Weekly Quotes
“[Israel faces] a real threat to its security from militant groups in Gaza. The naval blockade was imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the requirements of international law.…”–Excerpts from the UN Palmer Commission report, confirming the legality of Israel’s blockade of Gaza. The report also exonerates Israel for last year’s raid on the Turkish Mavi Marmara, saying that the IDF commandos who boarded the ship “faced significant, organized and violent resistance from a group of passengers…requiring them to use force for their own protection.…” Lastly, in an introductory section called “rapprochement,” the Palmer report did not call for Israel to apologize to Turkey as Ankara has been demanding, rather recommended “an appropriate statement of regret,” which Israel has issued. Nonetheless, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu again warned that if Israel does not apologize for the incident, Turkey would “put Plan B into play.” (Jerusalem Post, September 1.)
“Israel’s government is responsible for the point that we have reached today.… Relations between Turkey and Israel will be downgraded to second-secretary level. All officials over the level of second secretary, primarily the ambassador, will turn back to their country.…”–Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, in a televised statement, blaming the Israeli government for the collapse of the once-strategic alliance, and confirming that Israel’s ambassador to Turkey has been expelled. Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul added that “the U.N. [Palmer] report is null and void for [Turkey].” (Wall Street Journal, September 2.)
“I come as my country’s defense minister to state our political will as a government, as well as the majority of the country’s political forces, for the two countries, the two governments, the two peoples, to work together so that we can further develop and deepen our bilateral relations in all sectors of mutual interest and concern.”–Greek Defense Minister Panos Beglitis, during his recent three-day trip to Israel, the first official visit by a Greek defense minister to the Jewish state, hailing the recent signing between Israel and Greece of a cooperation memorandum on security. (JTA, September 5.)
“We are reminding (Obama) of what he said in the United Nations in 2010.”–Ahmad Zaki ElAreedi, director of the Voice of Palestine radio, describing an official media campaign being broadcast ahead of the Palestinians’ September UN gambit, which features a statement made in 2010 by U.S. president Barack Obama during his speech to the General Assembly: “When we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that can lead to a new member of the United Nations, an independent, sovereign state of Palestine.…” In the advertisement, Obama’s affirmation is followed by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas’ assertion, “If he said it, he must have meant it.” (Ynet News, September 7.)
“Its military nuclear and ballistic ambitions constitute a growing threat that may lead to a preventive attack against Iranian sites that would provoke a major crisis.…”–France’s President, Nicolas Sarkozy, warning that Iran’s alleged attempts to build long-range missiles and nuclear weapons could lead countries to launch a pre-emptive attack. Sarkozy also condemned Iran for “refus[ing] to negotiate seriously,” and said “Iran is carrying out new provocations in response to the challenge from the international community for it to provide credible [information regarding its nuclear ambitions.]” (Agence France-Presse, August 31.)
“Top spokesmen for the Obama administration [are] defend[ing]the White House’s issuance of ‘talking points’ designed to shape how federal officials in this country and American diplomats serving abroad frame the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.… One set of guidelines urges U.S. officials to ‘minimize references to Al-Qaeda.’ The [related] documents cite the killing of Osama bin Laden as evidence that the terror network that plotted and executed the Sept. 11 attacks is becoming ‘increasingly irrelevant.’ Another talking point instructed American officials overseas to ‘honor all victims of terrorism, in every nation…whether in New York or Nairobi, Bali or Belfast, Mumbai or Manila, or Lahore or London.…’”–Excerpts from “Marking 9/11: Obama Aides Defend ‘Talking Points,’” describing the Obama administration’s issuance of 9/11 commemoration guidelines, which “seek to universalize the commemorative day.” (Fox News, September 1.)
“Political power, said Mao Zedong, grows out of the barrel of a gun and in Libya’s case this seems a very reasonable expectation. According to al-Jazira, the network recommended by [U.S.] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as fair and balanced, Abd al-Hakim al-Hasadi, also known as Abdelhakim Belhaj, has been named commander of the Tripoli Military Council. He was formerly head of the Libyan Islamist Fighting Group, an al-Qaida affiliate. Moderates are understandably nervous. And so should we all be!”–Barry Rubin, providing “evidence that Islamists and even al-Qaida supporters will play a central role in Libya’s new regime.” (Pajamas Media, September 2.)
“We won’t surrender; we are not women. We will keep fighting.… There is no way [that armed loyalists in Sirte and Bani Walid] will submit. The battle will be long and let Libya burn.”–Deposed Libyan dictator, Col. Muammar Qaddafi, in an audio statement broadcast by Syrian-based Al-Rai TV, rallying his troops to “get ready to fight the occupation.… Get ready for a long war imposed on us.… Get ready for the guerrilla war.” (Fox News, September 1.)
“The goal…is to protect the lower floors of the building and prevent tensions between protesters and residents.”–Egyptian governor Ali Abdel-Rahman, in an interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm, explaining Egypt’s decision to build a concrete wall around Israel’s embassy in Cairo following a series of angry protests that reached a climax last month when a demonstrator scaled the building and removed the Israeli flag. (Independent Media Review and Analysis, September 5.)
“Since its involvement in the release of the Palestine papers, the Guardian has maintained an editorial line that goes beyond simply endorsing the end of Israeli occupation and the creation of a Palestinian state. The paper is critical of any recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, specifically because it would hazard ‘the right of return.…’”–Excerpts from a study, conducted by London-based media watchdog Just Journalism, claiming that the British newspaper The Guardian consistently publishes commentary from Palestinians who reject Israel’s legitimacy as a Jewish state and the two-state solution for the Middle East. (Jerusalem Post, September 1.)
“By trying to rationalize the murder of his fellow Jews by terrorists, Derfner…went beyond the pale. Consequently we terminated his employment. The move, I stress, had nothing to do with threats to cancel subscriptions or advertisements; it was an editorial decision taken on moral grounds. While politically independent, the Post is a quintessentially Zionist newspaper priding itself on its patriotism and credibility, as well as its balanced reporting and diverse commentaries.… Freedom of speech has its limits, however, and Derfner clearly overstepped them. Derfner is a fine writer but a loose cannon. His column in the Post was titled ‘Rattling the Cage.’ There is a huge difference between rattling the bars and letting the tiger out.”–Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief, Steve Linde, explaining the Post’s decision to fire columnist Larry Derfiner, following the publication on Derfner’s website of a piece justifying Palestinian terrorism against Israeli civilians. (Jerusalem Post, September 2.)
Short Takes
TURKEY SUSPENDS DEFENSE TRADE WITH ISRAEL–(Istanbul) Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has confirmed that his country is suspending defense trade with Israel and that Turkish naval vessels would be seen in the eastern Mediterranean more often. Speaking to reporters in Ankara, Erdogan said that “Trade relations, military relations, defense industry–these we will suspend. These will be completely frozen and that process will be followed also by very different sanctions.” Erdogan said the measures still to come would be a “Plan C” to the “Plan B” already announced, which might include a visit to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. As the rift deepens between Israel and Turkey, the Obama administration said it was moving to “defuse” the crisis. (Wall Street Journal, September 7.)
ISRAELI TOURISTS SUFFER HUMILIATION AT TURKISH AIRPORT–(Jerusalem) Israelis traveling from Tel Aviv to Turkey on a Turkish Airlines flight have been subjected to “special attention” upon arrival in Istanbul. The 40 passengers were taken by Turkish policemen to side-rooms, their passports were taken away and they were questioned for more than two hours. Their luggage was thoroughly searched and they were quizzed about the reasons for their trip to Turkey. “They undressed me down to my underwear,” one passenger confirmed. Israeli Foreign Ministry officials said in response that the event was highly unusual and serious. (Haaretz, September 6.)
US TRYING TO STALL PA STATEHOOD BID–(Jerusalem) According to The New York Times, citing senior US officials and foreign diplomats, the Obama administration has introduced a plan to restart peace talks with Israel to avert Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’ September bid to seek a unilateral declaration of statehood at the United Nations General Assembly. The Times also reports that the administration told Abbas it would veto any request made to the UN Security Council to make a Palestinian nation a new member, but also that Washington lacked support to block a vote by the Assembly to raise the status of the Palestinians to a nonvoter observer state, which could allow them to join many UN bodies, and pursue cases against Israel at the International Criminal Court. (Ynet News, September 4.)
HOUSE BILL WOULD CUT OFF FUNDS TO UN GROUPS ELEVATING STATUS OF PALESTINIAN MISSION— (Washington) The head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee has asked the U.S. Congress to block funds for any United Nations entity that supports giving “Palestine” an elevated status at the U.N. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., last week unveiled the legislation, which has 57 cosponsors, that also would ban U.S. contributions to the UN Human Rights Council as well as the upcoming anti-Israel Durban III conference scheduled for September. In an op-ed in the Miami Herald, Ros-Lehtinen said her bill follows the example of George H.W. Bush, who in 1989 succeeded in stopping the UN from recognizing a Palestinian state by threatening to cut off U.S. financial support. (Associated Press, August 30.)
GERMANY TO BOYCOTT DURBAN III–(Berlin) Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has announced that Germany will boycott the UN’s upcoming Durban III conference, saying the event risked becoming a repeat of the Israel-bashing, anti-Semitic fiasco that marked the first two conferences, held in 2001 in Durban, South Africa, and in Geneva in 2009. Jewish leaders, including Dieter Graumann, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, praised the decision, while urging France and Britain to follow suit. This year, Canada was the first country to announce that it would not attend the 2011 event; the United States, the Netherlands, Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Italy have also pulled out of the conference. (JTA, September 4.)
IRAN’S FIRST NUCLEAR POWER PLANT GOES ONLINE–(Jerusalem) According to the ISNA news agency, Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant has been officially connected to the Islamic Republic’s power grid. “The Bushehr nuclear power plant joined the national power grid at 23:29 local time on Saturday September 3, with the capacity of generating 60mw electricity,” a statement by Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) later confirmed. The Bushehr power plant was originally scheduled for completion in 1999; however, the project was repeatedly delayed by Russia, who served as a main partner in its construction. (Ynet News, September 4.)
IRAN CRACKS DOWN ON DISSENT–(Beirut) According to human-rights organizations, Iran has raised pressure on activists and opposition members in the past two months in an apparent move to preempt antigovernment protests. The scope of the government’s crackdown has broadened to include not only political activists but such groups as environmentalists and participants in social gatherings. In July and August, security forces raided environmental demonstrations, Ramadan dinner feasts, youth playing in parks and activists’ private homes. The government has arrested dozens of people, accusing them of conspiring to overthrow the Islamic Republic’s regime. Analysts say that Iran is tightening its grip on power mainly because of events in Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad, a close ally of Iran, is facing domestic and international pressure to step down. (Wall Street Journal, September 6.)
REPORT: EGYPT THWARTS ISRAELI ASSASSINATION OF HAMAS PM–(Jerusalem) Egyptian newspaperAl-Ahram has alleged that Egypt persuaded Israel to abort a mission to assassinate Hamas prime minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh. According to the report, Egypt acted swiftly to pressure Israel to back out of the planned operation, which was decided upon following the recent multiple terror attacks near Eilat. The report also claims that Egypt contacted the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization following the attack and swayed it to declare a ceasefire, while concurrently negotiating a ceasefire with Hamas and other factions in Gaza, most notably the Popular Resistance Committees. (Ynet News, August 27.)
US EAVESDROPS ON COMMUNICATIONS IN ISRAELI EMBASSY–(Jerusalem) According to the New York Times, a dual US-Israeli citizen has been sentenced to 20 months in prison after he was caught passing on recordings from FBI wiretaps of the Israeli embassy in Washington, including conversations with “US supporters of Israel and at least one member of Congress.” According to the Times, Shamai K. Liebowitz, a lawyer who was working as a Hebrew language translator for the FBI, passed on the sensitive information out of fears that Israel may have been planning an attack on Iran. The US, the report continues, regularly listens in on embassies in the US, but spying on an ally as close as Israel is considered more sensitive. (Jerusalem Post, September 6.)
EU BANS OIL IMPORTS FROM SYRIA AS DEADLY CRACKDOWN WEARS ON–(Beirut) The European Union has banned oil imports from Syria in a move that will cost the embattled regime millions of dollars each day as it continues to crush an uprising that has lasted more than five months. The EU ban, which covers the purchase, import and transport of oil and other petroleum products from Syria, follows other sanctions, including the banning of European banks from opening credit lines for such sales, and prohibiting insurance companies from insuring the cargos. The UN estimates some 2,200 people have been killed since March. (Associated Press, September 2.)
MUBARAK RETURNS TO COURT–(Cairo) Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak has returned to court for a third hearing in his trial on charges of corruption and complicity in the killing of protesters during the 18-day-uprising that toppled him. Outside the courtroom, hundreds of victims’ families and protesters set fire to pictures of Mubarak and shouted slogans such as “The people want to execute the butcher.” Attorneys have filed motions to summon more than 1,000 witnesses in the trial, including Hussein Tantawi, the head of the council of generals that took over control of the country after Mubarak’s fall. The 83-year-old Mubarak could get the death penalty if convicted on the charges related to the killings of protesters. (Wall Street Journal, September 5.)
REPORT: HEZBOLLAH OPENS BASE IN CUBA–(Jerusalem) According to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Hezbollah has established a center of operations in Cuba in order to conduct a terrorist operation, coined “The Caribbean Case,” on an Israeli target in South America. The report alleges that three Hezbollah members have already arrived in Cuba with the purpose of establishing a terrorist cell, which will include 23 operatives, hand-picked by Talal Hamia, a senior Hezbollah member. Hezbollah is active in many South American countries, primarily Paraguay, Brazil and Venezuela. (Ynet News, September 1.)
SUICIDE BOMBS IN IRAQ HAVE KILLED 12,000 CIVILIANS, STUDY SAYS–(Baghdad) Independent researchers have concluded that more than 12,000 Iraqis have been killed in at least 1,000 suicide attacks since the American-led invasion. Iraq Body Count, an independent group that culls news reports and hospital and morgue records to try to keep track of civilian deaths, calculates that from March 20, 2003, to the end of 2010, suicide bombers killed at least 12,284 Iraqi civilians and wounded 30,644 others. (NY Times, September 3.)
KUWAIT DROPS FLOTILLA SUIT AGAINST ISRAEL–(Jerusalem) Kuwait has withdrawn a plan to file a lawsuit against Israel with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the arrest of Kuwaiti parliament members on board the Mavi Marmara last year. The Justice Ministry dropped the matter following the issuance of a legal opinion warning that Israel would likely win such a suit, as the Mavi Marmara broke international law by entering Israel’s territorial waters without authorization. (Ynet News, September 1.)
REBELS ASKS LEADER OF UK’S LIBYAN JEWS TO RUN FOR OFFICE–(Jerusalem) The leader of a Libyan-Jewish Diaspora group has received an offer to run for office in future Libyan elections. Raphael Luzon, the head of Jews of Libya UK, confirmed that Libyan opposition leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil recently invited him to return to his country of birth and participate in the political discourse. The Benghazi-born Jew, whose family was forced to flee Libya following a pogrom in 1967, said he was waiting for further developments before he gave a definitive answer. If he were to return to Libya, Luzon said the reconstruction of the war-torn country and the restitution of Jewish assets which were confiscated by the Libyan regime to their rightful owners would top his political agenda. (Jerusalem Post, August 23.)
WIKILEAKS ACCIDENTALLY LEAKS CABLES THAT NAME SOURCES–(Jerusalem) According to German media reports, WikiLeaks has accidentally released original, unedited cables which reveal the names of confidential informants and suspected intelligence agents, including Mossad agents. German-language weekly Der Freitagfirst reported the leak, mentioning specifically that agents and informants from Israel, Jordan, Iran and Afghanistan may have been compromised. The newspaper alleges that an encrypted file has been circulating on the Internet since the beginning of the year which contains the full collection of some 250,000 US State Department cables obtained by the whistle-blower organization last year. WikiLeaks began making select cables from the collection public in November 2010, but had been editing them to protect sources; the file floating around on the Internet containing all 250,000 cables, however, is entirely unedited. (Jerusalem Post, August 30.)
TERROR ATTACKS SKYROCKET IN AUGUST–(Jerusalem) According to Israel’s Shin Bet, a significant rise in the number of terror attacks on Israel was recorded last month. The agency reported 178 incidents in August, including 134 rocket attacks against Israel, compared to 53 in July. The terror attacks in August claimed the lives of nine Israelis and wounded 55 others. In total, 145 rockets and 46 mortar shells were fired at Israel last month, compared to 20 rockets and two mortar shells in July. Most attacks in Judea and Samaria and in Jerusalem (34 out of 36 attacks) were in the form of firebombs. (Ynet News, September 5.)
SWEDEN EARMARKS $630,000 TO PROTECT ITS JEWS–(Jerusalem) Amidst increasing international criticism that Sweden needs to do more to protect Jews from anti-Semitic hate crimes, the Scandinavian country has earmarked 4 million kronor ($630,000) to boost security for its Jewish minority. According to Sweden’s Integration Minister Erik Ullenhag, without taking extra security measures “there is a risk that people don’t dare visit synagogues in Sweden.” Sweden has seen a surge in reported hate crimes against Jews–including harassment, violence and vandalism–in the wake of Israel’s 2009 Gaza incursion. According to the Swedish National Council on Crime Prevention, Sweden had 161 anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2010. (Ynet News & JTA, September 5.)
