Saturday, October 26, 2013
Howard Jacobson: Will We Ever Be Forgiven for the Holocaust?
Jews are considered to have forgone their right to own even a part-share in defining anti-Semitism, or to judge the extent to which they are, or indeed ever were, its victims. By virtue of their failure to learn the lessons of the Holocaust and implement them in Israel — or indeed in any other parts of the world they continue to scheme, lobby and exploit — they have cancelled out all entitlement to the usual decencies, let alone the usual legalities, in matters of racial discrimination and incitement.Sarah Honig: Attracting a crowd of people
Thus has the shame of thinking anti-Semitic thoughts been lifted from the shoulders of liberals. Since there can be no such thing as anti-Semitism — Jews having stepped outside the circle of offense in which minorities can be considered to have been offended against — there is no charge of anti-Semitism to answer. The door is now wide open for those who truly believe they have nothing in their hearts but love to stroll guilelessly through to hate.
This incremental process will continue no matter how much Abbas violates the trust nominally put in him (and exorbitantly paid for) and no matter how much the convicts’ phased releases inject fervor and reinvigorated motivation into terror cells in Abbas’s bailiwick.Israel is not alone! By Matthew Gould, UK ambassador to Israel
Despite itself and against its own vital interests, Israel is forced to continue performing in a theater of the absurd. This too is further fallout from the Oslo fiasco. The most outstanding absurdity is that Israel – a democracy which craves peace and keeps forking out for it excessively – is the one required by the international community to keep proving its dedication to peace.
This isn’t a mere ethical farce but it exacts real cost in our long term ability to withstand pressure and safeguard the most elementary defense prerequisites for Israel’s citizenry. The need to prove our good intentions, while facing duplicitous and treacherous enemies, is corroding and debilitating.
As friends of Israel, we understand and respect Israel’s concerns.This New Columnist for The New York Times Believes a 'Massive Zionist Organization Rules America'
We are neither naïve about Iran, nor blind to the risks. And we do not underestimate the difficulties ahead.
The shadow of a nuclear Iran has stood over the people of Israel for too long. Right now, we have an opportunity to test whether that shadow can be removed peacefully. We will not be naïve, we will not do a bad deal, we will neither rush nor allow Iran to play for time.
It is a choice that the Times will regret, however, because despite his brave stance against Mubarak and his broadly progressive pronouncements in English, Aswany is hardly a liberal. He is, in fact, among Egypt’s most prolific conspiracy theorists, and he often uses his very public platform to reinforce some of Egypt’s most popular bigotries—and he typically does this when speaking or tweeting in Arabic, which is why the Western press often misses this aspect of his public persona. Aswany said on Egyptian television, for instance, that a "massive Zionist organization rules America,” which is why “Obama is not able to go against Israel’s desires.”Trio questioned over 'anti-Semitic' attack and assault on five people in Bondi
The two 17-year-olds have been charged with affray and breach of bail. They were refused bail and will appear at children's court tomorrow.Iran Announces 34 New Nuke Sites
The 23-year-old man was charged with affray. He was granted bail and will appear at Waverley Local Court on Tuesday December 3.
Witnesses to the attack said the fight was unprovoked and the teens were yelling anti-Semitic slurs at the group.
At least 34 sites have already been designated for future nuclear power plants, according to Fars.Diplomats: No Proof Iran Has Stopped 20 Percent Enrichment
Additionally, Salehi announced just two days after nuclear negotiations ended that Russia would help Iran build new nuclear power plants across the country, according to Persian language press reports.
Salehi also suggested that Iran’s top nuclear negotiators lack the authority to agree to a deal with the West.
An envoy in Vienna, where the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is based, said he believed Iran was continuing to refine uranium to the 20 percent threshold despite the Iranian lawmaker's comment.Nehushtan: Sanctions don’t put enough pressure on Iran
On Wednesday, Hossein Naqvi Hosseini was quoted by an Iranian news agency as having claimed that Tehran does not need any more 20 percent-enriched uranium and that Iran was willing to relieve concerns over its stockpile of enriched uranium.
Advocating a carrot-and-stick approach, Nehushtan said the option of a military strike on Iran, which claims its nuclear program is peaceful but has refused to honor international resolutions aimed to prevent it attaining nuclear weapons capability, must remain on the table.15 Reasons Why Iran is an Existential Threat to Western Civilization
“Nobody’s happy about the idea of a military strike. It is carried out when the alternative is worse. There’s no knowing what’ll happen as a result of a military strike,” he said.
1. Iran is the number 1 terror organization in the world today, far more dangerous than Al Qaeda.U.S. charges man with seeking to buy missiles for Iran
2. Iran has largely taken over Syria and Lebanon, as well as 60 percent of Iraq.
3. Iran has intimidated and threatened key Sunni countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, by supporting Shiite uprisings.
U.S. prosecutors brought criminal charges on Friday against a man they said had tried to acquire surface-to-air missiles that he planned to smuggle into Iran in a threat to U.S. national security.On the border with Syria, the land of war
Reza Olangian, a dual citizen of the United States and Iran, was charged with four counts, including trying to acquire and transfer anti-aircraft missiles, violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and two conspiracy counts.
Beyond the IDF’s Bustar outpost on the Golan Heights lies a land of war. The small base, situated on a mound right on the Syrian border, is flanked by tanks and dusty hills. It is home to a Nahal Infantry Brigade Reconnaissance Company, whose members place themselves in harm’s way every day to ensure that the raging battles of Syria do not spill over into Israel.Muslim Brotherhood Stages Anti-Israel Rallies, Says Paving “Way to Jerusalem”
The post overlooks a Syrian valley, which is hemmed in by a lake to its east. This is a part of the Quneitra district, an area containing villages, fields, sporadic concentrations of trees, large Syrian flags flying atop tall masts, and heavily armed combatants from the Syrian army and rebel forces engaged in a life-and-death struggle.
The upcoming week of protests has been dubbed by organizers as “Suez resilience, our way to Jerusalem,” a rhetorical move designed to highlight Islamic claims to all of Jerusalem after a recent speech by interim President Adly Mansour mentioning “East Jerusalem.” The Associated Press reported that there was a large protest inside Cairo and scattered ones across the rest of the country. Meanwhile there are signs that the army-backed government is expanding its efforts to uproot the Brotherhood’s presence inside Egyptian institutions, now targeting Brotherhood members inside Egypt’s security forces.Sisi to Egyptian Islamists: Surrender or die
A suicide bombing this week at Egyptian military intelligence headquarters in the city of Ismailia has been claimed by Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, a Salafi jihadi group with links to similar organizations in the Gaza Strip.The executioner loves his job
Eleven people, including six soldiers, were wounded.
The Ismailia attack is the latest episode in a growing Islamist insurgency against the de facto rule of Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the military in Egypt. It was of particular significance because the city lies just west of the Suez Canal and the Sinai Peninsula.
Ever since he was a little nipper, Egypt’s chief executioner has loved death. He told a local television station how he loves carrying out the death sentence and how, as a boy, he would strangle and drown cats and dogs.Israel to join Brazilian Jews’ aid program in Africa
In an interview as bizarre as they come, Hajj Abd al-Nabi, a chief warrant officer in the Egyptian police, boasted to Video 7 last month that he has executed as many as 800 criminals of every stripe, calling the death penalty he carries out “the law of Allah.” The interview segment was translated into English this week by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
The Israeli foreign ministry will team up with Brazil’s Jewish community to deliver medical aid to Guinea Bissau.Trained in Israel: Tanzania's First Pediatric Heart Surgeon
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin “reacted positively” to a request that Israel join the project initiated by Claudio Lottenberg, the head of the CONIB umbrella group of Brazilian Jewish communities and president of the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in Sao Paolo, according to a statement published Thursday by CONIB.
The South-Eastern African state of Tanzania now has its first pediatric heart surgeon, after Dr Godwin Godfrey returned home following five years of training in Israel.
The Israel based humanitarian project Save a Child’s Heart (SACH), organized Dr Godwin's training in a landmark achievement that also saw it train a complete surgical team from a foreign state for the first time.
