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The Terror This Time: Wall Street Journal, Dec. 6, 2015
ISIS’ Imminent Demise: Daniel Pipes, National Review, Dec. 5, 2015
Terror From Europe’s Future Street: Roger Cohen, New York Times, Dec. 3, 2015
What Does a ‘Leaner’ Military Mean, Exactly?: Matt Gurney, National Post, Dec. 7, 2015
WEEKLY QUOTES
“The terrorists are attacking in California or in Israel, or for that matter in Paris. They are attacking the very values that we hold dear – freedom, tolerance, diversity. All the things that define the value of life and society in our eyes, they find anathema and that’s why they attack us. I think too that this is what makes us strong. They think that we are hedonistic and weak; we’re actually very strong societies, very resilient, because of the very values that they despise so much.” — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (PMO, Dec. 6, 2015)
“We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam. That, too, is what groups like ISIL want…ISIL does not speak for Islam. They are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death. And they account for a tiny fraction of more than a billion Muslims around the world, including millions of patriotic Muslim Americans who reject their hateful ideology.” — U.S. President Barack Obama. Obama said that recent attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., show that the threat of terrorism to the U.S. has entered a new phase, but he vowed that the nation will ultimately defeat the Islamic State (I.S.). The address came four days after a pair of gunmen killed 14 people at a public health facility in San Bernardino, a rampage that authorities have said appeared to have been inspired by I.S. Tashfeen Malik, one of the shooters, pledged allegiance to the group on social media. (Washington Post, Dec. 6, 2015)
“Nobody wants the Jews…In two years. Israel will no longer exist.” —Sayed Farook, the father of Sayed Rizan Farook, one of the San Bernardino killers. Farook said his son had an obsessive hatred of Israel that underscored his Islamism and allegiance to I.S. The senior Farook described his son as “an angel…Maybe a little too shy, conservative and firmly against Israel.” Farook confirmed that his son “prescribed to the ideals outlined by IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” which included hating Israel. “‘Be patient…In two years, Israel won’t exist anymore. Geopolitics is changing in Russia, China and America too…Nobody wants the Jews. What use is it to fight? We have tried it and we lost. Israel does not fight with weapons, but rather with politics.'” (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 6, 2015)
“It will be harmful and illegal and it will support terrorism, as happened after the coalition started its operation a year or so [ago] because this is like a cancer.” — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian president mocked Britain’s decision to launch air strikes against I.S., blaming the West for the rise of the terror group, as well as for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrians. British Prime Minister Cameron’s insistence on the plan came partly as a response to I.S.’s coordinated terror attacks in Paris in November, which killed 130 people. In reference to that massacre, Assad described Europe, and not Syria, as the key ‘incubator’ for terrorism. “How many extremist cells now exist in Europe? How many extremists did you export from Europe to Syria? This is where the danger lies. The danger is in the incubator,” he said. (Telegraph, Dec. 3, 2015)
“We are very worried about Iran’s presence in Syria…Iran’s Quds Force is currently the only source actively working in Syria to attack us, trying to smuggle weapons and run messengers…The Iranian regime is perceived as one of the key sources of stability for the Middle East, but we would argue that it is the heart of the problem…This regime generates terrorism and undermines many of the regimes in the Middle East, and this is not good news for the region, not only for Israel. The Iranian terror network is active across the world, including in the US.” — Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. In Washington for a series of meetings last week, Ya’alon noted the new set of challenges facing Israel now that the nuclear deal brokered last July is proceeding toward implementation. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 3, 2015)
“Only Allah knows why they did it…And I guess Allah decided to punish the ruling clique in Turkey by stripping it of its sanity…We are not planning to and will not engage in saber-rattling…But if someone thinks that he can commit a foul war crime, the murder of our people, and just get away with some tomatoes or limits in construction and other spheres, then he is deeply mistaken.” — Russian President Vladimir Putin. When Turkish F-16s shot down a Russian Su-24 aircraft over the Syrian border in Novemeber, the incident exposed the explosive potential of the differences among the countries intervening in the Syrian war. Russia responded with broad economic sanctions targeting $30 billion in trade between Russia and Turkey. The two countries had a reasonably close bilateral relationship, despite Turkey’s membership in NATO. (Washington Post, Dec. 3, 2015)
“It’s like they all of a sudden had the realization that the Jews are not really our enemies. [Jews] contribute to society, they don’t want to destroy our society or impose Shari’a law on our society. More and more people believe that.” — Esther Lopatin, director of the European Studies program at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. France went to the polls on Sunday in regional elections and the far-right National Front party, formerly known for its antisemitic stance but now known for its support of Israel and opposition to radical Islam, came out as a winner across the country. The regional election outcomes are taken seriously since they are thought to be a bell-weather for what will come when France votes in the 2017 national elections. Regarding the sudden support for Israel, Lapotin said that “Every time [National Front leader Marine Le Pen] has to vote regarding Israel, she usually votes in support … and we saw that with the labels.” Le Pen was among the minority that voted against the European Union’s Israeli settlement labeling policy. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 8, 2015)
“With the creation of the State of Israel, the Jews now for the first time acquired the means of self-defense against mindless hatred. The cost has been extremely high. With each passing decade since then, more and more Jews still living within the diaspora have concluded that it is impossible to appease Muslim hatred in parts of the world that have hitherto had no Muslims in them. As this recognition sets in, more and more Jews have concluded that it is only within the Jewish state that Jews can have any hope of providing for their own defense.” — CIJR Academic Fellow, and Christian Zionist, Paul Merkley (CIJR, Dec. 6, 2015)
“The alternative to Abbas could be the black flag of the Islamic State.” — Former Secretary of State, and leading Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton. If the PA collapses, I.S. could replace PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Clinton warned. The leading Democratic presidential candidate also said she would work to improve the U.S. relationship with Israel if elected. “Palestinian Authority leaders should condemn and stop incitement in all its forms,” she said. As well, like Kerry, Clinton said that she “remains convinced” that peace is possible through the “goal of two states for two peoples…Only a two-state solution can provide Palestinians independence, sovereignty and dignity and provide Israelis the secure and recognized borders of a democratic Jewish state…Inaction is not an option and a one-state solution is no solution, it is a prescription for endless conflict,” added Clinton. (Arutz Sheva, Dec. 7, 2015)
“The Trump campaign, for months now, has had a dustbin of history-like quality to it, from the vacuous sloganeering to the outright lies to even the fake hair, the whole carnival barker routine that we’ve seen for some time now.” — White House spokesman Josh Earnest. On Monday, GOP front-runner Donald Trump called for blocking Muslims, including would-be immigrants, students, tourists and other visitors, from entering the country following last week’s California shooting spree by two Muslims who authorities said were radicalized. “I know that each of the Republican candidates has already taken an oath pledging to support Donald Trump for president of the United States if he wins the nomination, but the fact is, the first thing a president does when he or she takes the oath of office is to swear an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. And the fact is that what Donald Trump said yesterday disqualifies him from serving as president, and for Republican candidates for president to stand by their pledge to support Mr. Trump, that in and of itself is disqualifying,” Earnest said. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 8, 2015)
“Let me be crystal clear: there is no moral equivalence between Israel and its enemies… Understanding that fundamental truth is essential to being the next Commander in Chief. This is not a real estate deal with two sides arguing over money. It’s a struggle to safeguard the future of Israel.” — Florida Sen., and Republican Presidential candidate, Marco Rubio. Rubio criticized Trump for suggesting that Israelis must be willing to sacrifice in order to secure a peace deal with the PA. “Some in our own party actually question Israel’s commitment to peace,” Rubio said. “Some in our own party actually call for more sacrifice from the Israeli people. They are dead wrong, and don’t understand the enduring bond between Israel and America.” (Time, Dec. 3, 2015)
“As we’ve become better at preventing complex attacks like 9/11, terrorists turn to less complicated acts of violence like the mass shootings that are all too common in our society…It is this type of attack that we saw at Fort Hood in 2009, in Chattanooga earlier this year and now in San Bernardino.” —U.S. President Obama, in a primetime Oval Office address on the threat of terrorism in the wake of last week’s attack in San Bernardino, California. More than six years after a Muslim army major shot dead 13 people at Fort Hood, Obama – for what may be the first time – publicly identified it as a terrorist attack. The Obama administration was criticized for not calling Fort Hood an act of terror, even though a Senate Committee investigation called it in a 2011 report “the deadliest terrorist attack within the United States since September 11, 2001.” (CNS, Dec. 7, 2015)
SHORT TAKES
NETANYAHU REBUFFS KERRY’S WARNING ON BINATIONAL STATE (Jerusalem) — Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sunday blamed the PA for the stalemate in peace talks and seemed to hit back at comments made by US secretary of State John Kerry, who warned that a lack of progress on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could lead to the end of the Jewish state. “Israel will not be a binational state,” Netanyahu said emphatically at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. “But in order for there to be peace, the other side must decide that they also want peace, and unfortunately that is not what we are seeing.” Netanyahu’s comments came a day after Kerry said that current trends were leading to a one-state solution, and that Israel would not be able to maintain its Jewish and democratic nature in such a scenario. (Times of Israel, Dec. 6, 2015)
ISRAELI POLITICIANS PRESS NETANYAHU TO CANCEL MEETING WITH TRUMP (Jerusalem) — Israeli politicians of all persuasions called for a visit by Donald Trump to be blocked over his call for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. A government official, however, confirmed that a meeting between Netanyahu and Trump would take place on Dec. 28. At least 37 mainly Israeli opposition legislators who make up almost a third of the 120-seat Knesset signed a letter to Netanyahu calling on him to cancel the meeting unless Trump withdraws his comments. Left- and right-wing Israeli politicians alike, as well as Israeli Arab lawmakers, condemned Trump’s remarks and said he should be barred from visiting. Ahmad Tibi, a member of parliament from Israel’s 20 percent Arab minority, said he had asked for the “neo-Nazi” not to be admitted to the Knesset. (Globe & Mail, Dec. 9, 2015)
IRAN TESTED MISSILE, BREACHING UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS (Tehran) — Iran tested a new medium-range ballistic missile last month in a breach of two UN Security Council resolutions. All ballistic missile tests by Iran are banned under a 2010 Security Council resolution that remains valid until a nuclear deal with Iran is implemented. Under that deal most sanctions on Iran will be lifted in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. Once it takes effect, Iran will still be “called upon” to refrain from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for up to eight years. In October, the U.S., U.K., France and Germany called for the Security Council’s Iran sanctions committee to take action over a missile test by Tehran that month which they said violated UN sanctions. So far, no action has been taken by the committee. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 8, 2015)
U.S. JOURNALIST DETAINED IN IRAN IS IN ‘IMMEDIATE DANGER’ (Tehran) — The Washington Post reported last week that its journalist detained in Iran is in “immediate danger” as his health deteriorates and mistreatment of him intensifies. Thursday marked 500 days since Jason Rezaian was arrested. Rezaian’s brother, Ali, will deliver a petition to Iran’s mission to the United Nations with more than 500,000 signatures asking for his immediate release. The 39-year-old Rezaian, who grew up in California, has dual American and Iranian citizenship. Last month, Iranian state TV reported that he had been sentenced to an unspecified prison term following his conviction on charges that include espionage. Iranian TV has repeatedly called Rezaian an “American spy.” (Globe & Mail, Dec. 2, 2015)
MERKEL’S GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR EU LABELING OF SETTLEMENT PRODUCTS (Berlin) — A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she supports labeling of Israeli settlement products from the disputed territories. The spokesman said that Merkel supports a German Foreign Ministry statement backing an EU decision of last month to affix such a label to such items appearing on store shelves. The remarks were a significant setback for the Israeli government, which had sought Germany’s help in convincing EU member states to reject implementation of labeling. It also contrasted with the spirit of close ties as the countries were winding up a year of events marking 50 years of diplomatic ties. Merkel has repeatedly stressed her opposition in interviews and statements over the last year to boycotts of Israel. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 7, 2015)
GERMAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES ACTION AGAINST I.S. (Berlin) — Germany’s lower house of parliament on Friday voted to provide support to France and other countries fighting Islamic State in Syria, following a week of debate in a country hesitant about engaging in military action. The motion to provide six Tornado reconnaissance jets, a refueling aircraft and a frigate to protect a French aircraft carrier had been expected to pass and did so by a convincing margin, 445-146. The German government first vowed a week ago to step up efforts to help an international coalition in tackling I.S., highlighting how the Paris attacks last month have forced one of Europe’s least militaristic nations to reconsider its military involvement. (Wall Street Journal, Dec. 4, 2015)
RUSSIAN SUBMARINE HITS TARGETS IN SYRIA (Damascus) — Russian media reports that for the first time a Russian diesel-electric submarine operating submerged in the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday launched Kalibr cruise missiles at targets in Syria. The missiles “targeted two major terrorist positions in the territory of Raqqa,” the Russian Defense Minister was quoted as telling Putin. Raqqa is the de facto Syrian Islamic State jihadist group. The Russian Defense Ministry said the strike was conducted as part of a coordinated increase in the intensity of Russian strikes against I.S. and other extremist targets operating in Syria. (Defense News, Dec. 9, 2015)
NUMBER OF FOREIGN FIGHTERS IN IRAQ AND SYRIA ‘HAS DOUBLED IN PAST YEAR’ (London) — The number of foreign fighters who have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join groups such as I.S. has more than doubled and could stand at 31,000. According to the Soufan research group, the number of fighters has grown hugely since the beginning of the US-led bombing raids against the group in summer 2014. In June of that year, when I.S. surged across western Iraq seizing major cities including Mosul, it calculated there were 12,000 foreign fighters in the group. Now it believes that between 27,000 and 31,000 foreigners have joined up. The number of countries from which they have come has increased from 81 to 86, while it also gives a figure for a “rate of return” – fighters coming back to Western Europe and elsewhere. This, it says, stands at 20-30 per cent. (Telegraph, Dec. 8, 2015)
THREE INJURED IN ‘TERRORIST INCIDENT’ IN LONDON UNDERGROUND (London) — A man with a knife stabbed another in an east London subway station on Saturday evening, reportedly screaming “this is for Syria,” before police used a stun gun on the attacker and detained him. Police were called in response to reports of a number of people stabbed at the Leytonstone station in east London and a man threatening other people with a knife. One man was seriously injured and two sustained minor injuries, police said. British legislators approved the bombing of I.S. targets in Syria on Wednesday. Britain’s air force has since carried out two bombing raids. (CBC, Dec. 5, 2015)
SWEDISH PM: STABBINGS IN ISRAEL NOT TERRORISM (Stockholm) — Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven further strained his country’s relationship with Israel, saying he does not consider stabbing attacks in Israel terrorism. “There is an international classification regarding what constitutes or does not constitute [terror]. As far as I know, the [knife attacks in Israel] are not defined as terror,” Lofven said Ties between Israel and Sweden have soured in recent weeks following comments by Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom criticizing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and suggesting a link between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the terrorist attacks in Paris last month. Wallstrom said that Israel was conducting “extrajudicial executions” of Palestinian stabbers, calling the Israeli response to the terrorist attacks “disproportionate.” (Times of Israel, Dec. 8, 2015)
DANES VOTE JEW WHO DIED DEFENDING HIS SYNAGOGUE ‘MAN OF THE YEAR’ (Copenhagen) — The readers of a Danish newspaper have voted security guard Dan Uzan, who was killed while defending with his body a Copenhagen synagogue last February, Man of the Year 2015. Uzan, 37, a member of the local Jewish community who worked as security guard at the Great Synagogue on Krystalgade in central Copenhagen, was fatally shot by Omar El-Hussein, 22, a Muslim terrorist, who had earlier killed Danish filmmaker Finn Nørgaard at a freedom of speech debate held at a local café. The two separate attacks left five policemen wounded as well. (Jewish Press, Dec. 8, 2015)
ISRAEL SEIZES SHIPMENT OF PLUSH ROCK-THROWING DOLLS (Haifa) — Officials at the Haifa port seized a shipment of thousands of plush dolls with raised hands holding toy rocks. The shipment, from the UAE, was on its way to the PA. The shipment’s paperwork said it was carrying clothing, rugs and plastic products. The dolls are clad in keffiyehs, and they’re wearing scarves with the Palestinian colors, a picture of the Dome of the Rock, and the words “Jerusalem is ours” and “Jerusalem, we are coming.” Port officials believe the dolls are part of a campaign to incite to violence and are conducting an investigation into the shipment. (JTA, Dec. 8, 2015)
KURDISTAN HOLDS FIRST MEMORIAL CEREMONY MARKING 70 YEARS SINCE JEWISH EXPULSION (Erbil) — The Jewish Affairs Directorate of the Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) marked the 70th anniversary of the expulsion of Kurdish Jews by the Baghdad central government earlier last week in the Kurdish regional capital of Erbil. The expulsion of the Jews began in 1941 and was carried out by the Iraqi Arab allies to the Nazi regime. The expulsion displaced 150,000 Jews from the region, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Jewish people and causing injury to thousands more. The ceremony closed with an emotional candle lighting ceremony where one candle was lit to mark each of the 70 years since the Jewish expulsion. (Jerusalem Post, Nov. 29, 2015)
BOROUGH PASSES BYLAW TO BAN NEW RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS ON MAIN COMMERCIAL STREETS (Montreal) — Despite claims of discrimination and a threat of legal action, the Montreal borough of Outremont approved a bylaw that would relegate all new places of worship to an out-of-the-way industrial corner. Members of Outremont’s Hasidic Jewish community, which makes up more than 20% of the population, say they are directly targeted by the measure because theirs is the only religion opening new places of worship in the borough. The vote, following heated discussion with members of the public, was 4-1 in favour, with the only vote against coming from a Hasidic councillor, Mindy Pollak. The borough has maintained the changes are not aimed at any particular group and are necessary to keep its shopping streets vibrant. (National Post, Dec. 8, 2015)
DE BLASIO TO ATTEND HANUKKAH LIGHTING AFTER MANHATTAN MENORAH VANDALIZED (New York) — New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is set to join the Upper East Side Chabad and nearby Kehilath Jeshurun for the second night of Hanukkah lighting, a day after vandals tore down and smashed the community’s menorah. Police are treating the incident as a hate crime. They have offered a $2,500 reward for any information leading to an arrest. “Obviously, it was a hate crime,” UES Chabad Rabbi Ben Tzion Krasniasnki said. He said it was the first such incident in the eight years the two synagogues have carried on the tradition of lighting the menorah in the park together. “This is the whole message of hanukkah,” said a defiant Kranianski. “This is how we respond to darkness, we intensify the light … The light will always triumph over darkness.” (Algemeiner, Dec. 7, 2015)
CIJR Wishes All Our Friends & Supporters:
Chag Sameach, Happy Hanukkah Holiday!
The Terror This Time: Wall Street Journal, Dec. 6, 2015 —President Obama entered the White House believing that the “war on terror” was a misguided overreaction driven by political fear, and his government even stopped using the term.
ISIS’ Imminent Demise: Daniel Pipes, National Review, Dec. 5, 2015—U.N. Security Council Resolution 2249, passed unanimously on Nov. 20, sums up the consensus that the Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL Daesh), poses a mortal danger to civilization by calling it an “unprecedented threat to international peace and security.” There’s also a widespread sense that ISIS will be around for a long time; for example, Barack Obama has predicted that the fight against it will be “a long-term campaign.” Permit me to disagree strenuously on both counts.
Terror From Europe’s Future Street: Roger Cohen, New York Times, Dec. 3, 2015 —The family of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind of the Paris attacks, lived on Future Street in Brussels. Theirs was a “spacious if shabby corner home,” my colleagues, Andrew Higgins and Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura, write. Abaaoud’s parents, Moroccan immigrants to Belgium, had done well enough.
What Does a ‘Leaner’ Military Mean, Exactly?: Matt Gurney, National Post, Dec. 7, 2015—It’s just 36 words, out of a speech that totalled, as written, almost 1,700. But they were the ones that jumped out at me in the new Liberal government’s Speech from the Throne. The words were, “To keep Canadians safe and be ready to respond when needed, the government will launch an open and transparent process to review existing defence capabilities, and will invest in building a leaner, more agile, better-equipped military.”