Weekly Quotes
“The president wants to visit and he will do so.”—U.S. ambassador to Israel James B. Cunningham, in a meeting with Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, conveying that U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Israel in the near future. Rivlin countered Cunningham’s assertion, saying that “Israelis sense that the atmosphere in the White House has changed for the worse. The feeling is that Obama views Israel as a burden more than as a strategic asset. When the president visited Egypt and the region, he decided not to visit Israel, something which bothered many Israelis. One cannot alienate himself from the public’s feelings while trying to change them through explanations.” Cunningham did not specify a date for Obama’s prospective visit, but rather said it was on president’s “agenda.” (Jerusalem Post, July 5.)
“As a peaceful solution, we offered that he can resign and order his soldiers to withdraw from their barracks and positions, and then he can decide either to stay in Libya or abroad. If he desires to stay in Libya, we will determine the place and it will be under international supervision. And there will be international supervision of all his movements.”—Libyan rebel leader and head of the National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, in an interview with Reuters, welcoming Muammar Gaddafi to live out his retirement inside Libya as long as he resigns. Gaddafi continues to cling to power, five months into a rebellion against his 41-year rule and despite a NATO bombing campaign and an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for crimes against humanity. (Jerusalem Post, July 4.)
“A fair measure of the dedication to the Palestinian cause on the part of Arab governments is whether they put their money where their mouth is. In that context, a news story conveys an answer: The Palestinian Authority will pay its employees only half their monthly salaries in July, the prime minister told reporters…because of what he said was ‘the failure of donors, including our Arab brothers, to fulfill their pledges.’ Donors had pledged $971 million to the Palestinian Authority this year, but the year is half over and only $330 million has been delivered. It turns out that…the vastly wealthy Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, are delinquent.… So the failure to assist the Palestinians is the product of hostility, neglect, or uninterest.… It is probably an exaggeration to say the Palestinians would be better off if instead of all those Arab pledges they got five dollars for every speech, TV or radio program, and newspaper article in Arabic that denounces Israel and swears eternal loyalty to the Palestinian cause. Or perhaps not.”—Elliott Abrams, in an article entitled “On Palestinians, Pledges, And Budgets,”describing the failure of wealthy Arab countries to support fulfill their financial commitments to the Palestinians. (Council on Foreign Relations, July 4.)
“The US does not and never has considered Israel to have links to terrorism, but rather they are a partner in our efforts to combat global terrorism. Countries may have been included on the list because of the backgrounds of arrestees, not because of the country’s government itself. The United States maintains close intelligence-sharing relationships with many of these countries in order to address security issues within their own borders and in our mutual pursuit of safety and security around the globe.”—U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Gillian Christensen, describing the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to add Israel to a list of 36 countries that might “promote, produce, or protect” terrorists. The list includes countries such as Sudan, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Pakistan. (JTA & FrontPage, July1.)
“We give the kids courses on the right of return and teach them that the Israelis stole their lands. We’ve sent hundreds of camp children into Israel to see the villages and towns that were taken from us. We took them to Jaffa, Ramle. Our message is that without a doubt they will return to the places from which they were driven out.”—Taysir Nasrallah, a senior member of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party and current director-general of the Nablus governor’s office, during a tour of the Balata refugee camp given to Haaretz reporter Avi Issacharoff, boasting of the camp’s indoctrination of Palestinian youth to believe that pre-1967 Israeli territory—towns such as Jaffa and Ramle—belongs to the Palestinians, and, as such, it is their inherent right to “return” to them, en masse, in the future. (Contentions, July 1.)
“Basically what I’ve seen and heard here both from Afghans and a number of Americans is that it is an unnecessary risk. It was not recommended by any of the military.… It certainly deprives us of the troops that we need for the second fighting season.”—U.S. Senator John McCain, in an interview from Afghanistan on CNN’s “State of the Union,” criticizing U.S. president Barack Obama’s plan to reduce the number of American troops in Afghanistan by 10,000 by the end of 2011 and 23,000 more by September 2012, and advocating a more gradual drawdown strategy. (Wall Street Journal, July 3.)
“The political landscape in Egypt may have changed since the end of the Mubarak regime, but the Brotherhood’s hatred of Jews and Israel has not changed at all. This seems like a sell out to the European position and I hope it is not a signal that the United States will acquiesce to Europe and begin talking to Hamas as well.… We should not be talking to an organization that can lay claim to being the world’s leading purveyor of anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews.Legitimizing the Muslim Brotherhood sends the wrong message that you can hate Jews, and still sit and talk with world leaders.”—Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, criticizing the White House for agreeing to resume direct contact with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. According to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “the Brotherhood’s rise in political prominence” is the reason for the change in the administration’s position. (Independent Media Review and Analysis, June 30.)
“We will have highly credible spokespeople and surrogates speak out in a general manner in support of what this administration has done, and articulate it in a way that we think will resonate with voters who care about this issue. We will meet with supporters who have expressed concerns or want to be briefed on these issues on a one-on-one basis.”—Alan Solow, former head of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, describing the Obama administration’s plan—in response to a Politico report last week that many Jewish Democrats and donors are privately expressing doubts about Obama’s Mideast policies—to assemble a team of high profile surrogates who are well respected in the Jewish community to go on the offensive against critics of his stance on Israel. (Washington Post, July 1.)
“They must begin a genuine transition to democracy and allowing one meeting of the opposition in Damascus is not sufficient action toward achieving that goal. So I am disheartened by the recent reports of continued violence…where demonstrators have been beaten, attacked with knives by government-organized groups and security forces.… They are either going to allow a serious political process that will include peaceful protests to take place throughout Syria and engage in a productive dialogue with members of the opposition and civil society, or they’re going to continue to see increasingly organized resistance.”—U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking at a news conference in Lithuania, affirming that it is now “absolutely clear” that Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, whose security forces have killed more than 1,400 civilians in a 3-month crackdown on protests against his regime, is “running out of time” to implement reforms. (Ynet News, July 1.)
“Mordecai Richler is Canada’s biggest claim to literary fame. If he had been born and lived in any other province but Quebec there would have been an outpouring of ideas on how to commemorate his life and achievements: perhaps renaming streets in his honour, [or] building schools bearing his name.… Instead Montreal’s political mandarins have decided he is getting a gazebo—a crummy little open pavilion at the foot of Mount Royal, with no known connection to the author. A place for people to come in out of the rain. Not quite a public toilet, but close.… Let’s face it. Richler’s satiric talents were honed to gleaming acuity by the constant irritation he experienced at growing up as a Jew and an Anglophone in an environment that was not, let us say, overflowing with the milk of multicultural tolerance and religious pluralism.… Quebec did become more open, inclusive and tolerant over the years…but Mordecai and Quebec never established an entente cordiale. On the other hand, a park pavilion?… Here’s an idea: Montreal is riddled with potholes. The French for ‘pothole’ is ‘nid-de-poule,’ literally a chicken’s nest. How about if the word is officially changed to ‘mort-de-caille(ou)’ which means ‘death of stone’ (well, death of pebble, close enough). Henceforth let all Montreal potholes be called Mordecais. In this way, his name will forever be on every Montrealer’s lips, because Montreal potholes are ubiquitous and eternal, and yet not in a good way—‘Damn! Another cursed Mordecai!’ I think Richler himself would have appreciated the irony, and approved.”—Excerpts from Barbara Kay’s article entitled “As An Insult To Richler, Montreal Can Do Better Than A Gazebo,” describing the Quebec government’s decision to name an insignificant monument after the man who “put Montreal on the map.” (National Post, June 27.)
Short Takes
U.S., EU TO PRESENT MIDEAST PEACE PLAN IN LAST PUSH TO PREVENT PALESTINIAN UN BID—(Jerusalem) According to senior Israeli and European officials, in a last-minute effort to stop the Palestinians from seeking unilateral recognition at the United Nations in September, the Mideast Quartet is planning to present a new international peace plan—based on U.S. President Barack Obama’s Mideast speech on May 19—at a summit in Washington on July 11. The summit will take place only four days before the appointed date set by the Palestinians to officially send United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon their request for full membership at the UN. U.S. envoys Dennis Ross and David Hale conducted two rounds of talks in recent weeks with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in an effort to draw up a formula for a compromise which will be used to invite both sides to engage in direct negotiations in the United States. (Haaretz, June 28.)
US SENATE: CUT AID IF PA DECLARES STATE—(Jerusalem) The U.S. Senate has approved a bill that calls for suspension of American aid to the Palestinian Authority if it insists on carrying out a plan to gain UN recognition for its statehood declaration in September; the bill was approved by all 89 senators present. The Senate bill also states that “United States law precludes assistance to a Palestinian Authority that shares power with Hamas unless that Authority and all its ministers publicly accept the right of Israel to exist and all prior agreements and understandings with the Governments of the United States and Israel.” A similar bill is scheduled to come up before the U.S. House of Representatives, where 293 members have already signed off on its approval. (Ynet News, June 30.)
U.S. ACCUSES IRAN OF SENDING WEAPONS TO IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN—(Jerusalem) U.S. senior officials have accused the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s elite military unit, of sending weapons to its allies in Iraq and Afghanistan, increasing the insurgents capabilities of striking U.S. troops and targets from a farther distance. The accusation comes as tensions between Tehran and Washington continue to escalate; last week, the U.S. Treasury Department said that it would impose greater sanctions on Iran due to its ongoing support of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s violent crackdowns of protests against his regime. Despite U.S. sanctions on Iran, the Islamic Republic last week carried out a large-scale military drill called “Great Prophet Mohammad War Games 6” to allegedly test out Iran’s defense capacities as well as practice the use of advanced equipment. (Jerusalem Post, July 2.)
IRAQ HIT BY DEADLY BOMB ATTACKS—(Baghdad) At least 35 people have been killed and 28 injured in coordinated bomb attacks on a district council building to the north of Baghdad. The attack on Baghdad province’s Taji district’s local council administrative building took place as Iraqis were gathered for routine paperwork. The first explosion, a roadside bomb, was followed by a car bomb minutes later. The attacks are the latest in an upsurge in violence aimed at government buildings, U.S. bases and Iraqi and American security forces. U.S. forces are scheduled to fully withdraw from Iraq by the end of the year based on an agreement reached in 2008. Iraqi officials are debating an extension or a new agreement as local forces are still struggling to handle security. The Iraqi government has yet to make any official request for U.S. forces to stay. (Wall Street Journal, July 5.)
NASRALLAH: HARIRI PROBE IS ISRAELI PLOT—(Jerusalem) Hezbollah’s leader has called the four men indicted in the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri “honorable” members of his Shiite militant group, and denounced the six-year investigation as a plot by Israel. Nasrallah said the suspects named in the indictment are brothers “who have an honorable history in resisting Israeli occupation.” The arrests, Nasrallah said, are “another step in the long journey whose path is becoming clearer after Israel’s defeat and the triumph of the resistance in the last war.” Nasrallah cited as proof of Israel’s plot that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the state had cooperated fully with the tribunal investigating Hariri’s murder. Hezbollah has denied any role in the killing and vowed never to turn over any of its members. (Ynet News, July 2.)
SYRIAN LEADER SACKS GOVERNOR AFTER HUGE PROTESTS—(Beirut) Syrian President Bashar Assad has dismissed the governor of the key central city of Hama in apparent political payback after hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the largest demonstration yet against Mr. Assad’s authoritarian regime. The move, announced by the state-run news agency SANA, was seen by antigovernment activists as the latest attempt by Mr. Assad to weed out potential weak links in his ruling system and possibly signaling a renewed crackdown on the city. SANA’s report gave no reason for the firing of Gov. Ahmed Abdul-Aziz a day after an estimated 300,000 people joined an antigovernment rally in Hama—marking the largest single turnout since the uprising began in March. Opposition groups say the regime thus far has killed more than 1,400 people. (Wall Street Journal, July 2.)
OUSTED TUNISIAN LEADER GETS 15-YEAR JAIL TERM—(Tunis) A Tunisian court has sentenced former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, in absentia, to more than 15 years in prison after finding him guilty of illegal possession of drugs and weapons. It is the second major sentence passed on Ben Ali, who was handed a 35-year jail term for other crimes last month. In a statement released last month, the former president said the charges were a fabrication. He said the weapons were ceremonial gifts and that the drugs had been planted. Lawyers for Ben Ali, ousted in January and now in Saudi Arabia, boycotted the trial, calling it a sham. (Reuters, July 4.)
GREECE ARRESTS GAZA-BOUND BOAT CAPTAIN—(Jerusalem) Greek authorities have arrested the captain of a boat that was to be part of a flotilla trying to break Israel’s legal blockade on the Gaza Strip. The 60-year-old captain, whose name was not released by authorities, is being held at Piraeus police headquarters and will remain there until a court hearing this week. Greece’s coast guard said the captain of the “Audacity of Hope” faces charges of trying to leave port without permission and of endangering the lives of the boat’s passengers. The boat attempted to sail last week from the port of Perama, near Athens, but was thwarted by coast guard speedboats. (Ynet News, July 2.)
CARTOON CAUSES STIR IN EGYPT—(Cairo) An Egyptian Christian telecommunications magnate has angered Islamic hard-liners by posting an online cartoon of Mickey Mouse with a beard and Minnie in a face veil. Ultraconservative Salafi Islamists called the cartoon posted on Twitter by Naguib Sawiris a mockery of Islam. Following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, Mr. Sawiris, who owns various media companies as well as the mobile phone company Mobinil, launched a political party that calls for separation of state and religion. A new Facebook group named “We are joking Sawiris” has been launched to promote a boycott of Sawiris companies, and to convey the message: “We have to cut out the tongue of any person who attacks our religion.” (Associated Press, June 27.)
NO MORE SPECIAL BENEFITS FOR PALESTINIAN PRISONERS—(Jerusalem) Following Hamas’ refusal to provide the Red Cross with proof that kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit is alive, Israeli prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has vowed that Palestinian terrorists in Israeli jails will face tougher conditions. “The party is over,” Netanyahu affirmed while speaking at the closing event at the Israeli Presidential Conference in Jerusalem. Netanyahu said that while he was committed to upholding Israeli and international law and conventions, Israel will revoke benefits and privileges from jailed terrorists, including stopping the “absurd practice” of allowing “murderers in jail” to sign up for advanced academic degrees. Netanyahu believes “that if we all place political and public diplomacy pressure on Hamas, we will advance Gilad’s release.” (Jerusalem Post, June 23.)
VICTIMS OF ISRAELI EMBASSY BOMBING TO GET COMPENSATION—(Buenos Aires) Relatives of victims of the 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires will receive compensation from Argentina. The Argentinean Parliament has unanimously approved a special law of economic compensation for the relatives of victims of the bombing, which killed 29 and injured 242 on March 17, 1992. According to the law, families of victims will receive a total of $40 million from the Argentine federal government. The Argentinean parliament is also examining the idea of paying compensation to victims of the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires, in which 85 people were killed. The perpetrators of both crimes have never been caught. (JTA, June 30.)
MORALES APOLOGIZES FOR IRANIAN OFFICIAL’S VISIT TO BOLIVIA—(Jerusalem) Bolivian president Evo Morales has apologized to the Argentinean Jewish community for meeting with Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi, who visited Bolivia at the end of May. Vahidi is on Interpol’s list of suspects wanted in connection with the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. According to the Argentine Jewish rights group DAIA, “President Morales admitted his mistake and apologized.” The Iranian defense minister was forced to cut short his trip to Bolivia when the Argentinean foreign ministry demanded that Interpol officials in the country arrest him. Since he was traveling on a diplomatic passport, he was able to return to Iran. (Jerusalem Post, July 3.)
NETANYAHU TO DECIDE FATE OF 5-DAY WORK WEEK IN FALL—(Jerusalem) Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has appointed a committee to examine whether Israel should adopt a five-day work week similar to the rest of the Western world. The committee, which will be headed by National Economic Council head Prof. Eugene Kandel, will consider Vice Premier Silvan Shalom’s proposal for Israeli workers to have off on Sundays, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz’s idea of eliminating the current half day of work on Fridays, and the status quo that is promoted by Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar. The committee will release its findings when the Knesset returns from its summer recess in October. (Jerusalem Post, July 4.)
