Wednesday Links Part 2

From Ian:

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Douglas Murray: The Honey-Trap of Moral Equivalence

As long as even Abbas takes such an attitude towards the murder of Israeli civilians, it is not just disingenuous but wrong to claim moral equivalence between the sides. It is precisely this realization that sits at the core of the Harper government's convictions. Convictions are not just opinions or oft-repeated talking points. They are principles which the holder is willing not only to be praised for, but to be criticised for and even suffer for. There is no reason why the Canadian government should suffer for supporting freedom and liberty at home and abroad. Just as there was no reason why Thatcher should be so criticized by some for defeating socialism at home and abroad. But even when politicians of conviction do suffer the odd buffeting by the winds of popular opinion, they should brave them as Thatcher did. For as she realized, as her death has shown and as Churchill -- her only peer among recent statesman -- said, it is the only way to ensure that "however the fates may play," they will "march always in the ranks of honor."

Hard to deny a Holocaust your father saved Jews from

Tackling a fractured relationship with London’s Muslims, the Anglo-Jewish leadership is staging a display honoring righteous Muslims during the Shoah
When the Gestapo ordered the Jews on the island of Rhodes to report to its headquarters in July 1944, Selahattin Ülkümen acted fast. As the Turkish consul, he demanded the release of all the Turkish citizens and their families, reminding the German commanding officer, General Ulrich Kleeman, that Turkey was neutral. He even invented a Turkish law that said that spouses of citizens were considered citizens themselves. Threatened with an international incident, Kleeman let 50 Jews go, of whom 13 were Turkish citizens; the other 1,700 were deported to concentration camps.

Just how anti-Semitic are British politicians?

Do the ramblings of a few minor figures without much influence really matter? The consensus is yes, because their vicious rhetoric normalizes extremism and encourages irresponsible discourse

UK soccer club probes fan abuse of Israeli player

Chelsea is investigating the alleged abuse of midfielder Yossi Benayoun by the club’s fans during recent games.
Benayoun wrote Monday on Twitter that there are “some … issues that the club is taking care and try to handle them in the right way.. .as sometimes people are crossing the limit.”

MKs say high time for recognition of Armenian genocide

Marking 98 years since the murders, legislators from across the political spectrum agree Israel should recognize massacre

CAMERA: CAMERA Prompts Ha'aretz Correction on Prisoner Samer Issawi

CAMERA's Israel staff has prompted a Ha'aretz correction regarding an article in yesterday's English edition which wrongly asserted that an Israeli judge and prosecutors agreed with hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner Samer Issawi when he compared his appearance to that of Holocaust victims. As noted in CAMERA's Snapshots blog yesterday, the original Hebrew article by Jack Khoury actually stated that the Israelis were shocked by the comparison -- a far cry from agreeing with it.

US steps in, stops PA going after Israel at UNESCO

In US-brokered deal, Israel will attend meetings to discuss Mugrabi bridge that leads to Temple Mount, allow UNESCO to survey sites.

Two life terms for Palestinian stone-thrower

Wa’al al-Araji hurled a rock at an Israeli car, causing it to crash and killing the driver and his infant son in 2011

A Ukrainian Christian who saved a dilapidated rural synagogue was honored at an interfaith forum in Kiev.

Boris Slobodnyuk of Satanov received the forum’s 2013 Crystal Noah Tolerance Award on Tuesday at the Kiev Interfaith Forum for guarding the 500-year-old Stanovskaya synagogue in western Ukraine and initiating renovation work there.

Israeli leads international league to save the Med

Coastline development restrictions already exist in the rulebooks, but an Israeli legal eagle is determined to see to it that they are enforced.
Over the millennia, the Mediterranean Sea has become much more than a transport hub for empires that control the region: It links nations, feeds countries, and its shores hold some of the world’s most expensive real estate and natural beauty.

Qualcomm founder gives $133m. to Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute

The goal to turn New York into the next Silicon Valley by leveraging Israeli expertise is well on its way, thanks to a $133 million donation from Irwin Jacobs, founding chairman and CEO emeritus of Qualcomm, and his wife Joan Klein Jacobs. The generous gift will help fund the planned Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute, set to open on Roosevelt Island in 2017.
The state-of-the-art applied science and technology academy — to be jointly run by Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology – will now be called the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute (JTCII).

The Israeli sharing his mass casualty expertise in Boston

Israeli critical care specialist Dr. Pinchas Halpern is used to dealing with terror attacks. It’s not a familiarity that most doctors would wish to achieve, but as director of emergency medicine at Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center since 1993, Halpern has had no choice but to become an expert on mass casualties.