Wednesday’s “News in Review” Round-Up

Media-ocrity of the Week: “It’s no secret that The (New York) Times often is intended to appeal to its many affluent readers and, at least sometimes, the advertisers who want to reach them. (Consider the ad-heavy special section produced twice a year and called, simply, “Wealth.”)… So who is The Times written for — the superwealthy, or for citizens of all income levels? Is the paper trying, in the axiom about journalism’s mission, to “afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted”? Or is it plumping the Hungarian goose-down pillows of the already quite cozy?… There’s nothing inherently wrong with covering…haute cuisine, haute couture and all the other hautes. Not only do they often have news value but it also can’t be denied that the advertising revenue these articles help generate allows The Times to do the hard-hitting, expensive-to-produce journalism that is at the core of its mission… In the end, the upscale doughnut and the penthouse apartment — lofty as they may be — have nothing to do with The Times’s highest purpose,” —Margaret Sullivan, NYT’s Public Editor. (New York Times, Nov. 8, 2014)   

WEEKLY QUOTES

“Canada is extremely concerned about the increasing violence in Jerusalem. We deplore, in particular, recent attacks where vehicles were driven intentionally into innocent bystanders. Such cowardly acts of terrorism are completely unacceptable and should be widely condemned,” —Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, in a statement last week. The attack, by a Palestinian motorist who drove a van into a crowd of people at a transit stop, killed an off-duty Israeli border police officer and injured 12. (Globe & Mail, Nov. 6, 2014)

“The terrorism being directed against us knows no borders…From the terrorists’ point-of-view, we do not need to be in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Gush Etzion or anywhere. They will not succeed. Even the attempt by extremist Islamic elements to ignite the ground and cause a religious war will not succeed,” — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, responding to the recent wave of terror attacks to hit the country. Speaking at a press conference after a special security cabinet meeting to discuss the situation, Netanyahu said that PA President Mahmoud Abbas was “fanning the flames” rather than speaking out against terror. “To my regret, Abu Mazen is not a partner in this effort. On the contrary, today, Abu Mazen has again proven that he is irresponsible. Instead of calming the situation he is inflaming it. Instead of speaking the truth, he is disseminating lies to the effect that we intend, or are operating in some way, to change the status of the holy places – this is a gross lie. Instead of educating his people for peace, Abu Mazen is educating them for terrorism. The sad thing is that the international community that rushes to condemn every balcony that we build in our capital city, simply ignores this wild incitement of Abu Mazen’s and thus it encourages him to continue actions that could ignite the entire Middle East,” Netanyahu explained. Among the steps being put in place are more forces on ground, the demolition of terrorists’ homes, and an “iron fist” against rock-throwers and Molotov cocktail-throwers, the Prime Minister said. (Prime Ministers Office, Nov. 11, 2014)

“Keep the settlers and the extremists away from Al-Aqsa and our holy places,” —PA President Abbas, “we will not allow our holy places to be contaminated. Keep them away from us and we will stay away from them, but if they enter al-Aqsa, [we] will protect al-Aqsa and…the entire country,” he said. Abbas’s remarks came in an address to thousands who gathered in Ramallah for the 10th anniversary of the death of PLO leader Yasser Arafat, during which he cautioned the Israeli government against changing the status quo at the Temple Mount. “Israel’s leaders are making a big mistake if they think they can turn back history, to impose a reality, and to divide the al-Aqsa Mosque [into separate prayers times and areas] as they divided the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron,” Abbas said, using the Arabic term for the Cave of the Patriarchs, which hosts both Jewish and Muslim prayer. Such a move “would be unsuccessful, since in their actions, Israel’s leaders will lead the region and world into a devastating religious war,” he added. (Times of Israel, Nov. 11, 2014)

“Kerry and other Western leaders do not want to understand that Abbas is not authorized to make any concessions for peace with Israel. For Abbas, it is more convenient to be criticized by the U.S. and Israel than to be denounced by his own people. Ignoring these facts, Kerry tried to pressure Abbas into making concessions that would have turned the Palestinian Authority president into a “traitor” in the eyes of his people. Abbas knows that the people he has radicalized would turn against him if he dared to speak out against the killing of Jews…Abbas’s refusal to condemn the recent terror attacks on Israel may be attributed to two motives: fear of his people, and the belief that violence will force Israel to make far-reaching concessions. By refusing to denounce the attacks, and even praising the perpetrators as heroes and martyrs (as he did in the case of Mu’taz Hijazi, the east Jerusalem man who shot and wounded Jewish activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick), Abbas is indicating his tacit approval of the violence. Not a single Palestinian Authority official, in fact, has denounced the wave of terror attacks on Israel. They, too, are afraid of being condemned by their people for denouncing “heroic operations” such as the stabbing murder of a 26-year-old woman or ramming a car into a three-month-old infant,” —Khaled Abu Toameh. (Gatestone Institute, Nov. 12, 2014)

“I actually do think that Israel went to extraordinary lengths to limit collateral damage and civilian casualties,” —U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “In this kind of conflict, where you are held to a standard that your enemy is not held to, you’re going to be criticized for civilian casualties,” Dempsey said. His statement follows several high-profile denouncements of Israel’s military actions during this summer’s war in Gaza against the terrorist organization Hamas. (Tablet, Nov. 7, 2014)

“This barbaric, wolflike & infanticidal regime of #Israel which spares no crime has no cure but to be annihilated,” —Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on his Twitter account over the weekend. Khamenei also posted a table that lays out nine key questions on why—and how—his plan to destroy Israel should be implemented. The post begins with “Why should the Zionist regime be eliminated?” Because throughout its existence “the fake Zionist regime has tried to realize its goals by means of infanticide, homicide, violence & iron fist.” But rest easy, Iran definitely does not want “the massacre of the Jewish people” but rather Iran has proposed “a practical & logical mechanism” to eliminate Israel through a referendum involving “all the original people of Palestine, including Muslims, Christians and Jews” anywhere in the world. The referendum would then give rise to a new government that would then have to decide whether Jews who have relocated to Israel can stay there or “should return to their home countries.” Until the day when Khamenei’s plan can be realized, “powerful confrontation and resolute and armed resistance” is the only way to deal with “this ruinous regime…the fact that Yasser Arafat was poisoned and killed by Israel while he had the most cooperation with the Zionists proves that in the viewpoint of Israel, ‘peace’ is simply a trick for more crimes and occupation,” Khamenei wrote. (Slate, Nov. 9, 2014)

“I don’t trust the Iranians, I don’t think we need to bring them into this,” —U.S. House Speaker John Boehner. On November 6, the Wall Street Journal reported that President Obama secretly wrote to Iran’s Supreme Leader in the middle of last month and described a shared interest in fighting Islamic State. The letter appeared aimed both at buttressing the campaign against Islamic State and nudging Iran’s religious leader closer to a nuclear deal. Obama stressed to Khamenei that any cooperation on Islamic State was largely contingent on Iran reaching a comprehensive agreement with global powers on the future of Tehran’s nuclear program by a Nov. 24 diplomatic deadline.  In a sign of the sensitivity of the Iran diplomacy, the White House didn’t tell its Middle East allies—including Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE—about Obama’s October letter to Khamenei. (Wall Street Journal, Nov. 6, 2014)

“The news media broke (or were given) the story that President Obama penned a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader…The October letter marked at least the fourth time Mr. Obama has written Iran’s most powerful political and religious leader since taking office in 2009 and pledging to engage with Tehran’s Islamist government. Writing one letter , let alone four, is among the dumbest moves in a foreign policy with far too many blunders in it already. Even worse, Obama seemed to be suggesting just the sort of alliance critics have suspected was his objective all along and which will certainly terrify Israel and our Sunni allies,” —Jennifer Rubin. (Washington Post,  Nov. 7, 2014)

“The correspondence of the US president [with Iran] has a years-old history, and at times responses have been given to such letters,” — Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, on Wednesday. Shamkhani also criticized what he called the hypocrisy of members of the US administration regarding their secret correspondence and declared positions, describing such practice as a scheme to influence the US public opinion. “Unfortunately, Washington’s policies in the Middle East are being regulated by Israel, and the Tel Aviv regime, in return, has spared no efforts in humiliating the United States,” Shamkhani said. (Press TV, Nov. 12, 2014)

“…all this comes even as Iran continues to demonstrate its untrustworthiness by defying its international inspections obligations. Point is, looking to Iran for cooperation on ISIS is a dubious proposition. And the one thing that unites Israel with our Sunni Arab partners is this: There is perhaps no graver threat to the Middle East than a nuclear-armed Iran,”—New York Post Editorial Board. (New York Post, Nov. 8, 2014)

“It was a night of shame and disgrace,” — German Chancellor Angela Merkel, referring to Kristallnacht. As Germany celebrated the 25th anniversary of the fall of Berlin Wall and its long hoped unity, another tragic event on November 9, 1938, “Kristallnacht”, continues to haunt the country. “On the 25th anniversary of the Wall’s fall, I feel not only the joy of November 9, 1989 but also the responsibility of German history,” Merkel said during her speech commemorating the fall of the wall. Also known as the “Night of Broken Glass,” Kristallnacht was the anti-Jewish pogrom carried out in Germany and Austria by the Nazis’ paramilitary SA troops. The name of the pogrom was taken from the shattered glass in the Jewish community’s properties which were destroyed in the Nazi raids. (Daily Sabah, Nov. 9, 2014)

“I find it bizarre that the Museum of the History of Polish Jews is dedicated to 1,000 years of Jewish existence and contribution to Polish life, as the Jews have never been considered to be Polish. Let me give you an example. By the summer of 1946, about 200 Holocaust survivors had returned to the Polish town of Kielce, many of whom were trying to reclaim some of their property that had been confiscated by non-Jewish Poles during the German occupation. Instead of being welcomed back by their neighbours, 42 Jews were massacred and another 40 injured. The Kielce massacre convinced many Polish Jews that they had no future in Poland after the Holocaust and spurred them to flee the country. Such post-war incidents of anti-Jewish horror do not compare to the many generations of anti-Jewish violent activities throughout Poland that resulted in the deaths of many hundreds of thousands. Coming just one year after the end of the Second World War, the massacre shocked people around the world. So we now have a museum dedicated to Jewish life in Poland. Those whose lives were taken for no other reason than the fact that they were Jews, must be turning in their graves,” —Marvin Sharpe, in a letter to the editor of the National Post. The Museum of the History of Polish Jews opened October 28, 2014, in Warsaw. (National Post, Nov. 6, 2014)

SHORT TAKES

MORE ISRAELIS KILLED BY TERROR IN PAST MONTH THAN LAST TWO YEARS (Jerusalem)—More Israelis have been murdered from attacks by terrorists from the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the last month than in the past two years combined. The dismal statistic comes as uncertainty and fear of more violence prevailed in the wake of two deadly stabbing attacks in Tel Aviv and Alon Shvut on Monday. Sergeant Almog Shiloni, 20, from Modi’in, killed in Tel Aviv, and Dalia Lemkus, 26, were the tenth and eleventh Israelis to be murdered in the past six months. Last week, Druze border patrol officer Jadan Assad, 38, and student Shalom Baadani, 17, were killed when a Palestinian rammed into a crowd of people at a Jerusalem light rail station. A week prior, Yehuda Glick was shot outside of a convention in Jerusalem advocating Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount. His attack came a week after three-month-old Haya Zissel Braun and 22-year-old Ecuadorian Karen Mosquera were killed by a terrorist who also drove a car into a Jerusalem light rail station. (Ynet, Nov. 11, 2014)

BOMB AT SCHOOL IN NIGERIA KILLS NEARLY 50 BOYS (Lagos)— A suicide attacker disguised as a student detonated a bomb at a boarding school in northern Nigeria on Monday morning, killing nearly 50 boys who were between 10 and 20 years old. The bomber was wearing a school uniform when he appeared at the morning assembly at the Government Senior Science Secondary School. Northern Nigeria has long been crippled by an Islamist insurgency, and the terrorist group Boko Haram has targeted schools, killing dozens of students and kidnapping hundreds of others. Boko Haram did not claim responsibility for the bombing, but it has made what it calls “Western education” a particular focus of its bloody campaign against civilians and soldiers. (New York Times, Nov. 10, 2014)

BOMB ATTACKS TARGET HOMES OF FATAH LEADERS IN GAZA (Gaza City)— Senior members of Abbas’s Fatah party have blamed Hamas for launching a wave of bomb attacks targeting Fatah officials in the Gaza Strip, in a new sign of tension between the Palestinian factions. At least 10 explosions hit the houses and cars belonging to senior Fatah officials. There were no reports of deaths or injuries. Hamas has been in control of Gaza since ousting the Fatah-controlled PA in 2007. Last spring, Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation agreement that was expected to end years of tensions between the groups and form a unity government. But progress has been slow on reconciliation as both groups continue to show open hostility and mistrust. (New York Times, Nov. 5, 2014)

ABBAS SAYS HE SEEKS TO MOVE ARAFAT SHRINE TO JERUSALEM (Jerusalem)— PA President Abbas reportedly said that he intends to move the shrine for late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Jerusalem. Speaking during a memorial marking 10 years since Arafat’s death, Abbas said Arafat should “remain immortal in the hearts of our people.” The official cause of Arafat’s death was a stroke, but doctors said at the time they were unable to determine the origin of his illness. Many Palestinians believe Israel killed him. Arafat’s body was exhumed last year at the behest of his widow and the PA to check reports that his death came as a result of poisoning. A forensic team said that results from their tests of samples taken from Arafat’s body were consistent with polonium poisoning but were not absolute proof of the cause of death. A French forensic team concluded that he did not die of poisoning. (Jerusalem Post, Nov. 10, 2014)

SONG URGES PALESTINIANS TO ‘RUN OVER’ ISRAELIS (Jerusalem)—A song urging Palestinians to run over and murder Israelis for the glory of the al-Aqsa mosque has become a social media hit, the watchdog group Palestinian Media Watch reported, with nearly half a million views on Facebook and YouTube. The song calls for the defense of al-Aqsa and encourages Palestinians to “destroy, annihilate, blow them up.” “Run over the settler, run over the settler,” the singers chortle repeatedly as cartoons depicting car attacks as a weapon flash across the screen, along with pictures from the scenes of recent terror attacks in Jerusalem and photos of violent Palestinian protests. “Wait for them at the intersection; let the settler drown in red blood; terrorize them, your heart is strong; careful: show no compassion,” one verse says. (Times of Israel, Nov. 12, 2014)

EUROPEAN NATIONS CONSIDER RECOGNIZING PALESTINIAN STATE (Brussels)— Some of the U.S.’s European allies are threatening to follow Sweden and unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state if steps aren’t taken to revive the Middle East peace process. This emerging position in some of Europe’s capitals is placing the Obama administration in a diplomatic bind reflecting its own strained relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the breakdown this spring of U.S.-led talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. Stockholm’s government last month became the first EU member country to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state, drawing a harsh rebuke from  Netanyahu’s government. The parliaments of France and the U.K. have also introduced legislation recently to take similar steps although these votes aren’t binding on government policy. (Wall Street Journal, Nov. 7, 2014)

HAMAS SAID TO BE WORLD’S SECOND RICHEST TERROR GROUP (Gaza City)— Hamas is the world’s second richest terror group, according to a report in the Israeli edition of Forbes. The richest terrorist organization in history is the Islamic State, with various estimates placing its annual revenue at $2-3 billion. Hamas comes in second, with a yearly revenue of $1 billion. Colombia’s FARC is ranked third with $600 million; Hezbollah is fourth with $500 million; fifth is the Taliban with $400 million. Hamas reportedly gets $1 billion annually from taxing goods that come in to the Gaza Strip and from charitable contributions by organizations and individuals abroad. Reports indicate that it has also been taking a cut from funding provided by Western and Arab governments to help Gaza’s 1.8 million Palestinians. Hamas is also receiving funds from Qatar, and last month Arab and Western governments pledged $5.4 billion in aid to rebuild Gaza, including $1 billion from Qatar. (I24, Nov. 12, 2014)

RUSSIA STEPS UP NUCLEAR PLANS IN IRAN AS TALKS NEAR DEADLINE (Tehran)— Russia has announced plans to build new nuclear reactors in Iran — a move with international repercussions as a deadline looms. The country will construct up to eight new reactors for the “peaceful use of atomic energy” in Iran, Russian state news reported Tuesday. The announcement came less than two weeks before Iran’s negotiations with Western powers over its nuclear activities are set to expire. It also came a day after a fresh warning from Israel that the regime can’t be trusted, and a fresh promise from Washington that Iran won’t become a nuclear-armed state. Russia said its agreement with Iran includes a plan for the spent nuclear fuel to be “returned to Russia for reprocessing and storage.” Both Iran and Russia are under sanctions by the West. (CNN, Nov. 11, 2014)

TERRORISTS FOILED IN PLOT TO KILL QUEEN ELIZABETH (London)— Four Islamic terrorists planned to kill the Queen of England this weekend — but British police foiled the assassination plot, reports said. The anarchist assassins intended to stab the Queen Friday as the country celebrated 96 years since the end of World War I — an annual British jubilee — with numerous public appearances by her Royal Highness. British police discovered the murder plot by the four terrorists and conducted multiple raids in West London and Buckinghamshire to thwart their plan. (New York Post, Nov. 7, 2014)

ISRAELI-CANADIAN WOMAN JOINS KURDISH MILITANTS FIGHTING AGAINST ISIS (Tel Aviv)— A Canadian-born woman who emigrated to Israel and served in the IDF has joined Kurdish militants fighting Islamic State insurgents in northern Syria, Israel Radio reported. The Israeli citizen, identified by the station only as 31-years-old and a resident of Tel Aviv, said she had contacted Kurdish fighters before traveling through Iraq to train at one of their camps on the Syrian border. “They are our brothers. They are good people. They love life, a lot like us, really,” she told the radio station. The woman was preparing to enter combat zones in northern Syria, where Kurdish fighters, many of them women, have been trying to fend off Islamic State. Israel has maintained discreet military, intelligence and business ties with the Kurds since the 1960s, seeing in the minority ethnic group a buffer against shared Arab adversaries. (Jerusalem Post, Nov. 10, 2014)

ISRAELI PM NETANYAHU PRAISES CANADA’S KEVIN VICKERS FOR BRAVERY (Jerusalem)— The Canadian House of Commons sergeant-at-arms who shot the gunman who stormed the halls of Parliament last month earned praise from Israel’s Prime Minister on Wednesday. Netanyahu met Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers Wednesday in the Knesset. During their meeting, Vickers described to Netanyahu the events of Oct. 22, when gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau killed a soldier at the National War Memorial before storming the halls of the Centre Block. Vickers was hailed a hero after he shot Zehaf-Bibeau. Netanyahu praised Vickers for his bravery and quick response. Vickers brushed off personal compliments about his actions, noting that it was a group of people who helped stop the assailant. “On that day in particular, it was a real team effort,” he said. (CTV, Nov. 12, 2014)