“Iran’s current rulers will use your presence to further their own, hateful purposes,” – Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mr. Baird in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the occasion of the Secretary-General’s attendance of the Nonaligned Movement’s meeting in Iran this week. “Such a visit would only serve to legitimize and condone the record of this regime, which Canada views as the single most significant risk to global peace and security today. [Iran’s] egregious human-rights record denies large segments of the Iranian population even the most basic of rights, while threatening the very existence of one of its neighbours,” Mr. Baird wrote. “For example, on August 2, 2012, President [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad said that, ‘anyone who loves freedom and justice must strive for the annihilation of the Zionist regime in order to pave the way for world justice and freedom.’ ” (National Post, August 29, 2012)
“Because of your personal awareness of the facts, there is a high level of confidence that you will not forget or leave unaddressed the plight of our political prisoners.” – Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and former Shah of Iran, in a letter to UN Secretary-Geneneral Ban Ki-moon. (Globa and Mail, August 29, 2012)
"Once again, it has been exposed that Americans and Europeans who claim to be pro-Palestinian are actually just Israel-haters. For them, the Palestinian issue is just a vehicle for vomiting their hatred for Israel, and most likely all Jews. They are closer to Hamas and Islamic Jihad than to moderate Arabs and Muslims. The Palestinians need support from people who promote democracy, moderation, accountability and co-existence with Israel." – Hisham Jarallah, a journalist based in the West Bank commenting on the arrival in Jordan of some 100 “pro-Palestinian” activists in the latest “flytilla” (Gatestone Institute, August 28, 2012)
"Egypt is now a civilian state … a national, democratic, constitutional, modern state," – Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood president in his first press conference with international media since assuming the presidency, adding that "International relations between all states are open and the basis for all relations is balance. We are not against anyone but we are for achieving our interests." In response to the question of Egyptian military build-up in the Sinai he said, "Egypt is practicing its very normal role on its soil and does not threaten anyone and there should not be any kind of international or regional concerns at all from the presence of Egyptian security forces," (National Post, August 29, 2012)
“I was happy to hear Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy's talks about Egypt's' commitment to peace with Israel, to the Camp David treaty and the struggle against terrorism," – Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman "That is a very important message." But “Peace also has tangible expressions. Peace is not a telepathic connection… We hope to see President Morsy host official Israeli representatives; we want to see him give interviews to the Israeli press, and we want to see him in Jerusalem as the guest of President [Shimon] Peres.”
“Unfortunately the young men do this sometimes. They had a party with music and dancing, and they were behaving badly with the women.” – Juma Khan an elder from Helmand province in Afghanistan where the Taliban beheaded 15 men and 2 women after an ‘immoral’ house party. “This attack shows that there are irresponsible members among the Taliban.” averred Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, in response to the slaughter of innocent civilians. (National Post, August 28, 2012)
“Nowadays, the pressure for conformism comes more from the faculty, which tips Democratic like the Titanic in its final throes. Programs that once upheld the value if not the practice of intellectual diversity tend to function more like unions, trying to keep their membership in line. Some professors make a habit of insulting Republican candidates and conservative ideas with the smirking assurance of talk-show hosts, unaware that their laugh lines reap from some students the contempt that they sow. The increased political conformism at universities may be traced in part to the redefinition of diversity that accompanied the introduction of group preferences, aka "affirmative action." Schools instituting this policy never acknowledged that it conflicted with competing commitments to equal consideration "irrespective of race, religion, or gender," or that at least half the country questioned its wisdom.” – Ruth Wisse, Harvard professor of Yiddish and comparative literature and author of Jews and Power. “Conservative students—and not they alone—long for exposure to the ideational diversity of Jefferson and Hamilton, Jesus and the Grand Inquisitor, Marx and Hayek, liberal and conservative. They want a campus where a professor who says he votes Republican isn't considered either courageous or crazy. The pity is that, so far, students who desire such a campus will have to work for its transformation on their own.” (Wall Street Journal, August 27, 2012)
“The spirit that she died for is worth a life. This idea of resistance, this spirit of resisting this brutal occupying force, is worth anything. And many, many, many Palestinians give their lives for it all the time. So the life of one international, I feel, is more than worth the spirit of resisting oppression.” – Rachel Corrie’s ISM [International Solidarity Movement] colleague and handler, Joseph Smith eulogizing Corrie who died after purposely placing herself in a “Military Installations Area,” along the Egyptian border, at the Philadelphi Route, which was considered a hostile battlefield because of the large number of attacks carried out by terrorists. “The Palestinian resistance must take on a variety of characteristics, both non-violent and violent,” adding that “[i]n actuality, nonviolence is not enough…Yes, people will get killed and injured.” – ISM co-founders Adam Shapiro and Huwaida Arraf adding that such deaths [are] “no less noble than carrying out a suicide operation. And we are certain that if these men were killed during such an action, they would be considered shaheed Allah.” (Jewish Press, august 28, 2012)
“The ISM assigned itself the task of working alongside the Palestinians against the "Israeli occupation" by using what it called "non-violent protest activities". However, the evidence presented to me shows a significant gap between the Organization's statements and the true character of its activities and actions. The actions taken by the members of the organization, in practice, do not match its statements. In fact, the Organization exploits the dialogue regarding human rights and morality to blur the severity of its actions, which are, in fact, expressed through violence.” – Summary of the Verdict (T.A. 371/05) Estate of the Late Rachel Corrie, etc.v. The State of Israel – Ministry of Defense (Elder of Ziyon, Augus 29, 2012)
“[B]latant discrimination based on national and political distinction. This kind of discrimination has not been imposed — and rightly so — in any other case of national, territorial or ethnic conflict[.] … What is totally unacceptable is the use of tools which, by essence, discriminate and single out, fostering a general boycott.” – the Israeli government’s outraged response to South Africa’s decision to label goods entering the country from certain places [in Israel] as “IOT” for “Israeli Occupied Territory.” (The Algemeiner, August 27, 2012)
“So Jesus stepped right here? …I have to tell you, I am more excited stepping on these stones than I was stepping on the moon.” – Neil Armstrong to Israeli archaeologist Meir Ben-Dov as he reached the Hulda Gate at the top of the stone steps leading to the Temple Mount. [Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, passed away this week – Ed.] (quoted in Tablet, August 27, 2012)
“With all the money that has been invested in the problem of [the] Palestinians, it would have been possible long ago to resettle them and provide them with good lives in Arab countries.” Andrei Sakharov, human rights activist and 1975 Nobel Peace Prize laureate (quoted in the Jerusalem Post, August 24, 2012) (Top)
THE CORRIE CASE: RECKLESS CHOICES –(Haifa) …[T]he District Court in Haifa handed down its…verdict in the Rachel Corrie trial. The court found that Corrie’s own negligence led to her death. Corrie was killed in Gaza in 2003 after kneeling in front of an IDF bulldozer which was clearing brush, during a military operation, near the Rafah border crossing to prevent illegal weapons smuggling by terrorists from Egypt. Corrie, a US college student and member of the radical International Solidarity Movement (ISM), traveled to Gaza to serve as a human shield and to directly participate in hostilities between Israel and Palestinian combatants….Around the time of Corrie’s death, senior Islamic Jihad terrorist Shadi Sukiya was arrested while he was hiding in ISM’s Jenin office and being assisted by two ISM activists. In 2008, ISM member Richard David Hupper was convicted by a US federal jury for “giving about $20,000 to Hamas while working in Israel with the International Solidarity Movement. (Jerusalem Post, August 29, 2012)
ISRAEL PUSHING FOR UN SUMMIT ON JEWISH REFUGEES –(Jerusalem) Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon has been pushing for the UN to hold a summit in September on the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries. The summit’s main goal would be to address the issue of Jewish property rights for about 850,000 Jews [who] were expelled or forced out of Arab nations between 1948 and 1951, losing an estimated $700 million in property ($6 billion today). (Algemeiner, August 29, 2012)
FIRST MAJOR PROTEST AGAINST EGYPT’S ISLAMIST PRESIDENT –(Cairo) Several thousand Egyptians rallied Friday in the first significant protests against the country’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, accusing him and his Muslim Brotherhood group of trying to monopolize power….[T]he protests point to the fears many Egyptians feel with the Islamist president and his policies, and reflect the deep divide in Egyptian society over the country’s future direction under Morsi and the Brotherhood. Protesters…say that [Morsi] exceeded his authority when he assumed legislative powers after forcing senior generals into retirement following a deadly attack this month by militants that killed 16 Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula. (Washington Post, August 24, 2012)
THE BUTLER DID IT –(Frankfurt, Germany) The city of Frankfurt is about to present Dr. Judith Butler, a professor in the rhetoric and comparative literature departments at the University of California, Berkeley with the prestigious Theodor Adorno Prize, an award which comes with 50,000 euros. Butler is a US professor who advocates a sweeping boycott of ties with Israel’s cultural and academic establishment and has defended Hezbollah and Hamas as progressive organizations. Thomas von der Osten-Sacken, a Frankfurt-based Middle East expert said that by presenting the Adorno Prize to Butler, the city of Frankfurt is legitimizing a “de facto boycott of its partner city Tel Aviv’s academic and cultural institutions,” (Jerusalem Post, August 27, 2012)
POTS REBUKING KETTLES OVER THE ISSUE OF BLACKNESS –(Egypt) Al Ahram reported on Monday that the extremist Salafist Nour Party is sending a delegation to the Sinai Peninsula to “raise religious awareness and combat extremism.” The Sinai-bound commission will include members of the Shura Council (Egypt’s upper house of parliament), the Nour Party and the armed forces…The group will hold a series of meetings urging Sinai citizens to stand by the army in combating the supremacist Islamist groups roaming the area…[T]he visit attests to the Egyptian Islamist leadership’s awareness of the need to corral their out of control rank and file in the Sinai, and the realization that this cannot be done with tanks and planes alone. (Jewish Press, August 21, 2012)
SHEEP INVADING NORTHERN HILLS INTERFERING WITH ISRAELI TROOPS – (Galilee, Israel) Yedioth Ahronoth reports that the slopes of the northern mountain have become inundated with sheep, disturbing soldiers trying to operate there and turning Israel’s toughest Rambos into veritable shepherds. The army believes the sheep are sent across the border by Lebanese and Syrians looking to cause trouble. “It’s reasonable to assume they were sent to this point. We are talking here about a disruption of Israeli sovereignty in an outstanding way. True, we are talking about sheep, but their presence is dangerous.”
PALESTINIANS UNWANTED IN ARAB WORLD, FINDING JOBS IN ISRAEL – (Wast Bank) As the Arab countries continue to impose strict employment restrictions on Palestinians, Israel is opening its doors to Palestinian workers from the West Bank…Israel is becoming one of the largest employers of Palestinians in the Middle East [as] the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in Ramallah showed that [about] 90,000 Palestinians were now working in Israel and even in Jewish settlements [in 2012]. The Arab world, which once used to absorb hundreds of thousands of Palestinian employees, is beginning to close its doors [to] Palestinians. Many of the Arab countries accuse the Palestinians of being ungrateful [and]…consider Palestinians troublemakers and a source of instability, even impos[ing] apartheid-like regulations and laws that prevent Palestinians from earning a decent living. The Palestinians could have built one of the best economies in the region after the beginning of the peace process in 1993. But instead of using the billions of dollars that were given to them by Americans and Europeans to create new jobs, the PLO leadership stole most of the funds and later blamed Israel for damaging the Palestinian economy. Suicide bombings and financial and administrative corruption are the main reason why the Palestinian economy remains as weak as ever. The Palestinians are experts in shooting themselves in the foot and then blaming Israel. (Gatestone Institute, August 17, 2012)
SYRIAN REFUGEES IN JORDAN CAMP DOUBLE IN PAST WEEK: UN – (Jordan) Melissa Flemming, a spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency UNHCR said, "The pace of arrivals from the Syrian border to the Zaatri camp in north Jordan has doubled in the past week," She said that 10,200 people had poured into the camp in the week ending on August 27, compared with 4,500 the week before. More than 22,000 Syrians have taken shelter at the Al Zaatri camp since it opened on July 30. (AhramOnline, AFP, August 28, 2012)
IRAN: HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN UNDER AGE OF 10 MARRIED –(Tehran) Iran has experienced a dramatic growth in under-age marriages that has seen the number of girls being wed before the age of 10 double in the space of a year…. An Iranian NGO, the Society For Protecting The Rights of The Child, said 43,459 girls aged under 15 had married in 2009, compared with 33,383 three years previously. In 2010, 716 girls younger than 10 had wed, up from 449 the previous year, according to the organisation. Its spokesman, Farshid Yazdani, blamed deepening poverty for the development, which he said was more common in socially backward rural areas often afflicted with high levels of illiteracy and drug addiction. "Financial poverty of the families leads to children's marriages. However, cultural poverty and ignorance is also an element," Mr Yazdani told the semi-official Mehr news agency. The trend has prompted child protection experts to warn of a surge in mental illness, suicides, teenage runaways and girls turning to prostitution as the nuptials frequently end in divorce. (The Telegraph, August 27, 2012)
REINFORCED SCHOOL PROTECTS ISRAELI KIDS FROM GAZAN ROCKETS – (Sderot) Living under a constant threat of rocket fire from militants in the nearby Gaza Strip, their schooldays were often interrupted by mad dashes to bomb shelters. But on Monday, they started the school year safe from attack in a new, fortified, rocket-proof school building. [The] $27.5 million Shaar Hanegev high school with 1,200 students takes protection to the next level; ‘You can finally teach without worrying,’ says principal, Zohar Nir-Levi. The structure features concrete walls, reinforced windows and a unique architectural plan all designed specifically to absorb and deflect rocket fire. (Times of Israel, Auguat 28, 2012) (Top)
______________________________________________________________________
∙ Contentions, August 28, 2012
Jonathan S. Tobin
∙ Jewish Press, August 28th, 2012
Adam Levick
Put International Solidarity Movement on
Trial for Rachel Corrie’s Death
∙ Times of Israel, August 27, 2012,
Miriam Shaviv
