Wednesday’s “News in Review” Round-Up

Download a pdf version of today’s Isranet Daily Briefing.pdf

 On Topic Links

 

Schooling the ASA on Boycotting Israel: Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Times of Israel, Dec. 15, 2013

The ASA’s Guide to World Peace: Liel Leibovitz, Tablet, Dec. 16, 2013

How Obama Ran Down the Nuclear Doomsday Clock: James Lewis, American Thinker, Dec. 17, 2013

 

“The singling out of the Jewish state for boycott is no different than the many attempts throughout history to single out Jews and hold them to a different standard.” —Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer wrote on his Facebook page. Dermer criticized the American Studies Association (ASA) decision this week to boycott Israeli universities, calling the move “a travesty” and hinting that it constituted anti-Semitism. The ambassador lamented that “rather than standing up for academic freedom and human rights by boycotting countries where professors are imprisoned for their views, the A.S.A. chooses as its first ever boycott to boycott Israel, the sole democracy in the Middle East, in which academics are free to say what they want, write what they want and research what they want” (New York Times, Dec. 16, 2013)

 

“…the idea that of all the countries in the world that might be thought to have human rights abuses, that might be thought to have inappropriate foreign policies, that might be thought to be doing things wrong, the idea that there’s only one that is worthy of boycott, and that is Israel.” —Lawrence Summers, the former Harvard University president and former treasury secretary, interviewed on the Charlie Rose show last week. Summers also called for a kind of reverse boycott, saying universities should reconsider paying for faculty members to belong to the ASA or participating in its events. (National Post, Dec. 16, 2013)

 

“No, we do not support the boycott of Israel…but we ask everyone to boycott the products of the settlements. Because the settlements are in our territories. It is illegal.” —Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, speaking at a news conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he was attending Nelson Mandela’s funeral. Abbas was asked about his position regarding the international campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) of Israel. (Al Monitor, Dec. 13, 2013)

 

[We] “won’t accept any Israeli presence on our land.” —Nabil Abu Rudaineh, spokesman for P.A. Authority Chairman Abbas, referring to U.S. security ideas, which, according to some reports, envisage an Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley for a period of 10 years. The spokesman said that there would be no peace without the release of all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel: “The success of the talks requires big efforts…President Abbas rejected the idea of delaying the release of the third batch of Palestinian prisoners, slated for the end of December.” (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 14, 2013)

“The Iranians use diplomatic mail [pouches] in order to transport bombs and weapons, and we know that there are states in South America, like Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia, where the Iranians have terror bases, both in the embassies and among the local Shiite Muslim populations.” —Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, speaking on Monday with visiting Guatemalan President Otto Fernando Perez Molina. Yaalon added “they built this infrastructure for the eventuality that they will have to act against Jews, Israelis or Israeli interests, but it is important to them as an infrastructure that enables them to act within the United States.” (Newsmax, Dec. 11, 2013)

 

“We believe that many of the West’s policies on both Iran and Syria risk the stability and security of the Middle East. This is a dangerous gamble, about which we cannot remain silent, and will not stand idly by.” —Saudi Arabia’s ambassador for Britain, Mohammed Bin Nawaf Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, criticized the West’s inaction against Syria and Iran in a New York Times op-ed article on Wednesday. He added “…rather than challenging the Syrian and Iranian governments, some of our Western partners have refused to take much-needed action against them. The West has allowed one regime to survive and the other to continue its program for uranium enrichment, with all the consequent dangers of weaponization. This year’s talks with Iran may dilute the West’s determination to deal with both governments. What price is “peace” though, when it is made with such regimes? The foreign policy choices being made in some Western capitals risk the stability of the region and, potentially, the security of the whole Arab world. This means the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has no choice but to become more assertive in international affairs: more determined than ever to stand up for the genuine stability our region so desperately needs.” (New York Times, Dec. 17, 2013)

 

“The Zionists are just like the Nazis.” —Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei commented on his Twitter account on Monday. Khamenei posted a picture to mark the anniversary of the trial of French Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy, who had converted to Islam. The quote, from a speech Khamenei gave in a meeting with Garaudy in 1998, is placed above Garaudy’s picture. Alongside the image, there are three photos from the Holocaust, or films about it, and a recent photo, of an Arab, presumably in Israel, carrying the wounded. (Algemeiner, Dec. 17, 2013)

 

“The battle in Syria is not for the defence of the shrine of Sayida Zeinab but it is a battle of infidels against Islam and Islam should be defended. Fighting in Syria is legitimate and those who die are martyrs.” —Grand Ayatollah Kazim al-Haeri, one of the mentors of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, in comments posted on his official website. The fatwa is the first public religious edict permitting Shiites to fight in Syria’s civil war alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces. (Vancouver Sun, Dec. 15, 2013)

 

“The phenomenon of Canadians participating in extremist activities abroad is a serious one, and Syria has become a significant destination for such individuals.” —Tahera Mufti, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service spokeswoman. Up to 100 Canadians are now fighting in Syria, according to an International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation study released Tuesday. The British think tank reported a “steep rise” in the number of foreigners who had taken up arms to overthrow the Assad regime. Foreign fighters from 74 countries including Canada have joined the armed opposition. Their ranks have doubled since April to as many as 11,000. (National Post, Dec. 17, 2013)

 

“We see great importance to allow equality in freedom of religion…there is no reason why one religion is allowed and another religion is not.” —An aide to Israel’s Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Eli Ben-Dahan, saying the ministry has drafted a proposal allowing for limited Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The raised compound, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, is ground zero in the territorial and religious conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

 

“If you’re not in a place, you lose it.” —Pinchas Rosenfelder, a 44-year-old Toronto native who moved to Israel, said his monthly visits to the Temple Mount were to uphold Israeli sovereignty. Rosenfelder added “The lack of a Jewish presence here is not a good thing.”

 

“If this happens, there will be lot of bloodshed.” —Azzam Khatib, director general of the Waqf, Jordan’s Islamic authority that manages the Jerusalem holy site, about the possibility of organized Jewish prayers there. (Ynet News, Dec. 18, 2013)

 

“Men and women always desire one thing, independently of their race, ethnicity, or religion—they want happiness for their children.” — Josef Zisels, the head of the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine (VAAD Ukraine), said in a speech Sunday at a huge Kiev rally dubbed the “Day of Dignity”. “Let each of us ask themselves the question: can we achieve this with the current government?” Zisels added. The Ukrainian government had branded the protestors as “Nazis and criminals” over the past several weeks. Last week, an official statement signed by both prominent Ukrainians and Ukrainian Jews accused Ukrainian special forces of engaging in “Nazi-like” activities among the peaceful demonstrators in Kiev on the night of Dec. 10. (JNS, Dec. 16, 2013)

 

 

BOYCOTT BY ACADEMIC GROUP IS A SYMBOLIC STING TO ISRAEL (New York) —An American organization of professors on Monday announced a boycott of Israeli academic institutions to protest Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, signaling that a movement to isolate and pressure Israel that is gaining ground in Europe has begun to make strides in the United States. Members of the American Studies Association voted by a ratio of more than two to one to endorse the boycott in online balloting that concluded Sunday night, the group said. With fewer than 5,000 members, the group is not one of the larger scholarly associations. But its vote is a milestone for the B.D.S. movement, which for the past decade had found little traction in the United States. The A.S.A. is the second American academic group to back the boycott, movement organizers say, following the Association for Asian American Studies, which did so in April. (New York Times, Dec. 16, 2013)

 

TAX EXEMPT STATUS OF ACADEMICS TO BE CHALLENGED OVER BOYCOTT (New York) —William A. Jacobson, a clinical professor at Cornell Law School, announced Sunday evening on his popular blog, Legal Insurrection, that if the A.S.A. votes in favor of the boycott, he will challenge their tax exempt status. Jacobson logically points out that such a boycott would violate two essential legal standards of the A.S.A.’s tax exempt status. First, the A.S.A.’s legal purpose as defined in its bylaws – an essential element in the application for an organization’s tax exempt status application – does not include an academic boycott of Israeli universities. According to the A.S.A.’s mission statement, it is “devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and history.” Second, an academic boycott of Israeli universities by the A.S.A. exceeds the bounds of permissible activity under the tax exempt status requirements. Under this regulation, an exempt organization must be “organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable,…or educational purposes…” An academic boycott of Israeli universities is beyond the scope of that legal boundary as well. (Jewish Press, Dec. 16, 2013)

 

RUSSIA BAILS OUT UKRAINE IN REBUKE TO U.S., EUROPE (Kiev) —Russia lavished Ukraine with a bailout package worth at least $20 billion Tuesday, trumping the West in a Cold War-tinged struggle that keeps the former Soviet republic in Moscow’s orbit. The pact, one of the richest ever offered by Russia to another country, came just weeks after Kiev turned its back on a trade deal with the EU that Moscow had strongly opposed. Announced after talks in the Kremlin between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych on Tuesday, the deal gives Ukraine loans and cheaper natural-gas supplies. It appears to be substantially larger and the terms less restrictive than the aid the West had been offering to entice Ukraine to sign the EU’s trade-and-political accord. (Wall Street Journal, Dec. 17, 2013)

 

ISRAELI AND LEBANESE SOLDIERS TRADE FIRE NEAR BORDER (Jerusalem) —Israeli soldiers shot at two Lebanese soldiers across the Israeli-Lebanese border late Sunday, apparently killing one, hours after a sniper believed to be from the Lebanese Army shot and killed an Israeli soldier in the same area, Israeli military officials said on Monday. As a result Israeli forces were put on heightened alert along the tense but usually calm border. Israel’s defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, described the killing of the Israeli soldier as “a very grave incident.” He said that Israel held the Lebanese government and army responsible for what happened on their side of the border and that Israel expected an explanation. “We will not tolerate the violation of our sovereignty along any border,” Mr. Yaalon said. (New York Times, Dec. 16, 2013)

 

OUSTED EGYPT PRESIDENT TO BE TRIED OVER CONSPIRACY (Cairo) —Egypt’s top prosecutor referred toppled Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to trial Wednesday for conspiring with the Palestinian group Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and others to carry out a campaign of violence in the Sinai Peninsula and beyond to destabilize the country following his ouster. Prosecutors claim that while president, Morsi and his aides revealed state secrets to the militant groups and to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Morsi and 35 others, including the Muslim Brotherhood’s top three leaders, are also accused of sponsoring terrorism and carrying out combat training and other acts to undermine Egypt’s stability. The charges, which refer to incidents as far back as 2005, carry the death penalty. (USA Today, Dec. 18, 2013)

 

SYRIA: CHILDREN KILLED AS ALEPPO HIT BY WORST BOMBING IN SIX MONTHS (Aleppo) —Syrian government helicopters dropped barrels laden with explosives on residential districts of Aleppo on Sunday, killing dozens of people, including 16 children. In the worst bombing raids against the city in more than six months, local residents said the attack targeted at least nine different parts of the rebel held city, the TNT decimating shops, roads and entire apartment blocks. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the London based monitoring group said early on Sunday afternoon that at least 22 people had died in the raids. But by early evening local residents said the toll had risen to more than 50 people. Many of the victims were women and children, doctors said. (Telegraph, Dec. 15, 2013)

 

AMNESTY: EUROPE HAS ‘MISERABLY FAILED’ TO HELP SYRIAN REFUGEES (London) —European leaders should “hang their heads with shame” over their treatment of Syrian refugees fleeing the country’s brutal conflict, Amnesty International said on Friday. In a briefing entitled; “An International Failure: The Syrian Refugee Crisis”, the charity states that EU member states have only offered around 12,000 places to Syrian refugees as part of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ goal of securing 30,000 places. “The EU has miserably failed to play its part in providing a safe haven to the refugees who have lost all but their lives,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty’s secretary general. “The number of those it’s prepared to resettle is truly pitiful,” he added. (Telegraph, Dec. 13, 2013)

 

PLUNDERED SYRIAN TORAH SCROLLS SAID HELD BY AL-QAEDA-LINKED REBELS (Damascus) —Torah scrolls and other Judaica plundered from an ancient Damascus synagogue are being held by an Islamist group inside Syria, which is demanding the release of prisoners captured by the Assad regime in return for the items. Reports on the destruction and looting of the millennia-old Jobar synagogue in Damascus emerged as early as March, but those responsible for the theft have never been clearly identified, as government and opposition forces traded accusations. The Jobar synagogue, said to be 2,000-years-old, was built on the site where the prophet Elijah is said to have concealed himself from persecution and anointed his successor, Elisha, as a prophet. It was badly damaged in March by mortars reportedly fired by Syrian government forces. (Times of Israel, Dec. 15, 2013)

 

CORRUPTION PROBE RAIDS LINKED TO ISLAMIC CLERIC (Istanbul) —Turkish police detained sons of three ministers and several prominent businessmen in a corruption inquiry on Tuesday, state officials said, in a move widely seen as a challenge to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan by a powerful Islamic cleric. Police carried out dawn raids in Istanbul, detaining around 20 people including business figures close to Mr. Erdogan, and searched the headquarters of state-run Halkbank in the capital Ankara. (Globe & Mail, Dec. 17, 2013)

 

RESPONDING TO EXTREME WEATHER, IDF DELIVERS FUEL, GOODS TO PALESTINIANS (Gaza) —As a result of the weather and a request by representatives of the United Nations to the head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Major General Eitan Dangot, the Kerem Shalom Border Crossing was opened especially this morning in order to transfer gas for home heating. Additionally, as the day goes on, four water pumps will be transferred to the Gaza Strip due to heavy flooding. The IDF emphasizes that Israel will do everything that is necessary to assist the civilian populations in Gaza and in Judea and Samaria, with an emphasis on providing electricity to the power plant in Gaza. The storm, which began early Thursday and has affected much of the region, brought the heaviest December snowfall to the Jerusalem area since the 1950s. (Jewish Press, Dec. 14, 2013)

 

HAMAS AND THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY IN TALKS TO FORM UNITY GOVERNMENT (Ramallah) —Hamas and the Palestinian Authority were in talks to form a national unity government in preparation for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, the Bethlehem-based Ma’an News Agency reported Tuesday. Abbas received phone calls from Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh confirming their decision to join Hamas with Fatah. This was not the first time that the two parties had announced an agreement to end their differences. Over the past few years, Fatah and Hamas have reached a number of such agreements that were never implemented. (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 17, 2013)

 

KANSAS AIRPORT WORKER ARRESTED IN CAR BOMB PLOT (Wichita) —A Kansas man was arrested Friday on charges that he planned to set off a car bomb at the Wichita airport in an attack intended to support al-Qaida, authorities said. Terry Lee Loewen, a 58-year-old avionics technician who worked at the airport, was arrested before dawn as tried to enter the tarmac in a vehicle he believed was loaded with high explosives. But the materials in the car were inert, and no one at the airport was in any immediate danger, authorities said. Loewen, who lives in Wichita, had been under investigation for about six months after making online statements to an undercover agent about wanting to commit “violent jihad” against the United States, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said. (Washington Post, Dec. 13, 2013)

 

EX-U.N. ENVOY RICHARDSON CALLS FOR POLLARD’S RELEASE (Washington) —Bill Richardson, the former U.N. ambassador known for his efforts to release American captives overseas, called on President Obama to free Jonathan Pollard immediately. In a Dec. 10 letter to Obama, whom he endorsed after dropping out of the 2008 presidential race, Richardson noted that an increasing number of figures involved in government when Pollard was given a 1987 life sentence for spying for Israel now believe his sentence should be commuted. “In my view, there is no longer a need for a discussion today,” Richardson wrote. “Virtually everyone who was in a high position of government — and dealt with the ramifications of what Pollard did at the time — now support his release.” Noting in his letter that presidents traditionally consider commutations in time for the Christmas-New Year’s season, Richardson urged Obama to include Pollard among them. (JTA, Dec. 11, 2013)

 

RICHLER ROOM OPENS DOORS AT CONCORDIA (Montreal) — The manual typewriter, plush armchair and pine wood table that Mordecai Richler wrote on, along with the pictures, mementos and hundreds of books that he surrounded himself with, have been enshrined at Concordia University. The Mordecai Richler Reading Room was officially opened recently in the presence of the writer’s widow, Florence, and son Jacob. The room is set up much the way it looked at the family’s Lake Memphermagog country home, except it’s a lot more pristine – the ashtray, for example, has been emptied of cigar butts. Richler attended Concordia’s predecessor, Sir George Williams University, from 1949-51, and served as its writer in residence in 1968 and 1969. (Canadian Jewish News, Dec, 6, 2013)

 

On Topic Links

 

 

Schooling the ASA on Boycotting Israel: Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Times of Israel, Dec. 15, 2013 —Last week, the American Studies Association’s (ASA) national council, unanimously passed a resolution calling for the boycott of Israeli academic institutions.

The ASA’s Guide to World Peace: Liel Leibovitz, Tablet, Dec. 16, 2013 —Earlier today, members of the American Studies Association voted to confirm the organization’s decision to boycott Israel.

How Obama Ran Down the Nuclear Doomsday Clock: James Lewis, American Thinker, Dec. 17, 2013 — Americans don’t pride themselves on acts of treachery, but there are times when we as a nation have betrayed people.

 

Rob Coles, Publications Editor, Canadian Institute for Jewish Research/L’institut Canadien de recherches sur le Judaïsme,   www.isranet.org Tel: (514) 486-5544 – Fax:(514) 486-8284. mailto:ber@isranet.wpsitie.com