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WEDNESDAY’S “NEWS IN REVIEW” ROUND-UP

 

ContentsDownload today's Daily Briefing.pdf

Weekly Quotes 

Short Takes

 

On Topic Links

 

 

Alan Dershowitz Speaking at the Standwithus Festival of Lights: Stand With Us, You Tube, Dec. 4, 2012

Diving Currency Adds to Egypt's Woes: Matt Bradley, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 30, 2012

The Peace Index Data – December 2012 (pdf): Israel Democracy Institute, Jan 2, 2013

 

 

 

Weekly Quotes

 

 

 

Always, always believe the threats of your enemies more than the promises of your friends.”—Elie Weisel quoted by Alan Dershowitz in a speech to Stand With Us. (Stand With Us , Dec.4, 2012)

 

“If Iran is allowed to develop nuclear weapons on the watch of any president, that president will go down in history as the Neville Chamberlain of the 21st C.—Alan Dershowitz in a speech to Stand With Us. (Stand With Us , Dec.4, 2012)

 

“A woman's role is to instill love of jihad and martyrdom in her children…and in encouraging them to wage Jihad for the sake of Allah. This is absolutely the most glorious thing a woman can do….If every mother were to prevent her son from waging Jihad for the sake of Allah, who would wage Jihad? Who would support Palestine? Palestine is dear to us, and its price is paid with our body remains and our lifeblood.  Is not Allah's reward precious? Allah's reward is Paradise. Paradise requires from us our blood, our body remains, and our efforts for its sake.  I am constantly praying: "Allah, make the end of our days be in martyrdom." I pray for this even for my husband and my children. None of us want to die in our beds.”—Umm Osama, wife of Hamas Gaza MP Khalil Al-Hayya, from an interview aired on Al-Aqsa TV. (MEMRI TV, Dec 2, 2012)

 

"The danger to the world is not a university in Ariel. The danger to the world is not that Israel is building neighbourhoods in Jerusalem. The danger is Iran, which is building nuclear weapons. The danger is Syria's arsenal of chemical weapons. History will judge harshly those who equate democratic Israel — which is establishing a university — and dictatorial regimes that slaughter their people and which hold atomic weapons of mass destruction.”—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a visit to the newly accredited Ariel University, the first Israeli university to be established in a settlement in Samaria. (The Algemeiner, Jan 8, 2013)

 

“Now comes the latest news that Al [Gore] has sold Current [Cable TV], for the magnificent sum of $500-million, $100-million of which is his alone. Not bad for a TV station with less reach and inferior programming to most billboards. To whom did the Lord of the Upper Atmosphere sell? Why to al-Jazeera — which is to say, effectively to the ruler of Qatar, a wealthy country that has nothing else to sustain it but the sale of its huge petroleum resources. Qatar is about oil, oil and more oil. It is a global warmer’s hell. Surely there is some pill too tough to swallow in the idea of the world’s greatest alarmist on the subject of global warming, the evils of petroleum economies and the menace of fossil fuels accepting half-a-billion dollars from a state that utterly epitomizes the practices and product he most evangelistically despises.”—Rex Murphy in a National Post op-ed article. (National Post, Jan 5, 2013)

 

“[I]t’s becoming hard to deny that [Chuck] Hagel’s anti-Israel rhetoric and views and antipathy toward defence spending and sanctions on Iran are positives with this president, not demerits. A leading Democrat with a pro-Israel organization told me, ‘…[with] Hagel’s offensive record – from his slurs against minority groups like gays and Jews to his views on Iran and terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas – it is going to be very awkward for Democrats in the Senate.’”—Peggy Noonan in a New York Post op-ed article. (New York Post, Jan 6, 2013)

 

“When I look at Netanyahu, I don’t see a shred of personal example as a leader in him. There is a leadership crisis. It’s a crisis of value, it is a total disregard for the public. People may think that I see this in an overly extreme manner. I am telling you that from up close, things look even worse. I am convinced we deserve a better leadership that's braver and more moral, and that sets a better personal example….I have a very strong feeling that with the Iranian issue Netanyahu is 'haunted' by (former Israeli prime minister) Menachem Begin, who attacked the reactor in Iraq, and by (former Israeli prime minister Ehud) Olmert, who, as it is claimed in many places, attacked the reactor in Syria.” Netanyahu "wants to go down in history as someone who did something of the same proportions."—Yuval Diskin, former head of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency in an interview with Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot. Netanyahu's office in a text-messaged statement called Diskin's comments "baseless" and accused him of personal frustration over not being selected to head the prestigious Mossad spy agency. (Yahoo News, Jan 5, 2013)

 

“It’s not that we want to leave [Egypt]. We don’t. It would be very hard to abandon everything we have and start over”. —Ms. Nessim, a Maronite Christian. “But,” in this environment [Morsi’s Muslim Brothers-dominated Egypt] “we worry about the children. I thought maybe Jacky and the kids should go, at least for now.”Mr. Sedrak, Ms. Nessim’s husband. “But I said ‘No’. That’s the sort of thing that ruins a family.”—Ms. Nessim. “Either it becomes like Afghanistan with the Taliban, in which case we’ll have no choice but to leave. Or it gets rid of the Brotherhood and becomes a civilized country. I believe that is what is going to happen, and it will happen very soon.” Mr. Sedrak (The Globe and Mail, Jan.4, 2013)

 

“Christians are approaching Christmas with disappointment, grief and complaints, fearing not only their problems but Egypt’s situation in general. During the reign of [ousted President Hosni] Mubarak and the [military rulers], mainly Christians were facing problems, but now with the Muslim Brotherhood leaders, each and every moderate Egyptian is facing problems. It is not actual frequent sectarian violence, it is fear of further marginalization and second class citizenship.” —Amir Ramzy, a Coptic Christian and a judge in Cairo’s Court of Appeals. Egypt has been deeply polarized as it drafted the constitution. Christians and liberals walked out of the committee writing it, complaining that their concerns were not being addressed by the Islamist majority. (National Post, Jan 7, 2013)

 

"The point is that the government or the governing party alone, as we have seen until now is unable to lead the country in such an extremely dangerous situation. I'm not talking about a dialogue, I'm not talking about a meeting, I'm talking about [forming] a real coalition government."—Amr Moussa, a secular-leaning former presidential candidate and one of the leaders of the National Salvation Front, a leading opposition umbrella group. (Wall Street Journal, Dec. 31, 2012)

 

“The United Nations seems to have an unwritten rule that the more barbaric the nation, the better its chance of being appointed to monitor barbarity. Sudan – whose president, Omar al-Bashir, has been charged with genocide by the International Criminal Court – was awarded a seat on the Economic and Social Council, which is responsible for upward of 70 percent of the human and financial resources at the UN. The advocacy group UN Watch complained that Sudan was “genocidal, misogynistic and repressive.” So it’s no wonder they fit right in.”—National Review editorial (Dec 17, 2012) quoted by Leah Speer in the New York Post. (New York Post, Dec. 15, 2012)

 

"I am profoundly concerned and disappointed by President Obama’s nomination of former Senator Chuck Hagel to be Secretary of Defense. Recent reporting has made clear that Senator Hagel’s views and inflammatory statements about Israel are well outside the mainstream and raise well-founded doubts that he can be trusted to manage the special relationship the United States shares with our greatest Middle East ally." —US House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on [his]  opposition to Hagel's nomination, confirming, as well, that the move faces "widespread and bipartisan opposition" in the Senate. (Jerusalem Post, Jan 8, 2013)

 

“It’s very disappointing, I believe he will ultimately regret it. It undoubtedly will reduce support for him in the Jewish community, but I don’t think he [the President] worries about that now that the election is over. I believe it will encourage the jihadists. They will say: ‘Ah, we are winning the battle. America is beginning to desert Israel,’” — Ed Koch, former mayor of New York. (Newsmax, Jan 8, 2013)

Top of Page

 

 

 

 

ARAB-ISRAELI FATALITIES RANK 49TH(Washington) The Arab-Israeli conflict is often said, not just by extremists, to be the world's most dangerous conflict – and, accordingly, Israel is judged the world's most belligerent country. But is this true? The total number of deaths in conflicts since 1950 number about 85,000,000. Of that sum, the deaths in the Arab-Israeli conflict since 1950 include 32,000 deaths due to Arab state attacks and 19,000 due to Palestinian attacks, or 51,000 in all. These figures mean that deaths in Arab-Israeli fighting since 1950 amount to just 0.06 percent of the total number of deaths in all conflicts in that period.  [In fact] some 11,000,000 Muslims have been violently killed since 1948, of which 35,000, or 0.3 percent, died during the sixty years of fighting Israel [Israeli Jews counted for 16,000 of the 51,000 deaths.] In contrast, over 90 percent of the 11 million who perished were killed by fellow Muslims. (Mid East Forum, Jan 7, 2013)

 

TERROR ATTACKS IN WEST BANK, JERUSALEM ON THE RISE(Jerusalem) December 2012 witnessed a 400% spike in the number of terrorist attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem compared to August, according to statistics published by the Shin Bet security service on Monday. The Shin Bet tallied 111 attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem in December: 98 involved firebombs, six involved explosive devices, and three involved grenades. There were two instances of small arms fire, a stabbing, and a hit-and-run. Three Israelis were injured in the attacks. At the same time, there was a marked drop in terrorist attacks on Israel's border with Gaza. Only one mortar was fired into Israel in December. (Times of Israel, Jan 7, 2013)

 

FAYYAD: PA IS ON THE VERGE OF BANKRUPTCY(Ramallah) The Palestinian Authority is on the verge of bankruptcy because of the severe financial crisis it has been facing over the past two years, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Tuesday. He blamed Israel and Arab donor countries for the current crisis as international aid dropped from $1.8 to $ 1 billion. Fayyad said that he did not rule out the possibility that Palestinians would once again take to the streets to protest against economic hardships, as was the case in September 2012.  (Jerusalem Post, Jan 8, 2013)

 

SYRIAN REFUGEES ATTACK AID WORKERS IN JORDANIAN CAMP(Zaatari, Jordan) Syrian refugees in a Jordanian camp attacked aid workers with sticks and stones on Tuesday, frustrated after cold, howling winds swept away their tents and torrential rains flooded muddy streets overnight. The riot broke out after the region’s first major winter storm this year hit the Zaatari refugee camp, home to nearly 50,000 refugees in Jordan’s northern desert. Inside the camp, pools and lakes surrounded tents, stranding refugees including pregnant women and infants.Police said seven aid workers were injured. “It is hell — boiling hot in the summer and freezing cold now,” lamented Ahmed Zibi, 45, who said he spent the night watching over his five children when his tent collapsed. “Rain flooded the tent and its shafts submerged and collapsed on us.” (National Post, Jan 8, 2013)

 

HEZBOLLAH SENT 5,000 FIGHTERS TO HELP ASSAD(Riyad) Some 5,000 Hezbollah combatants reportedly entered Syria in December to aid the faltering regime of Bashar Assad, according to a Saudi daily on Monday. Al-Watan, a government daily, said four “support battalions” comprising at least 1,300 soldiers each had succeeded in killing some 300 rebel soldiers in recent weeks as battles raged between government and opposition forces around the capital Damascus. The fighters reportedly entered Syria through the border town of Madaya, located northwest of Damascus. (Times of Israel, Jan 8, 2013)

 

EGYPT SEEKS $500B FROM ISRAEL FOR SINAI DAMAGE(Cairo) In December of 2011 Egypt sent the United Nations a report detailing the reasons for which Israel owes the government of Egypt $500 billion for damage sustained by the Sinai Peninsula when it was controlled by Israel between 1967 and 1982. The 750-page report describes the plethora of ways in which Israel supposedly shattered the local economy. It asserts that Israel destroyed the fishing industry and 40 percent of the coral reefs; took valuable oil, gold, and gems, leaving only “worthless” rock behind. It goes on to say that maritime trade through the Suez Canal was disrupted between 1967 and 1975, thus depriving Egypt of millions of dollars’ worth of revenue; Israel also stole just under $50 billion worth of sand; and conducted excavations, stealing valuable artifacts from both the land and museums in the area. (Nuqudy, Jan 7, 2013)

 

CONCERN OVER POSSIBLE URANIUM STOCKPILE IN SYRIA(London) Concern is heightening over the possible existence of up to 50 tons of enriched uranium in Syria, the Financial Times reported Tuesday [Jan. 8], a stockpile large enough for the production of five atomic bombs. The worry stems from the Assad regime's attempt to build a nuclear reactor in the eastern city of at Al-Kibar in the mid-2000s. With assistance from North Korea, Damascus is believed to have nearly completed the facility prior to its destruction in an alleged Israeli airstrike in 2007. According to one anonymous official quoted by the Financial Times, “Syria is almost certainly in possession of good quality uranium of the type that Iran has been trying to acquire on the international market for years. It would certainly be possible to transfer this from Syria to Iran by air.” (Jerusalem Post, Jan. 9, 2013)

 

POLISH GOV'T TO TURN NAZI HQ INTO EDUCATIONAL CENTER(Krakow, Poland) The Polish government has announced plans to renovate Adolf Hitler’s wartime headquarters in Nazi-occupied Poland – a network of bunkers known as the “Wolf’s Lair” – and turn it into an educational center and museum. “The main idea behind the project is to introduce the Wolf’s Lair as a place where totalitarian ideas developed and their horrific results,” said Jan Zaluska, 65, the CEO of Wolf’s Nest, the company that leased the site in 1991 and has operated it ever since. “We will turn the Wolf’s Lair into an educational center, especially for the younger generation,” said Zaluska. “We are very concerned by the fact that the younger generation’s knowledge of history gets worse every year as observed in the students who have been coming here from all over the world in recent years.” (Jerusalem Post, Jan 8, 2013)

 

HEBREW UNIVERSITY SCIENTISTS HELP BLIND 'SEE WITH EYE MUSIC'(Jerusalem) By activating their visual brain cortex, people who were born blind can describe objects and even identify letters and words, with the proper stimulation and using a device for sensory exchange developed by Hebrew University researchers. The research team, headed by Prof. Amir Amedi of the Edmond and Lilly Safra Center for Brain Sciences and Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada and including doctoral student Ella Streim-Amit, developed a unique training program for seeing while using the device, which transfers visual information to the blind via their healthy senses. The device translates pictures into tones; after a few dozen hours of training, the blind from birth can identify images and put them in visual categories such as faces, houses, parts of the body, ordinary objects and textures. (Jerusalem Post, Jan 8, 2013)

 

QATAR TO DOUBLE AID TO EGYPT(Cairo) Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani said Tuesday [Jan 7] in Cairo that Qatari aid to Egypt will increase to $1 billion from $500 million, and that money loaned to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will also be doubled to $4 billion.   Qatar also plans investment in two major projects on the Mediterranean and at Port Said to cost $18 billion. (Daily News-Egypt, Jan 7, 2013)

 

ISRAELI HIGH-TECH START-UPS SOLD FOR COMBINED $5.5 BILLION IN 2012(Tel Aviv) Fifty Israeli high-tech start-up companies were bought out in 2012 for a total of $5.5 billion, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers Israel. In recent years, buy-out deals in the Israeli high-tech sector have become fewer, but larger.  Rubi Suliman, the head of PwC's high-tech practice, noted: "Recently, we are seeing Israeli companies grow, and become world leaders in their areas. We are seeing companies with revenues of over $100 million. We did not see these in the past. They were being sold much earlier, often pre-revenue." (Israel Hayom, Jan 8, 2013)
 

Top of Page

 

 

 

 

 

Alan Dershowitz Speaking at The 2012 Standwithus Festival of Lights: Stand With Us, You Tube, Dec. 4, 2012 — Alan Dershowitz speaking at the 2012 Stand With Us Dinner before 1100 attendees, touches on Hamas, Gaza, apartheid, Iran, and hopes for peace.

 

Diving Currency Adds to Egypt's Woes: Matt Bradley, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 30, 2012—Government unveils new steps in bid to avoid devaluation. Egypt's currency plunged to new depths on Sunday as policy makers tried to reassure the public and investors that they can prevent a full-scale currency devaluation while still repairing Egypt's budget deficit.

 

The Peace Index Data – December 2012(pdf): Israel Democracy Institute, Jan 2, 2013—Some claim that no matter which of the large parties wins in the upcoming elections, the peace process with the Palestinians is at a standstill, for reasons that have nothing to do with Israel, and that there is no chance of progress in the foreseeable future. Do you agree or disagree with this claim? Strongly & moderately agree: Jews – 66.7%; Arabs (in Israel) 28.7%

 

 

Ber Lazarus
, Publications Editor
Canadian Institute for Jewish Research
/L'institut Canadien de recherches sur le Judaïsme   www.isranet.org  Tel: (514) 486-5544 Fax: (514) 486-8284

 

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