Contents: | Weekly Quotes | Short Takes | On Topic Links
The Anti-Israel Movement’s ‘Anti-Normalization’ Campaign: Asaf Romirowsky & Alexander Joffe, National Post, Aug. 3, 2016
Hillary’s Deadly Iran Deal: Shmuley Boteach, Jerusalem Post, Aug. 8, 2016
Is Turkey Following Pakistan's Descent Into Islamization?: Abha Shankar, IPT News, Aug. 9, 2016
Israel’s Strategic Imperative: Louis Rene Beres, Breaking Israel News, Aug. 8, 2016
WEEKLY QUOTES
“A vote for BDS is a vote by those who seek the delegitimization of Israel, and ultimately seek to have it, and its population, wiped off the map.” — Paul Estrin, a former President of the Green Party. During its convention in Ottawa, the Green Party of Canada added support for the anti-Israel boycott movement (BDS) to its official roster of policies. Estrin, who is Jewish, was compelled to step down as party president in 2014 after expressing pro-Israel views on his blog. (B’nai Brith, Aug. 7, 2016)
“I’m deeply disappointed…The party policy on this issue is a position I can’t support.” — Green party Leader Elizabeth May. Green Party delegates voted to support BDS, despite opposition from May, who called BDS tactics ineffective and “polarizing.” The BDS campaign has drawn the support of other Green parties, universities, churches, trade unions, entertainers and scientist Stephen Hawking. Parliament voted in February to condemn the BDS movement, which has been vociferously opposed by Israel. The BDS motion was one of two foreign-policy resolutions – both aimed at Israel – at the convention, which overshadowed another 30-plus issues debated by 300 delegates. The other resolution called upon the Canada Revenue Agency to revoke the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund over allegations it had planted trees over the ruins of Palestinian villages. (Globe & Mail, Aug. 7, 2016)
“We are deeply concerned with a number of the sessions that are scheduled for 2016 World Social Forum and in particular, we are disgusted by the blatantly anti-Semitic cartoons and images that appear on the World Social Forum website…The Prime Minister, the Government of Canada, and the Canadian Parliament have been very clear that we oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and that anti-Semitism is never acceptable.” — Statement by Michael Levitt, MP for York Centre, and Anthony Housefather, MP for Mount Royal. The federal government has distanced itself from a major international gathering in Montreal following complaints that its programming included antisemitic content. The World Social Forum, expected to draw more than 10,000 participants, was told last week to remove the Canadian government logo from its list of partners after the Liberal MPs expressed disgust over what they called a “blatantly anti-Semitic cartoon” on the event’s website. Forum organizers cancelled a session that had been scheduled to show how Islamist terrorists are “in the service of world Zionism-capitalism.” (National Post, Aug. 8, 2016)
“The slogans of the publicly funded World Social Forum (WSF) for a better world are very seductive. With its talk of another world being possible and the need to end oppression, the WSF is appealing to the highest aspirations of humanity. But behind these slogans hide some disturbing elements of the event. At the conference…the WSF is granting conspiracy theorists a podium to blame the West for the 9/11 terror attacks. It is allowing workshops to take place that promote the Iranian regime’s anti-Semitic propaganda that Jews created ISIS and Islamist radicalism. A cartoon was even published on the WSF’s website that was not so different from those that appeared in Nazi papers; the cartoon was removed from the site Friday…No fewer than 20 events are dedicated to the boycott and/or delegitimization of Israel, with some workshops openly calling for the end of the Jewish people’s inalienable right to national self-determination…” — Rabbi Reuben J. Poupko. The World Social Forum takes place from August 9-14. The event marks the first time the forum — which brings together activists, intellectuals and political figures from around the world — has been held in a North American city. (Montreal Gazette, Aug. 5, 2016)
"The Munich Accords didn't prevent the Second World War and the Holocaust because their fundamental assumption that Nazi Germany can be a partner to any agreement was false and because world leaders at the time ignored clear statements made by Hitler and other Nazi leaders…The same is true about Iran, which has announced clearly and publicly that its purpose is the destruction of Israel was ranked in a recent State Department report as the world's biggest sponsor of terrorism." — Israel’s Defense Ministry, responding harshly to allegations recently made by US President Barack Obama, who said Israeli officials had acknowledged the importance of the nuclear deal with Iran. (Jerusalem Online, Aug. 5, 2016)
“It was illegal. It isn’t only the optics. It isn’t only that they are just looking ridiculous in denying that it was a quid pro quo. Obviously, it wasn’t a coincidence. The reason that it was objected to by Justice, there is a statute that prohibits us from engaging in Iran dealing with dollars. So, they had to print the money here, ship it over to Switzerland, turn it into Swiss francs and euros and ship it over to Iran. If a private company had done this, this is called money laundering. The CEO would be in jail right now…The reason it was concealed is because it’s illegal. That’s why Congress wasn’t notified, because it’s scandalous for the administration to explicitly defy a law that says you can’t deal in American currency. And the second thing is, it isn’t only that it encourages terrorism in the future, it’s that the money is in cash. Why in cash? Because that you can’t trace it. It’s going to go straight to Hezbollah, straight to Hamas, straight to terrorists in Iraq.” — Charles Krauthammer, referring to a payment of $400 million to Iran as four Americans were released from the country back in January. (Breitbart, Aug. 3, 2016)
“If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks…Although the Second Amendment people—maybe there is, I don’t know.” — Republican Presidential hopeful Donald Trump. Trump, confounding the hopes of Republicans who want him to run a more measured presidential campaign, touched off another firestorm Tuesday with an off-the-cuff remark that critics interpreted as inciting violence against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Trump was speaking at a rally about how he claims Clinton as president would undermine gun rights under the Second Amendment. The Clinton campaign declared his remarks “dangerous,” charging that they amounted to a call for an attack against his opponent. The Trump team quickly said it was an awkwardly worded call to mobilize gun owners as a political force before the election. (Wall Street Journal, Aug. 10, 2016)
I instantly thought about Rabin in Israel…There were rallies going on in Israel where ‘death to Rabin’ was shouted and politicians didn’t respond.” — Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy (D). The governor compared controversial comments by Trump to the rhetoric in Israel that preceded the 1995 assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Violent rhetoric at right-wing rallies preceded the 1995 murder of Rabin by gunman Yigal Amir and the incitement is frequently credited as a factor that led to the killing. “This is insanity, it’s a sickness, it’s an evil, and Republicans and Democrats and Independents have to stand up to this, otherwise this insanity will play itself out in our own country and over our existence. We’ve had enough assassinations. We’ve had enough death and we just have to reject this,” he said. (Times of Israel, Aug. 10, 2016)
“…In the emails that were on Hillary Clinton's private server, there were conversations among her senior advisers about this gentleman…That goes to show just how reckless and careless her decision was to put that kind of highly classified information on a private server and I think her judgment is not suited to keep this country safe." —Senator Tom Cotton (R). Iran said Sunday that it had executed Shahram Amiri after a court convicted him of spying for Washington. Amiri, a university researcher working for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, disappeared during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in 2009, and later surfaced in the U.S. He returned to Iran in 2010 and received a hero's welcome before being arrested. Cotton spoke in reference to two emails about Amiri that were sent to Clinton's private server during her tenure as Secretary of State. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 8, 2016)
“Yet Clinton is not Obama. Because she cannot trust the affections of Obama’s coalition, she will need to broaden her base in order to defend her party in Congress and secure her prospects for reelection. Her technocratic stylings may appeal to suburban moderates, but these voters will look dimly on her ethical problems and tendency to exacerbate rather than ameliorate polarization. Whereas Obama has persuaded many quarters that blame for Washington dysfunction rests with congressional Republicans, Clinton is flypaper for controversy. She cannot count on the indulgence of middle-class types; she will likely see her popularity slip very shortly after she is inaugurated. Clinton may be the personality least well suited to handle such a slip. Plumbing the depths of individual psychology usually detracts from political analysis, but it cannot be avoided entirely when it comes to the personalized, brand-heavy, and awesomely powerful presidency we have today. Much as we might wish otherwise, the office is now more than ever an extension of the person holding it. Presidents less and less grow into the Oval Office; today, the Oval Office conforms to their vices.” — Luke Thompson. (National Review, July 25, 2016)
“If I were king for a day, rather than providing more oversight and controls over National Defence, I’d simply give us clear direction as to the outcomes we’re looking for, with predictable and sustained funding, and then I’d get out of the way and watch…And you would be amazed.” — Lt.-Gen. Guy Thibault. Thibault, one of Canada’s top soldiers used his last speech in uniform Friday to rail against an excessive amount of oversight and outside interference in how the military manages its own affairs. Thibault’s sharp tone, coming from a man who has served as the military’s second-highest ranking officer for the past three years, was especially notable at a time when trust in National Defence has reached new lows in parts of Ottawa. Much of the damage was caused by the military’s handling of the F-35 stealth fighter project, which became a political nightmare for the previous Conservative government and is threatening to do the same for the Liberals. (Globe & Mail, Aug. 6, 2016)
SHORT TAKES
BELGIUM LAUNCHES TERROR PROBE AS I.S. CLAIMS MACHETE ATTACK (Brussels) — Belgian authorities have opened a terrorism probe following a weekend machete attack on two police officers in the city of Charleroi. The assailant, who was fatally shot during the attack, was identified Sunday by the authorities as a 33-year-old Algerian man who had been living in Belgium illegally since 2012. The attack left one of the officers with serious injuries to her face and neck. Islamic State’s news agency Amaq claimed the attack was carried out by one of the group’s “soldiers” in response to strikes by the U.S.-led coalition fighting against it in Iraq and Syria. (Wall Street Journal, Aug. 7, 2016)
SYRIAN REBELS BREAK THROUGH ALEPPO SIEGE (Aleppo) — Fighting raged in Aleppo between rebels and Syrian regime forces on Sunday, a day after the opposition broke a government siege on its eastern half. The rebel factions are making a bid to open a main road for food and humanitarian aid to reach some 300,000 civilians who have been besieged in opposition-held areas of Syria’s former commercial capital. Airstrikes from regime and Russian warplanes continued to target opposition fighters. The rebels launched their offensive in July, two weeks after the regime—backed by Russian airstrikes and fighters from the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah—cut off the sole supply line leading into eastern Aleppo’s opposition-controlled neighborhoods. (Wall Street Journal, Aug. 7, 2016)
EGYPT KILLS HEAD OF I.S. AFFILIATE IN NORTHERN SINAI (Cairo) — Egypt has announced that its forces have taken out the commander of I.S. affiliate terrorist group in the Sinai Peninsula, Ansar Beyt al-Maqdis. The Egyptian Air Force reportedly killed Abu Doa’a Al-Ansari in air strikes on the group in northern Sinai, near El Arish. Hundreds of the terrorists were killed by the army in a recent operation called ‘Martyrs’ Right,’ according to Egyptian media. The counter terror operation involved ground forces working in cooperation with the air force, and killed 45 members of the Sinai-based terror group in addition to Al-Ansari. The group pledged allegiance to I.S. last November. (Times of Israel, Aug. 5, 2016)
DETAINED U OF T STUDENT FORMALLY ARRESTED IN DHAKA (Dhaka) — A University of Toronto student who has not been heard from since last month’s deadly siege at a Bangladesh restaurant was formally arrested on allegations that he was involved in the attack. Tahmid Hasib Khan, 22, was arrested in Dhaka, the country’s capital. Five armed gunmen attacked the Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1, killing 23 people and holding others hostage. Security forces stormed the restaurant after nearly 12 hours, killing the gunmen and rescuing the remaining 13 hostages. Khan, a permanent resident of Canada, has been studying global health at U of T. (Globe & Mail, Aug. 4, 2016)
IRAN EXECUTES GAY TEENAGER IN VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (Tehran) — Iran’s regime executed a gay adolescent – the first confirmed execution of someone convicted as a juvenile in Iran in 2016 – Amnesty International reported. Hassan Afshar, 19, was hanged in Arak Prison on July 18, after he was convicted of "forced male-to-male anal intercourse" in 2015. According to a 2008 Wikileaks dispatch, Iran executed between 4,000 to 6,000 gays and lesbians between the start of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 to 2008. Iran frequently executes gay men and frames the men for rape charges to justify its Islamic law application of lethal homophobia. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 4, 2016)
EU RIFT WITH TURKEY DEEPENS AS AUSTRIA THREATENS TO VETO MEMBERSHIP (Brussels) — Austria has threatened to use its veto to block further talks on Turkish membership of the EU, deepening the stand-off with Ankara over President Erdogan’s crackdown on democratic freedoms. The move could jeopardize the EU’s controversial migrant deal. Turkey has already threatened to pull out of the agreement, potentially sending hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers to Europe. Austria’s foreign minister said he would veto any attempt to open a new chapter of accession talks with Turkey — effectively blocking the country’s path to possible membership. Any decision by the council on EU accession talks has to be agreed unanimously by all current member states. (Telegraph, Aug. 8, 2016)
AUSTRALIA, GERMANY SUSPEND WORLD VISION AID OVER HAMAS FUNDING (Sydney) — Israel has accused World Vision’s Gaza Strip director of funneling money to Hamas. Mohammed el-Halabi confessed to siphoning about $7.2 million a year to Hamas over five years. The agency says this is roughly 60 percent of World Vision's total Gaza budget. World Vision Germany said on Monday the charity's budget in Gaza in the last decade totaled $22.5 million. Germany has suspended donations to World Vision in Gaza. Meanwhile, Australia said it was suspending funding for relief group's operations in the Palestinian Territories. According to the Shin Bet, el-Halabi crafted a scheme to funnel funds, food, medical supplies and agricultural equipment to Hamas. (Ynet, Aug. 8, 2016)
SPANISH ISRAEL LOBBY GROUP DEALS TRIPLE BLOW TO BDS IN SPAIN (Madrid) — ACOM, a lobby group working to combat BDS in Spain, won legal victories against three municipalities this week. The group claimed its first victory after a court ruling suspended the effects of a local boycott against Israel in a municipality outside Barcelona. A few days later, a Madrid Court suspended boycott agreements against Israel adopted by the Rivas Vaciamadrid City Council. In addition, a boycott motion against Israel was defeated in a plenary session in La Guardia this past week. ACOM chairman Angel Mas said that a growing number of cities across Spain have passed declarations in favor of BDS over the past year, as far-left political parties, such as Podemos, have gained access to public institutions and local government. Podemos had been under scrutiny in Spain after police revealed the party is financed by the Venezuelan and the Iranian regimes. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 3, 2016)
ISRAEL FORMS TASK FORCE TO LOCATE, DEPORT BDS ACTIVISTS (Jerusalem) — A new Israeli government task force is being formed to deport anti-Israel activists. The committee will be tasked with locating and expelling activists from the BDS movement against Israel who are in the country and with preventing those outside the country from entering. Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan announced the task force and called on his followers to report any activists hiding in the country as “imposter tourists…Boycotting Israel must have a price,” he said. (Arutz Sheva, Aug. 8, 2016)
JEWISH GROUP FILES A HUMAN RIGHTS COMPLAINT AGAINST STUDENT UNION (Toronto) — Hasbara Fellowships Canada, a grassroots Jewish campus advocacy organization, filed an official complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal against the Student Association and Faculty Association of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) after being denied an opportunity to participate in a campus Social Justice Week event. It is the first time a Jewish student group has filed such a complaint. In March 2016, Hasbara – which counters Israel Apartheid Week events and BDS was rejected by the Student Association when it asked to table its Israel Peace Week materials during Social Justice Week on campus. The Social Justice Week included a five hour “Oshawa Against Israeli Apartheid” event and an art show organized by the radical anti-Israel group Students for Justice for Palestine. (CIJ News, Aug. 2, 2016)
GOLDBERG TWEETS HE MIGHT STOP READING HA’ARETZ (Moscow) — U.S. journalist Jeffrey Goldberg stirred up a media dust storm in Israel after he tweeted that he might give up reading Ha’aretz. “I think I’m getting ready to leave Ha’aretz behind, actually,” Goldberg tweeted, including a link to an article in the left-leaning Israeli daily written by two American-Jewish historians who discuss why they have “left Zionism behind.” Goldberg, a correspondent for The Atlantic who writes frequently about Israel and Middle East affairs, added in a second tweet: “I like a lot of the people at Haaretz, and many of its positions, but the cartoonish anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism can be grating.” He also dismissed the English-language daily Jerusalem Post, calling it “nuts,” and saying it as well as Ha’aretz share a “weakness for sinat hinam,” or baseless hatred. (JTA, Aug. 2, 2016)
WALLENBERG EXECUTED BY SOVIETS, DIARIES SHOW (Moscow) — Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazis, was executed in a Soviet prison, according to a KGB head’s diaries. The diaries of Ivan A. Serov, who ran the former Russian secret police and intelligence agency from 1954 to 1958, were discovered inside the walls of his second home in Moscow. The diaries contain references to several previously unknown documents referring to Wallenberg, including one recording the cremation of his body. A 1991 joint Russian-Swedish effort to discover what happened to Wallenberg, which included archival research and interviews with retired state security employees, yielded no definitive conclusion. (Arutz Sheva, Aug. 8, 2016)
ISRAELI YARDEN GERBI WINS BRONZE AT OLYMPICS (Rio de Janeiro) — Israeli judoka Yarden Gerbi overcame an early loss to win a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics, becoming the first Israeli athlete to win a medal at the 2016 games, and the first Israeli Olympic medalist since windsurfer Shahar Tzuberi took home the bronze in the 2008 games in Beijing. Gerbi, 27, the 2013 world champion in her class, thus became the seventh Israeli athlete in history to be honored on the Olympic podium. She was also only the second woman to do so — the first being judoka Yael Arad, Israel’s first-ever medal winner, who took home the silver in Barcelona 1992. (Times of Israel, Aug. 9, 2016)
LEBANESE OLYMPIC TEAM SCOLDED FOR REFUSING TO LET ISRAELIS ON BUS (Rio de Janeiro) — The head of the Lebanese Olympic delegation was reprimanded by the International Olympic Committee after refusing to let the Israeli delegation board a bus the two teams were supposed to share. The IOC warned Salim al-Haj Nakoula.head of the Lebanese delegation, that they would not accept any further instances like this. Nakoula responded that the whole incident was the result of a misunderstanding. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 7, 2016)
ISRAELI ATHLETES MURDERED IN MUNICH GET OLYMPIC MEMORIAL (Rio de Janeiro) — The widows of two of the 11 Israeli athletes who were brutally killed by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics participated in a ceremony and minute of silence to commemorate the memory of the victims at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Village. Anke Spitzer remembered her fencing coach husband Andre, while Ilana Romano remembered her husband and weightlifter Joseph Romano at the ceremony. In September of 1972, Israeli athletes were taken hostage at the athlete’s village of the Munich games by Palestinian terrorists belonging to the Black September terror group. They killed 11 Israelis over 24-hour standoff with German police, in which five of the terrorists and two police officers were also killed. (Breaking Israel News, Aug. 5, 2016)
The Anti-Israel Movement’s ‘Anti-Normalization’ Campaign: Asaf Romirowsky & Alexander Joffe, National Post, Aug. 3, 2016—The basis of any negotiated settlement is compromise. But what if one of the parties to the conflict simply refuses to talk? Some Palestinian factions and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement have engaged in what’s known as an “anti-normalization” campaign: they are demanding that all contact between Palestinians and Israelis be severed, lest they “normalize” the existence of Israel. The reciprocal response by Israelis and American Jews is denial.
Hillary’s Deadly Iran Deal: Shmuley Boteach, Jerusalem Post, Aug. 8, 2016—Let’s focus for a moment on two major headlines that occurred on the same day this week. The first was that Donald Trump continued to feud with Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of American war hero Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The second was that President Barack Obama last January sent Iran $400 million in cash, which in all likelihood will be used to fund terrorism.
Is Turkey Following Pakistan's Descent Into Islamization?: Abha Shankar, IPT News, Aug. 9, 2016— Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's oppressive response to July's failed coup attempt – in which he sacked thousands of government officials and journalists in a sweeping purge – threatens to drive the nominally secular Turkish state further down the path of Islamist totalitarianism. To observers of international affairs, the path is reminiscent of the one traversed almost 40 years ago by another key U.S. ally and strategic partner in the war against terror: Pakistan.
Israel’s Strategic Imperative: Louis Rene Beres, Breaking Israel News, Aug. 8, 2016—In world politics, preserving equilibrium has a recognizably sacramental function. The reason is obvious. Without at least minimum public order, planetary relations would descend rapidly, and perhaps irremediably, into a profane disharmony. In any such global “state of nature,” we may further extrapolate from Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, the life of individual nations could quickly become “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
