What I Won at the Maccabiah: Anthony Housefather, Times of Israel, July 23, 2017
Malice on the Mount: The Hate Behind the Latest Mideast Crisis: Benny Avni, New York Post, July 24, 2017
Israeli Sovereignty Over the Temple Mount Is Crucial for Peace: Prof. Hillel Frisch, BESA, July 24, 2017
Turkey Opens Trial of 17 Journalists on Terrorism Charges: Carlotta Gall, New York Times, July 24, 2017
WEEKLY QUOTES
“The hateful incitement and glorification of violence by the Palestinian Authority has led to the murder of innocent Israelis, stabbed to death in their home…The international community must demand that Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority put an end to these heinous attacks and stop their ongoing encouragement of violence.” — Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon. Danon, has called on the UN Security Council to condemn the horrific terror attack Friday night that left three family members dead and a fourth gravely wounded as they sat at the Sabbath table celebrating the birth of a new grandson. (Jewish Press, July 22, 2017)
"I declare the suspension of all contacts with the Israeli side on all levels until it cancels its measures at Al-Aksa mosque and preserves the status quo." — PA President Abbas. Abbas ordered the suspension of all official contact with Israel until it removed new security measures at Temple Mount. Palestinians clashed with Israeli forces outside the shrine for days and on Friday three were killed when fighting broke out as people protested against the installation of metal detectors at entrances to the Temple Mount. Hours after the announcement, three Israelis were killed and one wounded in a stabbing attack in the West Bank town of Halamish. The metal detectors have since been taken down. Abbas said on Tuesday he will maintain a freeze on security coordination with Israel “unless all measures go back to what they were before July 14…All the new Israeli measures on the ground from that date to the present are supposed to disappear,” he said. “Then things will return to normal in Jerusalem and we will continue our work after that in relation to bilateral relations between us and them.” (Jerusalem Post, July 22, Times of Israel, July 26, 2017)
“Everyone who knows Israel is aware that restrictions on Al-Aqsa mosque are not due to safety concerns…When Israeli soldiers carelessly pollute the grounds of Al-Aqsa with their combat boots by using simple issues as a pretext and then easily spill blood there, the reason is we have not done enough to stake our claim over Jerusalem…From here I make a call to all Muslims: Anyone who has the opportunity should visit Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa mosque. Come, let’s all protect Jerusalem.”—President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. Erdogan said he had heard that Israel had removed the metal detectors from the entrances to the Temple Mount for Muslim worshippers and hoped that “the rest will follow…We expect Israel to take steps for the peace of the region,” he added. Israeli ministers decided that the metal detectors set up outside the Temple Mount — in the wake of a terror attack at the holy site in which two Israeli police officers were killed — would be removed, and replaced with security measures based on “advanced technologies.” (JTA, July 25, 2017)
“The days of the Ottoman Empire have passed. Jerusalem was, is, and will always be the capital of the Jewish people. In stark contrast to the past, the government in Jerusalem is committed to security, liberty, freedom of worship and respect for the rights of all minorities. Those who live in glass palaces should be wary of casting stones.” — Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In a statement issued Tuesday, the Israeli Ministry called Erdogan’s remarks “absurd, unfounded and distorted.” “He would be better off dealing with the difficult problems facing his own country,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said. The Prime Minister’s Office in Israel also responded, saying in a brief statement: “It would be interesting to see what Erdogan would say to the residents of northern Cyprus or to the Kurds. Erdogan is the last one who can preach to Israel.” (JTA, July 25, 2017)
“Any Arab, any terrorist, who comes to kill, must not come out alive…He must be killed, not injured…Last week, two Druze police officers who were watching over us were murdered by terrorists…A few years ago there was a terror attack in Tel Nof (when four rabbis and a Druze police officer were killed, November 2014).” — Chief Sephardi Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef. Rabbi Yosef dedicated his Saturday night class at the Yazdi synagogue in Jerusalem to the memory of the murder victims in the community of Halamish Friday, and to wishes of a quick recovery to the family’s grandmother who was critically injured in the same attack. The Chief Rabbi was very critical of the fact that the terrorist attacker had not been eliminated at the scene of the crime. (Jewish Press, July 23, 2017)
“We still stand behind Dyke March Chicago’s decision to remove the Zionist contingent from their event, & we won’t allow Zionist displays at ours.” — Organizers of SlutWalk Chicago, part of a protest movement that “fights rape culture, victim blaming, and slut shaming.” After the scandal involving the ejection of Jewish women carrying Star of David pride flags at Chicago’s Dyke March, SlutWalk Chicago has announced that it will ban “Zionist displays” from its upcoming protest. In one exchange defending the Dyke March decision to exclude the Jewish women, SlutWalk organizers justified the action: “They were kicked out after a discussion where they made their Zionist beliefs known and refused to back down.” The Star of David flag was banned, “because its connections to the oppression enacted by Israel is too strong for it to be neutral & in context it was used as a Zionist symbol.” SlutWalk’s organizers reportedly insisted that anti-Zionism is a legitimate progressive belief, and that any linkage with antisemitism should be dismissed as a discrediting tactic. (Algemeiner, July 20, 2017)
“Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio, television and the internet…To hell with them! They don’t want anything done for the public good. Our incapacity is their livelihood.” — Sen. John McCain. McCain stood with his party on Tuesday, casting a crucial vote in the Republican drive to repeal “Obamacare.” Confronting an aggressive brain cancer, the 80-year-old Arizonan served notice he would not vote for the GOP legislation as it stands now. Debates in the Senate have become “more partisan, more tribal, more of the time than at any time I can remember,” he lamented. With President Trump threatening electoral retribution for Republicans who don’t toe the line, McCain urged senators to stand up for their own constitutional status. “Whether or not we are of the same party, we are not the president’s subordinates,” he said. “We are his equal!” (National Post, July 26, 2017)
“Hezbollah is a menace to the Lebanese state, people and region…The group continues to increase its military arsenal which threatens Israel.” — President Trump. On July 25th, Trump hosted Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the White House. Hariri is seeking continued support, estimated at $80 million, and support for 1.5 million Syrian refugees who are being hosted in Lebanon. In addition Trump linked Hezbollah to Iran and claimed that together they “fuel a humanitarian catastrophe in Syria. It portrays itself as a defender of Lebanese interests but its true interest is itself and its sponsor, Iran.” He also spoke harshly of Syrian President Assad, claiming he is “horrible” and that if the US had punished him several years ago under Obama then “I don’t believe you’d have Russia and Iran in Syria today, to the extent they are, or not at all.” Although Trump articulated a clear stance against Hezbollah, he seemed to not understand its role in Lebanon. Hezbollah is a partner in the current government of Lebanon, controlling the ministries of Industry and Sports and Youth. It is allied to President Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement which controls the Ministry of Defense portfolio and its allies in Amal, another Shia movement, control the ministry of Finance. (Jerusalem Post, July 26, 2017)
“Last year, after President-elect Trump picked Jeff Sessions to be attorney general, The New York Times editorial page called the Alabama senator “radical” and “extreme” and tarred him as an unrepentant racist and xenophobe. Last week, after Trump criticized Sessions and others, the same editorial page suddenly discovered a new fondness for Sessions. The Times now insisted that Trump had impugned his “integrity” and that of others “who have spent their careers respecting and protecting” the law. It’s not likely that Sessions is grateful for the embrace. He knows he’s just a pawn — dirt when Trump embraces him, and a saint when Trump criticizes him. Media hypocrisy doesn’t get any more blatant.” — Michael Goodwin (New York Post, July 22, 2017)
“As Mr. Obama tells it, all of this reflexive Obama bashing created “an environment where somebody like a Donald Trump can thrive. He’s just doing more of what has been done for the last seven and a half years.” In other words, Republicans didn’t clean up the standing water in their own backyard and now they’re complaining about mosquitoes. One irony is that even as Mr. Obama denied any liability for Mr. Trump, he lapsed into the same rhetorical habit that helped fuel the businessman’s ascent. For Mr. Obama, principled opposition to his policies is always illegitimate or motivated by bad faith. Like the President’s nonstop moral lectures about “our values” and “who we are as Americans,” by which he means liberal values and who we are as Democrats, he reads his critics out of politics. No wonder so many Americans feel disenfranchised and powerless.” — Joseph Rago, March 12, 2016. Rago died last week at age 34. (Wall Street Journal, July 21, 2017)
SHORT TAKES
ISRAEL-JORDAN EMBASSY CRISIS ENDS (Amman) — After more than 24 hours, the crisis between Israel and Jordan surrounding the embassy in Amman concluded. All Israeli diplomats from the embassy arrived in Israel. The the embassy staff's evacuation was made possible after a phone call between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Jordan's King Abdullah. During their conversation, the king urged Netanyahu to solve the crisis surrounding the Temple Mount as quickly as possible, specifically calling on Netanyahu to remove the metal detectors. For more than 24 hours, some 20 diplomats and security guards were locked in the Israeli Embassy in Amman after a highly unusual security incident in which an Israeli security guard shot and killed a Jordanian civilian who attacked him. (Ha’aretz, July 24, 2017)
3 HALAMISH TERROR ATTACK VICTIMS LAID TO REST (Jerusalem) — The three members of the Salomon family who were murdered Friday by a Palestinian were laid to rest. 70-year-old Yosef Tzvi Salomon and his two children, 46-year-old Chaya Esther and 36-year-old Elad Menachem were stabbed to death by 19-year-old Omar al-Abed, a Palestinian from the neighboring village of Kobar who burst into their home during a Shabbat dinner. Yosef’s wife, Tova Salomon was moderately injured in the attack. As reported, the knife used by al-Abed in the attack was (purchased) just days before the attack. Al-Abed carried the knife along with a bag and Quran. (Jerusalem Online, July 23, 2017)
PETAH TIKVA STABBING ATTACK (Jerusalem) — A 32-year-old Ar’ara resident was stabbed in the neck on Monday in Petah Tikva in a terror attack. The victim is in moderate condition. Police have the terrorist, a 21-year-old Palestinian from Qalqilya, in custody. According to the initial investigation, the terrorist is a resident of Qalqilya who was residing in Israel illegally. He stabbed the Israeli next to a shawarma stand in the city. The Israel Police stated that the terrorist claimed during his interrogation that he carried out the stabbing attack “for Al-Aqsa." (Jerusalem Online, July 24, 2017)
MUSLIM-ARAB KILLED BY OWN EXPLOSIVE DEVICE (Jerusalem) — A Muslim Arab was killed in clashes with security forces in al-Azariya, bringing the total number of Arab deaths in riots over the weekend to four. Arab sources said he was shot by Israeli forces, but the IDF said he had attempted to throw an improvised explosive device, which blew up and killed him. The Arab man was named as 24-year-old Yousif Kashur. The incident followed the murder of an Israeli man and two of his adult children were murdered by a Muslim-Arab terrorist in the town of Neve Tzuf (Halamish). In addition, hundreds of Arabs were wounded as thousands people continued to protest the installation of security measures at the Temple Mount following the murder of two policemen on July 14. (Jewish Press, July 23, 2017)
ISTANBUL SYNAGOGUE ATTACKED (Istanbul) — Activists from a Turkish fascist youth movement whose leader enjoys close relations with Erdogan attacked the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul, throwing rocks at the building during a protest against Israel’s decision to install metal detectors at Temple Mount. The group threatened further protests. Alperen Ocaklari — an ultranationalist youth organization linked to the nationalist Great Union Party (BBP) — arrived at the synagogue with the message that Turkish Jews would not be permitted to worship freely as long as Israel controls access to the Temple Mount site. The BBP Party is electorally insignificant and tends to support much larger parties, like the current ruling AKP Party, as a means of maintaining influence. (Algemeiner, July 21, 2017)
WCC ENDORSES PALESTINIAN PROTESTS OVER TEMPLE MOUNT (Jerusalem) — The World Council of Churches (WCC) has declared its support for the Palestinian campaign against Israeli control of Jerusalem’s holy sites, describing new Israeli security measures at the Temple Mount as a “corrosive act in the midst of an already-fragile peace.” The WCC’s attitude to Israel has been hostile for several decades. The organization has a deliberately vague policy towards BDS, saying it does not support a boycott, but endorsing at the same time “all non-violent efforts to end the occupation (including considering appropriate economic and other measures).” (Algemeiner, July 23, 2017)
UNIVERSITY CONDEMNED FOR ALLEGEDLY ASSISTING ANTI-ISRAEL MANDATE (Ottawa) — The University of Western Ontario was slammed by Jewish groups for its alleged role in assisting the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in its investigation into supposed Israeli violations of international law. The criticism followed revelations by UN Watch that the school has allegedly extended “support in kind” to Michael Lynk, the UN’s “special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967” and a Western law professor. The university’s reported contributions to Lynk’s work — which UN Watch called a “permanent, politicized, and prejudicial investigation” into Israel — have included the provision of “research assistants, office space and admin assistance.” UN Watch estimated the worth of these services to be $100,000. (Algemeiner, July 21, 2017)
ZOA CALLS FOR TILLERSON'S RESIGNATION (Washington) — The Zionist Organization of America called on Secretary of State Tillerson to resign over the State Department terrorism report that the ZOA called “bigoted, biased, anti-Semitic, Israel-hating (and) error-ridden.” In the report, the State Department listed as “continued drivers of violence” a “lack of hope in achieving Palestinian statehood, Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, settler violence against Palestinians…the perception that the Israeli government was changing the status quo on the Haram Al Sharif/Temple Mount, and IDF tactics that the Palestinians considered overly aggressive.” The report also said that Palestinian leaders had addressed incitement. The ZOA said the report directly contradicted multiple criticisms of the PA for incitement by Trump and the U.S. amb. to the UN Nikki Haley. (JTA, July 24, 2017)
U.S. AIRSTRIKE HITS AFGHAN SECURITY FORCES (Kabul) — An American airstrike in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand killed several members of the Afghan security forces, Afghan and American officials said Friday. The death toll was uncertain, but officials said at least nine police officers were killed. It was the latest blow to the Afghan forces in Helmand, an area where they have been suffering heavy casualties at the hands of the Taliban. It was the culmination of another bloody day for the Afghan police across the country. Earlier in the day, officials in northeastern Badakhshan Province said that as many as 35 police officers had been killed in a Taliban ambush. (New York Times, July 21, 2017)
IRAN THREATENS U.S. MILITARY BASES (Tehran) — An Iranian general warned the U.S. against imposing sanctions on the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), threatening U.S. military bases in the region. Major General Baqeri warned U.S. lawmakers to exercise more “caution” and “think deeper” about the decisions on new anti-Iran sanctions. His comments come a month after the Senate passed a bill imposing new sanctions on Iran. The sanctions on Iran target individuals involved in the Islamic Republic's ballistic missile program, as well as anyone who does business with them. In addition, the resolution applies sanctions on Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization and calls for the enforcement an arms embargo against the organization. (Arutz Sheva, July 18, 2017)
ISLAMIST GROUPS LOSE CHARITY STATUS (Ottawa) — Canadian authorities have stripped two former affiliates of the Islamic Society of North America's Canada chapter (ISNA-Canada) of their charitable status after discovering financial ties between the organizations and a Pakistani militant group. ISNA – Canada and the Canadian Islamic Trust Foundation lost their charity status for "non-compliance" following a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) audit. The CRA discovered several issues during the audit, including evidence that ISNA Islamic Services facilitated donations that may have ended up in the hands of Hizbul Mujahideen, a Kashmir-based militant group. (IPT, July 19, 2017)
NAZI PAINTING RETURNED TO HEIR OF OWNERS (London) — An heir of a prominent German banking family has recovered a Renaissance-era painting that was looted by the Nazis and then bought by Hermann Goering, who amassed a collection of more than 1,000 paintings. The artwork, The Raising Of Lazarus, by an anonymous German artist, was salvaged by the Monuments Men at the end of World War II before entering the Bavarian State Paintings Collection in 1961, where it remained until now. The Monuments Men were an army unit that also tapped on the expertise of curators and art historians to search for stolen artworks to return them to rightful owners. (New York Times, July 24, 2017)
EX-NAZI INTERPRETER STRIPPED OF CITIZENSHIP FOR 4TH TIME (Ottawa) — For the fourth time, the federal government has stripped Helmut Oberlander of his Canadian citizenship. And for the fourth time, Oberlander will fight it, having won three previous court challenges. Oberlander, 93, of Waterloo, Ont., was an interpreter for the Nazis and served in Einsatzkommando 10a, which has been described as a group of mobile killing squads that targeted Jewish people in the former Soviet Union. Oberlander is not accused of taking part in any executions. The federal government has argued Oberlander failed to disclose his activities during the Second World War to Canadian officials when he obtained his citizenship in 1960. In 1995, the government started proceedings to strip Oberlander of his citizenship. The governor in council did so in 2001, 2007 and 2012. (CBC, July 25, 2017)
ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNEARTH 2,700-YEAR OLD RESERVOIR IN ISRAEL (Tel Aviv) — Israeli archaeologists digging near the city of Rosh Ha-Ayin have uncovered a remarkably large 2,700-year-old water system surrounded by wall engravings that dates back to the end of the Iron Age. The system, which includes a 13-foot-deep reservoir that is 66 feet long, was built beneath a large structure with walls that extended nearly 164 feet. Its size suggests that it was an administrative site built to control the region’s water supply. The site is being excavated ahead of the construction of a residential neighborhood outside Rosh Ha-Ayin, 14 miles east of Tel Aviv. (Fox News, July 24, 2017)
EGYPT SAID TO APPROVE RESTORATION OF ALEXANDRIA SYNAGOGUE (Cairo) — The Egyptian government has reportedly approved a $2.2 million plan to restore a 160-year-old synagogue in Alexandria. The Ministry of Antiquities’ Project Sector approved the funds for restoring the Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue, according to the head of the Islamic and Coptic Monuments Department. The synagogue was forced to close several months ago after part of its ceiling collapsed. The Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue can seat over 700 people and is considered to be one of the largest synagogues in the Middle East. It is the last active synagogue in Alexandria, which once was home to 50,000 Jews. Estimates today put the number of Jews living in all of Egypt at fewer than 50. (Times of Israel, July 8, 2017)
JEWISH HIGH JUMPER BARRED FROM OLYMPICS DIES AT 103 (Cairo) — Margaret Bergmann Lambert, a record-breaking athlete who was barred by the Nazis from competing for Germany in the 1936 Berlin Olympics because she was Jewish, died at the age of 103. Lambert was known in her prime as “The Great Jewish Hope.” Then known as Gretel Bergmann, she set the German record with a high-jump of five feet, three inches at a meet a month before the Games. But she soon received a letter from Nazi officials stating: “Looking back on your recent performances, you could not possibly have expected to be chosen for the team.” She immigrated to the U.S. the following year, and won the U.S. women’s high-jump championships in 1937 and 1938. But World War II forced the cancellation of the 1940 Olympics — she was never able to compete on the biggest stage in sports. (Forward, July 25, 2017)
‘ISRAEL FOREVER’ PETITION TO SIGN BALFOUR DECLARATION (London) — The Israel Forever Foundation is campaigning for support of the Balfour Declaration. Your signature will help ensure the continued recognition of the Jewish connection to Israel as set forth by Balfour in his historical statement 100 years ago. If you would like to sign the declaration click the following link: Israel Forever
What I Won at the Maccabiah: Anthony Housefather, Times of Israel, July 23, 2017—Walking into Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem as part of the Maccabiah Games opening ceremony is very special for any athlete.
Malice on the Mount: The Hate Behind the Latest Mideast Crisis: Benny Avni, New York Post, July 24, 2017 —Being right isn’t always enough. And, as Israel is learning the hard way amid continued violence in Jerusalem and beyond, sometimes it isn’t even close.
Israeli Sovereignty Over the Temple Mount Is Crucial for Peace: Prof. Hillel Frisch, BESA, July 24, 2017 —Why is Israeli sovereignty over the Temple Mount so important? Because international “partnership” arrangements in political hotspots not only rarely (if ever) work, but make matters much more volatile and dangerous. At the Temple Mount, only exclusive Israeli sovereignty can work.
Turkey Opens Trial of 17 Journalists on Terrorism Charges: Carlotta Gall, New York Times, July 24, 2017—Akin Ipek, one of Turkey’s richest men, was staying in the Park Tower Hotel in London when the police raided his television network in Istanbul. The raid was national news, so Mr. Ipek opened his laptop and watched an unnerving spectacle: an attack on his multibillion-dollar empire, in real time.
