Wednesday’s “News in Review” Round-Up

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Contents:  Weekly Quotes |  Short Takes | On Topic Links

 

 

 

On Topic Links  

 

Real Time with Bill Maher: Ben Affleck, Sam Harris and Bill Maher Debate Radical Islam: Youtube, Oct. 6, 2014

Ben Affleck: Portrait of Islam’s Clueless Apologists: Raymond Ibrahim, PJ Media, Oct. 6, 2014

Turkey Picks the Barbarians: Kelly McPharland, National Post, Oct. 10, 2014

Another Joyful Holiday: Dry Bones Blog, Oct. 15, 2014

 

 

“You cannot get it through casual contact like sitting next to someone on a bus,” —U.S. President Barack Obama. Speaking in a video message to residents of West African countries currently experiencing outbreaks of Ebola, Obama dispensed advice on how residents can avoid the disease. “First, Ebola is not spread through the air like the flu,” Obama said in the video released by the White House Thursday, adding “you cannot get it from another person until they start showing symptoms of the disease, like fever.” Obama also said that “the most common way you can get Ebola is by touching the body fluids of someone who is sick or has died from it, like their sweat, saliva or blood, or through a contaminated item like a needle.” The CDC, however, is advising aid workers and others who travel to countries currently experiencing Ebola outbreaks to “avoid public transportation” if they develop a fever or experience other Ebola-like symptoms while on their trip. (CNS News, Oct. 9, 2014)

 

“What is the root cause of Hamas’ rocket fire on Israel? It’s Hamas’ opposition to Israel’s very existence,” —Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Prime Minister was rebutting accusations from visiting UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that Israel was to blame for this summer’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza. Netanyahu continued: “Hamas doesn’t give a hoot for the 1967 lines. For them, Israel has no right to live, in any borders. Hamas rejects our very existence. They’re committed to killing every Israeli and every Jew. You just have to read their charter – they say that very plainly. So Hamas is the enemy of all of us who seek peace. And a real peace can only be achieved through bilateral negotiations with those who believe in peace. I believe that unilateral steps by the Palestinians at the United Nations will not advance peace. I think they’ll do the very opposite. They’ll bring about a further deterioration in the situation – something none of us want. If the UN wants to support a genuine reconciliation, it must avoid any steps that could undermine peace.” Ban Ki-moon made a whirlwind trip to Jerusalem, meeting with its top politicians to call for a renewal of the frozen peace process with the Palestinians, to urge Israel to lift restrictions on the Gaza Strip and to halt settlement activity and Jewish building in east Jerusalem. He also met in Ramallah with Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and was scheduled to visit Gaza on Tuesday. (Prime Minister’s Office, Oct. 13, 2014) 

 

“As horrific as it is to watch in real time what is happening in Kobane … you have to step back and understand the strategic objective,” —John Kerry, the US secretary of state, at a news conference in Washington last week. Facing growing questions over why the coalition was not doing more to save the city, both the Pentagon and the State Department said it was taking a “regional” and “strategic” approach to the fate of Kobane, rather than getting “fixated” on one small town. “Notwithstanding the crisis in Kobane, the original targets of our efforts have been the command and control centres, the infrastructure,” Kerry added. “We are trying to deprive (Isil) of the overall ability to wage this, not just in Kobane but throughout Syria and into Iraq.” (Telegraph, Oct. 8, 2014)

 

“If this falls, the 700, plus perhaps the 12,000 people, apart from the fighters, will be most likely massacred,” —UN envoy Staffan de Mistura. De Mistura said Kobani could suffer the same fate as the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, where 8,000 Muslims were murdered by Serbs in 1995, Europe’s worst atrocity since the Second World War, while UN peacekeepers failed to protect them. The UN believes 700 mainly elderly civilians are trapped in the town itself and 12,000 have left the centre but not made it across the border into Turkey. “Do you remember Srebrenica? We do. We never forgot and probably we never forgave ourselves,” said de Mistura. “When there is an imminent threat to civilians, we cannot, we should not, be silent.” (Globe & Mail, Oct. 11, 2014) 

 

“A nuclear settlement is certain,” —Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Rouhani claimed a nuclear deal was bound to happen and he believed it could be achieved by a November 24 deadline, vowing to “apply all our efforts in that direction.” Top diplomats of the United States, Iran and the European Union will meet for another round of talks in Vienna later this week to push for an elusive deal ahead of the deadline. “Of course details are important too, but what’s important is that the nuclear issue is irreversible. I think a final settlement can be achieved in these remaining 40 days. We will not return to the situation a year ago. The world is tired and wants it to end, resolved through negotiations,” the Iranian president said on live television. (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 14, 2014)

 

“I don’t believe it’s out of reach,” —U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, on reaching a nuclear deal with Iran by the November 24 deadline. Kerry said that it would be premature to speculate on whether another extension will be needed to reach a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic, “but we have some tough issues to resolve. I am not going to prognosticate. We need to continue to have some serious discussions and see where we are.” Kerry was scheduled to travel to Vienna on Wednesday to meet with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. (Al Monitor, Oct. 14, 2014)

 

“In recent months, Iran has been trying to present itself as part of the solution rather than part of the problem,” —a senior diplomatic official, referring to an international conference to promote business ties between Europe and Iran, set to begin Wednesday in London. The “1st Europe-Iran forum” seeks to prepare the ground for “post-sanctions investment and trade,” according to its website. Speakers at the conference, which has been endorsed by the office of Iranian President Rouhani, include former foreign ministers from the U.K. and France, one British MP, and a senior official currently serving in the British Foreign Office. “It’s a manipulation orchestrated by Tehran and certain business circles and friends of Iran,” the official said, “their purpose is to create a public atmosphere that would eventually make European governments more amenable to compromise regarding the nuclear negotiations with Iran.” Taking place in central London’s Grosvenor Square Hotel, the Europe-Iran forum appears to be convened on the premise that Iran and the West are closing in on a comprehensive deal over Tehran’s nuclear program, which would end the sanctions the international community has imposed over recent years. (Times of Israel, Oct. 15, 2014)

“In all my life and experience of nearly 30 years in public service and in the U.N. and as a government minister, I have never seen what I have seen today,” —Zainab Bangura, The U.N. special representative on sexual violence in conflict zones. Bangura said that rapes by armed men in South Sudan were widespread and intolerable. She had witnessed brutal violence during the civil war in her country, but that conditions for women in South Sudan were worse after months of conflict between government troops and rebels. Thousands of people have been killed and almost two million have fled since fighting erupted in December. Both government troops and rebels are committing rapes, she said, and some victims are killed or die from their injuries. “These are not conditions and circumstances under which women can live,” she said. (New York Times, Oct. 10, 2014)

 

“What is your solution? To condemn Islam? To do what?” —Ben Affleck, actor and Oscar-winning director, during a debate with Bill Maher and author Sam Harris on HBO. Affleck was appalled when Harris said the Muslim faith was the “motherload of bad ideas.” The trio debated whether large numbers of the Muslim population share the beliefs of jihadists, and led to Affleck saying: ‘It’s just an ugly thing to say. It’s gross, it’s racist. It’s like saying: “Oh you shifty Jew”. (Daily Mail, Oct. 5, 2014)  

 

“The reason apologists can get away (for now) with their reasoning is because the U.S. is ostensibly immune from Islam — so they can spin and pass off feel-good fables about Islam all they want,” —Raymond Ibrahim, in response to Ben Affleck’s recent outbursts in defense of Islam on HBO. He continued: “Yet all the while, time progresses, Islam keeps marching and gaining ground, until the clash begins anew in earnest, as it did for centuries until Islam was beaten on the battlefield by the West in the modern era.  And when the Islamic world is finally in a position to unleash an earnest global jihad, when the “Islamic State” phenomenon appears all around the world — already people are being beheaded by Muslims in America and Europe — posterity will look back with great bitterness at the inaction and naivety of their Western predecessors who might have nipped the problem in the bud if they had only spoken truth — and implemented policies based on truth.” (PJ Media, Oct. 6, 2014)

 

Contents

 

 

CONFERENCE PLEDGES $5.4 BILLION TO REBUILD GAZA STRIP (Cairo) —An international donor conference in Cairo on reconstructing Gaza garnered $5.4 billion in pledges on Sunday. The total sum was boosted by a hefty $1 billion contribution from Qatar. Half of the $5.4 billion that was promised is to be used for rebuilding efforts in Gaza, while the remainder is intended to support the budget of the Palestinian Authority through 2017. That sum is less than the $8.5 billion Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, had requested for both purposes. But Western officials noted that the contributions could grow since a number of nations like the United States made their pledges on an annual basis. (New York Times, Oct. 12, 2014)

 

TURKISH JETS BOMBARD KURDISH POSITIONS (Ankara) —Turkish fighter jets have bombarded Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) positions in south-eastern Turkey for the first time since the start of the peace process between the outlawed group and the Turkish government in 2012. The attacks on the PKK came in the wake of violent clashes last week between Kurdish factions and security forces in several Turkish cities, as anger grows over perceived government inaction against the Islamic State attack on the Kurdish town of Kobani in Syria. According to media reports, the strikes came in retaliation for armed PKK offensives on several military outposts in the area. (Guardian, Oct. 14, 2014)

 

TURKEY DENIES REPORTS OF DEAL FOR USE OF ITS BASES IN FIGHT AGAINST ISLAMIC STATE (Ankara) —A day after American officials said Turkey had agreed to allow its air bases to be used for operations against the Islamic State, Turkish officials said on Monday that there was no deal yet, and that talks were still underway. The Turkish comments represented another miscommunication between the United States and its longtime ally Turkey, as President Obama pushes to strengthen an international coalition against the militants that control a large area of both Syria and Iraq, by securing a greater role for Turkey. The Turks have insisted that any broad support to the coalition is dependent on the mission going beyond the Islamic State to also target the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, which Turkey has long opposed and blames for creating the conditions that led to the rise of the extremists within Syria and Iraq. (New York Times, Oct. 13, 2014)

 

PENTAGON WITHHELD INFORMATION ABOUT CHEMICAL WEAPONS DURING IRAQ WAR (Washington) —American troops were exposed to chemical weapons multiple times in the years following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, while the Pentagon kept their discoveries of the expired or degraded weapons secret from investigators, fellow soldiers, and military doctors, according to a published report. The New York Times reported late Tuesday that American troops reported finding approximately 5,000 chemical warheads, shells, or aviation bombs in the years following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On at least six occasions, soldiers were wounded by those weapons, which had been manufactured before 1991. In all, the paper reported that 17 U.S. soldiers and seven Iraqi police officers were exposed to chemical agents during the war. (Fox News, Oct. 15, 2014)

 

ISIS USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS ON KURDS: REPORT (Baghdad) —ISIS extremists appear to have used chemical weapons taken from the abandoned arsenals of Saddam Hussein in their slaughter of ethnic Kurds in the Syrian city of Kobani last July, according to a frightening new report. The jihadi terrorists are believed to have pillaged an old weapons complex in northern Iraq, where they obtained poison gas they transported to Syria. Shocking photos posted on Fox News show gruesome wounds inflicted on the victims. The images were obtained by the Middle East Review of International Affairs, and an expert at that organization said the attackers appeared to have used “mustard gas or some kind of blistering agent.” Saddam used the deadly gas to kill thousands of Kurds in the city of Halabja, Iraq, in 1988. (New York Post, Oct. 14, 2014)

 

FOUR BOMBINGS KILL OVER 50 PEOPLE AROUND BAGHDAD (Baghdad) —A rash of bombings in several districts around greater Baghdad on Saturday killed more than 50 people and wounded nearly 100. A suicide bomber detonated his explosives in a crowded market in Mishahda, in the rural northern outskirts of the capital, killing 14 people and wounding 27. Three more bombings occurred in quick succession around nightfall. No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Islamic State, which has taken control of vast regions of the country, often uses suicide bombers and car bombs, usually targeting majority-Shiite neighborhoods. (New York Times, Oct. 11, 2014)

 

RCMP PROBING SUSPECTED EXTREMISTS WHO HAVE RETURNED TO CANADA (Ottawa) —The RCMP has about 63 active security investigations on 90 suspected extremists who intend to join fights abroad or who have returned to Canada. Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney conveyed a stern message, “Let me be clear: these individuals, posing a threat to our security at home, have violated Canadian law,” Blaney told MPs. The Mounties will “seek to put them behind bars where they belong…barbarity is not a Canadian value and will never ever be one,” he added. A recent federal report said the government knew of more than 130 individuals with Canadian connections who were abroad and suspected of supporting terror-related activities. It said the government was aware of about 80 such people who had returned to Canada. (Huffington Post, Oct. 8, 2014)

 

BRITISH MPS VOTE AN OVERWHELMING ‘YES’ TO PALESTINE (London) —British lawmakers voted resoundingly Monday in favor of a Palestinian state, in a debate unlikely to change government policy but laden with political symbolism. The ayes carried the vote with 274 votes, against only 12 nays. Opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, who is Jewish, voted in support of the motion. Prime Minister David Cameron and other government leaders abstained, and more than half of the 650 Commons members did not participate in the vote. The initial motion that was debated declared: “This House urges the government to recognize the State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel.” It was subsequently amended to add the phrase “as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution.” Although it has no binding effect, some of its supporters said they hoped it would place pressure on Israel to change its polices on the Palestinians. (Times of Israel, Oct. 14, 2014)

 

CHRISTIAN CLERICS TO EUROPE: RECOGNIZE PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD (Rome) —A number of senior Palestinian Christian clerics urged European states to recognize a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital. In an open letter penned by three Palestinian leaders from the Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Lutheran communities, the clergymen said the recognition of Palestinian statehood and the definition of Israel’s borders were paramount to achieving peace. In their letter, the prelates explained how they were disillusioned with calls to resume negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel. “Europe has a moral, legal and political duty to hold Israel accountable and support Palestinian non-violent initiatives to end the Israeli occupation, including the recognition of the State of Palestine on the 1967 border with east Jerusalem as its capital,” the petition said. (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 10, 2014)

 

3 POLICE HURT AT ARAB PROTEST AGAINST LIMITED TEMPLE MOUNT ACCESS (Jerusalem) — Three policemen were injured during protests Wednesday against restrictions on Muslim worship at the al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. The incident occurred at the Gate of the Tribes near the Temple Mount, and prompted police to close the Temple Mount to visitors. Meanwhile, some 250 people demonstrated outside the Lion’s Gate, among them Balad MKs Hanin Zoabi, Jamal Zahalka and Basel Ghattas, according to Israel Radio. Police have regularly limited Temple Mount access to both Muslim worshipers and other visitors throughout the past month due to simmering tensions during the Jewish holiday season, which sees Jewish worshipers flock to Jerusalem to pray at the Western Wall below the Temple Mount. (Times of Israel, Oct. 15, 2014)

 

ISRAEL SUCCESSFULLY TESTS ‘NAVAL IRON DOME’ (Haifa) —The Israeli Navy secretly tested an upgraded anti-missile system designed to protect naval vessels several months ago. The test was crowned a success.  The defense system, which uses Barak missiles, was upgraded to confront the growing threat of Russian-made Yakhont anti-ship cruise missiles. The Yakhont missiles pose a threat mainly because of their potential use by Israel’s neighbors. Russia has been supplying Syria with Yakhont missiles since 2010. Hezbollah, in southern Lebanon, is also believed to possess these shore-based missiles.  The test was conducted as part of a general overhaul of the navy’s defense systems, which also provide protection for offshore drilling rigs. (Israel Hayom, Oct. 13, 2014)

 

JEWS IN NYC PLAN MASSIVE PROTEST AGAINST ANTISEMITIC OPERA (New York) —New York Jews plan to hold a 100-Wheelchair Caravan on Monday to demonstrate against the Metropolitan Opera for glorifying terrorism in its production of “The Death of Klinghoffer.” The demonstration on October 20, opening night for “The Death of Klinghoffer,” will take place at the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on West 65th Street and Broadway in Manhattan at 6:00 p.m. Leon Klinghoffer was a disabled American who was murdered and thrown overboard by Palestinian terrorists who hijacked the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985. (Arutz Sheva, Oct. 15, 2014)

 

ACADEMICS SIGN PETITION OPPOSING ISRAEL BOYCOTT (New York) —More than 1,350 academics from around the world have signed a petition opposing faculty or student boycotts of Israel. The online petition of the Faculty for Academic Freedom was posted last week. Academics from colleges and universities in countries such as France, Britain, the Netherlands and Russia, as well as the United States and Israel, have signed the petition. An academic boycott “violates the very principle of academic freedom,” the petition says. It also states, “The factual record does not support the accusations and narratives of the BDS movement. Many are based on overstatements, cherry picked evidence, outright falsehood, or on disputed or highly biased data.” (JTA, Oct. 13, 2014)

 

FORMER TEL AVIV MAYOR SHLOMO LAHAT DIES AGED 86 (Tel Aviv) —Former long-time Tel Aviv mayor Shlomo Lahat died October 1 at the age of 86. He served as head of city hall for 19 years, from 1974 to 1993, and oversaw its cultural development, investing in art and educational projects such as public concerts and festivals. “He changed the face of [Tel Aviv], particularly its cultural institutions, and established community centers and sports facilities across town,” Lahat’s wife, Ziva, told Ynet. Lahat also oversaw the rehabilitation and revitalization of older Tel Aviv neighborhoods and the construction of its opera building. The former mayor, better known as “Chich,” was born in 1927 in Germany and moved to Israel when he was six. Lahat’s immediate successor as Tel Aviv mayor, Roni Milo, eulogized him, saying he was “a giant of a mayor who turned Tel Aviv into a city that never sleeps. He turned the city into the cultural center of Israel.” (Times of Israel, Oct. 1, 2014)

 

CIJR Wishes all our Friends & Supporters: Chag Sameach! NB: We will not be Publishing our Isranet Daily Briefing Thursday or Friday Because of the Holiday—Ed

 

 

On Topic Links 

 

Real Time with Bill Maher: Ben Affleck, Sam Harris and Bill Maher Debate Radical Islam: Youtube, Oct. 6, 2014

Ben Affleck: Portrait of Islam’s Clueless Apologists: Raymond Ibrahim, PJ Media, Oct. 6, 2014 —The value of actor Ben Affleck’s recent outbursts in defense of Islam on HBO’s Real Time is that here, in one 10-minute segment, we have all the leftist/liberal bromides used whenever Islam is criticized.

Turkey Picks the Barbarians: Kelly McPharland, National Post, Oct. 10, 2014—The crisis on the Syrian border town of Kobani neatly captures the headache-inducing complexity of the struggle against the self-proclaimed Islamic State.

Another Joyful Holiday: Dry Bones Blog, Oct. 15, 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

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