WEDNESDAY’S “NEWS IN REVIEW” ROUND-UP

 We welcome your comments to this and any other CIJR publication. Please address your response to:  Rob Coles, Publications Chairman, Canadian Institute for Jewish Research, PO Box 175, Station  H, Montreal QC H3G 2K7 – Tel: (514) 486-5544 – Fax:(514) 486-8284; E-mail: rob@isranet.wpsitie.com

 

 

 

 

On Topic Links  

 

Paying Tehran’s Bills: Lee Smith, Weekly Standard, June 8, 2015

Coming Out of the Closet: India-Israel Ties Under Narendra Modi: Ronak K. Desai, Foreign Policy, May 7, 2015

Israel’s Shifting Allegiances: Robert Fulford, National Post, May 15, 2015

All Islamic Extremism is Unacceptable: Tarek Fatah, Middle East Forum, June 2, 2015

 

“I am here to demonstrate, emphatically, Canada’s unwavering support for Israel…We understand that Israel’s neighbourhood is as dangerous as Canada’s is peaceful, and so we know that Israel’s leadership has no choice but to take at all times, every step necessary to protect itself from the forces that are openly committed to its destruction…We’ve long refused to be neutral in supporting Israel’s right to defend itself against violent extremists,” —Canada’s Foreign Affairs minister Rob Nicholson. Nicholson, on his first visit to Israel, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today in Jerusalem. (Ynet, June 3, 2015)

 

“We are in the midst of a great struggle being waged against the state of Israel, an international campaign to blacken its name. It is not connected to our actions; it is connected to our very existence. It does not matter what we do; it matters what we symbolize and what we are,” —Prime Minister Netanyahu. Netanyahu said that the international community disproportionally singles out the Jewish state for condemnation while remaining silent on major conflicts and human rights abuses in other countries. “I think that it is important to understand that these things do not stem from the fact that if only we were nicer or a little more generous — we are very generous, we have made many offers, we have made many concessions — that anything would change because this campaign to delegitimize Israel entails something much deeper that is being directed at us and seeks to deny our very right to live here…Now, this is a phenomenon that we have known in the history of our people…They said that we are the focus of all evil in the world. All of these things are being said about us today as well. It was not true then and it is not true today…”he said. (Washington Post, May 31, 2015) 

 

“I can…demonstrate, not based on any hope but on facts and evidence and analysis, that the best way to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon is a verifiable, tough agreement…A military solution will not fix it. Even if the U.S. participates, it would temporarily slow down an Iranian nuclear program but it will not eliminate it,” —U.S. President Barack Obama, interviewed on Israeli television by Ilana Dayan. Touching on the deeply uneasy relationship between Obama and Netanyahu on the issue, Dayan asked the president about the possibility of Israel striking Iran without informing the US in advance. “I won’t speculate on that,” he said. “What I can say is, to the Israeli people: I understand your concerns and I understand your fears.” (Times of Israel, June 1, 2015)

 

“The best agreement, if you cannot verify it, it’s useless…Several countries in the region would say, OK, a paper [has been signed] but we think it is not strong enough and therefore we ourselves have to become nuclear,” —French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. Fabius said a possible nuclear deal with Iran risks sparking a nuclear arms race in the Middle East unless the agreement grants international inspectors access to Iranian military sites and other secret facilities. He insisted the ability to inspect such sites be part of a final agreement with Iran to ensure Tehran doesn’t covertly try to build a nuclear weapon. (Wall Street Journal, June 1, 2015)

 

“Inspection of military installations has never been on the agenda in our negotiations…As we have made it very clear, we never accepted that there could be inspections from the military sites in our country,” —Hamid Ba’eedinejad, a senior negotiator for Iran, quoted by state-run Press TV. Nuclear talks between Iran and the U.S. intensified over the weekend in Geneva, one month ahead of a deadline for a comprehensive nuclear deal. No progress was reported from the talks on the question of access to Iran’s military facilities – specifically Parchin, which both France and the US have said is a necessary component of any final accord. Iran has repeatedly ruled out “alien” inspections into any of its military facilities, characterizing such demands a violation of its sovereignty. (Jerusalem Post, June 6, 2015)

 

“Iran must come clean on all outstanding issues raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), particularly concerning the possible military dimensions of Iran’s civilian nuclear program. The history of Iran’s nuclear program has been marked by deception. Sites like Fordo have no role in an Iranian civilian program. Iran must account for the full inventory of centrifuges, production facilities for components, the total number of components, assembly workshops, and storage depots for centrifuges,” —U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), in an article “8 Principles for Dealing with the Iran Nuclear Threat.” Graham announced this earlier this week that he will run for U.S. President in 2016. (Breaking Israel News, June 2, 2015)
 

“…There is very, very strong relationship between United States and Israel on the intelligence, security and military fronts. It’s one of the great things, I think, about our system; there can be policy differences between our governments but the intelligence and security professionals know that we have an obligation to keep our countries safe and secure. And so although there’s been great debate about the Iranian nuclear negotiations that are ongoing, the CIA, NSA and other intelligence community entities are working very close with their Israeli as well as other counterparts,” —CIA Director John Brennan. (CBS News, May 31, 2015)

 

“If the United States’ bottom line is that China has to halt its activities, then a U.S.-China war is inevitable in the South China Sea,” — The Global Times, a tabloid newspaper run by the Chinese Communist Party. The newspaper is often seen as a mouth-piece of hard-line nationalists in the government. State media reported last week that Beijing had begun building two lighthouses on reefs in the Spratly Islands, a smattering of outcrops that are claimed by an array of countries, including not only China but also Vietnam and the Philippines. Last month, satellite imagery revealed the Chinese had almost completed an air strip on another reef, Fiery Cross, while they are turning another rock, Mischief Reef, into a full island through land reclamation. The Global Times described the construction of runways, harbour facilities and buildings on the disputed Spratly Islands as the nation’s “most important bottom line.” (Telegraph, May 26, 2015)

 

“Neither party wants a war if it can be avoided, but there are red lines for both sides. I worry that Beijing considers the U.S. to be a declining power and assumes that Washington will back down if it shoots down a U.S. observation aircraft,” — Robert Dujarric, director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at the Japan campus of Temple University. Analysts say neither Washington nor Beijing appears to be in the mood to back down and there is a serious risk of a minor incident in airspace around the islands escalating rapidly. “I think the concern has to be that China misjudges the situation,” said Dujarric. (Telegraph, May 26, 2015)

 

“There are no such things as eternal enmity or eternal love. There are only eternal interests. We should identify our country’s interest. Churchill once said that he was ready to cooperate with the Devil in the interest of his country. As a man who knows a little bit about history and about international relations, I believe that it is in our interest to maintain normal relations with Israel,” —prominent Egyptian historian Maged Farag. Farag took to Egypt’s national television to make an unusually open and robust case for Egypt to “drop the Palestinian cause and normalize relations with Israel.” He insisted it was time for Egyptians to leave “the old ideology and cultural heritage on which we were raised” – namely, rabid anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism – in favor of a more rational focus on Egypt’s own national interests. “What I’m saying is that we should pay attention to the interests of our country,” he told his interviewer. (Arutz Sheva, June 1, 2015)

 

“By Allah’s will, Jerusalem belongs to the Kurds, the Turks, the Arabs, and to all Muslims…And as our forefathers fought side by side at Gallipoli and just as our forefathers went together to liberate Jerusalem with Saladin, we will march on the same path to liberate Jerusalem.  The Turkish government does not differentiate from East to West.  We intend to put together all of the regions of our nations and we will bring these regions back together,” —Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, during the inauguration ceremony of the country’s 55th airport in Hakkari Province.  The airport is named the Selahaddin Eyyubi Airport after Saladin of the Ayyubi dynasty, the Muslim ruler of Kurdish origin who conquered Jerusalem and was a great enemy of the Christian Crusaders especially Richard the Lionheart.  During the ceremony, both Davutoglu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke of their desire to conquer Jerusalem and to re-establish the Ottoman Empire. (Jerusalem Online, May 28, 2015)    

 

Contents

 

PALESTINIAN SOCCER ASSOCIATION DROPS EFFORT TO SUSPEND ISRAEL FROM FIFA (Zurich) —The Palestinians dropped their bid to suspend Israel from international soccer competition at the last minute Friday, and agreed to instead form a committee of the sport’s governing body, FIFA, to handle their complaints of racism and discrimination. The FIFA campaign, part of a Palestinian effort to press the case against Israel in international forums, garnered global attention and incited deep concern in Israel’s soccer-obsessed society. Israel’s Foreign Ministry sent diplomats to Zurich to join sports officials in a blitz to block the proposal, winning the support of European federations that made it all but impossible for the Palestine Football Association to garner the required 75 percent majority. (New York Times, May 29, 2015)

 

ANTI-ISRAEL GROUP WINS KEY DESIGNATION FROM UN PANEL (Geneva) —A pro-Palestinian group which critics say is a front for Hamas won key status from a UN panel. The UN Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, a 19-member panel that includes Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Venezuela, Russia and China, granted “observer” status to the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC). The UK-based PRC, which was established in 1996, was declared illegal in Israel in 2010 because of alleged ties to Hamas. UN Watch claims the group has regularly hosted Palestinian officials, including Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, at its annual conferences and has strong ties to top Hamas officials. (Fox News, June 1, 2015)

 

WESTERN OFFICIALS ALARMED AS I.S. EXPANDS TERRITORY IN LIBYA (Tripoli) — The branch of I.S. that controls Surt has expanded its territory and pushed back the militia from the neighboring city of Misurata. In the group’s latest attack, a suicide bomber killed at least four fighters on Sunday at a checkpoint west of Misurata on the coastal road to Tripoli. Four years after the removal of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the near collapse of the Libyan government has left no central authority to check the group’s advance or even partner with Western military efforts against it. The group’s expanding turf in Libya also gives it an alternative base of operations even as it appears to be gaining ground in other regions — in Palmyra in Syria and in Ramadi in Iraq. (New York Times, May 31, 2015)

 

PROSECUTORS SAY FAHMY, AL JAZEERA COLLEAGUES SPREAD FALSE NEWS  (Cairo) — Prosecutors in Cairo presented their closing arguments in the retrial of Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy, alleging the Al Jazeera English bureau chief and his colleagues were guilty of spreading false news to harm Egypt’s national security and aiding a terrorist organization. Among a litany of allegations brought by the prosecution, lawyers claimed the journalists had added sound effects to video footage, including the sound of gun shots, despite the findings by a technical committee presented in a previous court session that video evidence was all unedited raw footage. Fahmy has been lashing out at his employer, the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera network, accusing the network of grave negligence that placed the journalists in peril. (Globe & Mail, June 1, 2015)

 

NSA LOSES POWER TO COLLECT AMERICANS’ PHONE RECORDS (Washington) — The National Security Agency lost its authority to collect Americans’ phone records in bulk, after Rep. Sen. Rand Paul stood in the way of extending the fiercely contested program.. But that program and several other post-Sept. 11, 2001 counter-terror measures look likely to be revived within days. In addition to the bulk phone collections provision, two lesser-known Patriot Act provisions also lapsed at midnight. One, so far unused, helps track “lone wolf” terrorism suspects unconnected to a foreign power. The second allows the government to eavesdrop on suspects who continually discard their cellphones. The House bill extends those two provisions unchanged, while remaking the bulk collection program so that the NSA would stop collecting the phone records after a six-month transition period, but would be authorized under court order to search records held by phone companies. (National Post, June 1, 2015)

 

 FBI OPERATED SECRET FLEET OF AIRCRAFT TO CONDUCT SURVEILLANCE (Washington) —Scores of low-flying planes circling U.S. cities are part of a civilian air force operated by the FBI and obscured behind fictitious companies. The AP traced at least fifty aircraft back to the FBI, and identified more than 100 flights in eleven states over a thirty-day period since late April, orbiting both major cities and rural areas. For decades, the planes have provided support to FBI surveillance operations on the ground. But now the aircraft are equipped with high-tech cameras, and in rare circumstances, technology capable of tracking thousands of cell-phones, raising questions about how these surveillance flights affect Americans’ privacy. (Ottawa Citizen, June 3, 2015)

 

U.S. PAID RESIDENTS LINKED TO NAZI CRIMES MILLIONS IN BENEFITS (Washington) — The U.S. government paid $20.2 million in Social Security benefits to more than 130 U.S. residents linked to Nazi atrocities over the course of more than a half-century, with some of the payments made as recently as this year. The millions of dollars paid out, a total far higher than officials had previously believed, indicate the ease with which thousands of former Nazis managed to settle into new lives in the U.S. with little scrutiny after the end of World War II. A report due to be released this week concludes that virtually all of the payments were proper under policies in place at the time, and that federal officials did not have the legal authority to prohibit benefits until a Nazi suspect was deported. The report found that more than three dozen former Nazis received a total of $5.7 million in Social Security benefits before they were ultimately deported. (New York Times, May 30, 2015)

 

AUSTRIAN NEWSPAPER PRINTS NAZI DEATH NOTICE, APOLOGIZES (Vienna) — A major Austrian newspaper has apologized for printing a death notice that carried the Nazi elite troop rank of the deceased. The announcement of the death of Lois Plock in the Kleine Zeitung noted that he was an “Untersturmfuehrer” — a paramilitary rank of Hitler’s special SS forces. SS members served as Hitler’s bodyguard and formed elite units that carried out many of the era’s Holocaust crimes and other atrocities. The announcement also listed a Nazi-era decoration of the deceased and carried a verse associated with the oath of loyalty sworn by Nazi troops to the German dictator. Glorifying the Nazi past is a crime in Austria. Chief Editor Hubert Patterer apologized for printing the notice on Sunday, one day after it appeared. (National Post, June 2, 2015)

 

BRITAIN’S STUDENT UNION VOTES TO BOYCOTT ISRAEL (London) —The UK’s National Union of Students passed a motion Tuesday to join worldwide efforts to boycott Israel over what it called Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights. The motion explicitly aligns the union with the Palestinian-instigated BDS campaign. The motion also called on the British Parliament to stop arms sales to Israel. The NUC is the UK’s umbrella student organization for some 600 higher education institutions representing 7 million students. In the wake of the vote, the British Government restated its firm opposition to calls to boycott Israel. (Times of Israel, June 2, 2015)

 

LAWFARE GROUP WARNS NY CO-OP AGAINST ISRAELI BOYCOTT (New York) — Israeli legal rights group Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center sent a letter to the Park Slope Food Co-op (PSFC) warning them not to implement a boycott of Israeli manufacturers, products or services. The PSFC recently debated a resolution to discontinue the sale of Israeli products. The boycott resolution was promoted by members of the BDS movement which seeks to delegitimize the Israel internationally.  Shurat HaDin has been involved in legally countering numerous efforts by the BDS movement and Palestinian extremist groups to delegitimize the Jewish State including helping to block the Gaza Flotilla, challenging divestment resolutions at investment funds and taking legal action against those who implement anti-Israel campaigns. (Arutz Sheva, June 1, 2015)  

 

ISRAELI DROUGHT AID SWINGS INTO ACTION IN CALIFORNIA (Sacramento) —As California continues into another summer of drought, Israeli aide is finally becoming reality after years of negotiations and agreements with local water authorities, according to David Segel, the Israeli Consul in southern California. “We signed an agreement with Los Angeles…on the subject of green technologies, we’re bringing water specialists from Israel for discussions with legislatures…” said Segel. Besides desalinization, one of the main technologies that Israel has been trying to introduce in California is known as “gray water” – water from showers, sinks, and washing machines – that is diverted in Israel to water gardens and parks. (Ynet, May 31, 2015)

 

AFTER DECADES OF IOC SILENCE, SLAIN ISRAELI OLYMPIANS HEADED FOR RECOGNITION (Munich) —In time for the 2016 Rio Olympics, a first-ever IOC-supported official memorial telling the story of the Munich Massacre will be erected in Munich, on the grounds of the Olympic stadium. The Munich Massacre was a terrorist attack during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. Eleven Israeli Olympic team members were taken hostage and eventually killed, along with a German police officer, by the Palestinian group Black September. The memorial is being constructed at the initiative of the Bavarian government. (Breaking Israel News, June 2, 2015)

 

INDIAN PM MODI TO VISIT ISRAEL (New Delhi) —India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Israel, though no firm date has been set, his Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said at a press conference. The visit of Modi would be the first ever visit to Israel by an Indian prime minister. Ariel Sharon was the first Israeli prime minister to visit India, doing so in 2003. He was forced, however, to cut his visit short after three days because of a terrorist attack in Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu met with Modi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in September, and said the “sky’s the limit” in Israeli-Indian ties. This was the first meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries since Sharon’s visit. Netanyahu invited him to Israel at the time. (Jerusalem Post, May 31, 2015)

 

TENS OF THOUSANDS ATTEND NYC ISRAEL SOLIDARITY PARADE (New York) —Tens of thousands of people gathered in the streets of New York on Sunday to mark the 51st annual Celebrate Israel Parade. American and Israeli politicians joined 30,000 other people who marched up Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue in a show of solidarity with Israel for the all-day event marking Israel’s 67th birthday. For the afternoon, Pier 94 was transformed to include a 17-foot long mock up of the Western Wall, an Israeli “shuk” (market) where Israeli-American artists displayed and sold hand-made crafts, and a pavilion featuring Israeli-American tech companies and music stars. (Times of Israel, June 1, 2015)

 

On Topic Links 

 

Paying Tehran’s Bills: Lee Smith, Weekly Standard, June 8, 2015—Even the Obama administration acknowledges that Iran is up to a lot of mischief in the Middle East.

Coming Out of the Closet: India-Israel Ties Under Narendra Modi: Ronak K. Desai, Foreign Policy, May 7, 2015 —Relations between India and Israel are experiencing a diplomatic renaissance.

Israel’s Shifting Allegiances: Robert Fulford, National Post, May 15, 2015 —Israelis sometimes take a philosophical view of their military situation. “After all,” they occasionally say, “the Middle East is a bad neighbourhood.”

All Islamic Extremism is Unacceptable: Tarek Fatah, Middle East Forum, June 2, 2015 —On Sunday, over 700 Canadians braved unseasonal cold and non-stop rain for four hours outside an Islamic centre north of Toronto.