Wednesday’s “News in Review” Round-Up

Weekly Quotes

 

“Israel suffered one of its worst direct attacks in years [last] Thursday when terrorists from across its border with Egypt staged a series of co-ordinated assaults on commuter buses, killing seven people and wounding scores more. Hours later Israel responded with an air strike in the Gaza Strip that killed six Palestinians, including the leaders of a group it blamed for the violence. ‘The people who gave the order to murder our people and hid in Gaza are no longer among the living,’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a brief television address about the most deadly attack in Israel since 2008. ‘I set a principle: When someone harms the citizens of Israel, we react immediately and with force.… If anyone thinks the State of Israel will resign itself to this, they are wrong.”—Excerpts from an article entitled “Netanyahu’s Doctrine,” describing Israel’s retaliatory killing of the perpetrators of last week’s attacks, and affirming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s commitment to responding severely to future acts of terrorism. (National Post, August 19.)

 

“How have we come to a time when blowing up babies and cutting their throats are an acceptable means to a political goal? I feel complete contempt for anyone not intelligent enough to see that the media propaganda portraying the Palestinians as victims endangers the state of Israel. We are facing a new holocaust, and people of all faiths must demand that the truth be heard. The Palestinian radicals have only one prayer on their lips: To remove every Jew from Israel.…”—Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight, at a Holocaust memorial event in Jerusalem organized by broadcaster Glenn Beck, slamming Palestinian terrorism, in particular last week’s three-pronged attack near Eilat and the March 11 slayings of the Fogel family in Itamar.(Jerusalem Post, August 22.)

 

“Quick question: According to the State Department, what nation is the city of Jerusalem in? If you answered Israel, you’d be wrong. The State Department just issued the following press release: ‘QUESTION: What is the State Department’s position regarding American persons born in Jerusalem who wish to have passports issued that indicate their place of birth as Israel? ANSWER: Current U.S. Government policy is that U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem may not have Israel listed in their passports as their place of birth.…’ Hmm. You kind of have to wonder why no one thought to inform the White House! When Vice President Biden visited Jerusalem last year, the White House helpfully provided the following caption: ‘Vice President Joe Biden laughs with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem, Israel, March 9, 2010.’”—Excerpts from a Daniel Harper article, describing the hypocrisy of the U.S. State Department’s ongoing refusal to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. (Weekly Standard, August 9.)

 

“Those who prefer to blame Israel for the lack of peace in the Middle East can only do so by ignoring Palestinian behavior and the incitement against Israel and Jews that is conducted by the Palestinian Authority’s official television and newspapers. The latest evidence of such incitement comes in the form of a documentary broadcast on PA TV…that discusses Palestinian plans for the future of Jerusalem. Rather than a paean to the virtues of sharing the city after it is divided along the 1967 lines as they have demanded, the film claims the historic Jewish ties to the city are ‘false’ and seeks to prepare Arabs for what will happen after the Jews ‘disappear from the picture, like a forgotten chapter in the pages of our city’s history.’ It then discusses a scheme to eradicate the Western Wall Plaza where Jews worship—referred to as a ‘place of sin and filth’—with a Palestinian housing project!—Commentary Magazine editorialist Jonathan S. Tobin, reiteratingthat “so long as the political culture of the Palestinians reinforces messages that seek to label the Jews as foreign interlopers who will in time be expelled from the land, a peace deal that recognizes Israel’s legitimacy, no matter where its borders are drawn, is impossible.” (Contentions, August 17.)

 

“Looking for your member of Congress? Try Jerusalem. More than 80 members of the House are visiting Israel this month as guests of the American Israel Education Foundation, a charity affiliated with the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee. It is the largest number of members of Congress ever to make the trip during a single recess, according to the organizers.… ‘I think that what you have going on is a real bipartisan support for Israel in the Congress,’ said Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the most powerful Jewish member of Congress. ‘The White House and president have not been as clear as where it stands and he stands on the relationship, and that has added interest on the part of the members, Mr. Cantor said. ‘With Iran continuing to pursue nuclear capabilities, and with the upcoming vote in the U.N., which is a very destabilizing event, it is very important for us to be there and show what is at stake.’”—A New York Times article, describing the mass visit to Israel by members of the U.S. Congress, an act of solidarity amidst increasing uncertainty regarding U.S. president Obama’s commitment to Israel’s security. (NY Times, August 16.)

 

“The United States aid to Egypt is predicated on the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, and so the relationship between Egypt and Israel is extremely important. As an appropriator I have two concerns: One thing is the continuing relationship between Egypt and Israel, and the other thing of course is what government we will be dealing with in Egypt, and what position the Muslim Brotherhood will play in this government.”—Eight-term Republican Congresswoman and chairwoman of the US House appropriations foreign operations subcommittee, Kay Granger, in an interview with the Jerusalem Post, confirming on record that “if the treaty between Egypt and Israel is not continued, [US] financial support [for Egypt] will not continue.” (Jerusalem Post, August 23.)

 

“Fereydoon Abbasi-Davani is a dangerous man. A trained nuclear physicist, he was described in a recent report by the Institute for Science and International Security as ‘a key scientist in the Iranian covert nuclear weapons program.…’ In 2007, he was designated by the U.N.’s Security Council, placed under a travel ban and subject to an asset freeze. The European Union has placed him under similar restrictions. So what was Mr. Abbasi doing giving a press conference in Vienna in June? As the recently appointed head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, he can take advantage of a sanctions loophole that allows him to attend intergovernmental meetings, particularly those convened ‘under the auspices of the United Nations.…’ Sanctions can play a helpful, if never decisive, role in increasing the costs to Iran for refusing to comply with U.N. resolutions and stop its nuclear programs. But there’s no point in enacting sanctions if there is no serious intention of enforcing them. When the best the international community can do against Iran is a sanctions E-Z Pass, it’s no wonder Iran’s illicit nuclear programs are speeding ahead in broad daylight.”—Excerpts from a Wall Street Journal editorial, entitled “Iran Sanctions E-Z Pass,” describing the limitations of sanctions in halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions. (Wall Street Journal, August 11.)

 

“Australia is out, just like Canada, the Czech Republic, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands and the United States, so why is Israel’s supposed ‘best friend’ still vowing to attend a conference at which the holocaust-denying Iranian president is going to be speaking? For me, there is absolutely no excuse for Germany still not to have withdrawn its participation in Durban III.”—Sacha Stawski, director of the pro-Israel NGO Honestly Concerned in Frankfurt, in an interview with the Jerusalem Post, describing Germany’s refusal to boycott the UN’s upcoming anti-Israel hate-fest, Durban III, despite Chancellor Angela Merkel’s oft-repeated declaration that Israel’s security interests are “non-negotiable” for the Federal Republic. Anne Bayefsky, who is the principal organizer of a counter-Durban III event in New York with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, affirmed that “Germany’s behavior on the forthcoming Durban III conference is sending very troubling signals. By remaining fully engaged with the worst anti-Israel and anti-Semitic forces at the UN, this German government is playing with fire.” (Jerusalem Post, August 24.)

 

“What would happen if a leading US carrier voluntarily allows itself to be hijacked by bigots in order to open a new market? That is what Delta Airlines appears to have done when your company announced plans to add Saudi Arabian Airlines to your SkyTeam Alliance. You see, under their rules, they require that Delta ban Jews and holders of Israeli passports from boarding flights from New York or Washington bound for Jeddah.”—Rabbi Abraham Cooper, executive director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and CIJR International Board member, in an open letter to Fox News, condemning Delta Airlines’ decision to partner with Saudi Arabian Airlines, which maintains “racist, religious apartheid laws.” Delta Airline officials have since visited Wiesenthal Center headquarters in Los Angeles, where they signed a letter committing Delta to not require its passengers to disclose any religious details. (Jerusalem Post, August 23.)

 

Short Takes

 

DEFIANT GADHAFI VOWS TO FIGHT—(Tripoli) Fresh gun fire has erupted in spots inside and near the Libyan capital, hours after Col. Moammar Gadhafi called on residents from an unknown location to “free Tripoli.” A day after triumphant rebel fighters stormed Gadhafi’s fortress compound in the capital, pro-Gadhafi loyalists continue to fight on the outskirts of the city, and heavy fire also has broken out near the Rixos Hotel, where foreign journalists are being confined by pro-Gadhafi fighters. The reports of continuing battles underscored the chaos that hangs over Tripoli; while the capture of Col. Gadhafi’s complex stands as one of the rebels’ highest moments in their six-month battle to topple the dictator, the failure to find Col. Gadhafi indicated that the rebels’ mission of liberating Tripoli remains unfinished. (Wall Street Journal, August 24.)

 

WORLD LEADERS URGE ASSAD TO RESIGN—(Washington) The U.S. and its European allies have called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down and outlined a broad campaign to force him from power by targeting his regime’s finances, including an embargo on Damascus’ oil sales. With Assad’s forces engaged in a lethal crackdown on dissent, President Obama, in coordination with the leaders of the U.K., France, Germany and the European Union, said the dictator had squandered his opportunity to liberalize Syria’s political system and predicted his government’s collapse is now inevitable. The unified Western campaign to dislodge Assad marks an escalation of previous condemnation of the bloodshed in Syria, and paralleled increasingly tough positions against Syria by leading Arab and Muslim countries, in particular Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which are seen as having the most leverage over Damascus. U.S. and European officials admitted that they don’t expect Mr. Assad to bow to international pressure and resign; some predict that violence inside Syria could intensify in coming months. (Wall Street Journal, August 18.)

 

UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL LAUNCHES NEW SYRIA INQUIRY—(Geneva) The UN Human Rights Council has launched an international commission of inquiry into Syria’s crackdown on anti-government protesters, including possible crimes against humanity, despite objections by Russia, China. The council condemned what it called “continued grave and systematic human rights violations by Syrian authorities such as arbitrary executions, excessive use of force and the killing and persecution of protesters and human rights defenders.” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay confirmed that more than 2,200 people have been killed in the five-month-old crackdown. (Reuters, August 23.)

 

US INTEL INVESTIGATING AL-QAIDA LINK TO EILAT ATTACKS—(Jerusalem) According to the Washington Times, US intelligence agencies believe that terrorist groups connected to al-Qaida played a major role in carrying out last week’s multi-staged terror attacks near Eilat. The Times reported that a US government assessment of the attacks came to the conclusion that the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) or the Gaza-based Army of Islam (Jaish al Islam), a Palestinian group sympathetic to al-Qaida, carried out the attacks which emanated from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula. However, according to the Washington-based newspaper, a new group may have been connected to the incident, al-Qaida in the Sinai Peninsula. A US intelligence official stated that while the PRC was involved, it was not the organizer of the operation. (Jerusalem Post, August 23.)

 

GANTZ UPS EGYPT BORDER DEFENSE AMIDST NEW TERROR WARNINGS—(Jerusalem) IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen Benny Gantz has instituted new defensive measures along Israel’s border with Egypt in the wake of intelligence indicating that additional Palestinian terror groups were planning attacks like the one carried out last Thursday by the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC). Gantz’s orders included a bolstering of defensive measures along the border with Egypt as well as a stronger emphasis on collection of intelligence by the IDF in Gaza as well as in Sinai in an effort to locate and track terrorists. Gantz also made changes to the operational doctrine of the Navy Command Center in Eilat which is responsible for protecting southern Israel from threats originating in the Red Sea. The Defense Ministry also is considering speeding up construction of the fence on the Egyptian border. (Jerusalem Post, August 24.)

 

SCHALIT TALKS STOPPED IN CAIRO—(Jerusalem) The indirect talks brokered by Egypt between Hamas and Israel over reaching a prisoner-swap deal to secure the release of IDF soldier Gilad Schalit have been postponed indefinitely. According to the London-based Arabic language newspaper Al Hayat, a third round of indirect talks were scheduled for this week, but the Egyptian mediators requested that both parties delay the talks to a later date. Nonetheless, an “Egyptian source” told the newspaper that the Palestinian delegation, led by Hamas’s political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal, who was in Cairo at the time of the talks, seemed confident about the Schalit deal. (Jerusalem Post, August 18.)

 

ARAB LEAGUE: PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD BID COULD BE ‘DANGEROUS’—(Jerusalem) Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby has suggested that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reconsider his appeal to the U.N. to recognize an independent Palestinian state in September. “The unilateral appeal to the U.N. Security Council and U.N. General Assembly could be a very dangerous move for the Palestinians during this period and I propose that Abbas reconsider the handling of the matter,” Elaraby said. Elaraby believes the U.N. bid is ill-timed as the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank is not in control of the situation in Gaza in the wake of a violent escalation with Israel in recent days. Elaraby’s comments come as Abbas prepares for the bid, expected to be brought before the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 21, by touring across Europe and elsewhere to raise international support. (Israel Hayom, August 22.)

 

IRAN STARTS MOVING URANIUM CENTRIFUGES TO BUNKER—(Tehran) According to Iran’s top nuclear official, the Islamic Republic has started moving machines that enrich uranium for nuclear fuel from its main atomic complex in the central city of Natanz to an underground bunker near the city of Qom. Iran announced in June that it would shift its production of higher-grade uranium to the underground site at Fordow, in defiance of international calls on Tehran to halt uranium enrichment which can be used to develop nuclear bombs. Moving sensitive nuclear work to the underground bunker could offer greater protection against any attacks by Israel or the United States, which have both said they do not rule out pre-emptive strikes to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. (Reuters, August 22.)

 

TURKEY MAY CUT ECONOMIC TIES OVER ‘MARMARA’ APOLOGY—(Jerusalem) According to the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News, in response to Israel’s refusal to apologize for last year’s Mavi Marmara incident, Ankara has told the United States that it will consider taking further steps to downgrade its diplomatic relations with Israel and consider completely cutting its political and economic ties with Jerusalem. Another step being considered by Turkey in response to what it considers Israel’s refusal to reach a compromise ahead of the release of the United Nations Palmer report on the Marmara incident is a visit by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the Gaza Strip. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon informed Israel this week that he was postponing—yet again—the publication of the Palmer Commission’s findings to give both sides additional time to reconcile. The Palmer Commission report, which has already been written, is widely believed to uphold the legality of Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Stri, and its right to intercept vessels trying to break the blockade. As was the case the two previous times, the postponement was, according to Israeli officials, requested by Turkey. (Jerusalem Post, August 22.)

 

ABBAS POSTPONES PALESTINIAN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS—(Ramallah) Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas has delayed local elections for a third time, without setting a new date. “We have decided to postpone the local elections until better conditions are available, and to enable the election commission to work in [both the West Bank and Gaza],” Abbas said in a statement. Palestinian democracy has been crippled since the Islamic militant Hamas violently overran the Gaza Strip in 2007, forming a rival government to President Abbas’ West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. Abbas has overstayed his own term and is ruling the West Bank by decree. In the meantime, Hamas-Fatah talks on implementing a recent reconciliation pact have stalled; a senior Hamas official in Gaza agreed that elections should not be held until the reconciliation deal takes effect. Analysts have said they think Abbas is afraid his Fatah movement would lose in the voting. (Associated Press, August 22.)

 

IKEA FOUNDER’S NAZI PAST REVEALED IN NEW BOOK—(Jerusalem) According to a new book, Och i Wienerwald star traden kvar (And in Wienerwald the Trees Remain) by the author Elisabeth Asbrink, the founder of the Sweden-based worldwide chain of furniture stores, IKEA, was identified as a Nazi by the Swedish Security Service during WWII. The book tells of how Ingvar Kamprad had a personal file set up with Swedish intelligence when he was 17 years old, which shows he devoted much time and energy into recruiting new members to the Nazi party. Kamprad, whose Nazi sympathies became know to the public in the 1990s, had previously written off the troubling period of his life as a passing instance of “teenage confusion.” However, the book describes how Kamprad’s contacts with the far-right New Swedish Movement and their leader Per Engdahl continued long after the conclusion of WWII, even when the full extent of the Holocaust became known to the world. (Jerusalem Post, August 24.)