Indian Media Hails New Era in Ties With Israel on Eve of Historic Visit by PM Modi: Ben Cohen, Algemeiner, July 3, 2017
End the False Israeli-Palestinian Equality: Daniel Pipes, Israel Hayom, July 5, 2017
Gaza’s Inhabitants Share the Blame with Hamas: Prof. Hillel Frisch, BESA, July 5, 2017
Medieval Times in the Modern Middle East: George Friedman and Kamran Bokhari, Mauldin Economics, June 26, 2017
WEEKLY QUOTES
“The natural partnership between India and Israel, formally elevated 25 years ago to full diplomatic relations, has grown stronger from year to year… The deep connection between our peoples reflects our many similarities in spirit, if not in size. Ours are two modern, vibrant democracies that draw on our rich historical traditions while striving to seize the promise of the future for our peoples.” — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, in an op-ed. Modi arrived in Israel on Tuesday for the first-ever official visit by a sitting Indian prime minister to the Jewish state. Of all of India’s recent leaders, Modi has been the most committed to strategic partnership with Israel. The supply of clean water in India will be a major issue during Modi’s three-day visit. “Israel’s extreme water crises in the past place it in a unique position to understand India’s quest for efficient water solutions,” Modi and Netanyahu wrote. “The cost effective adaptation of Israeli technology to India’s needs could create new solutions that we could use to help address the water challenges of other developing nations across the globe.” (Algemeiner, July 4, 2017)
“India is maturing as an economy and society; it is a rising power in Asia and beyond…So it needs allies like Israel to partner with, to advance to the next level of growth and development in terms of agriculture, water, tech, higher education and defense.” — Prof. Dinesh Sharma — an expert on India-Israel relations at the Institute of Global Cultural Studies. Israel and India were even cooperating “in Bollywood and films,” he noted. Sharma said there was little evidence of nostalgia in India for the country’s previous harsh attitude toward Israel. “Under Modi, growth, development and nationalism have overtaken the concerns of the political left” in India, he observed. (Algemeiner, July 4, 2017)
“Instead of joining us in celebration of Jerusalem, the only capital in the Middle East where all religions are free, UN funds are used to host supporters of terrorism…The time has come to put an end to this absurdity…If the UN doesn’t stop this hate, doesn’t halt these lies, the chance for peace in our region will only grow dimmer.” — Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon. Danon, slammed the world body for welcoming into its building a collection of PA representatives who gathered to mark “50 Years of Occupation” at a forum funded and sponsored by the UN. “As we speak, there is an official UN event, taking place right now in this building… sponsored and funded by the UN, full of incitement and hate, aimed at one member state: the State of Israel…Fifty years ago this month Israel fought off an all-out attack aimed to destroy the world’s only Jewish state. But after six days of hard-fought battle, we returned to our holiest sites, in Jerusalem, and reunited our divided capital,” Danon said (Jewish Press, June 29, 2017)
“If nothing else, at the very least, it’s a brilliant victory for the Taliban, al-Qaida, ISIL and all the other extremists: A young jihadist is now a hero in Canada for killing an infidel – and look, he got a big payday and an apology to boot. What’s next: Do we apologize to the Germans for winning what another friend calls “those two memorable misunderstandings?” — Christie Blatchford. Ottawa is set to apologize and give millions to former prisoner Omar Khadr. Khadr — who pleaded guilty to killing a U.S. soldier when he was 15 — will receive a settlement of more than $10 million, according to sources. The Canadian-born Khadr was captured by U.S. troops in Afghanistan after a fire fight that resulted in the death of Christopher Speer, a U.S. special-forces medic. Another soldier, Layne Morris, was blinded in one eye. Khadr, who was suspected of throwing the grenade that killed Speer, was taken to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and charged with war crimes. He was sentenced to eight years. He returned to Canada two years later to serve the remainder of his sentence. (National Post, July 4, 2017)
“We call on Mr. Khadr to give any funds he receives to the widow and family of Christopher Speer.” —Conservative foreign affairs critic Tony Clement. Khadr sued the Canadian government for wrongful imprisonment after a Supreme Court decision found his rights were violated, with Canadian officials complicit in his imprisonment and alleged torture at Guantanamo Bay. Speer’s wife and Morris sued Khadr for damages and won a default $134 million in 2015 in a Utah court. The settlement was never enforced, which would have required legal action in Canadian court. Clement said the special circumstances of this case should have warranted a firmer hand, and the Liberals’ approach makes them appear “soft on terrorism.” (National Post, July 4, 2017)
“The terrorist attacks out of which the respondents’ U.S. judgments arise are repugnant to civilized society. The fact that a foreign government would engage in the sponsorship of such atrocities is chilling…There is nothing offensive about using peaceful legislative means to combat terrorism…To the contrary, awarding damages that may have a deterrent effect is a sensible and measured response to the state sponsorship of terrorism and is entirely consistent with Canadian legal morals.” — Justice C. William Hourigan. Ontario’s Court of Appeal upheld a US$1.7-billion judgment against the government of Iran in favour of American victims of terrorism, rejecting the state’s immunity. The appeal court’s resounding rejection of Iran’s appeal is another victory for victims of terrorism holding Iran accountable for its support of Hamas and Hezbollah during terror campaigns from the 1980s through to 2002. The victims — some of whom were personally injured, kidnapped or tortured and others the families of those killed in terror attacks — sued Iran in the United States for arming, training and bankrolling Hamas and Hezbollah. (National Post, July 3, 2017)
We are seeing the end of the fake Daesh state. The liberation of Mosul proves that…We will not relent, our brave forces will bring victory.” — Haider al-Abadi, Iraq’s Prime Minister. Al-Abadi declared an end to the IS caliphate after Iraqi forces captured the compound of a landmark mosque in Mosul that was blown up last week by I.S. But even as the Iraqi leader issued his statement, heavy clashes continued to unfold in Mosul — filling field hospitals and forcing hundreds to flee. The al-Nuri mosque is where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his only public appearance in July 2014, declaring a self-styled Islamic “caliphate,” encompassing territories then-held by IS in Syria and Iraq. Iraqi and coalition officials said IS blew up the mosque complex last week. (National Post, June 29, 2017)
“We have done our best to be partners in Iraq; it has not worked…We believe this is the right time to allow the people of Kurdistan to exercise their democratic right, a right that people across the world have, to express their self-determination.” — Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the Kurdish government’s top U.S. diplomat. Tensions in Iraq are mounting after the country’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government announced plans to hold a referendum on independence. Planning is now underway, despite fierce objections from Iraq’s central government in Baghdad, as well as varying degrees of opposition from the U.S., the EU and most of Iraq’s neighbours. “As a state that has its own province of Quebec that has exercised the right to hold a referendum, I think it would be difficult for Canada to deny that right to the people of Kurdistan,” she told Canadian media. “Ottawa would never think to cut off the medicine supply to one of its provinces, even if it was a province that was a thorn in its side,” she said. “We’re trying to have an amicable divorce from Iraq. But this is not the same as Quebec having an amicable divorce from Canada.” (Globe & Mail, July 3, 2017)
“Canada has, as the French say, the fault of its qualities. Because it is always consensual and never revolutionary, it has relatively less drama than have had the other G-7 countries…In this time, there have been fewer than 50 deaths in Canada from civil disturbances, and three murders of prominent political figures (D’Arcy McGee, George Brown, Pierre Laporte). No country welcomes immigration so positively, and very few have as little violence in society. The country has engaged in four wars, all just and successful wars where our forces acquitted themselves with distinction and almost all were volunteers, though Canada itself was never under direct threat. It is not a record that lends itself to great dramatization. Our (splendid) war memorials are overseas in the countries we were defending or liberating. It is not in the nature of Canadians to boast very effusively. But it is a national history to be proud of, and all Canadians, in their own way, should be proud of it, of these 150 years, this July 1.” — Conrad Black (National Post, June 30, 2017)
“I think the thing we have in common, as a nation, is our strength. At the very least, I’ll claim that “unity is our strength” holds as much truth and force as the more frequent assertion on diversity. One part of that understanding is that we value the possibilities that “difference” opens up to our country. This celebration of difference issues from the deeper continuities and commonalities that have threaded our growth over the last 150 years, and includes the relatively fresh embrace of a many-cultured idea of ourselves. Diversity is not static. It can quickly turn in on itself. The recent growth of identity politics fastens on the particularity of difference—whether sexual, ethnic or religious. It nurtures an intense fealty, in some cases aggressively so, to the special, or “distinguishing” character of a particular identity, which is very close to faction…It is a flight from commonality and unity. A nation is much more than a block of self-contained units incapable, by the tenets of identity politics, of any full communication with the other units.” — Rex Murphy (National Post, June 30, 2017)
SHORT TAKES
NK CLAIMS FIRST SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH OF ICBM (Seoul) — North Korea on Tuesday claimed it successfully test-launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile, a potential game-changing development in what may be the world’s most dangerous nuclear standoff. The launch appeared to be North Korea’s most successful missile test yet. A US scientist said the missile could potentially be powerful enough to reach Alaska. North Korea has previously launched satellites in what critics said were disguised tests of its long-range missile technology. A test-launch of an ICBM, however, would be a major step in developing nuclear-armed missiles that could reach anywhere in the U.S. After North Korea claimed earlier this year it was close to an ICBM test launch, President Trump took to Twitter and said: “It won’t happen!” (New York Post, July 4, 2017)
PALESTINIAN LAWMAKER ARRESTED ON TERRORISM CHARGES (Tel Aviv) — A well-known Palestinian lawmaker and activist was arrested near Ramallah by the IDF and the Shin Bet, a year after she was released from custody. Khalida Jarrar and fellow Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine member Khitam Khatib were among the 11 individuals arrested on suspicion of involvement with terrorist activities and violent public disturbances. Jarrar was elected in 2006 to the PLC as a member of the PFLP. The PFLP, considered a terrorist organization by Israel, is the second-largest faction in the legislative body after Fatah. Jarrar serves as the group’s political leader. In 2015, Jarrar was arrested and sentenced to 15 months in prison for encouraging attacks against Israelis. (Times of Israel, July 2, 2017)
FIREBOMB ATTACK TARGETS JEWISH WORSHIPPERS AT RACHEL’S TOMB (Bethlehem) — A firebomb was thrown at Jewish worshippers Monday at Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem. Jerusalem police said that “an object was thrown at the Tomb of Rachel, near the wall of the facility; there were no casualties and no damage was caused.” Rabbi Tzvi Uziyahu, one of the rabbis administering Rachel’s Tomb institutions, said, “By God’s grace we had a miracle. If God forbid the explosives had ignited, there would have been many casualties at the bus stops and at the entrance to the tomb.” Jewish studies and prayers continued at Rachel’s Tomb despite the firebomb attack, he added. (JNS, July 4, 2017)
PALESTINIANS RE-ERECT MEMORIAL TO TERRORIST IN JENIN (Jenin) — Palestinian activists re-erected a memorial to a Palestinian assailant in the West Bank village of Jenin, one day after it was torn down by the Israeli army. Activists from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine posted pictures showing a monument named after Khaled Nazzal, a high profile Palestinian fighter, being re-erected. Nazzal was the architect of a 1974 attack that killed 26 Israelis, the majority school children. On Friday, bulldozers and IDF soldiers entered Jenin and removed the memorial. Nazzal was allegedly assassinated by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad in Athens in 1986. (I24, July 2, 2017)
OHIO CONDEMNS BDS (Cleveland) — Ohio became the 12th U.S. state to condemn the BDS movement. State Representative Andy Thompson introduced a resolution which expands Ohio's condemnation of BDS to include incidents of antisemitism. Tennessee became the first state to pass an anti-BDS resolution. Among the states that have passed anti-BDS legislation are New York, California, New Jersey, Arizona, Indiana, Florida, Michigan and Virginia. Nevada introduced a law against BDS which is similar to legislation passed in other states. Montana advanced a bill that pledges solidarity with Israel by refusing to do business with firms boycotting the Jewish state. (Arutz Sheva, June 29, 2017)
UCC RESOLUTION CONDEMNS ISRAEL (Baltimore) — The United Church of Christ approved a resolution condemning Israel for its treatment of Palestinian children living in the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem and Gaza. The vote by delegates at the 31st General Synod of the United Church of Christ was 79 percent in favor, 13 percent against and 9 percent abstaining. The resolution calls on Israel to “exercise an absolute prohibition against torture and ill-treatment of detained children.” It also calls on the U.S. to withhold military assistance from Israel over violations of human rights in its treatment of Palestinian children. The resolution comes two years after the church voted to divest from companies that profit from Israel’s control of the West Bank. (JTA, July 3, 2017)
EHUD OLMERT RELEASED FROM PRISON (Tel Aviv) — Disgraced ex-Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert was released from prison on Sunday after serving 16 months of a 27-month sentence for fraud and bribery. Olmert, 71, became Israel's first ex-prime minister to go to jail when he was convicted in 2014 of accepting bribes to promote a real-estate project in Jerusalem, and of obstructing justice. He took the bribes while mayor of Jerusalem and trade minister, before he began a three-year stint as prime minister in 2006. Before its decision to release him, the parole board said that he had undergone a rehabilitation process in prison, and that his behaviour had been “impeccable”. (Telegraph, July 2, 2017)
SARIN USED IN DEADLY ATTACK IN SYRIA: WATCHDOG (Damascus) — An investigation by the international chemical weapons watchdog confirmed that sarin nerve gas was used in a deadly April 4 attack on a Syrian town, but a report released Friday stopped short of saying who was responsible. The attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Syria's Idlib province killed more than 90 people, including women and children. It sparked outrage around the world as photos and video of the aftermath were widely broadcast. The U.S. blamed the Syrian military for the attack and launched a punitive strike days later. Syrian President Bashar Assad has denied using chemical weapons. (CTV, June 30, 2017)
TURKEY WANTS TWITTER’S HELP IN SUPPRESSING CRITIC (Ankara) — Michael Rubin has been a thorn in the side of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for many years. Rubin has also been the target of a lawsuit filed by the Turkish president accusing him of making insults and supporting a terrorist organization. Now, Erdogan is taking his effort to squelch Rubin’s criticism to a new level. Twitter notified Rubin that it had received a court order from Turkey demanding the shutdown of his Twitter feed, on the grounds that it had violated Erdogan’s personal rights. Rubin makes no apologies for his very public criticism of Erdogan, his party, his alleged corruption and his crackdown inside Turkey on freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech. (Washington Post, June 28, 2017)
CANADA'S IRAQ MISSION EXTENDED UNTIL 2019 (Ottawa) — The Liberal government has extended Canada’s military mission in Iraq for almost another two years. The mission will be extended until March 31, 2019. “Canada is providing $371.4 million over two years to support the cost of this renewed contribution to the Global Coalition against Daesh,” the government noted in a news release. Canada will continue to contribute existing capabilities, including: Aerial refueling and surveillance capabilities; Tactical helicopters; Training, advising, and assisting Iraqi security forces; Capacity building in Jordan and Lebanon; a Role 2 medical facility; and personnel, including intelligence support. This extension includes the authority to deploy up to 850 military personnel. (Ottawa Citizen, June 30, 2017)
ALLEGED GOLF CLUB ATTACKER CLAIMED SHE WAS FROM I.S.: SOURCE (Toronto) — A golf-club wielding I.S. supporter vowed to kill “white people” to avenge the bombing of fellow Syrians, according to sources. “I’m here for Syria. I’m going to kill everybody,” the source quoted the woman as screaming while she allegedly attacked Canadian Tire store employees and customers in Scarborough, Ontario. No one was seriously injured, but one man suffered a minor bite injury when the woman allegedly bit his forearm. “Allahu Akbar (Allah is greater),” the woman ranted during the alleged assault. Rehab Dughmosh, a Syrian-born mother of two, appeared in court Tuesday. “ISIS – I pledge to the leader of the believers – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” she said through an Arabic interpreter. (Toronto Sun, June 7, 2017)
AUSTRIA TO SEND TROOPS AND ARMOURED VEHICLES TO BLOCK MIGRANTS (Vienna) — Austria has deployed armoured vehicles close to its border with Italy and will send up to 750 soldiers to block any migrants trying to head north. The move reflects deep concern in Vienna and elsewhere in Europe over the huge number of asylum seekers who continue to cross the Mediterranean from Libya – so far this year more than 85,000 have been rescued and brought to Italy. With France and Switzerland closing their borders to migrants since last year, the tens of thousands in Italy have nowhere to go. The EU came up with a plan to relocate around 160,000 asylum seekers stuck in Italy and Greece but so far only 20,000 have been resettled. (Telegraph, July 4, 2017)
CONGRESS ADDING $705 MILLION AID TO ISRAEL (Washington) — Congressional committees provided a total of $705 million for research and development and procurement funding for the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 US-Israel cooperative missile defense systems. This funding represents a $558 million increase above the president’s budget request for these programs, and $105 million over last year’s adopted funding level. The funds appear to contradict an agreement between the Obama and Israel in last year’s package of $38 billion in military assistance over the next decade. While the package was the biggest ever US military aid to any country, it came with what appeared to be concessions by Netanyahu. Those concessions included Israel’s promise not to seek additional funds from Congress beyond what will be guaranteed annually in the new package. (Jewish Press, June 30, 2017)
RAFAEL UNVEILS THE ‘DRONE DOME’ WEAPON SYSTEM (Tel Aviv) — Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. defense contractor showed off its anti-drone laser weapon system, the Drone Dome, this week at the Paris Air Show. The system detects, tracks and neutralizes hostile drones using smart sensors and electronic jamming equipment. According to Rafael, Drone Dome is the first such system on the market to use a laser beam to locate and destroy hostile drones. The system uses an electro-optical/infrared sensor and radar to detect a threat. Once picked up, the data is combined, correlated and the operated is alerted to the presence of the hostile UAV. (Jewish Press, June 22, 2017)
JEWISH COUPLE SECRETLY WEDS ON TEMPLE MOUNT (Jerusalem) — For the first time in over a year and only the third time in 2000 years, a Jewish couple made their wedding vows on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Tom Nisani, of Students for the Temple Mount, married fellow activist Sarah Lurcat at the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, which is under the administration of the Jordanian Waqf (Islamic Trust). Non-Muslims are prohibited from praying or showing emotion on Har Habayit, the traditional Hebrew term for the Jewish holy site. Dressed casually and uttering the marriage blessing nonchalantly, as if merely conversing, they aroused no suspicion. (United With Israel, July 2, 2017)
Indian Media Hails New Era in Ties With Israel on Eve of Historic Visit by PM Modi: Ben Cohen, Algemeiner, July 3, 2017 —While Israel’s press is excitedly preparing for the first official visit by an Indian Prime Minister when Narendra Modi lands in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Indian media outlets and political pundits have been no less enthused, hailing the visit as an unprecedented economic and political opportunity.
End the False Israeli-Palestinian Equality: Daniel Pipes, Israel Hayom, July 5, 2017—Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's decision to visit Jerusalem but not Ramallah has prompted much comment. The expectation of equal treatment goes back to the Oslo Accords' signing in Sep. 1993, when the prime minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, represented his government in the handshake with Yasir Arafat, the much-despised chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization. No one found it strange or inappropriate at the time but things look differently nearly a quarter century later.
Gaza’s Inhabitants Share the Blame with Hamas: Prof. Hillel Frisch, BESA, July 5, 2017—Time and again, Israeli officials and politicians have claimed that Israel has no dispute with Gaza’s residents but only with the Hamas movement, which controls the area in which they live. Many further assert that Israel must act to improve Gazans’ economic welfare, even if this means (as it undoubtedly does) that Hamas will increase its revenue through taxation of the incoming goods.
Medieval Times in the Modern Middle East: George Friedman and Kamran Bokhari, Mauldin Economics, June 26, 2017—If geopolitics studies how nations behave, then the nation is singularly important. Nation-states are the defining feature of the modern political era. They give people a collective identity and a pride of place… even when their borders are artificially drawn, as they were in the Middle East.
