff with assailants that had taken hostages at a Dhaka restaurant ended early Saturday when Bangladeshi police stormed the business, killing six attackers and rescuing 13 hostages, but 20 of the captives and two police officers were reportedly killed. At least one of the assailants has been reportedly taken into custody. The assailants took control of a popular restaurant on Friday, reportedly chanting “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great) as they fired their weapons. The slain hostages are believed to be all or mostly foreigners. They include Italians, Japanese, Bangladeshis and one Indian. The restaurant is located in an upscale Dhaka neighborhood where many foreign embassies are located. The assault marks a dramatic new phase in Bangladesh’s battle with jihadists. In the past two years, Islamists have targeted Hindus, intellectuals, secularist writers and bloggers. (Washington Post, July 2, 2016)
YESHIVA HEAD KILLED, THREE INJURED IN DRIVE-BY SHOOTING (Hebron) — 48-year-old Miki Mark, a rabbi who heads a West Bank yeshiva, was killed Friday and his wife and children were injured when their car came under gunfire from a passing vehicle, south of the West Bank city of Hebron. Mark’s wife was seriously injured in the attack. Their 14-year-old daughter was in moderate-to-serious condition and their 15-year-old son was lightly injured. Hamas praised the attack, with an announcer on its TV channel saying it was a response to “crimes against the Palestinian people.” The group did not claim responsibility for the shooting. (Times of Israel, July 1, 2016)
WHITE HOUSE SILENT ON TERRORIST MURDER OF 13-YEAR-OLD AMERICAN (Washington) — The White House is still silent in the face of a gruesome murder that has rocked the State of Israel from one end of the religious Jewish spectrum to the other. 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel was stabbed to death by an Arab terrorist while sleeping in her bed at home in Kiryat Arba on Thursday. She was an American citizen, the U.S. State Department confirmed after the murder. But with the exception of a strong statement of condemnation of the killing by State Department spokesperson John Kirby, the Obama Administration has been silent on the matter. (Jewish Press, July 1, 2016)
ISRAEL IMPOSES RESTRICTIONS ON PALESTINIANS AFTER ATTACKS (Jerusalem) — After two deadly attacks by Palestinians against Israeli civilians in the West Bank, Israel announced sweeping measures to limit the movement of Palestinian residents and punish their government. The Israeli military said Friday that it would prevent all Palestinian travel between towns and villages in the southern West Bank, including the major city of Hebron. It also ordered in two more battalions to secure the area. The Israeli government, meanwhile, said it would withhold some crucial tax revenues it collects on behalf of the PA, a pressure tactic it reserves for extreme situations. The closings in the West Bank were the harshest measures imposed on Palestinians since three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed in the West Bank in June 2014, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said. (New York Times, July 1, 2016)
GAZA ROCKET BADLY DAMAGES KINDERGARTEN (Sderot) — A Sderot kindergarten building was badly damaged and two Israelis were treated for shock Friday after Gaza terrorists launched a Qassam rocket attack at the southern Israeli city. About 15 seconds after residents were awakened by the wail of the Red Alert rocket alert, the “boom!” that comes with a rocket impact was heard in the Gaza Belt city. The kindergarten building that sustained a direct hit — badly damaged — was empty at the time, and no one was physically injured in the attack. (Jewish Press, July 2, 2016)
ARRESTED HAMAS CASH SMUGGLERS REVEAL TERROR TUNNEL LOCATIONS (Jerusalem) — Israel Police announced that they have gained intelligence on underground tunnel locations in Gaza as a result of June’s arrest of two Gazans who were smuggling cash into Judea and Samaria for the Hamas terror group. Faiz Attar, 65, worked as a courier by smuggling tens of thousands of euros hidden in his shoes. Attar’s family was also involved with Hamas by digging cross-border tunnels and using a private home for Hamas meetings. The second suspect, Itallah Sarhan, was caught trying to smuggle 10,000 euros in his shoes. Sarhan also worked as a truck driver for a company that cleared sand from tunnel-digging sites for Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Investigators learned about several tunnel excavation sites through Sarhan’s interrogation. (Breaking Israel News, July 6, 2016)
US-ISRAEL MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM PASSES TEST (Jerusalem) — A joint missile defense shield integrating American and Israeli systems was successfully tested, security officials announced. The missile defense shield, which is designed to counter large-scale rocket and missile attacks by regional foes like Hezbollah and Iran, includes land and sea-based surface-to-air missile systems developed by Israel and the U.S. The recent test simulated a massive two-pronged attack from Lebanon and Iran involving thousands of rockets and missiles. The test included Israeli Arrow 2 and 3 missiles, the “David’s Sling” missile system, US Patriot missile batteries, American THAAD air defense interceptor batteries, and sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Systems. (Arutz Sheva, July 6, 2016)
SECURITY FORCES CHALLENGE NETANYAHU (Jerusalem) —Prime Minister Netanyahu faces a potentially formidable challenge— not from civilian politicians but instead from its revered security establishment. An array of former top commanders are criticizing Netanyahu in increasingly urgent terms, accusing him of mishandling the Palestinian issue and allying with extremists bent on dismantling Israel's democracy. The group, called Commanders for Israel's Security, representing more than 200 retired leaders in Israel's military, police, Mossad and Shin Bet, presented a plan to help end the occupation of the Palestinians, including disavowing claims to over 90 percent of the West Bank and freezing Jewish settlement construction in such areas. (National Post, June 28, 2016)
TURKISH SHIP ARRIVES WITH AID FOR GAZA (Ashdod) — A Turkish ship carrying aid for Gaza arrived in Ashdod, Israel on Sunday, a week after the two countries agreed to restore ties that soured over a deadly raid on an aid flotilla. Its contents were to be unloaded, inspected and sent on to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, hit by three wars with Israel since 2008 and under an Israeli blockade. The Panama-flagged ship, the Lady Layla, was carrying 11,000 tonnes of supplies including food packages, flour, rice, sugar and toys. Turkey had initially pushed for a lifting of Israel's blockade on Gaza as part of the negotiations to normalise ties, but Israel rejected this. A compromise was reached allowing Turkey to send aid through Ashdod rather than directly to Gaza. (Telegraph, July 4, 2016)
CORBYN SAYS HE REGRETS CALLING HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH FRIENDS (London) — Leader of the British Labor party, Jeremy Corbyn, has renounced his statements in which he expressed support for Hamas and Hezbollah. Corbyn, known as one of the more vociferous critics of Israel in British politics, apologized for his controversial statements made in 2009 in Parliament when he described the terror organizations as “friends.” His apology comes amid widespread concerns that anti-Semitism has permeated the party. Corbyn also criticized the comments made in April by the former London Mayor, Ken Livingstone who claimed that Adolf Hitler supported Zionism. (Ynet, June 7, 2016)
HEZBOLLAH FLAG FLIES AT LONDON ANTI-ZIONISM RALLY (London) — The annual al-Quds Day rally through central London passed without incident on Sunday, despite the sight of pro-Palestinian activists waving Hezbollah flags through the city centre. Despite complaints made to police about the flags, no arrests were made. The yellow Hezbollah flag was repeatedly seen, either raised as a standard or worn as clothing garments, after organisers refused to advise protesters against it, suggesting that it was “not unlawful”. The al-Quds Day rally was inaugurated in 1979 by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, who asked for the last Friday in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to be set aside as a day for uniting against Israel and showing support for Palestinians. (Jewish News, July 3, 2016)
NATO HEAD APPLAUDS CANADA’S DECISION TO COMMIT TROOPS IN LATVIA (Ottawa) — The head of NATO has singled out Canada with praise for agreeing to take a leadership role in the standoff with Russia. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Canada’s promise to lead a 1,000-strong force in Eastern Europe sends a clear signal that the alliance is strong and united. The Liberal government announced last week that Canada would join Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. in leading a 4,000-strong NATO reassurance force in the Baltics and Poland. Canadian troops are expected to be deployed to Latvia, where they will make up the majority of a 1,000-strong battalion that will also include forces from other NATO members. Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. will lead similar units in Lithuania, Estonia and Poland. (Macleans, July 4, 2016)
SOMALI CABINET MINISTER LATEST CANADIAN KILLED BY TERRORISTS (Mogadishu) — Despite the risks, Buri Mohamed Hamza returned to Somalia to serve the country’s struggling federal government, but on the weekend Al-Shabaab extremists struck his hotel with a car bomb, killing the former Toronto resident. The zoologist was the 10th Canadian to be killed abroad by terrorists in 2016, the worst year for such deaths since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Nine other Canadians have also died in Burkina Faso, the Philippines and Indonesia. There has been no official acknowledgement that terrorism deaths have spiked, but Prime Minister Trudeau’s statement on the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism mentioned the recent attacks on Canadians, as well as the June 20 killing of 14 Canadian embassy guards in Kabul. (National Post, June 28, 2016)
FBI RECOMMENDS NO CHARGES AGAINST CLINTON IN EMAIL PROBE (Washington) — The FBI will not recommend criminal charges in its investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, the bureau's director says. James Comey made the announcement Tuesday, three days after FBI agents interviewed Clinton, now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. But Comey also said Clinton and her colleagues at the Department of State had been "extremely careless" with classified material — noting that 110 emails, in 52 different email chains, contained classified information when Clinton sent them. Eight of those chains contained top secret information, he said. Although Comey's announcement removes the threat of criminal charges, it's unlikely to eliminate concerns about Clinton's trustworthiness. (CBC, July 5, 2016)
CLINTON CAMPAIGN 'REJECTS' BLUMENTHAL'S ATTACKS ON ELIE WIESEL (Washington) — Max Blumenthal, the controversial anti-Zionist writer and son of long-time Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal, sparked a firestorm with a series of Twitter posts lambasting Holocaust survivor and human rights advocate Elie Wiesel, who passed away on Saturday. Blumenthal, an outspoken opponent of the Jewish state who has in the past compared Israel to I.S., ripped Wiesel’s support for Israel. On Tuesday Blumenthal reiterated what he described as “criticisms” of Wiesel in an article, accusing Wiesel of manipulating the legacy of the Holocaust and endorsing Israel’s “unspeakable crimes”. Later on Tuesday Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign released a statement “rejecting” comments made by the younger Blumenthal regarding Wiesel. (Arutz Sheva, July 6, 2016)
AIRSTRIKES AIMED AT TERRORISTS KILLED AS MANY AS 116 CIVILIANS IN SEVEN YEARS (Washington) — The Obama administration released for the first time estimates of the number of civilians killed in strikes against suspected terrorists. Under pressure to increase transparency about U.S. drone operations around the world, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said U.S. strikes on suspected terrorists outside combat zones by both manned and unmanned aircraft killed between 64 and 116 civilians between 2009 and 2015. The strikes were conducted primarily in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya. The figures don’t include Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, which are regions with ongoing hostilities. (Wall Street Journal, July 1, 2016)
Erdogan in His Labyrinth: Roger Cohen, New York Times, June 30, 2016—Pity the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in his labyrinth. It’s a large labyrinth. As he drifts from room to room — and there are about 1,000 of them in his new Ankara palace — Erdogan no doubt has time to reflect on Turkey’s travails and perhaps ponder how events can escape the control of even the most megalomaniacal ruler.
House of Saud in the Crosshairs: Patrick Marrtin, Globe & Mail, July 5, 2016 —The introspective Islamic month of Ramadan has been especially violent this year as a string of attacks across the world was carried out, most likely, by the radical group known as the Islamic State (also known as ISIL and ISIS) and its growing legion of followers.
Jihadists Trying to Dislodge Bangladesh's Secular Government: Lawrence A. Franklin, Gatestone Institute, July 4, 2016—Friday's Islamic terrorist attack in the swankiest section of the Bangladesh's capital of Dhaka, in which 20 people were murdered, had been expected by the country's law enforcement services. When this attack took place, the government had been in the midst of a nationwide crackdown on known terrorist sympathizers.
Entebbe and a Sad Fourth of July: Ruthie Blum, Algemeiner, July 4, 2016—It was on July 4, 1976 that Yonatan Netanyahu was killed while rescuing hostages in Uganda. I did not know it then, but the bold Israeli mission would serve as a sharp turning point in my own personal history.
