WEDNESDAY’S “NEWS IN REVIEW” ROUND-UP

Contents: | Weekly Quotes |  Short Takes   |  On Topic Links

On Topic Links

Quebec: The Crisis of the West: Giulio Meotti, Gatestone Institute, Feb. 3, 2017

It’s Time Canada Ended its Double Standard that Considers Israeli Settlements ‘Illegal’: Jason Reiskind, National Post, Jan. 31, 2017

Israel is a Vital Ally for Britain – Iran Must Not be Allowed to Threaten It: Editorial, Telegraph, Feb. 6, 2017

I’m A Liberal, And I Want Milo Yiannopoulos On My Campus: Matt Teitelbaum, Huffington Post, Feb. 6, 2017

“It is with a heavy heart that we come together this afternoon to grieve the loss of these innocent lives…But as a community and as a country, together we will rise from this darkness stronger and more unified than ever before — that is who we are.” — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The massacre at a Quebec City mosque has left Canada reeling but has also unified the country in solidarity with Muslims, Tru

deau said. Several thousand mourners packed Montreal’s Maurice-Richard Arena to pay their respects to Abdelkrim Hassane, Khaled Belkacemi and Aboubaker Thabti, whose caskets were draped in wreaths and the flags of their homelands. (National Post, Feb. 2, 2017)

“The days of turning a blind eye to Iran’s hostile and belligerent actions toward the United States and the world community are over.” — Michael Flynn, U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser. The Trump administration ordered sanctions against more than two dozen people and companies in retaliation for Iran’s recent ballistic missile test. Those targeted include Iranian, Lebanese, Emirati and Chinese individuals and firms involved in procuring ballistic missile technology for Iran. They are now prohibited from doing business in the U.S. or with Americans. (Globe & Mail, Feb. 3, 2017)

“Iran just got a loud — and long overdue — wake-up call from the Trump administration that its rogue and destabilizing behavior will no longer be tolerated. Two days after National Security Adviser Michael Flynn officially put Tehran “on notice,” the Treasury Department on Friday imposed new economic sanctions against 25 individuals and entities involved in Iran’s ballistic-missile program…Now, as one senior official said: “Iran has a choice to make. We are going to continue to respond to their behavior in an ongoing way, at an appropriate level.” Amen to that. This action, with stronger moves likely to follow, helps ensure that America will no longer suffer humiliations like Iran’s taking US sailors hostage and publicly abusing them. (Then Secretary of State John Kerry, you may recall, thanked Iran for its “honorable” behavior in that incident.) The fresh sanctions will be popular on Capitol Hill. On Thursday, 22 senators — evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats — called on President Trump to take the lead in countering Iran. And that’s precisely what he’s doing.” — Editorial (New York Post, Feb. 4, 2017)

“Iran is playing with fire — they don’t appreciate how ‘kind’ President Obama was to them. Not me.” — President Trump. Despite the tough talk, the new sanctions represent a continuation of the Obama administration’s limited punishment for Iran’s ballistic missile activity and avoid a direct showdown with Tehran over the nuclear deal itself. The sanction targets were drawn up before Obama left office and don’t affect Iran Air, a big Iranian bank or any major government entity. (Globe & Mail, Feb. 3, 2017)

“Trump says fear me! No. The Iranian nation will respond to your comments with a demonstration on the 10th of February…What we have said for more than 30 years—that there is political, economic, moral and social corruption in the ruling system of the U.S.—this gentleman came and brought it out into the open in the election and after the election.” — Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei’s rhetoric follows an escalation in tension between the U.S. and Iran after the Islamic Republic tested a ballistic missile in late January. In response, the Trump administration put Iran “on notice” and declared that “nothing is off the table,” then proceeded to levy new sanctions against the Islamic Republic. (Breaking Israel News, Feb. 8, 2017)

“The US army’s fifth fleet has occupied a part of Bahrain, and the enemy’s farthest military base is in the Indian Ocean but these points are all within the range of Iran’s missile systems and they will be razed to the ground if the enemy makes a mistake…And only 7 minutes are needed for the Iranian missile to hit Tel Aviv.” — Mojtaba Zonour, a senior member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission. (Jewish Press, Feb. 6, 2017)

“The danger is that this is the first stage in an escalation that could culminate in a military confrontation between Iran and the United States, or Iran and Israel…The entire eight years of the Obama administration was an example of unprecedented but largely unreciprocated overtures for cooperation with Iran in the Middle East. The Iranians weren’t interested. And now, the Iranians sense the rest of the world would not line up with the Trump administration.” — Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. (New York Times, Feb. 3, 2017)

“The reaction of the Trump administration to Iran’s January 29 ballistic missile test illustrates the stark contrast between the current White House and its predecessor. The prospect of such a major shift in Washington has raised significant concerns among members of the Iranian regime, Iran-appeasement policy advocates and Tehran’s lobbyists. They are engaged in different efforts to undermine this new tough stance, labeling it “pro-war.”… the “golden era” of Obama, as one Iranian figure close to former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani put it, has come to an end…The next step forward would be to blacklist the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization. This is especially vital, given its major role in domestic oppression and foreign military intervention, with an emphasis on Tehran’s involvement in Syria, Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic missile drive. After Obama turned his back on the Iranian people in 2009, the Trump administration’s blacklisting and sanctioning of the IRGC would send a strong message to them.” — Heshmat Alavi. (Algemeiner, Feb. 6, 2017)

“The United States is not currently in the grip of a mass popular movement to overthrow its new president. You would never know this, however, from reading the breathless coverage of the protests against Donald Trump that have erupted in cities across the nation since he took office. Much of it reads like dispatches from the front, because that’s what it is physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Anti-Trump forces have cast themselves as a “resistance movement,” and the media has bought into this self-conception — not least, I suspect, because it fancies itself as the movement’s vanguard…There’s an element of circular reasoning involved: The media reports on the resistance because the resistance exists because the media reports on the resistance. But thinking something doesn’t make it real.” — Varad Mehta (National Review, Feb. 3, 2017)

“If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view — NO FEDERAL FUNDS?” —President Trump. Trump raised the threat of pulling federal funds from the University of California at Berkeley after university police canceled a talk by Milo Yiannopoulos and put the campus on lockdown after intense protests against the planned speech. Berkeley is the flagship school in the University of California’s public university system. Student loans and grants make up the vast majority of federal funding to colleges and universities, along with grants for research. Yiannopoulos writes for Breitbart and has a large following as a self-proclaimed “free-speech fundamentalist” crusading against political correctness. (Washington Post, Feb. 2, 2017)

“As a college student in the early 1960s, I watched…Mario Savio and the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley. How tragic it was to read that half a century later at that same university, Milo Yiannopoulos, a controversial Breitbart News editor whose views are on the far right of the political spectrum, was denied the right to speak…Free speech is about allowing all to say what they want regardless of their views. We can question, challenge and even disagree with the speaker. But we should not silence the speaker…Free speech is one of America’s lasting treasures. Any deviation from that practice, especially at our colleges and universities, should be rejected as fundamentally inconsistent with one of America’s basic freedoms.” — Norman Siegel. (New York Times, Feb. 3, 2017)

“The White House itself holds that the settlements are not an obstacle to peace and they never have been…It must be concluded therefore that expansion of construction is not the problem.” —Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was neutral while others in the country appeared confused in response to the White House statement that said Israel’s settlement construction “may not be helpful” in achieving peace with the Palestinians. Netanyahu reiterated that he looked forward to a meeting with Trump on Feb. 15 at the White House to discuss “a wide range of issues, including this one.” according to a statement. (Wall Street Journal, Feb. 3, 2017)

“I would not categorize this as a U-turn by the U.S. administration, but the issue is clearly on their agenda…We will not always agree on everything.” — Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon. In recent weeks, Israel has approved more than 6,000 new housing units in communities in East Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria. Hours before the White House statement Thursday, Israel cleared the West Bank settlement outpost of Amona of about 40 families, along with hundreds of protesters. Israel’s high court in 2014 ordered that the outpost should be evacuated, saying parts had been constructed on Palestinian land. (Wall Street Journal, Feb. 3, 2017)

Contents

KNESSET PASSES HISTORIC SETTLEMENT LAW (Jerusalem) — The Settlement Regulation Bill has passed into law in an historic vote on its final reading. The vote passed 60-52. The bill would resolve the land ownership issues for the settlements once and for all, though not for communities where the court already gave a ruling, such as Amona. The legislation would allow the government to compensate Arab land owners who are able to prove their claims of land ownership over the formerly empty plots where any settlements were built. The owners would either receive a large financial package or an alternative plot of land. The law still faces challenges from foreign-funded left-wing NGOs who will be taking it to the Israeli Supreme Court to get the law canceled. (Jewish Press, Feb. 6, 2017)

IAF TARGETED THREE HAMAS POSTS IN THE NORTHERN GAZA STRIP (Jerusalem) — The IDF struck several Hamas targets following rocket fire and late gunfire towards troops. On Monday, Palestinians in Gaza reported a large strike in central Gaza Strip, saying that the IAF had hit a Hamas target and that renewed artillery fire targeted Hamas outposts. No injuries were reported. Rocket alert sirens sounded in several southern Israeli communities bordering the Gaza Strip. There has been no official claim of responsibility for the launching of the projectile, but Israel holds Hamas accountable for all fire emanating from the Strip. (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 6, 2017)

ISRAEL FOILS ANOTHER HAMAS KIDNAPPING AND MURDER PLOT (Jerusalem) — Israeli security forces indicted three Palestinians, saying they were part of a Hamas terrorist cell planning to kidnap and kill Israelis in the West Bank and within Israel. According to the indictment, Hamas officials in Gaza sent instructions to the terrorists via Facebook, explaining how to carry out shooting attacks, detonate explosives, and coordinate kidnappings around Hebron. To facilitate the attacks, the terrorists saved about $270 per month to buy weapons, build bombs and recruit other Palestinians. In January 2016, Shin Bet foiled a Hamas terror cell seeking to kidnap and kill Israelis in hopes of using their victims' bodies to negotiate the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. (IPT, Feb. 6, 2017)

PA PROTESTS UN CHIEF FOR AFFIRMING JEWISH TIES TO TEMPLE MOUNT (Jerusalem) — Palestinian officials are demanding an apology from the new UN chief after he said it was “completely clear that the Temple that the Romans destroyed in Jerusalem was a Jewish temple.” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also said that “no one can deny the fact that Jerusalem is holy to three religions today,” including Judaism. The PA’s Jerusalem Affairs minister, said that Guterres “ignored UNESCO’s decision that considered the Al-Aqsa mosque of pure Islamic heritage.” Guterres also said that he would not initiate a new peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, but that he did believe in a two-state solution and would be willing to assist in a peace process. (Times of Israel, Jan. 30, 2017)

JEWISH LEADERS DENOUNCE PA’S ‘FORT OF TORTURE’ (Jerusalem) — With $221 million in US aid to the PA hanging in the balance, American Jewish leaders are denouncing the PA’s reported use of torture against prisoners. Khalid Abu Toameh charged last week that the PA’s Jericho Central Prison has become a “fort of torture.” Toameh cited a new report which claimed that the PA’s security forces committed more than 3,000 human rights violations in 2016. That finding dovetails with Amnesty International’s most recent report on human rights in PA-controlled territory, which found that torture is “common” in PA prisons. (Algemeiner, Feb. 6, 2017)

SYRIA HAS SECRETLY EXECUTED THOUSANDS OF POLITICAL PRISONERS (Damascus) — The Syrian government secretly executed between 5,000 and 13,000 people in just one prison as part of its campaign to eliminate opposition to his rule, a new report has found. The killings took place between 2011 and 2015 in the notorious Sednaya facility outside Damascus, and the bodies were later disposed of in mass graves. Human rights groups estimate that tens of thousands of political prisoners have disappeared in the Syrian prison system since the uprising against Assad’s rule erupted in 2011, and they suspect that many of those have been tortured to death or secretly killed. The majority of those executed at Sednaya were political prisoners, the report says. (Washington Post, Feb. 8, 2017)

TURKEY ARRESTS HUNDREDS IN RAIDS AGAINST I.S. (Ankara) — Several hundred people suspected of being I.S. operatives were arrested in a series of coordinated raids by the Turkish police, in what constitutes one of Turkey’s largest operations against the jihadist group on the country’s soil. Nearly 450 suspects were rounded up in on Sunday. At least one attack was said to have been thwarted in the process. Turkey has suffered numerous attacks linked to I.S. since 2014, most recently in the early hours of this year, when a fighter killed 39 people at a nightclub in Istanbul. The group is also believed to be behind an October 2015 bombing in Ankara that killed more than 100 people, and was accused of organizing the killing of 45 people at Istanbul’s main airport last summer. (New York Times, Feb. 5, 2017)

LOUVRE MUSEUM RE-OPENS AS ATTACK PROBE CONTINUES (Paris) — The Louvre reopened its doors soldiers outside the famed Paris museum shot and wounded a machete-wielding attacker, believed to be an Egyptian national. The incident thrust the issue of security back into the limelight three months ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections in France, with authorities calling it a "terrorist" assault. Investigators say the attacker, who was carrying two machetes and wearing a black T-shirt with a skull design, lunged at four soldiers shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest"). One of soldiers, who was struck on the head, was slightly injured and a second soldier opened fire, hitting the assailant in the stomach and leaving him seriously wounded. (France 24, Feb. 5, 2017)

MERKEL AND ERDOGAN HOLD TENSE MEETING (Ankara) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Turkey to uphold democracy as the country heads toward a critical referendum on boosting the powers of the presidency, comments that ended up being part of a tense exchange with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan ended up taking offense at the German leader’s use of the phrase “Islamist terror,” saying the two words should not be placed side-by-side. Merkel’s visit was her first to Turkey since a failed coup there in July and comes as the country prepares to hold a referendum on whether to switch to an executive presidential system. (Washington Post, Feb. 2, 2017)

LOCKHEED LOWERS PRICE ON F-35 FIGHTERS (New York) — After weeks of pressure from Trump, Lockheed Martin agreed to a somewhat larger price cut on its F-35 fighters than it had on the last few orders, and finally brought the cost of the main version below $100 million for each jet. The Pentagon will buy 90 of the radar-evading planes under the new contract for $8.2 billion. The F-35 is by far the Pentagon’s largest program; it has plans to eventually build more than 2,400 of them for the Air Force, Navy and Marines, and hundreds more for allies. Trump began to criticize the much-delayed project shortly after he was elected and met with Lockheed’s chief executive twice to try to bring down the price. Officials with the military and with Lockheed said the president’s intervention helped speed up the negotiations and contributed to the cost savings. (New York Times, Feb. 3, 2017)

UC RIVERSIDE RABBI LEADING FIGHT AGAINST SABRA BOYCOTT (Los Angeles) — A proposed student resolution to ban Sabra company products from the dining hall of a California university “is about more than hummus,” the campus rabbi leading the opposition to the boycott, Matisyahu Devlin, said. “Jewish students are afraid; they are disturbed. If the motion passes, the message is clear: We don’t want you here, even your hummus…Even though Sabra is an American-based brand, people associate it with Israel and Jews,” he added. The motion is being brought by the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, which succeeded in getting Sabra banned from UC Riverside in 2015, by going straight to dining services with a complaint. (Algemeiner, Feb. 1, 2017)

COLUMBIA RANKEND AS WORST COLLEGE IN NORTH AMERICA FOR JEWS (New York) — Columbia University is the worst college in the U.S. for Jewish students, The Algemeiner concludes. The school racked up more antisemitic and anti-Israel-related incidents than any other college in 2016. Thirty-two antisemitic incidents were reported last year at the Ivy League institution, where 14 anti-Israel student groups were formed and 127 professors — about 19 percent of the faculty — publicly supported the boycott of Israel. The first annual list of “the 40 worst colleges for Jewish students” was based on four months of research. The publication created a points system to rate students’ experiences and show a “rising hostility faced by Jewish students on campuses.” University of Toronto and McGill University ranked third and fourth worst on the list. (New York Post, Feb. 5, 2017)

NEW YORKERS BAND TOGETHER TO CLEAN SWASTIKA-COVERED SUBWAY CAR (New York) — New Yorkers teamed up to remove swastikas and antisemitic messages scrawled onto a subway — less than a day after the Nazi symbol was found on a separate train. The story of straphangers springing into action to eliminate the hate-covered train car went viral after one of the passengers shared it on Facebook. One of the riders told his fellow passengers, “Hand sanitizer gets rid of Sharpie. We need alcohol.” “I’ve never seen so many people simultaneously reach into their bags and pockets looking for tissues and Purel. Within about two minutes, all the Nazi symbolism was gone,” he wrote. Photos included in the social media post showed one of the passengers wiping off “Jews belong in the oven” with a Swastika under it that was scrawled onto a subway map. (New York Post, Feb. 5, 2017)

ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND 12TH DEAD SEA SCROLLS CAVE (Jerusalem) — After years of fruitless searches for further Dead Sea Scrolls, archeologists claimed to have evidence of a 12th cave, which once held more hidden scrolls from the Second Temple period. However, after excavating the ancient hollow, located near the sea’s northwestern shore, the Hebrew University researchers concluded that the additional scrolls were looted by Beduin in the middle of the last century. The archeologists are the first in over 60 years to have discovered a new scroll cave. The finds from the excavation also include fragments of scroll wrappings, a string that tied the scrolls, and a piece of leather that was a part of a scroll, he said. Relics of pottery, numerous flint blades, arrowheads, and a decorated stamp seal made of carnelian (a semi-precious stone), also revealed that the cave was used in the Chalcolithic and the Neolithic periods. (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 8, 2017)

Contents

On Topic Links

Quebec: The Crisis of the West: Giulio Meotti, Gatestone Institute, Feb. 3, 2017—Welcome to Quebec, with its flavor of an old French province, with its beautiful landscapes, where streets are named after Catholic saints, and where a gunman just murdered six people in a local mosque.

It’s Time Canada Ended its Double Standard that Considers Israeli Settlements ‘Illegal’: Jason Reiskind, National Post, Jan. 31, 2017—Canada’s current position on Israeli “settlements” is that they are illegal because they violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, specifically Paragraph 6 which states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” The time has come for Canada to change our position to align with Canadian basic values and, equally important, with international law.

Israel is a Vital Ally for Britain – Iran Must Not be Allowed to Threaten It: Editorial, Telegraph, Feb. 6, 2017—The talks held on Monday between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Theresa May are a timely reminder of how important it is for Britain to maintain a strong relationship with the Jewish state. As the region’s only truly democratic nation, Israel stands as a beacon of stability in a part of the world where the autocratic and dictatorial style of so many neighbouring regimes means the Arab world is now facing its biggest existential crisis since Israel’s victory in the Six Day War in 1967.

I’m A Liberal, And I Want Milo Yiannopoulos On My Campus: Matt Teitelbaum, Huffington Post, Feb. 6, 2017—Just last week, Breitbart News editor and public speaker Milo Yiannopoulos saw one of his speaking engagements canceled when a protest against him at UC Berkeley turned into a violent riot. Rioters broke windows and even took part in brutal beatings of Milo’s supporters.