Clone of WEDNESDAY’S “NEWS IN REVIEW” ROUND-UP

Contents: | Weekly Quotes |  Short Takes   |  On Topic Links

On Topic Links

On Topic Links

Iran Payment Wasn’t Ransom, but it Was Ransom: Michael J. Totten, World Affairs, Aug. 10, 2016

Black Lives Matter Must Rescind Anti-Israel Declaration: Alan M. Dershowitz, Boston Globe, Aug. 12, 2016

In Syria, Battles for Aleppo Seem as Endless as the War Itself: Ben Hubbard, New York Times, Aug. 12, 2016

The Meaning of an Olympic Snub: Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal, Aug. 15, 2016

“We should only admit into this country those who share our values and respect our people…In the Cold War, we had an ideological screening test. The time is overdue to develop a new screening test for the threats we face today. I call it extreme vetting… In addition to screening out all members or sympathizers of terrorist groups, we must also screen out any who have hostile attitudes towards our country or its principles – or who believe that Sharia law should supplant American law” —Donald Trump. Trump also cited the French experience with Islam as an example for why he wanted to implement the policy. “Beyond terrorism, as we have seen in France, foreign populations have brought their anti-Semitic attitudes with them,” he said. Antisemitism existed and at times thrived in France for centuries before its recent waves of immigrants, although recent attacks on Jews have been carried out by French Muslims. Trump also said Israel would be key in an alliance to face down the spread of radical Islam. “As president, I will call for an international conference focused on this goal,” he said. “We will work side by side with our friends in the Middle East, including our greatest ally, Israel.” (Times of Israel, Aug. 16, 2016)

“I think there will be a strong impulse on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s side to show that if there were tensions in the relationship, it was not because of him, and he will want to get the relationship off on a good footing. And I suspect the next president here will want to show that things are also on a sound footing as well.” — US Mideast negotiator Dennis Ross. Asked what his advice to the next president would be regarding how to improve US-Israel relations, Ross recommended making very clear that there would be a focus on strictly enforcing the Iranian nuclear deal. This would win immediate points both with the Israelis and America’s traditional friends in the Arab world, he said. Ross also said that while it is unlikely Obama wants to launch a big diplomatic initiative before his term ends, a speech laying out the parameters of a Mideast accord was likely, and something Obama would see as his Mideast “legacy.” (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 17, 2016)

“A crazed gunman’s attack on an Orlando club in June, killing 49 people, resulted in blanket news coverage and national trauma. Now imagine that such a massacre unfolds more than five times a day, seven days a week, unceasingly for five years, totaling perhaps 470,000 deaths. That is Syria. Yet even as the Syrian and Russian governments commit war crimes, bombing hospitals and starving civilians…Obama and the world seem to shrug. I admire Obama for expanding health care and averting a nuclear crisis with Iran, but allowing Syria’s civil war and suffering to drag on unchallenged has been his worst mistake, casting a shadow over his legacy. It is also a stain on all of us, analogous to the indifference toward Jewish refugees in the 1930s, to the eyes averted from Bosnia and Rwanda in the 1990s, to Darfur in the 2000s. This is a crisis that cries out for American leadership, and Obama hasn’t shown enough.” — Nicholas Kristof (New York Times, Aug. 11, 2016)

“It is the clear expectation of the Iranian nation that the particular case of property seizure . . . be quickly fixed by your excellency and that not only the Iranian nation’s rights be restored and the seized property released and returned, but also the damage caused be fully compensated for…I passionately advise you not to let the historical defamation and bitter incident be recorded under your name,”  — Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad sent a letter to Obama demanding the release of $2 billion in Iranian funds that were seized from bank accounts in New York earlier this year. The money was taken to compensate family members of victims of the 1983 bombing of a Marine Corps barracks in Beirut and other attacks blamed on Iran under a Supreme Court ruling in April. In all, 1,300 American victims have a legal claim to the money. The letter comes as Obama is already taking heat for sending Iran $400 million in cash last January just as it released four American detainees. The money — which critics are calling a ransom — was received by the regime on pallets loaded with Swiss francs and euros, and secretly delivered in an unmarked cargo plane. (New York Post, Aug. 8, 2016)

“Ahmadinejad’s comments…add further evidence to a danger of the ransom President Obama paid for the hostages in January — namely, that it reinforced Iran’s view that it can keep making outrageous demands and the Obama administration will try to comply…Of course, the White House should ensure any potential Iranian funds in US possession go to victims of Iranian terrorism, and there are billions of claims, and not go to supporting the wicked regime in Tehran.” — Michael Makovsky, head of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. (New York Post, Aug. 8, 2016)

“There is movement in the market and the celebrations are taking place in the public squares. The celebrations increase in the evening with songs, music, dabke and dancing. People are driving their cars in the streets, hailing the SDF.” — Ahmad Hisso Araj, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces. U.S.-backed Arab and Kurdish force buttressed defenses in the outlying neighborhoods of the Syrian city of Manbij after driving out I.S. fighters and cutting one of its key supply routes, as residents took to the streets over the weekend to celebrate their freedom. The Syrian Democratic Forces are preparing to defend the city against I.S. counterattacks, Araj said, two days after capturing Manbij. The extremist group’s most likely mode of attack, he added, would be suicide car bombs carried out in acts of desperation and revenge. “Their spirits have been broken,” he said. “They can only target us from a distance.” The capture of the northern Syrian city is expected to serve as a steppingstone toward an offensive on I.S’s self-declared capital of Raqqa in Syria. (Wall Street Journal, Aug. 14, 2016)

“The Ecumenical Leadership Council of Missouri, representing hundreds of predominantly African-American churches throughout the state, rejects without hesitation any notion or assertion that Israel operates as an apartheid country…We embrace our Jewish brethren in America and respect Israel as a Jewish state. Jewish-Americans have worked with African-Americans during the civil rights era when others refused us service at the counter — and worse.” — Bishop Lawrence Wooten, of the St. Louis chapter of the Ecumenical Leadership Council of Missouri. In the statement Wooten said that while Black Lives Matter plays a “vital role” in addressing racial violence by police, its language on Israel was misplaced. Wooten also referred to two American Jews — Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman — who along with James Chaney, a young black man, were murdered in 1964 while doing civil rights work in Mississippi. “We cannot forget their noble sacrifices,” Wooten wrote. “Neither should Black Lives Matter.” Black Lives Matter recently unveiled its social and political policy agenda, a manifesto that accuses Israel of “genocide” and “apartheid.” (JTA, Aug. 15, 2016)

“(Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League) is clearly obsessed with the subject of being “open minded” and tolerant of anti-Israeli groups. He made the extraordinary statement that, while disagreeing with Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) groups which promote anti-Semitism, he considers that they are “animated by a desire for justice” and says we should “acknowledge the earnestness of their motives.” One is tempted to remind him that Islamic fundamentalists are also sincere in their beliefs and equally animated by their perverted concept of justice. But the final straw is Greenblatt’s deepening association with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement… the recent manifesto released by Black Lives Matter has clear anti-Semitic overtones…Last year, BLM endorsed a “Black Solidarity Statement with Palestine” which demonized Israel, accusing it of “ethnic cleansing,” “genocide,” apartheid, etc., and called on all black institutions to engage in BDS. Black Lives Matter is engaged in anti-Israeli demonstrations, teach-ins and other activities, even including visits to Israel to protest the “ethnic cleansing” and “occupation.” It likened New York police behavior with alleged Israeli brutality against Palestinians, and in Atlanta, BLM accused Israeli counter-terrorist training of American police forces as being responsible for the shootings of black Americans. Yet despite pleas and warnings, Greenblatt continues to associate the ADL and by implication the Jewish community with the Black Lives Matter movement.” — Isi Leibler (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 16, 2016)

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RUSSIAN BOMBERS FLY FROM IRAN TO HIT SYRIA (Moscow) — Russian warplanes on Tuesday flew out from an Iranian air base to conduct strikes against jihadist groups in war-torn Syria. The raids are the first Russia has reported carrying out from a base in Iran since the Kremlin launched its Syrian bombing campaign in support of long-time ally Bashar Assad last September. Iran and Russia are the two firmest backers of the Assad regime and have opposed international calls for the Syrian leader to step down in a bid to resolve the civil war. The Russian defense minister claimed that Russia and the United States are also close to joining forces around Syria’s ravaged second city of Aleppo, where Russian planes and regime forces are battling rebels for control. (Times of Israel, Aug. 16, 2016)

LIBYAN FORCES TAKE OVER I.S. HEADQUARTERS IN SIRTE (Tripoli) — Libyan militias backed by U.S. airstrikes captured I.S’s headquarters in Sirte, as they advanced closer to retaking its Libyan stronghold. Militia members retook the Ouagadougou center in Sirte, a blow to I.S., which had used the compound as a control center for the city. Sirte’s central residential areas are still under I.S. control. The extremist group has laid mines throughout the city, making it hard to completely regain control. The I.S. branch there is considered the terror group’s strongest outside its command in Syria and Iraq. (Wall Street Journal, Aug. 10, 2016)

AIRSTRIKE ON MSF HOSPITAL IN YEMEN KILLS AT LEAST ELEVEN (Sana'a) — An airstrike hit a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in northern Yemen on Monday, the international humanitarian group said, killing at least 11 people and wounding at least 19 others. MSF said the hospital was partially destroyed, and all the remaining patients and staff have been evacuated. The conflict in Yemen pits an internationally-recognized government backed by a Saudi-led coalition against the Shia Houthi rebels, who captured the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes in Yemen since March 2015. (CBC, Aug. 15, 2016)

GUANTANAMO BAY PRISONERS SENT TO UAE IN LARGEST TRANSFER UNDER OBAMA (Washington) — Fifteen prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre were sent to the United Arab Emirates in the single largest release of detainees during the Obama administration. The transfer of 12 Yemeni nationals and three Afghans to the UAE comes amid a renewed push to whittle down the number of detainees held at the U.S. prison in Cuba that U.S. President Barack Obama aims to close. The Pentagon says 61 detainees now remain at Guantanamo, which was opened in January 2002 to hold foreign fighters suspected of links to the Taliban or the al-Qaeda extremist organization. Obama has been seeking to close the detention centre amid opposition from Congress, which has prohibited transferring detainees to the U.S. for any reason. (CBC, Aug. 16, 2016)

FRENCH TEENAGE GIRL DETAINED OVER SUSPECTED ATTACK PLOT (Paris) — A judge has handed a 16-year-old French girl preliminary terrorism charges for allegedly supporting I.S. and trying to perpetrate an attack. The girl was using a social media app to spread calls by IS to commit violent acts, the Paris prosecutor said. The judge charged the teenager with taking part in a "criminal terrorist association" and "inciting to commit terrorist acts through an online communication medium."  It's not the first time an underage girl has been detained in France under suspicion of trying to commit an attack. In March, two girls aged 15 and 17 were charged with taking part in a criminal terrorist association for allegedly plotting to attack a target, possibly a Paris concert hall, in a copycat action of November's Bataclan massacre in the capital. (CTV, Aug. 8, 2016)

THE 10,000 KIDNAPPED BOYS OF BOKO HARAM (Maiduguri) — While the world focused on Boko Haram’s mass kidnappings of women and girls, the Islamist group was stealing an even greater number of boys. Over the past three years, Boko Haram has kidnapped more than 10,000 boys and trained them in boot camps in abandoned villages and forest hide-outs, according to government officials and Human Rights Watch. What is happening in northeastern Nigeria is part of a disturbing rise in child jihadism. Young boys and at times girls are being indoctrinated into violent fundamentalism and used as fighters, suicide bombers and spies. I.S. has also used children in combat, suicide bombings and in execution videos in Iraq and Syria. (Wall Street Journal, Aug. 13, 2016)

GOP PUSHES CLINTON PERJURY CHARGES (Washington) — Two top House Republicans say Hillary Clinton appears to have lied to Congress, laying out a case Monday that they said could sustain perjury charges against the Democratic presidential nominee for failing to give an honest accounting of her use of a secret email server while she was secretary of state. Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said evidence the FBI collected during its investigation of Clinton’s email practices contradicts what she herself told Congress in testimony last year. The two chairmen have officially referred the matter to the Justice Department for prosecution. (Washington Times, Aug. 15, 2016)

‘NO FIRST USE’ NUCLEAR POLICY PROPOSAL ASSAILED (Washington) — A proposal under consideration at the White House to reverse decades of U.S. nuclear policy by declaring a “No First Use” protocol for nuclear weapons has run into opposition from top cabinet officials and U.S. allies. The opposition leaves Obama with few ambitious options to enhance his nuclear disarmament agenda before leaving office, unless he wants to override the dissent. The possibility of a “No First Use” declaration—which would see the U.S. explicitly rule out a first strike with a nuclear weapon in any conflict—met resistance at a National Security Council meeting in July, where the Obama administration reviewed possible nuclear disarmament initiatives it could roll out before the end of the president’s term. (Wall Street Journal, Aug. 12, 2016)

ISRAEL ACCUSES U.N. WORKER OF AIDING HAMAS (Jerusalem) — Israel charged a Palestinian employee of the UN in Gaza with providing materials to Hamas, including helping to build a jetty for its military. The accusations against the employee, Waheed Al Bursh, came after Israel leveled charges against a Palestinian employee of World Vision in Gaza, saying he had funneled millions of dollars to Hamas. Israeli media reported that Bursh, an engineer with the UN Development Program, had confessed to being instructed by Hamas officials to use his position to benefit the group. The indictment — on the heels of the World Vision case and the revelation that the aid group Save the Children was investigating whether one of its Palestinian workers had been recruited by Hamas — raised broad questions about the vast network of humanitarian groups operating in Gaza. (New York Times, Aug. 9, 2016)

HAMAS VIDEO PRESENTS GAZA AS SINGAPORE OF MIDDLE EAST (Gaza) — With the Palestinian local elections to be held in two months in Gaza and the West Bank, Hamas has released a propaganda video illustrating what appear to be huge successes in Gaza. The terror organization seeks to demonstrate the practical achievements under its reign. As such, the video presents Gaza as one of the best places to live in the Middle East, offering an energetic and flourishing lifestyle. The video shows spacious parks, lakes, city squares, sunny coastal beaches and people holding signs bearing the words, ‘Thank you Hamas.’ The image breaks with Hamas’ previous marketing videos intended to convey the hardships of a blockade or, as they often claim, the world’s largest prison camp. (Ynet, Aug. 9, 2016)

RADICAL ISLAMIST PREACHER CHOUDARY FOUND GUILTY OF SUPPORTING I.S. (London) — Anjem Choudary, Britain’s most high-profile Islamist preacher whose followers have been linked to numerous plots across the world, has been found guilty of inviting support for I.S. Choudary, 49, was convicted of using online lectures and messages to encourage support for the banned group which controls large parts of Syria and Iraq. Notorious in Britain where the tabloids denounce him as a hate preacher, he is also well-known abroad, making regular TV appearances in the wake of attacks by Islamist militants to blame Western foreign policy for targeting Muslims. Choudary, the former head of the now banned organization al-Muhajiroun, became infamous for praising the men responsible for the 9/11 attacks and saying he wanted to convert Buckingham Palace into a mosque. (Huffington Post, Aug. 16, 2016)

CANNES BANS FULL-BODY 'BURKINI' SWIMSUITS FROM BEACHES (Cannes) — The French resort of Cannes has banned full-body, head-covering swimsuits from its beaches, citing security reasons. The ban on so-called burkinis, at the height of the French Riviera's vacation season, comes as France remains on edge after deadly Islamic extremist attacks in nearby Nice and on a Catholic church in northwest France. Cannes Mayor David Lisnard calls the burkini "the uniform of extremist Islamism, not of the Muslim religion." French law already forbids face-covering veils anywhere in public, and headscarves in public schools. Proponents say the laws preserve secular values and protect women from religious oppression. But critics say they've deepened the religious divide. (CTV News, Aug. 12, 2016)

SASSON WINS BRONZE AT RIO OLYMPICS (Rio de Janeiro) — On Friday, after enduring a snubbing from Egyptian opponent Islam El-Shahaby, Israeli judoka Ori Sasson scored a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Sasson won his medal in the men’s judo 100+ kilogram weight class after defeating Cuban opponent Alex Maxell Garcia Mendoza. He is the second Israeli to win a bronze during this year’s games, following his fellow judo champion Yarden Gerbi. Sasson had approached El Shahaby with his hand extended after beating him, but the Egyptian backed away before leaving the floor without bowing to Sasson, a violation of the sport’s rules which earned him loud booing from the crowd. El Shehaby was sent home from the Olympics after the incident. (Breaking Israel News, Aug. 14, 2016)

BIALOWITZ, WHO ESCAPED A NAZI DEATH CAMP, DIES AT 90 (New York) — Philip Bialowitz, a Polish Jew who escaped the Nazi extermination camp Sobibor, died on Aug. 6 in Florida. The cause was congestive heart failure. As a teenager in in Poland, he was marched with other Jews to a cemetery, where Nazi soldiers opened fire on them. He escaped death by pretending to be hit and lying for hours among bloody bodies. He was later taken to Sobibor where it is estimated that 250,000 people, mostly Jews, were murdered by the Nazis. In 1943, Bialowitz and other Jews carried out an escape plan. Several SS officers were killed with knives that the prisoners had secreted away, and about 300 fled through the gates of the camp. Nearly all were recaptured, but Bialowitz and his brother were among the 50 or so who were not. (New York Times, Aug. 13, 2016)

Contents

On Topic Links

Iran Payment Wasn’t Ransom, but it Was Ransom: Michael J. Totten, World Affairs, Aug. 10, 2016—Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that an American plane carrying 400 million dollars in cash landed in Iran at the precise time the Iranian government released four American hostages. Critics claim the 400 million was a ransom payment. The White House and State Department deny it emphatically. They’re right. The 400 million wasn’t a ransom payment, but it was a ransom payment.

Black Lives Matter Must Rescind Anti-Israel Declaration: Alan M. Dershowitz, Boston Globe, Aug. 12, 2016—It is a real tragedy that Black Lives Matter — which has done so much good in raising awareness of police abuses — has now moved away from its central mission and has declared war against the nation state of the Jewish people. In a recently issued “platform,” more than 60 groups that form the core of the Black Lives Matter movement went out of their way to single out one foreign nation to accuse of genocide and apartheid.

In Syria, Battles for Aleppo Seem as Endless as the War Itself: Ben Hubbard, New York Times, Aug. 12, 2016—The battle for Aleppo — Syria’s most populous city — is once again raging, once again trapping hundreds of thousands of civilians, once again rallying fighters seeking an advantage in the five-year-old civil war.

The Meaning of an Olympic Snub: Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal, Aug. 15, 2016—An Israeli heavyweight judoka named Or Sasson defeated an Egyptian opponent named Islam El Shehaby Friday in a first-round match at the Rio Olympics. The Egyptian refused to shake his opponent’s extended hand, earning boos from the crowd. Mr. Sasson went on to win a bronze medal.