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The Child, the Nazi Bookkeeper and the Question of Blame: Marian Scott, Montreal Gazette, Apr. 24, 2015
Former AP Journalist Blasts ‘Breaking the Silence’ Report on Israeli Conduct in Gaza: David Daoud, The Algemeiner, May 5, 2015
WEEKLY QUOTES
“The international community cannot let Iran’s aggression in the region — in Lebanon, in Iraq, in Syria, in Yemen and elsewhere – to continue under the protection of an Iranian nuclear umbrella. And the international community cannot afford to let the planet’s foremost sponsor of terrorism have nuclear capabilities with which to terrorize the entire world….The Lausanne framework ….would make the world a much more dangerous place…. Now there are those who say that the Lausanne framework will make Israel safer. As the prime minister of Israel I can tell you categorically this deal will endanger Israel — big time. But it’s not just Israel that will be in danger: The Middle East and the entire world will be threatened,” — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, through a video message at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. (Jewish Press, May 2, 2015)
“Let’s get something straight so we don’t kid each other. They [Iran] already have paved a path to a bomb’s worth of material. Iran could get there now if they walked away in two to three months without a deal,” —U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden. Biden spoke at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, insisting that the Obama-Iran deal was “reasonable” and that the United States “has Israel’s back.” The vice-president said that the U.S. will go to war with Iran if necessary to keep it from procuring a nuclear weapon. (Jewish Press, May 2, 2015)
“There’s a lot of hysteria about this deal. People really need to look at the facts, and they need to look at the science behind those facts,”— U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Kerry spoke directly to Israelis on television Saturday night to denounce what he called “hysteria” over the emerging deal with Iran he says will ensure it does not reach nuclear capability. Two days after Vice-President Biden said that the proposed deal is not about trust but about verifications of Iran’s nuclear development, Kerry told Israelis that Israel can be assured that “we will be able to know what Iran is doing and prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon.” Kerry stated “I say this again – we will not sign a deal that does not close off Iran’s pathways to a bomb and that doesn’t give us the confidence – to all of our experts and global experts – that we will be able to know what Iran is doing and prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon….We will have inspectors in there every single day. That’s not a 10-year deal. That’s forever. There have to be inspections.” Iran last month declared categorically that no inspectors will be allowed at its military sites. (Jewish Press, May 3, 2015)
“These are not poison pills. They are vitamin pills. They are designed to strengthen this legislation and strengthen the U.S. negotiating position…If you’re in the Senate and you don’t want to vote, you should leave” —Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.). The Senate is expected to pass a bill this coming week enabling Congress to review any final nuclear deal with Iran, likely without further votes on GOP amendments. A weeklong effort to strike a bipartisan agreement on bringing up more Republican amendments faltered after an unorthodox procedural move by Sen. Cotton. Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) and the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, had been on the verge of reaching a deal to bring more than a dozen GOP amendments to the Senate floor when Mr. Cotton took the unusual step of seeking to secure a vote on amendments from himself and Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) outside the bipartisan negotiations. (Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2015)
“The Gulf states are very concerned about this nuclear deal with Iran…Some of them believe this is the start of an Obama administration bid to trade them away…(Administration officials were) trying to think creatively about how they can assuage those fears,” — Kenneth M. Pollack, an expert on Middle East political and military affairs at the Brookings Institution. The Obama administration is scrambling for reassurances it can present this month at a Camp David summit meeting to persuade Arab allies that the United States has their backs, despite a pending nuclear deal with Iran. Officials at the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department have been meeting to discuss everything from joint training missions for American and Arab militaries to additional weapons sales to a loose defense pact that could signal that the United States would back those allies if they come under attack from Iran. (New York Times, May 1, 2015)
“Iran jails student leaders and no students show up to make it known how they feel? It’s a scandal that such a brutal regime would be represented at a liberal American campus and no one would show up to protest,” —David Keyes. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was in New York this week. Between visits to the United Nations and the “Charlie Rose” television show, Mr. Zarif appeared at New York University. Outside the Greenwich Village hall where Zarif spoke, a group of activists ridiculed his welcome by sardonically celebrating a recent Iranian-regime milestone: hanging 1,000 prisoners in a mere 18 months. Keyes executive director of the group Advancing Human Rights organized the protest. (Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2015)
“My duty is to maintain the memory of these people. This is the only weapon I have against the revisionists, to be an eyewitness to the truth,” —Paul Herczeg, 87, a retired businessman who was just 16 when he was deported with his parents from Hungary to Auschwitz in June 1944. His mother was sent to the gas chamber while Herczeg and his father became slave labourers. In the late summer of 1944, they were sent to Muehldorf, near Munich, where the Nazis were building a secret jet factory in the Bavarian forest. “When they marched us to the ghetto, which was about eight kilometres or so, people were applauding. That made me very, very bitter about life,” he recalled. Herczeg immigrated to Canada in 1947 and founded a successful import-export business after doing a variety of odd jobs, from waiting tables to setting up pins in a bowling alley. He has spoken at schools, churches and on the Radio-Canada show Tout le monde en parle to keep the truth of the Holocaust alive. (Montreal Gazette, Apr. 29, 2015)
SHORT TAKES
COALITION LAST MINUTE TALKS: LIKUD REPORTEDLY CAPITULATES, BAYIT YEHUDI WINS JUSTICE + 2 SECURITY CABINET VOTES (Jerusalem) — It appears that Bayit Yehudi’s Ayelet Shaked will be made Justice Minister in Israel’s next government, Israel Radio reported. Bayit Yehudi party chairman, Nir Orbach said, that talks with the Likud are now in a very sensitive state, and “all options are open,” including the Justice portfolio going to Shaked—which, incidentally, was a promise made to the voters by party chief Naftali Bennett at the onset of the campaign, back in January. Orbach wrote to Bayit Yehudi activists Wednesday morning that unity and cohesiveness have awarded the party with unprecedented achievements and an opportunity for real impact on the future of the country. (Jewish Press, Apr. 29, 2015)
145 AUTHORS PROTEST ‘FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION’ AWARD TO CHARLIE HEBDO AS ISLAMOPHOBIC (New York City) — The PEN award to the survivors of the Charlie Hebdo massacre has drawn some very distinguished fire. On April 26, 2015, six PEN “table hosts” publicly protested PEN’s decision to give an award for “Freedom of Expression Courage” to these courageous Islamist attack survivors. This award, to be given on May 3rd, is separate from the literary prizes. By April 30th, the six (Peter Carey, Teju Cole, Rachel Kushner, Michael Ondaatje, Francine Prose, and Taiye Selasi) were joined by one hundred and thirty nine authors who signed a petition of protest. In all, this represents only 4% of the PEN membership. Salman Rushdie had this to say: They are “six authors in search of character.” He is right. They do not know how to stand up to the false charge of “Islamophobia.” (Algemeiner, Apr. 29, 2015)
U.S. NAVY STARTS TO ACCOMPANY SHIPS IN STRAIT WHERE IRAN SEIZED CARGO CARRIER (Teheran) — The U.S. Navy has begun accompanying American-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz, in response to Iran’s seizure of a Marshall Islands-flagged ship last week in the gateway to the Persian Gulf. Navy warships are providing greater protection for U.S.-flagged vessels moving through the narrow strait where Iranian patrol boats confronted and took control of the M/V Maersk Tigris. Tensions in the Gulf are bringing further uncertainty to U.S. efforts to forge a nuclear agreement with Iran by a June 30 diplomatic deadline. While Iran characterized its seizure of the cargo ship as the outgrowth of an unresolved financial dispute, American military officials said they saw it as a provocative show of force by Tehran, which is continuing naval manoeuvres in the region. (Wall Street Journal, Apr. 30, 2015)
RIOT ENGULFS RABIN SQUARE AT ANTI-POLICE BRUTALITY PROTEST (Tel Aviv) — Violence engulfed Rabin Square in central Tel Aviv on Sunday, as an anti-police brutality protest by Israeli Jews of Ethiopian descent spun out of control, with protesters throwing rocks and bottles at police, who fired stun grenades and charged the square repeatedly on horseback. The protesters – who numbered in the thousands and included a large contingent of non-Ethiopian Israelis – marched through central Tel Aviv and blocked both sides of the Ayalon freeway. The protest was held just days after a similar one in Jerusalem ended with arrests and injured protesters and police. Both were triggered by a video of an IDF soldier of Ethiopian ethnicity being beaten by a policeman and a police volunteer in Holon. The protesters were mainly Israelis of Ethopian ethnicity, but they came from all walks of life and sectors of Israeli society. (Jerusalem Post, May 3, 2015)
ISLAMIC STATE CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR FIRST U.S. ATTACK (Dallas) — I.S. fighters have claimed responsibility for the attempted shooting of participants at a Texas anti-Islam event on Sunday night, in what is thought to be the first such attack on American soil. The gunmen attempted to attack a meeting in Garland, near Dallas, where participants in a free-speech event drew cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The American Freedom Defence Initiative (AFDI) (co-founder, Pamela Geller) knew that the event would be provocative, and it had caused a stir among extremists – who ten days before the attacks, called for a Charlie Hebdo-style shooting. One of the suspects was identified as Elton Simpson, an Arizona man who was previously the subject of a terror investigation, citing a senior FBI official. Police on Monday morning raided the Phoenix home of one of the suspected gunmen, FBI officials told CNN. (Telegraph, May 4, 2015)
ISLAMIC STATE ‘EXECUTES 300 YAZIDI HOSTAGES IN IRAQ’ (Baghdad) — Hundreds of captive Yazidis have been shot and killed by Islamic State jihadis near Mosul, Iraq, according to Yazidi and Iraqi officials. The Yazidi Progress Party announced Saturday that 300 Yazidi hostages were killed late Friday in Tal Afar, which is situated roughly 35 miles west of Mosul. An official of the Kurdistan Democratic Party said: “Women, children and elderly people are confirmed among the victims. IS gathered them in one place and shot them all together.” Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled in August when I.S. captured the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar. But hundreds were taken captive by the group, with some Yazidi women forced into slavery, according to international rights groups and Iraqi officials. About 50,000 Yazidis – half of them children, according to UN figures – fled to the mountains outside Sinjar during the onslaught. Some still remain there. (Telegraph, May 3, 2015)
ABU BAKR AL-BAGHDADI SERIOUSLY INJURED IN U.S. AIR STRIKE (Damascus) — After leading a desert blitzkrieg across Syria and Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed himself “Caliph” of a new “Islamic State.” But the bloodsoaked reign of a terrorist appears to have been cut short by an American airstrike. Iraq’s government and other sources are convinced that, far from leading his men in battle, Baghdadi now lies critically wounded and subject to constant care. A U.S. air raid near the town of Al-Baaj, 90 miles west of the Iraqi city of Mosul, appears to have injured Baghdadi and killed three of his companions on March 18. The self-styled “Caliph” is understood to have suffered spinal damage for which he requires continuous treatment. As a result, Baghdadi is thought to be incapacitated and no longer in command of the Islamic State. Instead, de facto leadership of the movement has passed to a council of senior commanders, including Baghdadi’s supposed deputy, Abu Alaa al-Afri. (National Post, May 3, 2015)
BOKO HARAM STONED WOMEN TO DEATH TO PREVENT RESCUE (Lagos) —Over the past week, the Nigerian military claims to have freed more than 700 people from the clutches of Islamist extremist group Boko Haram. A new government offensive against the jihadists’ redoubts in the vast and remote Sambisa forest led to the rescue of many captives, including hundreds of women and children who had been seized when Boko Haram overran their villages. The testimony some shared with reporters is chilling. When Nigerian soldiers approached a group of trapped women, many apparently cried out for help. Retreating Boko Haram fighters, it appears, chose to attack those who didn’t flee with them. “Boko Haram, who were guarding us, started stoning us so we would follow them to another hideout, but we refused because we were sure the soldiers would rescue us,” Asama Umaru, 24, told Reuters. She was part of a group of nearly 300 people, mostly women and children, who made it to a government camp Saturday. (Washington Post, May 4, 2015)
THE TERRORIST WITH NINE LIVES: MOHAMMED DEIF IS STILL ALIVE (Jerusalem) —It has been revealed that Mohammed Deif survived his assassination attempt during Operation Protective Edge, and has returned to his position as Chief Commander of Hamas’s military operations. Findings from the field reveal that Deif resumed his activity in Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which renewed the digging of tunnels in Gaza full steam ahead. Last September it was reported that during the first attack on the house in which Deif was residing in Gaza, bombshells targeted at the site failed to explode. A short while later, in a second wave of bombings, the house was entirely destroyed. It is possible that in the short time between the two attacks Deif managed to escape the scene. The day after the attack, thousands took part in the funeral of Deif’s wife and son, who were killed during the attack. They waved Hamas flags, fired into the air and called for revenge on Israel. (Jerusalem Online, Apr. 29, 2015)
BDS-LINKED MOB OF 40 HOODLUMS ATTACK 2 JEWS IN PARIS (Paris) — Two young Jews were assaulted Friday afternoon on the street in Paris by a mob of about 40 people, an organization monitoring antisemitism in France reported. The attack against the two young men, aged around 21, occurred on Boulevard Voltaire. The two young men were slightly injured. Police have launched an investigation into the incident and warned local Jewish businesses owners to be extra vigilant. The gang of attackers was associated with anti-Israel groups Gaza Firm and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). Friday’s attack marks the latest in a growing anti-Semitic trend in France and Europe as a whole. Last January, an Islamist terrorist took hostages in a kosher supermarket in Paris and killed four Jews. (Jewish Press, May 2, 2015)
UN PROBES BOOKSTORE OVER CLAIMS OF BOOKS TARGETING JEWS AND ISRAEL (Geneva) — The U.N. announced that it would examine the selection at a bookstore operating within its jurisdiction in Geneva after the watchdog group U.N. Watch claimed the shop was displaying books targeting Jews and Israel. Among the books on sale at the shop, which had a concession agreement with the neighboring Human Rights Council, was “How I stopped Being a Jew” by Shlomo Sand, and “The Punishment of Gaza,” by Israeli left-wing journalist Gideon Levy. In a letter to the acting director-general of the U.N. Office at Geneva, U.N. Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer wrote: “We unflinchingly support the freedom of expression and full exchange of ideas, good and bad. Yet the unmistakable pattern of anti-American, anti-Israel and anti-Jewish books is a matter that requires your attention…At a time when Jews across Europe are being targeted by violent attacks and incitement, it is deeply distressing that the United Nations Headquarters in Europe would promote books on ‘how to stop being a Jew,’” said the letter. (Algemeiner, Apr. 30, 2015)
CANADIAN HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER SUSPENDED FOR ISLAMIST ASSOCIATIONS (Ottawa) —An adviser for Public Safety Canada was suspended following a French-language TVA report that outlines his controversial views and relationship with organizations associated with terrorist financing. According to the report, Hussein Hamdani encouraged student activists to “Islamize campus politics” in a 1996 document published by the Muslim Students Association. Under Hamdani’s leadership in 2003, the Ihya Foundation joined the Saudi World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) to initiate the “Reviving the Islamic Spirit” conventions in Toronto. In 2012, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) revoked WAMY’s charitable status after the organization was found to have financed an al-Qaeda -affiliated organization. Moreover, two organizations that were led by Hamdani transferred money to IRFAN-Canada, an Islamic charity that funnelled $15 million to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. (Algemeiner, May 3, 2015)
UN: ISRAEL SENT SECOND LARGEST DELEGATION TO NEPAL FOR EARTHQUAKE RELIEF EFFORTS (Kathmandu) —Israel has sent the second largest delegation to assist Nepal following last Friday’s massive earthquake near Kathmandu, according to the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. According to the report, Israel has sent more than 260 people to beleaguered Kathmandu since last Friday. This is about 200 more people than the next country, the UK, which sent 68 people. The largest delegation, from India, comprised 450 people. China has sent 62 people, and the US offered 54 volunteers. A separate report listed financial aid by country. According to these numbers, the US has donated the most, at $10 million, followed by the UK at $5 million. (Algemeiner, Apr. 29, 2015)
On Topic Links
The Child, the Nazi Bookkeeper and the Question of Blame: Marian Scott, Montreal Gazette, Apr. 24, 2015— From Elaine Kalman Naves’s earliest childhood, her 6-year-old half-sister Évike has loomed large in her imagination.
Former AP Journalist Blasts ‘Breaking the Silence’ Report on Israeli Conduct in Gaza: David Daoud, The Algemeiner, May 5, 2015— Former Associated Press reporter Matti Friedman on Tuesday wrote a scathing criticism of the recently issued report from NGO Breaking the Silence on the conduct of Israeli soldiers during last summer’s Gaza war.