Wednesday’s “News in Review” Round-Up

 On Topic Links

The Top 12 Most Amazing Israeli Medical Advances: Abigail Klein Leichman, Israel 21c, Oct. 15, 2013
Muslim Brotherhood in Retreat: Jonathan Spyer, Jerusalem Post, Oct. 12, 2013

 
“Incitement is a serious obstacle to peace. The Palestinian Authority is aware of the inciting messages in its official educational institutions. We did a thorough search of every Palestinian curriculum and television program, and we didn’t find even one opposing example, in support of peace. Incitement is a widespread phenomenon that is an inseparable part of the Palestinian culture and is not just among lone extremists.” — Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister, in the Knesset Wednesday [Oct 16]  where he presented his ministry’s report on incitement to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. (Jerusalem Post, Oct 16, 2013)

“The Palestinian Authority’s television and radio stations, public schools, summer camps, children’s magazines and web sites are being used to drive home four core messages. First, that the existence of a Jewish state (regardless of its borders) is illegitimate because there is no Jewish people and no Jewish history in this piece of land. Second, that Jews and Zionists are horrible creatures that corrupt those in their vicinity. Third, that Palestinians must continue to struggle until the inevitable replacement of Israel by an Arab-Palestinian state. And fourth, that all forms of resistance are honorable and valid, even if some forms of violence are not always expedient.” — Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister, in an op-ed in The NewYork Times. (The NewYork Times, Oct. 15, 2013)

“I’ve been told. It is all up to you, because you promised peace. But we also need a partner. I am not under the illusion that this will be easy. I am determined to do my best to succeed. But this is not just dependent on the Israeli side, just as it was not only up to the five prime ministers who preceded me since the start of the Oslo process…. The other side is also needed.” —Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,  at a ceremony in the Knesset marking the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. The reality in the Middle East has changed since the Yom Kippur War, particularly with the establishment of an Islamic Republic in Iran, which has infiltrated every part of the Middle East, he said. “They [Iran] are not interested in a compromise or an agreement. They have the power to take over territory from which we withdraw – if we do not protect it – with the intention of getting rid of us. To chase us away from here, that is their declared objective. They also act overtly on this. They are a dominant force, and they are not interested in peace. You cannot ignore this. No one understands this better than our Arab neighbors. They want us to make peace with Abbas and the Palestinians, but they are not under any illusion that ending the conflict would bring peace to the Middle East. Until these threats are dealt with, there certainly cannot be peace,” he said. (Jerusalem Post, Oct 15, 2013)

“Syria has become the most important destination for aspiring jihadists ever, because it is the heart of the Muslim world on the border of Palestine. For jihadis, it is the road to Jerusalem at last.” — Bruce Riedel, former CIA officer and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, (Washington Post, Oct 11, 2013)

“…jihad in the path of Allah, to make his word supreme, spread his religion, defend the honor of the Islamic nation [umma], and respond to the aggression against Muslims all around the earth—this is jihad: when a Muslim fights an infidel without treaty to make the word of Allah Most High supreme, forcing him to fight or invading his land, this is a permissible matter according to the consensus of the jurists.  Indeed, it is an obligation for all Muslims.  Now if the deeds of the jihad—including fighting the infidels and breaking their spine through all possible means—are permissible according to Sharia, then it is impossible to define those acts as terrorism, which Sharia-based evidence has made illegitimate. A large gap exists between them [jihad and terrorism].  And there is no connection between what is obligatory [jihad] and what is forbidden [terrorism].” — Dr. Abdul Fatah Idris, an  Islamic law expert in recent Arabic article appearing in Egypt’s Al Ahram newspaper titled “Is Terrorism Jihad?”. (Front Page Magazine, Oct 16, 2103)

“You use history to understand the present and chart the future — history is a map. You know what a map is? A map is a crystallization of the main things you need to know to get from one place to another….We’re here for a purpose — I’m here for a purpose. Which is to defend the future of the Jewish people, which means to defend the Jewish state. Defending it from a nuclear Iran. I’m not going to let that happen. It’s not going to happen.”  — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an interview on Thursday [Oct. 10]. (New York Times, Oct. 11, 2013)

“The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (O.P.C.W.), wherever it goes in the chemical weapons effort in Syria, is not going to bring peace to Syria because chemical weapons are simply not a major factor in Assad’s ability to wage war, which in my view is why he’s willing to cooperate. Getting rid of chemical weapons anywhere is a good thing, but to make this worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize, I just don’t get it.” — Ryan C. Crocker, former United States ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, commenting on the recent awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the OPCW following an agreement between the U.S., Russia and Syria. (New York Times, Oct 12, 2013)

“[Erich] Priebke’s death [on Friday Oct. 11] at the age of 100 should be a powerful reminder that some of the worst perpetrators of the crimes of the Holocaust live to a healthy old age and that a person’s chronological age should never prevent them from being held accountable for their crimes, if they are healthy enough to be brought to justice. Priebke was a classic example of a totally unrepentant Nazi war criminal.” — Efraim Zuroff, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s chief Nazi hunter, who just this year launched a new push to search for unpunished war criminals, in a telephone interview from Jerusalem. Priebke, a former Nazi SS captain, evaded arrest for nearly 50 years after taking part in one of the worst atrocities by German occupiers in Italy during World War II in which 335 civilians were murdered. Priebke was eventually convicted and sentenced to life but served it under house arrest at his Italian lawyer’s residence. (Edmonton Journal/AP, Oct. 12, 2013)

 “If you go and lay [Mr. Obama’s and Mr. Bush’s] policies side by side from the standpoint of use of force, or the way they approach the global war on terror, there’s not a bit of difference ‘twixt the two of them.” — Charles Rose, director of the Centre for Excellence in Advocacy at Stetson University, Florida, a retired U.S. Army intelligence officer and judge’s advocate, doesn’t believe Mr. Obama stopped using torture for humanitarian reasons. Rather, he says it was because it doesn’t work. Renditions are still occurring, albeit less frequently, as the Obama administration has become more reliant on targeted killings by remote control. “Drone strikes are cleaner and they remove the human element, but they reduce the intelligence that can be gathered and the long-term benefit that can come from the taking of someone. [Strikes] come at less of a cost from the standpoint of the reaction of the public. It’s a little bit more public.”
   “Most people who write about this in academia or journalism in the media are slightly left of centre. — James Boys, who teaches international political studies at Richmond, The American International University in London. “t was easy to deride Mr. Bush as an evil figure and many had high hopes a left-leaning president would halt such practices. In fact, all Mr. Obama has done is scale back the rendition program to what it was in the Clinton era. There is a complete hypocrisy,” he said. (National Post, Oct. 12, 2013)

“…One more difference between the Munich era and our own: Seven decades ago, it was widely understood that military aggression had consequences for the losers — not just for the leaders and armies, but also for the peoples on whose behalf these wars were waged. It’s a lesson that the Arab nations that declared war on Israel in 1948, most notably, still haven’t internalized. Sudeten Germans were overjoyed to see Hitler’s tanks roll into Czechoslovakia in 1938. But seven years later, when the war was over, they were thrown out of their homes — along with millions of other Germans residing in parts of modern-day Hungary, Poland, Romania and the former Yugoslavia. As R.M. Douglas writes, it was “the largest forced population transfer — and perhaps the greatest single movement of peoples — in human history.” These displaced Germans, perhaps as many as 14-million by Douglas’ count, became lifelong exiles. And yet very few of them defined themselves as “refugees” in the conventional political sense. Most found new jobs, and created new lives. They did not agglomerate in dead-end camps, become wards of the UN, manufacture a political identity based on suffering and displacement, or make violent political fetishes out of their desire to return to dimly remembered ancestral homes. Perhaps that is why, 75 years later, Munich is a glittering tourist destination. Ramallah, not so much.” — Jonathan Kay. (National Post, Oct. 10, 2013)

“The rules of the city and the country are mandatory for everyone, and Mollet del Vallès will be uncompromising toward any kind of radicalism or blackmail.” — Josep Monràs, Mayor of Mollet del Vallès, Spain where a group of Muslims have been illegally occupying a building they want to use as a mosque. The city has refused to allow it. (Jewish Press, Oct. 15, 2013)

 Contents

 
HAMAS: REVEALED TUNNEL WAS FOR KIDNAPPING ANOTHER ISRAELI —
(Gaza Border) The tunnel from Gaza to the fields of Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha was meant to facilitate the capture of an Israeli and holding him or her as a bargaining chip, senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk confirmed on Tuesday.”The tunnel which was revealed was extremely costly in terms of money, effort and blood,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “All of this is meaningless when it comes to freeing our heroic prisoners.” He went on to detail the lucrative nature of the Gilad Shalit deal, in which 1,027 prisoners were released. (Times of Israel, Oct 16, 2013)
 
LATEST POLL: NETANYAHU AND JEWISH HOME ON THE RISE, LAPID DOWN —
(Jerusalem) The Likud-Beiteinu party and the Jewish Home parties would collectively win six more seats in the Knesset if elections were held today, according to a new poll conducted by Smith Institute for Globes business newspaper. Labor, headed by Shelly Yachimovich, would gain one more seat, while Yesh Atid, headed by Yair Lapid would sink form its current 19 seats to only 12. The left-wing Meretz party would gain significantly, winning 10 seats in the projected Knesset, four more than the current six. The Shas party would remain constant. As in previous polls, Tzipi Livni’s party would be cut in half to three seats, and Kadima, headed by Shaul Mofaz, would disappear from the political map. (Jewish Press, Oct 11, 2013)

U.S. CONCERNED AS TURKEY SELECTS SANCTIONED CHINESE FIRM FOR MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM — (Ankara) Turkey has selected a Chinese firm under U.S. sanctions to build its long-range air and missile defense system. Both NATO and Washington expressed deep concerns and warned that the system will not be interoperable with the alliance’s missile defense umbrella. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki publicly expressed her country’s concerns to Turkey. Turkey’s Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz said on Saturday the reasons that motivated Turkey to select the Chinese firm were technology transfer, co-production, quick delivery and low cost. (Al-Arabiya, Oct. 13, 2013)
 
ISRAELI AIR FORCE HOLDS LONG-DISTANCE FLIGHT EXERCISE  — (Jerusalem) In an apparent message to Iran, the Israeli military said Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013, it had carried out a “special long-range flight exercise”. The military said its squadrons practiced refueling planes in midair this week and tested the air force’s ability. The accompanying footage shows a tanker plane refueling a fighter jet midair, a key part of any long-range operation. Israeli military officials said the drill took place over Greece, a key regional ally. The military has done similar drills in the past but releasing the footage appears aimed at sending a message to Iran…that a military option remains.
(Washington Post, Oct. 10, 2013)
 
EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS RELATIONS WITH US ARE IN ‘TURMOIL’ FOLLOWING MILITARY AID CUTS  — (Cairo) Egypt’s foreign minister said Wednesday that relations between his country and the United States are in “turmoil” following Washington’s decision to suspend delivery of tanks, helicopters and fighter jets to Egypt. The suspension, announced last week, came in response to the unrest in the wake of the July 3 military coup that ousted Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, and that led to the deaths of hundreds in police crackdowns. In an interview with state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said that there is “unrest in relations” between the two countries, warning that the strain could affect the whole Middle East region. October 16, 2013. (Fox News, Oct. 16, 2013)
 
LIBYAN TERRORISM SUSPECT HELD ABOARD WARSHIP IS BROUGHT TO U.S. — (Washington) A Libyan man snatched by U.S. Special Operations forces outside his home in Tripoli this month was brought to the United States over the weekend, U.S. officials said Monday, explaining that a chronic medical condition prevented them from keeping him detained aboard a Navy ship any longer. Lawmakers and national security experts had anticipated that Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, who is charged in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa, would be held at sea for a lengthy period while a senior team of U.S. interrogators attempted to debrief him. Ruqai needed specialized medical treatment that was unavailable aboard the USS San Antonio, the warship where he was being questioned, a U.S. official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. “He has several chronic, preexisting health conditions,” the U.S. official said. “The extent only became clear after his capture.” (Washington Post, Oct. 14, 2013)
 
SPAIN’S ESCALATING MOSQUE WARS — (Mollet del Vallès, Spain) Police in Spain have forcibly removed Muslim activists from an illegal mosque in a small town in Catalonia, an autonomous region in northeastern Spain that is home to the largest Muslim population in the country. The eviction ends — for now, anyway — a highly public one-year standoff in which Muslim immigrants in the Catalan town of Mollet del Vallès openly and aggressively challenged the authority of municipal officials to evaluate and determine the proper location of new mosques based on established urban planning regulations. The dispute over the unauthorized mosque is the latest in a growing number of mosque-related conflicts resulting from efforts by towns and cities across Spain to relocate overfilled mosques from congested downtown areas to uninhabited industrial parks. Catalan police ended the standoff in Mollet del Vallès on October 2 by conducting an early morning raid on the property, which was being illegally occupied by up to 50 Muslims from North Africa who were angry over a decision by the town council to prohibit the premises from being used as a mosque. (Jewish Press, Oct. 15, 2013)

US PILOTS WARN: TERRORISTS TRYING ‘DRY RUNS’ FOR NEW 9/11 — (Washington)
The U.S. Airline Pilots Association is warning that terrorists are practicing dry runs under the eyes of federal marshals to carry out a mega-terror attack, and one marshal told a Florida media outlet that the Transportation Security Administration is “lying” when it says it takes all reports of suspicious activity aboard aircraft seriously. Two recent incidents have spiked fears that terrorists boarded flights to test their ability to stage another 9/11, and in one case, a pilot’s insistence not to fly before a thorough inspection of the plane resulted in discovering “evidence of tampering.” Industry “insiders” were reported as saying, “We’re waiting for the next 9/11 to happen, because it’s not a question of if. It’s a question of when.” (Jewish Press, Oct. 15, 2013)

ATHENS, TEL AVIV SIGN DEAL TO DEEPEN COOPERATION BYPASSES TURKEY—
(Athens) Greece and Israel signed a joint declaration last week that further enhances their cooperation in the energy sector and acts as a guide for the development of relations of wider geopolitical significance for the two Mediterranean countries. It also makes clear, as the daily Kathimerini reports today [Oct 15], that the two sides will proceed with a series of actions for the joint extraction and exploitation of hydrocarbons. The two states “will examine ways and means for the better development of natural resources in the Eastern Mediterranean and their transfer to the energy market,” reads the confidential agreement, which has been seen by Kathimerini. This phrase refers to plans for the construction of an underwater gas pipeline from Israel to Greece via Cyprus, bypassing Turkey. Greek-Israeli cooperation stretches well beyond that pipeline, however. The declaration signed by Greek Energy Minister Yiannis Maniatis and his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom, provides for more cooperation in the fields of natural gas as well as of renewable energy sources in the context of international and European organizations. (Finnbay, Oct. 15 2013)
 
TURKISH STUDENTS ARRESTED FOR NAZI SALUTES AT NAZI DEATH CAMP — (Majdanik Death camp, Poland) Two Turkish university students were arrested at the site of the Majdanik Death camp, after giving Nazi salutes to a group of Israeli students and shouting “Heil Hitler”. The two, identified by Turkish media as Mehmet A. and Mesut T., were arrested after members of the Israeli group filed charges, and are being detained for promoting fascist propaganda – a crime punishable by up to three years imprisonment in Poland. But the pair protested their innocence, saying that although they appreciate that their actions were offensive, they had only meant it as a joke, according to Today’s Zaman “All we wanted was to take a couple of pictures [posing making the salute] as memories from the camp. We did not know it was a crime in Poland,” claimed Mehmet A. (Israel National News, Oct. 15, 2013)
 
EU ACCUSES PALESTINIANS OF WASTING 2 BILLION EUROS IN AID — (London) The Palestinian Authority squandered nearly €2 billion ($2.7 billion) in European aid through  corruption and mismanagement, a British newspaper claimed Sunday, leaking the contents of a not-yet-published European document. According to the article, in Britain’s Sunday Times, the European Court of Auditors (ECA), an EU organ set up in 1975 to audit the EU’s income and spending, found that Europe had little control over €1.95 billion ($2.64 billion) spent in the West Bank and Gaza between 2008 and 2012, noting “significant shortcomings.” EU investigators who visited Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank reported their inability to address “high-level risks” such as “corruption or funds not being used for their intended purpose,” the newspaper said. Transparency International, a Berlin-based watchdog monitoring corporate and political corruption, claimed that the state of paralysis afflicting the Palestinian parliament since 2007 has “given the executive unlimited management over public funds.” Nepotism is also commonplace in the Palestinian public and private sectors, the organization claimed. A Palestinian opinion poll conducted in July 2012 found that 71 percent of respondents believed that corruption existed in PA institutions under the control of President Mahmoud Abbas. Some 57% of respondents said the same of Hamas-controlled institutions in the Gaza Strip. (Times of Israel, Oct. 13, 2013)
 

 
Contents

On Topic

The Top 12 Most Amazing Israeli Medical Advances: Abigail Klein Leichman, Israel 21c, Oct. 15, 2013—Israel is a powerhouse in medical innovation. We give you a dozen standouts from a field with many exciting, game-changing candidates.
 
Muslim Brotherhood in Retreat: Jonathan Spyer, Jerusalem Post, Oct. 12, 2013—At the beginning of 2013, the Muslim Brotherhood held power in Egypt and Tunisia. A Syrian insurgency dominated by militias with similar ideas to the Brotherhood looked to be heading for victory.