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Contents: Weekly Quotes | Short Takes | On Topic Links
Download a pdf version of today’s Isranet Daily Briefing.pdf
Africa’s Real War on Women: Clifford May, Washington Times, Apr. 23, 2014
Learning the Lessons of the Past: Benjamin Netanyahu, Jerusalem Post, May 2, 2014
Jewish Nationalism is a Lot Older Than the Zionist Movement: Joel Lion, Montreal Gazette, May 5, 2014
For Israel Independence Day, Hamas Hatikvah Parody Video Shows Jews Forced Onto Ships to Germany (VIDEO): Joshua Levitt, Algemeiner, May 6, 2014
Yom HaZikaron: Israeli Families Discuss What it Means to Lose a Soldier, a Son, a Sibling: Ma’ayan Jaffe, Jewish Press, May 4, 2014
WEEKLY QUOTES
“Generations of Jews dreamed of the day when the Jewish people would have their own state in their historic homeland…and 66 years ago today that dream came true.” —U.S. President Barack Obama, sending his “warmest wishes” to the Israeli people as they celebrated 66 years of independence. In his Yom Ha’atzmaut message, Obama also pledged to work with Israel “to support a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict” with the Palestinian people. Obama noted that the US was the first nation to recognize the government of Israel in 1948. “Today we are still the first to come to Israel’s defense,” he continued. “The enduring relationship between our two nations, based on shared democratic values and our unwavering commitment to Israel’s security, has never been stronger.” (Jerusalem Post, May 6, 2014)
“We are obviously concerned by the continuing escalation of violence in Ukraine, which to me very much appears to be clearly what I would call a slow-motion invasion on the part of the Putin regime,” — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, at the start of talks with U.S. Gen. Philip Breedlove, the NATO’s operational commander in Europe. Breedlove warned that the international community’s military posture needs to strike the balance between resolve and not appearing provocative. The U.S. general is embarking on two days of talks with Canadian political and military leaders, just as heavy clashes erupt between Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces in Ukraine’s eastern region. (National Post, May 5, 2014)
“…There is absolutely no desire on the part of the Palestinians to reach an agreement with Israel,” —Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, speaking at an Independence Day reception for the diplomatic corps at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. Liberman said the Palestinian decision last month to apply for acceptance to 15 treaties and conventions, coupled with the Fatah-Hamas unity agreement, repeats a “long standing and familiar pattern of behavior by Abbas and the Palestinians. Whenever there is progress and a step forward in negotiations, the Palestinians take two steps back.” They were his toughest public comments about Abbas since 2012, when he called the Palestinian leader a “liar, coward and wimp.” (Jerusalem Post, May 6, 2014)
“I abducted your girls,” —Abubakar Shekau, leader of militant Islamist group Boko Haram. In a 57-minute video where he stands in front of an armoured car, clad in a camouflage jacket and with an assault rifle slung over his chest, Shekau confirmed that Boko Haram is behind the abduction more than 220 Nigerian schoolgirls. “I will sell them in the market, by Allah,” referring to the female students who were seized by armed men on April 14. “There is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell. I will sell women. I sell women…I said Western education should end…girls, you should go and get married” added Shekau (Globe & Mail, May 5, 2014)
“Without the Iranian prisoners, we couldn’t have reached this lifesaving deal. The regime never cared about its people, even its own soldiers,” — activist in Homs, Syria. Syrian rebels and the government recently reached a cease-fire in Homs, potentially giving hundreds of militants holed up there safe passage out in a deal that would bring the strategic city under government control. The deal would be a victory for the regime if both sides honor the agreement, giving it control over a now decimated city. In exchange for safe passage, rebels agreed to give up two Iranian nationals held hostage in the city of Aleppo, opposition activists say. Although the identities of the Iranians were unclear, activists said they may be part of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, elite forces that are bolstering the Assad government. (Wall Street Journal, May 2, 2014)
“Conducting trainings, exercises and drills to get prepared for operational goals is always on our agenda and Americans and all the world know that one of the operational goals of the IRGC Navy is destruction of the US naval force,” — Admiral Ali Fadavi, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in an interview to Iran’s Fars News. The Admiral further noted the vulnerability of the United States’ giant warships and aircraft carriers, especially in any potential combat against Iranian missiles and speedboats in the Persian Gulf. The commander said the large size of the US warships has made them a very easy target for the IRGC naval force, especially taking into account that “we have very precise analyses of the design, construction and structures of these warships and we know how to act”. President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry seem intent on treating Iran like a sincere partner in nuclear negotiations, and yet the IRGC has made clear repeatedly that it does not respect, nor will it abide by, any agreement Iranian diplomats negotiate. (Commentary, May 5, 2014)
“In some areas of the world, it is an emboldened Moscow that is causing trouble. In the South China Sea, it is Beijing. In parts of the Middle East, Islamists are on the rise. In other parts, they have been crushed. Yet one theme is common to all these theatres: Regional powers, local rogues and terrorist groups alike are aggressively flexing their muscles with new confidence — because the threat of U.S. military intervention is becoming increasingly remote. It is not quite a return to 1930s-style “isolationism” under Barack Obama. Rather, the process of American retreat since the end of the Iraq War is something more subtle. Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of The New Republic, has dubbed it “withdrawalism.”… The scenes of chaos playing out in these areas are just a taste of what we can expect if American “withdrawalism” becomes the long-term foreign policy of the most powerful nation on earth,” — National Post columnist Jonathan Kay. (National Post, May 5, 2014)
“The entire world order is based on the presumption of American willingness to use force,” —Brookings Institution scholar Robert Kagan. “But Obama doesn’t like the use of force. And this [fact] also prevents [the U.S.] from taking steps short of using force — because adversaries don’t see a slippery slope. If the United States imposes sanctions, a message has to be sent that force comes next. Otherwise, the country will just weather the sanctions,” added Kagan. (National Post, May 5, 2014)
“In the face of the upheavals of the Middle East, we must continue to act with confidence and determination against any challenge that comes to our doorstep,” — Israeli Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz, speaking at a ceremony on the eve of Remembrance Day at Jerusalem’s Western Wall. The ceremony was attended by hundreds of soldiers and Jews who came from across the globe to honor the country’s fallen. Ganz continued: “Against any threat, known or new, near or far, the IDF will always be ready to be called upon, ready for the next mission…Our forces on land, sea, and air will continue to always act in light of the legacy left by the fallen in their deaths, a legacy of a sense of mission, and belief in the justice of our path, a legacy of love of the homeland and guaranteeing its safety.” (Jerusalem Post, May 5, 2014)
“God knows, I detest you,” —Egyptian columnist and screenwriter Belal Fadl, addressing the Muslim Brotherhood in a column he wrote after the military takeover. But he noted that he was nonetheless compelled to defend the rights of Islamists against the government’s repression. “I detest you exactly as I detest those who kill you in cold blood,” Fadl wrote. “I detest you all because you are exactly the same as each other.” Fadl was blacklisted for a newspaper column he wrote in February ridiculing the promotion of Gen. Sisi to the rank of field marshal, even though he has never entered a battlefield. Fadl has likened Sisi, who has since resigned from the military to run for president, to Mubarak, who was forced from the presidency in 2011, and Morsi, who was ousted last year by the field marshal himself. “They are all politically responsible for shedding Egyptian blood,” Fadl wrote last October. (New York Times, May 2, 2014)
“Who bears the most blame for the tsunami of campus anti-Semitism? University administrators,” — Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, a lecturer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a cofounder of the AMCHA Initiative, a non-profit organization that combats campus antisemitism. Rossman-Benjamin said that violence against Jewish students has become acceptable at American universities because university officials refuse to act against the phenomenon. She added: “They routinely turn a blind eye to long-standing and pervasive anti-Jewish bigotry and (they) ignore Jewish students’ pleas for help. Language and behavior that would never be tolerated from students or faculty when directed against other campus minorities goes unchallenged by administrators when directed against Jewish students.” (Jewish Press, May 1, 2014)
“Bereavement is something that is always around you once you become a commander in the army…There are casualties from operational missions and from other types of incidents,”—Col. Yaron Beit-On, commander of the Jordan Valley Territorial Brigade. Beit-On’s cousin, tank commander St.-Sgt. Doron Cohen, was killed in 2003 when his vehicle drove over a bomb in the Gaza Strip. Ten days before he was killed, Cohen took part in a military drill with Beit-On. “He was with me, together in the exercise. A week and a half later, his company headed down to Gaza. During work to clear a route, their tank went over an explosive device… I came to understand Doron’s connection with the other soldiers in his tank. The endless contribution he made to them. That is how you realize the importance of his contribution, and what he did for his soldiers.” For bereaved families, the pain of loss is felt every day, not just Remembrance Day, he stressed. (Jerusalem Post, May 2, 2014)
“Mr. Speaker, today we commemorate the 66th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel, which comes one week after the commemoration of the Shoah, which I observed last week on the March of the Living at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. It is sometimes said that if there had not been a Holocaust there would not be a state of Israel, as if the establishment of a state can ever compensate for the murder of six million Jews. The reality is the other way around: if there had been an Israel there might well not have been a Holocaust or the horrors of Jewish history. Israel at its core is the embodiment of Jewish survival and self-determination, the reconstitution of an ancient people in its ancestral and aboriginal homeland. May I conclude with the age old Hebrew prayer for peace: Oseh Shalom Bimromov, Who Yaaseh Shalom Alenu V’al Kol Israel, V’imeru, Amen. May God Who Establishes Peace on High, Grant Peace for Us All, Amen. May this 66th anniversary usher in a real, just, and lasting peace for all peoples of the Middle East.” — Canadian MP Irwin Cotler, in a statement to the House of Commons on Israel’s Independence Day. (Youtube, May 6, 2014)
SHORT TAKES
ODESSA JEWISH COMMUNITY MULLS EMERGENCY EVACUATION (Odessa) — Odessa’s Jews are prepared to evacuate should the violence in the western Ukrainian city get significantly worse. Odessa’s Jewish community numbers some 30,000, down from nearly 40 percent of the city’s population before the Holocaust. Running street battles between pro-Russian and nationalist forces claimed dozens of lives in the Black Sea port this weekend. While Jewish community leaders assert that the violence is unconnected to the Jewish community and that they do not feel specially targeted, they agreed that, should the situation deteriorate, it would be easy for the spillover to affect their constituents. (Jerusalem Post, May 5, 2014)
RUSSIA MAKES HOLOCAUST DENIAL ILLEGAL (Moscow) —Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law making Holocaust denial illegal. The law signed Monday makes denial of Nazi crimes or misrepresentation of the Soviet Union’s role in World War II punishable by up to five years in jail or a $14,000 fine. Both houses of Russia’s parliament approved the legislation last month. Russia already bans public display of Nazi symbols. Comparisons with Nazi Germany have arisen in recent months amid Russia’s conflict with Ukrainian nationalists. (Jerusalem Post, May 6, 2014)
‘MANY, MANY’ DEAD IN NIGERIA ATTACK BLAMED ON BOKO HARAM (Gamboru Ngala) — Islamist militants killed as many as 300 people in an attack on a border town in Nigeria’s remote northeast. Shops and homes were set ablaze and razed in the attack Monday night on Gamboru Ngala, on Nigeria’s border with Cameroon. The militants sprayed gunfire into the crowds of people at a busy market, that is open at night when temperatures cool in the semi-desert region. Boko Haram’s five-year-old Islamic uprising has claimed the lives of thousands of Muslims and Christians. More than 1,500 people have died in their attacks so far this year. The insurgents say Western influences are corrupting and they want to impose an Islamic state in Nigeria, a country of 170 million of whom half are Christian. (National Post, May 7, 2014)
NEW KIDNAPPING REPORTED IN NIGERIA (Abuja) — A second kidnapping of schoolgirls in Nigeria’s northeast by Islamist militants put new pressure on the country’s troubled government, which has been forced to confront its failure to contain a growing insurgency in its north. Men suspected of being fighters from the radical Islamist group Boko Haram, whose name translates as “Western education is sinful,” kidnapped eleven more girls in Nigeria’s northeast, an intensification of its campaign against female education, and the Nigerian government, since the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls three weeks ago. (New York Times, May 6, 2014)
8TH GRADERS ASKED TO DEBATE WHETHER THE HOLOCAUST HAPPENED (Rialto) — A school district in Rialto, California, assigned 2,000 students to write an essay on whether or not they believe the Holocaust was “an actual event in history.” The assignment was defended by district officials, who claimed that “one of the most important responsibilities for educators is to develop critical thinking skills in students.” The assignment asked students to compose an argumentative essay based on the following: “When tragic events occur in history, there is often debate about their actual existence. For example, some people claim the Holocaust is not an actual event, but instead is a propaganda took that was used for political and monetary gain. You will…write an argumentative essay, based upon cited textual evidence, in which you explain whether or not you believe this was an actual event in history, or merely a political scheme created to influence public emotion and gain wealth…” (Tablet, May 6, 2014)
VISITORS TO AUSCHWITZ ARE STEALING ‘SOUVENIRS’ (Warsaw) — Visitors to Auschwitz are taking in more than just the experience of being at the infamous concentration camp in Oswiecim, Poland—they’re taking actual artifacts from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Last month, an Italian tourist was arrested at the airport for attempting to smuggle 16 inches of barbed wire from the concentration camp out of the country. Visitors of all ages, apparently, have been scratching their names onto the walls where prisoners slept. Others have stolen “souvenirs” from the camp, including spikes from the railway line that transported thousands of Jews to Auschwitz. Bogdan Bartnikowski, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz during the Holocaust, told the Guardian newspaper that “If (the vandals) had been there and feared they would be leaving the next day via the chimney, then they would not be so eager to scratch their name onto a bunk.” (Tablet, May 6, 2014)
POLICE DISPERSE CROWD AFTER BELGIUM BANS ANTISEMITIC COMEDIAN (Brussels) — Police used water cannons on Sunday to disperse a crowd after authorities banned a rally in Brussels that a French comedian accused of antisemitism was due to address. Eric Tomas, mayor of the Brussels suburb of Anderlecht, issued an order prohibiting the “First European Dissidents’ Congress,” scheduled to be held in the area on Sunday. The event, organized by a small far-right group, “Stand up Belgians!”, was to have been addressed by speakers including French comedian Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala. Dieudonne is closely associated with the “quenelle”, a gesture that critics have likened to an inverted Nazi salute and said carries antisemitic overtones. (Jerusalem Post, May 4, 2014)
NETANYAHU PLANS TO PROMOTE LEGISLATION ON JEWISH STATE DESIGNATION (Jerusalem) — Prime Minister Netanyahu said on Thursday that he intended to promote legislation bolstering the status of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, anchoring the principle as one of the basic laws that serve as the country’s Constitution. The move comes as an apparent response to the Palestinians’ categorical rejection of Netanyahu’s demand for recognition of Israel as a Jewish state during nine months of American-brokered peace talks, which broke down late last month. “To my great regret, as we have seen recently, there are those who do not recognize this natural right,” Netanyahu said in televised remarks during a visit to Independence Hall in Tel Aviv, where the state’s establishment was declared in May 1948. (New York Times, May 1, 2014)
BOEHNER TO APPOINT BENGHAZI COMMITTEE (Washington) — House Speaker John Boehner declared Friday he would create a select committee to investigate the Benghazi attack, providing Republicans with a high-profile forum to target the Obama administration’s credibility ahead of crucial midterm elections. Boehner said U.S. officials misled the American people after the Sept. 11, 2012, assault on the U.S. diplomatic post in Libya that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. He said emails released this week showed the White House has withheld documents from congressional investigators. Republicans have accused President Barack Obama and his top aides of seeking to deceive the public about the true circumstances of a major, al-Qaida-linked terrorist attack during the final months of the 2012 presidential campaign — charges which the president and other U.S. officials reject. (Fox News, May 2, 2014)
ISRAEL, US, CANADA TO HOLD JOINT AERIAL ANTI-TERROR DRILL (Jerusalem) — Israel, the United States and Canada will hold a joint aerial exercise, the first of its kind, this summer to improve coordination in preventing terror attacks on civilian aircraft. Israeli Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz said the drill will allow the three countries to “react more effectively” to threats of terrorism against civilian planes. Katz said cooperation in this realm is of “inimitable importance.” (Israel Hayom, May 1, 2014)
INTEL TO INVEST $6 BILLION IN KIRYAT GAT FACILITY (Tel Aviv) — The Intel Corporation announced on Wednesday it would invest $6 billion to upgrade its Kiryat Gat facility, potentially creating thousands of jobs in Israel in the coming years. Intel did not specify the technology it would be installing in the plant. However, it had been expected to make a decision this year as to whether it would build one to produce its next generation of chips in Israel or in Ireland, where it built previously. Intel Israel president Mooly Eden has unabashedly argued that the state needs to encourage more capital investments. Last year, several months after Israel lost the bid for Intel’s latest plant to Ireland, Eden said Israel was in danger of losing its status as the “Start-up nation.” (Jerusalem Post, Apr. 30, 2014)
SPANISH VILLAGE TO VOTE ON NAME CHANGE (Castrillo Matajudios) — This week, Lorenzo Rodriguez Pere, the mayor of the tiny northern Spanish village of Castrillo Matajudios, literally “Castrillo Kill Jews,” has announced plans to hold a referendum in May. The village’s 60 citizens will be asked to vote on whether it would be better for tourism and less offensive to revert back to the original name of the village, Castrillo Motajudios or Castrillo “Jews Hill.” This was its name from about 1035 to 1627, when it was altered, possibly at the urgings of conversos, who 135 years after the expulsion were still trying to prove that they were true Spanish Christians. (National Post, May 6, 2014)
TAGLIT-BIRTHRIGHT TO ALLOW VISITS TO PARTS OF JUDEA AND SAMARIA (Jerusalem) — Taglit-Birthright will, for the first time, allow participants to freely visit more parts of the historical heartland of the Jewish People. Taglit-Birthright takes Jewish youths to Israel for free, so they can connect to their historical roots and see what Israel is today. Until now, Taglit-Birthright has not allowed visits to many areas in Judea and Samaria as part of their program, purportedly to avoid the (internal) political conflicts that those trips might raise, and in part because of the exorbitant cost of the armored buses they feel they need. But during the past month, Taglit-Birthright has begun allowing groups to visit Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem, without requiring special permissions in advance.
(Jewish Press, May 2, 2014)
Africa’s Real War on Women: Clifford May, Washington Times, Apr. 23, 2014 —Last week, more than a hundred Nigerian students, girls between 15 and 18 years of age, were kidnapped by the al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists of Boko Haram.
Learning the Lessons of the Past: Benjamin Netanyahu, Jerusalem Post, May 2, 2014 —The last time I visited Yad Vashem I accompanied the Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper, a great friend of Israel and the Jewish people.
Jewish Nationalism is a Lot Older Than the Zionist Movement: Joel Lion, Montreal Gazette, May 5, 2014—As Israel enters its 67th year of existence as a modern state, Jews throughout the world will join together in celebration of Jewish freedom and nationhood.
For Israel Independence Day, Hamas Hatikvah Parody Video Shows Jews Forced Onto Ships to Germany (VIDEO): Joshua Levitt, Algemeiner, May 6, 2014—Al Qassam Brigades, the armed militant wing of Gaza-ruling terror group Hamas, released a hateful animated parody video to mock Israeli Independence Day, showing their dystopic vision of how Israel could be eradicated, according to blogger Elder of Ziyon, who flagged the video on Tuesday.
Yom HaZikaron: Israeli Families Discuss What it Means to Lose a Soldier, a Son, a Sibling: Ma’ayan Jaffe, Jewish Press, May 4, 2014—Some 22,000 Israeli soldiers have died since the establishment of the Jewish state, including 40 soldiers between March 2013 and March 2014, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Rob Coles, Publications Editor, Canadian Institute for Jewish Research/L’institut Canadien de recherches sur le Judaïsme, www.isranet.org Tel: (514) 486-5544 – Fax:(514) 486-8284. mailto:ber@isranet.wpsitie.com
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