Contents: Weekly Quotes | Short Takes
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Sympathy for the Terrorist: George Jonas, National Post, May 18, 2013
The Mideast Crack-Up: Robert Worth, David Goldman, Edward Luttwak, Amos Harel, Nathan Thrall, and Lee Smith, Tablet Magazine, May 21, 2013
Hezbollah’s Role in Syria War Shakes the Lebanese: Anne Barnard, New York Times, May 20, 2013
“Contrary to the claim that the boy [Mohammed al-Dura] was dead, the committee’s review of the raw footage indicates that at the end of the video — the part that was not broadcast — the boy appears to be alive. The probe has found that there is no evidence to support the claims that the father, Jamal, or the boy Mohammed, were shot. Furthermore, the video does not show Jamal being seriously wounded.” This is “a blood libel against Israel, alongside other blood libels like the claims of an alleged massacre in Jenin [in 2002].” — Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s strategic affairs minister, presenting a new report on the infamous ‘al-Dura’ episode, in which a young Palestinian boy was allegedly killed by IDF soldiers while caught in a cross-fire with Palestinian terrorists. (National Post, May 21, 2013)
“He should investigate the truth, he is a scientist. He should study the facts and draw the necessary conclusions: Israel is an island of reason, moderation and a desire for peace.” — Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in response to the announcement that world acclaimed physicist Prof. Stephen Hawking had decided, at the urging to Palestinian academics, to boycott President Shimon Peres’ international conference to be held in June. (Jerusalem Post, May 9, 2013)
“Jerusalem is not a place, Jerusalem is an idea. Jerusalem is the capital of the Israeli state.”— Finance Minister Yair Lapid, in an interview with The New York Times published on Sunday [May 19], saying that land in east Jerusalem should remain in Israeli control and that Jerusalem should not be the capital of any future Palestinian state, stating “we didn’t come here for nothing.” Commenting on the so-called “peace process” Lapid said, “Israelis want peace and security and Palestinians want peace and justice — these are two very different things, and this is the real gap we have to close. More and more people are saying to themselves and to others, this is not going to happen, all we have to do is some maintenance and we’ll see.” (New York Times, May 20, 2013)
“As a black South African who lived under apartheid, I was deeply disturbed to learn about the posters in San Francisco accusing Israel of apartheid. Those who make the accusation expose their ignorance of what apartheid really is. In Israel, equal rights are enshrined in law. Black, brown and white Jews and the Arab minority mingle freely in all public places, universities, restaurants, voting stations and public transportation. All people have the right to vote. The Arab minority has political parties, serves in the Israeli parliament (Knesset) and holds positions in government ministries. In hospitals, Palestinian patients lie in beds next to Israeli Jews, and doctors and nurses are as likely to be Israeli Arabs as Jews. I believe that it is slanderous and deceptive for Israel's self-defense measures against the terrorists' campaign of suicide bombing, rocket attacks and other acts of terrorism that have occurred, and continue to occur, to be labeled as apartheid.” — Rev. Dr. Kenneth Meshoe, a member of the South African Parliament, in an op-ed article in the San Francisco Examiner. (San Francisco Examiner, May 20, 2013)
"The order given by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze construction in West Bank settlements may pave the way to a thaw in the frozen peace process, but it does not mean that Israel has acceded to Palestinian, Arab, or international demands. Quite the opposite. It constitutes a settlement trick…The significance is that the Netanyahu government has not decided to freeze settlement, but has transferred it to the Negev. This will bring about an explosion and a confrontation with the Palestinians in the interior. [i.e., Israeli Arabs in Israel – Ed.]. ” — from a report published in the official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 8, as translated by the Palestinian Media Watch. (Palestinian Media Watch, May 21, 2013)
“What I saw was a kid who actually read The Diary of Anne Frank and understood that she was a huge fan of pop culture. When he went through the museum – which takes about 20 minutes to go through – he spent an hour and a half in it, and he asked a ton of questions. It was very personal for him because of how close he is to my grandmother. What he wrote in that book reflected his personal connection between him and Anne Frank. He wanted her to be a fan of his. And I think that the reaction to it was atrocious and insulting. The fact that I haven’t commented on it is only because I’ve been so angered – being a Holocaust survivor’s grandson – that I found it disgusting that [gossip site] TMZ.com or any other rumor site decided to use the Holocaust as a way to go after him, when they weren’t even knowledgeable about it themselves.” Scooter Braun, manager for Justin Bieber and grandson of Holocaust survivors, in response to media commentary critical of Bieber’s visitor book comments following his visit to Anne Frank’s house suggesting that he would have hoped that Anne Frank would have been a fan of his had she survived. (Jerusalem Post, May 9, 2013)
"Jesus… the virtuous patriotic Palestinian forefather…brought forth his New Testament and spread it among mankind – which led the Jews to persecute him until they caught him, crucified him, and murdered him…The Zionist movement… wanted to falsify historical facts, to exile and crucify the Palestinian Arab nation and then murder it through ethnic cleansing.” — Adel Abd Al-Rahman, a regular columnist for the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida. (Palestinian Media Watch, May 21, 2013)
“Saeb Erekat never misses an opportunity to lash out at Israel on the international stage. One would expect that a man in charge of peace negotiations would instill peace, not incitement. The more the Palestinian people continue to fertilize the land with hatred of Israel, the smaller the chance that the seeds of peace in the Middle East will sprout and take root…While Erekat purports to back [US Secretary of State John] Kerry’s Mideast efforts, he simultaneously paints a false picture of the situation in the West Bank in a manner that damages any real shot at peace.” — Ron Prosor, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, in response to Palestinian Authority’s chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, who told a meeting of the UN Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People Monday [May 20] that, “Today in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem… I can sum up the situation with one word — apartheid. Worse than that which existed in South Africa. Today Israel justifies its apartheid by the term security.” (Times of Israel, May 22, 2013)
"Gas gives you much more power than you had. It is something that is very helpful in the geopolitical arena and helps to narrow the gaps. It is a tool we can use in a sensitive and very clever way to enable us to develop relations…and to have better relations with many other countries." — Silvan Shalom, Israel’s Energy Minister, who also serves as Israel's minister for regional development, in an interview with Reuters. Once totally dependent on fuel imports, Israel has made the largest gas discoveries in the world over the past decade off its Mediterranean coastline, and is expected to become an exporter by the end of the decade. (Jerusalem Post, May 22, 2013)
“The question never asked is: ‘Does anyone believe the Israelis would have left their people out there for nine hours without attempting a rescue, distance be damned?’ Come on.” — Irene Dunn, in a letter to the editor to the Wall Street Journal, commenting on the simmering Benghazi scandal involving several American servicemen and the ambassador who were left on their own and eventually killed in a terrorist assault on their compound in September 2012. (Wall Street Journal, May 17, 2013)
“I wish all this blood had been shed in the south, fighting Israel.” — Fayez Shukor, a Lebanese national referring to the Hezbollah fighters recently killed in Syria fighting the Syrian rebels, who added that the rebels battling Hezbollah’s ally, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, were “infidels and garbage” serving Israel. “They are not Muslims.” (New York Times, May 21, 2013)
“We are today calling [Hassan] Nasrallah a killer of the Syrian people.” — Louay Mekdad, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, the loose-knit rebel umbrella group backed by the United States, in a statement to the Al-Arabiya TV channel. (New York Times, May 21, 2013)
"We are fighting Iran, Russia, the party of the devil and the regime. The whole world has left the innocent Syrian people on their own." —Abu Ali, a Qusayr (Syria) rebel commander, in a video interview posted online by an activist network called the Qusayr Media Center. (Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2013)
"This is a significant and dramatic indicator of the Obama administration's passivity. For this administration to sit idly by and watch these events unfold, is writing a shameful chapter in American history. The longer this conflict goes on, the more unstable the region will be. Isn't it Orwellian that we are relying on a conference headed by the United States and Russia, while Russia is shipping sophisticated missiles to Bashar al-Assad?" — Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), commenting on the ongoing carnage in Syria and President Barack Obama’s plan for a peace conference to be held in Geneva to try to find a political solution to the Syrian civil war. (Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2013)
“We will not allow the Golan Heights to become a comfortable space for [Bashar al-] Assad to operate from. If he escalates [the situation on] the Golan Heights, he will have to bear the consequences.” — Lt.-Gen. Gantz, Israel’s military chief, at a conference at the University of Haifa. (National Post, May 22, 2013)
“[W]hen post-modern, robust, Third World, self-righteous, grievance-fuelled, boisterous “liberation” anti-Semitism browbeats, disrupts and intimidates — as it has, from universities to trade unions to book stores — chances are, the same anti-defamatory organizations [which responded to right-wing antisemitism] will look the other way. As for the Jewish targets of a new, in-your-face, mid-Eastern-style anti-Semitism, they’ll be lucky if the state’s “human rights” commissars don’t turn on them. That’s bad. Anti-Semitism may be advancing on the right again, but on the left it’s gaining the field. It’s not unusual for calamity to come out of left field. A popular saying from the Vietnam-era goes: “Grab ‘em by the short hairs, and their hearts and minds will follow.” It has become the story of asymmetric terrorism and the United Nations. Also, in a big way, the European Union, the ad hoc predecessors of the International Criminal Court, even the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Despite pessimistic expectations, it hasn’t been the story of the White House so far. If it ever becomes that, God help us all.” — Jonathan Kay, in an op-ed article in the National Post. (National Post, May 18, 2013)
IRANIANS JOINING HEZBOLLAH IN KEY SYRIA BATTLE — (Damascus) Iranians are working alongside Hezbollah fighters to back Syrian troops battling to retake the rebel stronghold of Qusayr amid fears of a civilian massacre, a US official said Tuesday. [May 21] "It is the most visible effort we have seen by Hezbollah to engage directly in the fighting in Syria as a foreign force, and we understand there are also Iranians up there," a senior State Department official told reporters. “This is an important thing to note — the direct implication of foreigners on Syrian soil for the regime," he cautioned. Many opposition commanders had reported that forces from the powerful Shiite Lebanese movement Hezbollah "are directly engaged in fighting literally on the streets. They say that their men… are directly fighting against Hezbollah commanders. Iran's role and Hezbollah's role have grown substantially over the last couple of months," he warned ahead of a Friends of Syria meeting to be held in Jordan on Wednesday. (France24, May 21, 2013)
'JENIN, JENIN BILL' APPROVED IN EARLY VOTE — (Jerusalem) A bill allowing class-action lawsuits to be filed against those who slander IDF soldiers passed a preliminary vote on Wednesday. [May 22] According to the legislation submitted by MK Yoni Shetboun (Bayit Yehudi) and coalition chairman Yariv Levin (Likud Beytenu), if someone slanders IDF soldiers' operational activities, that person can be sued for slander in a class action suit. "Israel's detractors, who are waging a war of international delegitimization and want a boycott of our country and citizens, choose IDF soldiers as an easy target for their accusations and smears, knowing that no legal action will be taken against them," the bill's explanatory portion reads. "Many claims against IDF soldiers have been proven to be lies…but the soldiers who were harmed and the reputation of the IDF that was slandered were left with no judicial response." (Jerusalem Post, May 22, 2013)
PALESTINIANS POLITICIZE UNESCO JERUSALEM CONSERVATION TOUR — (Jerusalem) Israel said on Monday [May 20] [that] it had canceled a visit by UNESCO that was to have sent experts to Jerusalem to examine the state of conservation in the walled Old City, a World Heritage site, after the Palestinians had sought to politicize the mission. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki referred to the UNESCO tour as a "probe (of) the occupation measures" in the city. An Israeli official said, "The Palestinians have violated all the understandings reached, and made real attempts to change the visit from a professional to a political visit, so we are calling off (the visit)." (Reuters, May 20, 2013)
REPORT: U.S. GOV’T FUNDING FOR MIDEAST POLITICAL NGOs UNDERMINES U.S. POLICY — (Washington) The U.S. government funds non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that operate in Israel and the Palestinian Authority whose activities contribute to the political campaigns designed to demonize and delegitimize Israel."The National Endowment for Democracy (NED), for instance, funded by the U.S. Government, in turn funds political advocacy NGOs that demonize Israel and promote BDS (boycotts, divestment, and sanctions) campaigns targeting Israel. This activity is entirely inconsistent with U.S. policy," said Professor Gerald M. Steinberg, President of NGO Monitor. These include MIFTAH, a Palestinian NGO involved in anti-Israel campaigns that speak of "the slaughter of Palestinian children." Another group, "Windows," has a Youth Media Program which includes highly offensive comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany. (NGO Monitor, May 20, 2013)
HAREDI TYCOONS RAISING $100 MILLION TO REPLACE LAPID’S BUDGET CUTS —(Jerusalem) Haredi tycoons are organizing to fill a $100 million gap for yeshivas following Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s elimination of the same amount of money that yeshivas have been receiving from taxpayers. The Mishpacha magazine called the tycoon’s fund-raising campaign “a Lapid bypass plan to help the world of the Torah get through the years of distress with a minimum of harm.” If it works, everyone wins: The budget will come closer to being in the black, pardon the expression; the vast majority of Israelis will be relieved of blatant government purchases of Haredi votes in return for funding for yeshivas; the Haredi community will be more self-sufficient; Torah study can continue; and perhaps the Haredi tycoons that men registered at yeshiva actually learn and do not simply pocket money to sit at home. (Jewish Press, May 21, 2013)
SHIN BET FOILS HAMAS PLOT TO KILL ISRAELI, HOLD BODY FOR BARTER—(Jerusalem) The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) revealed on Tuesday [that] it [had] arrested two Hamas and Islamic Jihad cells in the Hevron area before they could carry out plans to murder an Israeli and use the body as a bargaining chip to gain the release of jailed terrorists. The exposure of terrorist cells has grown at an alarming rate. Less than two days earlier, the IDF raided the home of a wanted terrorist near Shechem and confiscated hundreds of rounds of ammunition, IDF uniforms and protective vests, a gun and knives. The Hamas cell had targeted a nearby Jewish farm, where it planned to murder a Jew and hide the body until it could win the release of Palestinian Authority terrorists and security prisoners. (Jewish Press, May 21st, 2013)
NAZI FLAG WITH SWASTIKA SPOTTED FLYING OVER PALESTINIAN TOWN —(Kiryat Arba) Monday morning [May 20] Jewish residents of the West Bank villages of Gush Etzion and Kiryat Arba spotted a flag with a swastika flying over the nearby Palestinian Arab town of Beit Omar. Uri Arnon, who saw the flag, told Tazpit News Agency: “I felt we were going back 75 years, losing our hold on the land. The Arabs no longer feel the need to hide their murderous tendencies, announcing out loud that they wish to destroy us.” (Algemeiner, May 20, 2013)
STATE DEPARTMENT NAMES NEW ANTI-SEMITISM ENVOY— (Washington) The U.S. State Department has appointed a new special envoy to investigate anti-Semitism, Ira Forman, who is in charge of monitoring and combating anti-Semitism around the globe. Forman, the former director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, will replace Michael Kozak, who had served as acting special envoy after Hannah Rosenthal stepped down last year. Forman’s appointment comes on the heels of the State Department’s release of a new report documenting the rise in incidents of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial around the world, particularly in countries such as Venezuela, Egypt and Iran. “Even well into the 21st century, traditional forms of anti-Semitism, such as conspiracy theories, use of the discredited myth of ‘blood libel’ and cartoons demonizing Jews continued to flourish,” the report says. (Washington Post, May 21, 2013)
ISRAEL TO RE-EXTEND GAZA FISHING ZONE TO 6 MILES — (Gaza City) The Israeli government has decided to re-extend Gaza's fishing zone to 6 miles, after reducing it in March following a rocket attack from the coastal territory, a statement from Israel's army said Tuesday. The decision was announced after a meeting between Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Moshe Yaalon, who then informed the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah. Senior Egyptian and international officials were also informed about the decision, the statement added. (Ma'an News, May 21, 2013)
LOS ANGELES ELECTS FIRST JEWISH MAYOR — (Los Angeles) Eric Garcetti was elected the first Jewish mayor of Los Angeles, one of a number of political contests that reflect the city’s diversity, and its Jewish community. Garcetti, 42, a veteran city councilman, led city controller Wendy Greuel by six points around 3 a.m. Wednesday, with nearly 100 percent of the ballots counted. Greuel conceded about an hour earlier. Garcetti is the son of a Jewish mother and was raised as a Jew. On his father’s side, he is of mixed Italian and Mexican heritage. (Jerusalem Post,May 22, 2103)
ISRAEL’S DIP-TECH TURNS BUILDING FAÇADES INTO ART— (Kfar Saba) Stained glass is one of the main attractions at many of the world’s famous churches. An Israeli company has decided to take this colorful craft to the next level. It’s called Dip-Tech, and thanks to its innovative digital glass printing solution, ordinary-looking buildings are turned into extraordinary landmarks. Printing on glass is not groundbreaking. But printing on glass with durable ceramic inks by digitally transferring images onto the panes of glass is revolutionary. Since kicking off business in 2005 in the town of Kfar Saba, just outside of Tel Aviv, the company’s unique solution has converted hospitals, shopping centers, museums, office buildings and universities around the world into pieces of art. Dip-Tech’s ceramic, all-weather digital inks fuse into the glass, explains Matzliach. And that protects them from ever fading. The printed design will stay as long as the glass does. (Israel 21C, May 21, 2013)
WARSAW GHETTO HERO, 93, PASSES AWAY–Boruch Spiegel, one of the last survivors of the heroic 1943 Jewish rising against the Nazis in Warsaw, passed away on May 9th in Montreal. Boruch and his wife-to-be Chaike Belchatowska, members of the ZOB underground fighting organization, belonged to a small group of some 750 poorly-armed fighters who, on April 19, 1943, began the first civilian rebellion in occupied Europe against the Germans. Boruch and Chaike survived the Nazis' final liquidation of the ghetto a month later, fleeing through sewers to join the partisans. Coming to Montreal in 1948, from Sweden, Boruch and his wife (who died in 2002), are survived by their son Julius (Chil), daughter Mindy, born in Montreal, son-in-law Prof. Eugene Ornstein, and grand-daughters Amariyah and Yoninah and grandsons Max Beryl and Sam Henry.
Sympathy for the Terrorist: George Jonas, National Post, May 18, 2013—A footnote to terror, whether successful (Boston) or apprehended (Toronto.) Why does it work? Wait a minute, someone might ask, who said it worked? Sadly, there’s little doubt that it does. In most historic examples terror brings about at least some, and often all, the political change its perpetrators desire.
The Mideast Crack-Up: Robert Worth, David Goldman, Edward Luttwak, Amos Harel, Nathan Thrall, and Lee Smith, Tablet Magazine, My 21, 2013—The fracturing of established Middle Eastern states into tribal, religious, and political enclaves isn’t visible on the maps that appear in newspapers and atlases. But while diplomats and commentators continue to refer to “Iraq” and “Syria” and “Lebanon” by the names that they were given in the aftermath of World War I, the reality on the ground is much more confusing.
Hezbollah’s Role in Syria War Shakes the Lebanese: Anne Barnard, New York Times, May 20, 2013— At the entrance to this village in Hezbollah’s Bekaa Valley heartland, under a sign welcoming visitors to “The Citadel of Resistance,” workers on Monday hoisted a freshly printed banner honoring a young man described as one of Hezbollah’s latest martyrs — killed in battle not with Israel, the foe the group’s guerrillas train to fight, but with Syrian rebels.
Ber Lazarus , Publications Editor Canadian Institute for Jewish Research /L'institut Canadien de recherches sur le Judaïsme www.isranet.org Tel: (514) 486-5544 Fax: (514) 486-82843
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