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WEDNESDAY’S “NEWS IN REVIEW” ROUND-UP

 

 

 

On Topic Links

           

Temple Mount Terrorist Attack Highlights Deep Bonds Between Jewish and Druze Communities, Says Israeli Rabbi: Ben Cohen, Algemeiner, July 14, 2017

Why Do the Hungarians and Netanyahu Want Each Other?: Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post, July 18, 2017

Abu Mazen Plays Losing Hand Badly in Gaza Strip: Al-Monitor, July 16, 2017

After Witnessing ISIS’s Genocide And Slavery, ‘Jewish Schindler’ Sprang Into Action: Bradley Martin, The Federalist, June 28, 2017

 

 

WEEKLY QUOTES

 

"The murderous terror attack at the Temple Mount was stopped by the courageous Israeli policemen who threw themselves in the way, and prevented an even greater disaster…We cannot allow for agents of murder, who desecrate the name of God, to drag us into a bloody war…We will deal with a heavy hand against all the arms of terror, and its perpetrators…The State of Israel will defend its sovereignty and its citizens with a strong hand, and will not allow anyone to provoke the region into a bloody war…It is time for the Arab leadership in Israel, and even outside it, to express a clear position against this criminal attack." — Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, responding to an attack in Jerusalem's Old City. On Friday, three terrorists descended the Temple Mount armed with weapons, and fired at Israeli police officers who were standing near the Lions Gate. Two of the officers were critically wounded and later died and a third was lightly wounded. (Arutz Sheva, July 14, 2017)

 

“Shooting on the Temple Mount is a grave and delicate occurrence, with diplomatic and international significance, and it will be dealt with accordingly.” — Israeli police statement. Keenly aware of the sensitivities, the Israeli police described Friday’s events as “extraordinary and extreme.” The police identified the slain officers as Advanced Staff Sgt. Maj. Hayil Satawi, 30; and Advanced Staff Sgt. Maj. Kamil Shnaan, 22. Both officers were members of the country’s Druze community. Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security service, identified the assailants as residents of Umm el-Fahm, a large Arab town in central Israel, near the border with the West Bank: Muhammad Ahmed Jabarin, 29; Muhammad Hamid Jabarin, 19; and Muhammad Ahmed Mufdal Jabarin, 19. (New York Times, July 14, 2017)

 

“The recent closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque…and preventing Muslims from practing [sic] their faith in complete freedom for the first time in half a century, is a dangerous escalation of the Zionists’ plans to divide Al-Aqsa Mosque and seize full control of it.” — Hamas press release, following the temporary closing of the Temple Mount by Israel following Friday’s attack. The Temple Mount was reopened Monday with additional security measures to prevent violence, including metal detectors—a change that was protested by Palestinians. Yet the press release issued by Hamas contained an unexpected admission: that prior to the closure, Muslims had been able to practice their faith “in complete freedom for… half a century.” Half a century ago is when Israel conquered the Temple Mount during Six-Day War. Such an admission contradicts decades of Hamas rhetoric about Jerusalem. (The Tower, July 18, 2017)

 

“The issue of metal detection machines…is a matter that has become routine in the holy places because of terrorism, which strikes without discrimination and in most places regardless of the sanctity of the different religions.” — King Salman of Saudi Arabia. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Salman personally intervened in the Temple Mount crisis via the U.S., according to a report by the Arabic-language Elaph. The Saudi king expressed no reservations about Israel’s decision to upgrade security by installing metal detectors at the entrances to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount in the wake of the terror attack last Friday. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad Hussein, warned followers that their prayers would not be accepted in Heaven if they pass through the metal detectors to enter the Temple Mount for prayers in Al Aqsa Mosque — the third holiest site in Islam. (Jewish Press, July 18, 2017)

 

"The Muslim Brotherhood calls upon the sons of the Islamic Umma (nation), its Ulema (Muslim religious scholars), figures and blocs for an Intifada in order to stop the (alleged Israeli) violations of holy sites.” — Muslim Brotherhood statement, following Friday’s terrorist attack. The Brotherhood admitted its main motivation for "our intended uprising" is to "pressure all Western governments, Arab regimes and international organizations to intervene to stop violations by gangs of the Zionist entity…" Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad followed the Muslim Brotherhood's lead with a joint statement "calling on the masses of the Palestinian people to prepare and declare a general mobilization to defend al-Aqsa Mosque and to escalate the Quds Intifada." (IPT, July 17, 2017)

 

“We will never surrender to the messages of hate…We will not surrender to anti-Zionism because it is a re-invention of anti-Semitism.” — French President Emanuel Macron. Macron stated during an event marking 75 years since the Vel d’Hiv roundup that sent French Jews to the death camps, that France would not join the rising tide of hate directed at the State of Israel. Speaking directly to visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Macron – as have past French leaders – acknowledged the ghosts of the past. “Not a single German participated,” he said. “Time does its work. Archives open, the truth emerges, stark, irrevocable. It imposes itself upon us all.” (Jewish Press, July 16, 2017)

 

“…The Government of Hungary, in a previous period, committed a mistake, even committed a sin, when it did not protect the Jewish citizens of Hungary…I want to make it clear that it is our belief that every single Hungarian government has the obligation to protect and defend all of its citizens, regardless of their birth and origins.” — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Standing next to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Hungarian leader also promised a “zero tolerance policy” toward antisemitism. Orban said Hungary failed to live up to its commitment to its citizens during World War II, “both morally or in other ways. And this is a sin, because we decided back then, instead of protecting the Jewish community, to collaborate with the Nazis. I made it very clear to the prime minister that this is something that can never, ever happen again, that the Hungarian government will in the future protect all its citizens.” (Times of Israel, July 18, 2017)

 

“I never thought that he could go so bad…Some parts of Turkish society have lost their ability to think…Nothing like this has been seen before in Turkey…It can only be compared with Lenin and Stalin or Saddam in Iraq.” — Fethullah Gulen, the cleric who was accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of planning a coup attempt one year ago from his gated U.S. compound. Gulen urged that the West stand up to what he called Turkey’s increasingly authoritarian leader, repeating his declaration that he has never been involved in any coup-plotting. Since last July, Turkey has arrested or driven from their jobs tens of thousands of people Turkish authorities accuse of supporting Gulen. The government has closed hospitals and schools affiliated with his social movement. (Wall Street Journal, July 15, 2017)

 

“Iran is smarter than America…They achieved their goals on the ground. America didn’t protect Iraq. They just toppled the regime and handed the country over to Iran.” — Nijat al-Taie, a Sunni member of Iraq’s provincial council. Over the past three years, Americans have focused on the battle against I.S. in Iraq, returning more than 5,000 troops to the country and helping to force the militants out of Mosul.  But Iran never lost sight of its mission: to dominate its neighbor and to use the country to effectively control a corridor from Tehran to the Mediterranean. (New York Times, July 15, 2017) 

 

“…A disappointing intellectual failing may also lie behind (Gilles Kepel’s Terror in France) reticence. From his deep reading in the propaganda works of Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and other Middle Eastern and European jihadist groups, he suggests that the principal aim of jihadists in Europe is to produce a Western “overreaction” that, in turn, will finally persuade the silent Muslim majority to join the battle for a caliphate. Hence, according to Kepel, in responding to terrorism, Western governments risk falling into a trap set by jihadists. He therefore ultimately sides with a conventional and quite minimalist view: by all means use the police to track suspects, but don’t overdo things and don’t engage in any kind of culture war. Many Western politicians say the same thing these days, and so far the results have not been good. Indeed, to focus on “what the terrorists want,” even in so indisputably erudite a manner, is to be too clever by half. In countering jihadism and Islamism, the focus should instead be on what we need: namely, an unabashed defense of the Western way of life combined with a concrete strategy to diffuse the threat.” — Neil Rogachevsky. (Mosaic, June 29, 2017)

 

“President Donald Trump’s improbable speech in Poland…and the reaction to it — may be a signal moment in his presidency…For many, apparently the flawed messenger is the only message. This time the laudations were here in Poland; the reaction at home was fierce…The Washington Post: “Trump’s White Nationalist Dog Whistles in Warsaw.” The Atlantic: “The Racial and Religious Paranoia of Trump’s Warsaw Speech.” Doug Saunders of The Globe and Mail took leave entirely of the actual speech, conjuring up the darkest of his anxieties: “(Trump) shocked European observers by using the language of extreme-right and white-supremacist movements to make the case for ethnic exclusion and isolationism.” White supremacist? What might have Saunders written about Churchill’s History of the English Speaking Peoples, or John Paul’s reading of Poland as a land of “particularly responsible witness”? Trump is no Churchill, and certainly no John Paul, but the deranged reaction to a rather standard defence of Western civilization was a clarifying moment. The “European observers” of whom Saunders wrote are horrified by Trump not only because of his horrible habits; they are horrified by someone who thinks that there is distinctive culture of liberty that is worthy of a defence.” — Father Raymond J. de Souza (National Post, July 12, 2017)

 

Contents

 

 

SHORT TAKES

 

CANADA BACKTRACKS ON BANNING ISRAEL LABELS FOR WEST BANK WINES (Toronto) — Hours after Canadian food inspectors ordered liquor stores to stop selling wines made in the West Bank, saying their label identifying them as Israeli contravenes Ottawa’s policy on the territory, Canada’s federal food inspection agency backtracked on the decision. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario said earlier that they had notified wine sellers that it would be unacceptable to declare Israel as the country of origin for wine products that aren’t produced within Israel’s formal borders. International Christian Embassy Jerusalem’s Canadian Director Donna Holbrook was heavily involved in the campaign to have the directive reversed. (Times of Israel, July 14, 2017)

 

UN SAYS RECORD NUMBER OF AFGHAN CIVILIANS KILLED (Kabul) — The U.N. says Afghanistan’s war killed a record number of civilians in the first six months of this year, blaming Taliban insurgents for most of the deaths. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights called the numbers “horrifying,” and they “can never fully convey the sheer human suffering of the people of Afghanistan.” Of the 1,662 civilians killed this year, 40 percent died as a result of suicide bombings, improvised explosive devises and pressure-plate devises. More women and children were also among the dead this year. That represents a 2 percent rise from the previous year. (Washington Post, July 17, 2017)

 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS NEW IRAN SANCTIONS (Washington) — The Trump administration unveiled a new slate of economic sanctions against Iran over its ballistic missile program and destabilizing actions in the region, the day after announcing that it will grudgingly recertify Tehran’s compliance with the nuclear agreement reached under Obama. The U.S. Treasury Department designated 16 entities and individuals for supporting “illicit Iranian actors or transnational criminal activity.” Some of those targeted had supported the Iranian military or Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by developing drones, fast attack boats and other military equipment. (The Hill, July 18, 2017)

 

AMERICAN STUDENT SENTENCED IN IRAN (Tehran) — An Iranian court has sentenced an American graduate student to 10 years in prison for spying. Xiyue Wang, a Chinese-born U.S. citizen, was arrested last summer while conducting research in Iran for his doctoral dissertation at Princeton University. Fars, a semiofficial Iranian news agency said Wang pursued espionage “through the cover of being a researcher.” Wang is the latest American to be arrested in Iran on espionage charges. All of the others are dual U.S.-Iranian citizens. The issue of the Americans detained in Iran are likely to be a focus of the Trump administration’s effort to pressure Tehran on a range of issues. (Atlantic, July 17, 2017)

 

TURKISH COURT JAILS ACTIVISTS (Tehran) — Six human rights activists, including the local director of Amnesty International, were jailed by a Turkish court for allegedly aiding an armed terror group. Earlier this month, ten activists, including the six prisoners, were forcibly removed from a digital security workshop and detained in Istanbul. The remaining four activists—who hail from the Citizen’s Assembly, Women’s Coalition, Equal Rights Watch Association, and Rights Initiative—have been released on bail, still await a trial and are forbidden from traveling abroad. (Atlantic, July 18, 2017)

 

FEMALE I.S. FIGHTERS MAY BE CANADIAN (Montreal) — Two female I.S. fighters from Canada have been captured in Mosul, unconfirmed reports suggest. As many as 20 women from here have joined I.S. in Iraq or Syria, says one of Canada’s leading experts on radicalization. Media reports suggest that Iraqi forces cleaning up the remnants of I.S. defences captured 20 or more female fighters — including women from Germany, Russia, Turkey and Canada — in a secret tunnel under the city. Global Affairs Canada said it was looking into the story but had not confirmed that any of this country’s citizens had been detained. (National Post, July 19, 2017)

 

MUSIC PLATFORMS DROP ANTISEMITIC CANADIAN RAPPER (Montreal) — Music distributors have begun removing songs recorded by Iraqi-Canadian rapper Jonathan Azaziah, who records under the name Madd Cold. On Sunday, the songs were no longer available on popular platforms like Soundcloud and Spotify. The Hate Crimes Unit of the Montreal Police has launched an investigation. Azaziah, who calls himself “the Iraqi destroyer of Jewish lies,” has published songs where he calls members of the Jewish community “demons” and “parasites,” while describing them as servants of Shaytan, the Arabic term for Satan. (Algemeiner, July 16, 2017)

 

ROGER WATERS COMPARES ISRAEL TO NAZI GERMANY IN FACEBOOK Q&A (London) — In a live video chat on Facebook, Roger Waters compared the Israeli government to Nazi Germany, and said there were no harsher regimes in the world. Speaking to BDS leader Omar Barghouti, the lead singer of Pink Floyd said there was no point in having dialogue with Israelis and Israeli artists. During the session, hundreds of pro-Israel activists flooded the chat and accused Waters of being a hypocrite and an antisemite. The British rocker has become one of the most prominent voices over the past decade in the movement to boycott Israel. His most recent battle was with Radiohead, which refused to cancel its show scheduled for this week in Tel Aviv. (Jerusalem Post, July 16, 2017)

 

SWEDISH MUSIC FESTIVALS HIT BY REPORTS OF RAPES BY 'MIGRANTS' (Stockholm) — Police in Sweden are investigating five reported rapes and nearly forty instances of groping at two music festivals. “Foreign young men” were blamed by police for the attacks and at least two migrant youths were under arrest. Police recorded five reports of rapes and 12 of sexual molestation at Bravalla, Sweden's biggest music festival, and 35 reports of sexual molestation at the Putte i Parken festival, where the youngest victim was twelve years old. In January, Swedish police and media were accused of covering up a spate of sexual offences involving young migrants at We Are Sthlm, a youth festival in Stockholm. The Bravalla festival has called off next year's event after reports of sexual assault. (Telegraph, July 4, 2017)

 

RADICAL NGO BREAKING THE SILENCE FACES WAVE OF EVENT CANCELLATIONS (Tel Aviv) — An event featuring Breaking the Silence, a leftist NGO that aims to expose the IDF's human rights violations, was canceled at Kibbutz Neve Ur, in northern Israel, because of pressure from residents. The cancellation follows a wave of similar cancellations of events featuring the controversial group in other small communities. Breaking the Silence collects testimonies from Israeli soldiers on alleged human rights violations committed by troops against Palestinians. The group often elicits criticism for disparaging the Israeli military. Residents of another northern kibbutz, Kibbutz Mizra, are currently calling to cancel a similar conference. (Israel Hayom, July 4, 2017)

 

FAR-RIGHT EXTREMISTS CONVERGE AT MEMORIAL FOR LAWYER (Toronto) — The Toronto Public Library is standing by its decision to rent out space for a memorial for Barbara Kulaszka, a controversial lawyer who defended some of Canada’s most notorious accused hatemongers and antisemitic conspiracy theorists. Kulaszka, who died last month aged 64, is famous among the Canadian far right for winning acquittals under the law for people charged with hate crimes. Paul Fromm, a former Kulaszka client who has become a sort of leader of Canada’s racist right, was expected to speak at the memorial, along with Marc Lemire, who was found to have violated Canada’s old law against internet hate speech in the last case before its repeal. (National Post, July 12, 2017)

 

JORDANIAN SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR KILLING U.S. SOLDIERS (Amman) — A Jordanian soldier was sentenced to life in prison for the deaths of three U.S. soldiers whom he shot at an air base in November. The soldier, First Sgt. Tawayha, had pleaded not guilty, saying that he opened fire because the Americans had failed to stop their car as they approached the gate of the air base. Jordanian officials initially believed his account, but later backed away from it, and charged Tawayha with murder. One of the American soldier’s father called the conviction “a good first step” but said that the victims’ families other demands had not been met: The F.B.I. be given a chance to interview Sergeant Tawayha; that other guards who were at the gate that day be held responsible; and that Jordan extradite Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi, who has been charged in the U.S. with involvement in a 2001 attack on a pizza restaurant in Jerusalem that killed 15 people, including two Americans. (New York Times, July 15, 2017)

 

HAIRDRESSER FIRED OVER SHABBAT DISPUTE WINS DISCRIMINATION CASE (Montreal) — A Jewish hairdresser in Montreal won a discrimination lawsuit against a former employer who fired him after he was told he was not allowed to work on Shabbat. Richard Zilberg was hired at a salon in 2011 and worked six days a week, including Saturdays. According to court documents, his employer Iris Gressy, who is also Jewish, told Zilberg in July 2012 that he would no longer work on Saturdays following her new policy of not allowing her Jewish employees to work on Shabbat. Gressy fired Zilberg a month later after discovering that he told a salon client she forbid his from working on Saturdays due to his religion. A judge ruled that Gressy’s decision to prohibit Zilberg from working on Shabbat violated his right to equality in employment due to his religion. (Algemeiner, July 16, 2017)

 

ONTARIO STUDENT UNION APOLOGIZES TO PRO-ISRAEL ORGANIZATION (Toronto) — A group of pro-Israel activists denied entry into a university’s social justice fair have received an apology from the school’s student association, and an invitation back. The Student Association at Durham College and University of Ontario Institute of Technology banned Hasbara Fellowships from its social justice fair last year, saying the organization “seems closely tied to the state of Israel,” and that based on the student association’s support for BDS they could not allow them in. Hasbara filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal. The student association apologized and invited Hasbara to “a future multicultural event” at UOIT. (National Post, July 17, 2017)

 

BEN GURION AIRPORT RANKED IN TOP 10 (Tel Aviv) — Ben Gurion once again made Travel + Leisure’s list of top ten international Airports, although it lost 2 points from its 6th place ranking in 2016 with an 8th place position. Ben Gurion ranked ahead of Amsterdam’s Airport Schiphol which was rated number 10 and the Abu Dhabi International Airport in 9th place. The airports were rated according to the comfortable travel experience, amenities such as showers and bathrooms, entertainment, fitness facilities and healthy eating choices. The 2017 World’s Best airports list had a strong showing from Asia and the Middle East, but only two European airports, Amsterdam and Zurich. (Jewish Press, July 16, 2017)

 

Contents

On Topic Links

 

Temple Mount Terrorist Attack Highlights Deep Bonds Between Jewish and Druze Communities, Says Israeli Rabbi: Ben Cohen, Algemeiner, July 14, 2017 —A leading Israeli rabbi who works closely with Druze religious leaders spoke on Friday of the deep bonds between the Jewish and Druze communities, hours after two Druze border police officers were shot dead during a terrorist attack at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Why Do the Hungarians and Netanyahu Want Each Other?: Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post, July 18, 2017—Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in Budapest on Monday, marking the first time a sitting Israeli prime minister has visited Hungary since the country emerged from Communist rule in 1989. However, the run-up to the visit – Netanyahu will meet with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, as well as take part in a summit of the four-country Visegrad group made up of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia – has been anything but smooth.

Abu Mazen Plays Losing Hand Badly in Gaza Strip: Al-Monitor, July 16, 2017—Adnan Abu Amer writes that “the relationship between Fatah and Egypt has reached the bone-breaking stage, especially with [Palestinian President Mahmoud] Abbas as head of the movement.”

After Witnessing ISIS’s Genocide And Slavery, ‘Jewish Schindler’ Sprang Into Action: Bradley Martin, The Federalist, June 28, 2017—At a high-end car and motorcycle dealership in Montreal, a Canadian-Jewish businessman has made it his mission to save Christian and Yazidi girls from ISIS. What began as just another business venture for Steve Maman, a car dealer specializing in luxury automobiles, would turn into saving the lives of thousands of people.

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