Wednesday, February 05, 2014
UN Watch: The rogues’ gallery to replace Richard Falk
The 47-nation council, which just welcomed China, Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia to its ranks, will be replacing Falk — an open supporter of Hamas and of 9/11 conspiracy theories — at the end of its upcoming March session.Mr. Kerry, the Israeli economy is no illusion
And so like moths to a flame, a rogues’ gallery of anti-Israel activists and academics are clamoring to take over a position that, even according to Amnesty International, is inherently biased against the Jewish state.
While the title of the post is “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights on Palestinian territories occupied since 1967,” implying a regional jurisdiction, in fact the mandate – unchanged since February 1993 — is unique in the UN system for its exclusive focus on alleged abuses committed by one side, Israel; and by the presumption, in contempt of basic due process, that Israel will always be found guilty.
In recent weeks several emerging markets have seen their currencies come crashing down with a bang. One after the other they dropped, among them the Turkish lira, which led Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to raise the interest rate to an especially high 11 percent. In Argentina, the local currency has plummeted. And in Israel? Bank of Israel Governor Karnit Flug is taking an aggressive hands-on approach, selling shekels to all buyers. In other words -- she is buying dollars in large quantities. These are problems you want to have. Israel has an enormous cash reserve of some $80 billion. If we were really being boycotted the foreign investors would be the first to smell it and the shekel would collapse. The interest rates on Israel government bonds would skyrocket due to the hazardous risk. We would not be able to exist in conditions of a 1% interest rate on the shekel.Four Palestinians ‘planned shooting attack at wedding party’
Four East Jerusalem Palestinians were indicted Wednesday for planning to carry out a large-scale shooting attack at a popular event hall in the city. All four suspects, aged 19-21, were charged with conspiracy to aid an enemy in wartime.
According to the indictment, filed with the Jerusalem District Court and made public Wednesday, two of the four suspects, residents of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber, planned to dress as ultra-Orthodox Jews, enter a wedding or other event at Jerusalem’s “Nof” hall in the Bait Vagan neighborhood concealing firearms beneath their clothes, then open fire at the guests.
Honest Reporting: NY Times’ Friedman Calls BDS Third Intifada
So if BDS is fighting for the “right of return” of 5 million Palestinians, that would be a direct assault on the Jewish character of the democratic Israel. In other words, Mr. Friedman, BDS may be non-violent but it still aims for the destruction of Israel as we know it, just like the armed struggles before it. That’s not exactly an expression of “making Israelis feel strategically secure but morally insecure.”As George Kennan Inspired Truman’s Foreign Policy, Now Stephen Walt Inspires Obama’s
There may well be a Third Intifada underway, but it’s not the one Friedman thinks it is. Just because it’s not bombing buses in Jerusalem does not mean BDS occupies the moral high ground. And that may be why it’s had no effect until the European banks and other more moderate players got involved.
Unlike Kennan, a career diplomat, or Baker, a former secretary of state, Walt doesn’t have a formal role in government, or even any privileged access to this White House. But his ideas have nevertheless emerged at the core of a major shift in U.S. Middle East policy, which may come as a surprise to those who dismissed him as a fringe academic. The idea certainly isn’t pleasant for this columnist, who’s documented Walt’s dog-whistling blog posts meant to draw anti-Semites and anti-anti-Semites to his FP.com column, but it’s hard to dismiss his influence now. So, I tip my hat to the new George Kennan, for whether you love him or hate him, Stephen Walt has won the X sweepstakes.World should punish ‘racist’ Israel, PA official says
Speaking about a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference last week with his Israeli counterpart, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Erekat said, “Livni accused us of not wanting peace, and I told her that Israel is racist against Palestinians in ways that did not happen in South Africa. The world should rise against this racist regime, hold it accountable and punish it.”Hamas: Peace talks with Israel aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause
“I told her in front of the whole world that we will not change our history, our religion or our civilization. We are the lawful sons of Palestine, [and] we will not accept Israel as a Jewish state,” Erekat said, according to the Ma’an news agency.
The Palestinians will not accept any agreement that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signs with Israel, Hamas official Salah Bardaweel said. Bardaweel claimed that the current peace talks were aimed at “liquidating” the Palestinian cause.Ministers barred from ‘dangerous’ Route 443
He criticized Abbas for telling The New York Times earlier this week that he would agree to the establishment of a demilitarized state.
“Such statements are a preface for liquidating the Palestinian cause and preventing the right of return for Palestinian refugees,” Bardaweel said. “The biggest disaster would be to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. This would pave the way for the expulsion of more Palestinians from their historic land.” (h/t Bob Knot)
The Shin Bet’s Protective Security Department, which is charged with guarding Israeli dignitaries, issued the directive on Tuesday. Unnamed government officials told Yedioth Ahronoth that the road had recently become “very dangerous.”Samaria: Arrests, Injuries as Security Forces Clash with Rioters
The highway, sections of which pass through West Bank territory, has recently seen an increase in violent events. These included rock-throwing incidents, Molotov cocktail attacks and an improvised explosive device planted on the road — all since the beginning of the year.
At least two Palestinian Arab rioters were injured in clashes with security forces in Al-Fara, in northern Samaria (Shomron), during an early-morning raid Wednesday.Iranian Ballistic Missile Program Can Continue Under Deal
Security forces arrested four suspected terrorists and seized a machine gun and ammunition, but came under attack by dozens of rioters, forcing them to fire in self-defense. Palestinian Maan News claimed two attackers - which it identified as 27-year-old Saed al-Ghoul and 23-year-old Hamza Mousa Ulayyan - suffered gunshot wounds.
Under pressure from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), U.S. negotiator Wendy Sherman conceded that the U.S. failed to “shut down” Iran’s ongoing development of ballistic missiles, which have long range capabilities and are the preferred weapon for delivering a nuclear payload.Iranian FM in hot water for taking softer tone on Israel
“It is true that in these first six months we’ve not shut down all of their production of any ballistic missile that could have anything to do with delivery of a nuclear weapon,” Sherman told lawmakers during a hearing on the nuclear deal. “But that is indeed something that has to be addressed as part of a comprehensive agreement.”
This comprehensive agreement will not be agreed upon for at least six months, Sherman admitted, giving Tehran a lengthy window in which to perfect its weapons systems.
Senior Iranian lawmakers denounced Foreign Minister Mohammed Zarif’s statements to the effect that the Islamic Republic would consider recognizing Israel, and possibly restore diplomatic ties, if a peace agreement with Palestinians was reached, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported Tuesday.European Scramble Into Iran Threatens to Undermine White House Credibility
The foreign minister will be questioned by parliament for his remarks, according to Iran’s Mehr News website.
During his 45-minute German TV interview, Zarif also acknowledged the Holocaust. “A horrifying tragedy occurred, and it should never occur again,” he said. Still, he added, the Jews’ suffering did not justify their actions against the Palestinians.
European companies are scrambling to rush back into Iran’s newly reopened markets despite Obama administration statements insisting that the Islamic republic “is not open for business,” threatening to undermine confidence in the White House’s management of the diplomatic battlefield as the West and Tehran head into comprehensive nuclear negotiations scheduled for mid-February. Benjamin Weinthal, a research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, last week described the dynamic as one in which Germany’s “European rivals are scrambling to catch up” to the “over 100 German companies… currently doing business in Iran,” with the new capital flooding into Iran worth as much as $20 billion.Kerry scolds France: Iran not open for business as usual
The relaxation in penalties has triggered a race among Western firms to explore lucrative business opportunities. On Monday Iran welcomed more than 100 executives from France's biggest firms - Paris's most senior trade delegation in years.Experts: Iran Exerting Troubling Influence in Latin America
"Secretary Kerry has talked directly to Foreign Minister (Laurent) Fabius about the trade delegation ... about how this is not helpful in this regard to ensure that in fact it is not business as usual," Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman told a hearing of US lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday.
"Tehran is not open for business because our sanctions relief is quite temporary, quite limited and quite targeted," she added.
Iran and its terrorist proxy groups’ influence in Latin America remains a troubling security threat to the region and world, experts said at a congressional hearing on Tuesday.Syrian Forces Hit Mosque with Barrel Bomb, Kill 5
Hezbollah, a Shiite terrorist group based in Lebanon and sponsored by Iran, has established illicit networks in Latin America in the last few decades to provide millions annually for its global operations, experts on the region told the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade.
Those networks involve money laundering, counterfeiting, piracy, and drug trafficking in cooperation with local criminal groups like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Activist Hassoun Abu Faisal of the Aleppo Media Center says the mosque in the Masaken Hanano area was also used as a school and that children were inside when it was hit on Tuesday with a barrel bomb — a crude device packed with fuel and scraps of metal.Jordanian lawyers sue Google over anti-Islam video
The Local Coordinating Committees, another activist group, says five people were killed. It wasn't immediately clear how many were children.
Lawyers have appeared for the first time in months at a court hearing in Jordan against Internet company Google over an anti-Islamic film posted on video-sharing website YouTube, which sparked widespread violent protests across the Muslim world in 2012.Foreign press in Egypt running scared from gov’t
Three lawyers from Jordan Bar Association’s Freedom Committee are suing Google as the parent company of YouTube, which published a trailer of the film “Innocence of Muslims” in September 2012.
Al Jazeera condemned the arrest of its journalists and charged the Egyptian government with trying to demonize them. It is the latest fight between the Qatar-based channel, which is seen as close to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, and Egypt’s interim government, which has launched an all-out campaign against the now-illegal group since it overthrew president Mohamed Morsi in July. Hundreds of Morsi supporters have been killed and thousands arrested since then.Analysis: International law has nothing to do with an Israel-Turkey deal
A Turkish official has reportedly repeated a similar statement by his government that the millions of dollars in compensation that Israel may pay Turkey to end the dispute over the May 2010 Mavi Marmara incident are based on international law and precedent.Turkey-Cyprus Clash Shows Israel 'Defender of NATO'
The official appears to be ignoring most of the legal opinion on the incident and clearly has not studied the history of ex gratia payments. These are payments which countries sometimes make to smooth over an incident without taking formal responsibility, when innocents are killed by an alleged mistake.
A recent altercation in Cyprus has raised questions about NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) member Turkey. On Saturday, a Norwegian ship exploring for gas in the southern part of Cyprus was forced to leave the area by a Turkish warship.Turkish MP: Erdogan’s anti-Semitism difficult to reverse
The Norwegian vessel, MV Princess, was conducting its search for oil and gas on behalf of internationally-recognized Greek Cyprus, located in the southern part of the island. Turkey has refused to recognize Cyprus, forbidding it to search for oil and gas in waters that it claims belong to Turkish Cyprus, which is located in the north of the island and is only recognized by Turkey.
On Saturday evening, Turkey claimed the MV Princess entered a Turkish naval zone, where it was warned by the Turkish warship TCG Giresun and then forced out of the area, reports the Turkish news source Today's Zaman.
The effects of the Turkish prime minister’s ongoing anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic agitation have permeated society there and will not be easily reversed, a Turkish member of parliament said this week, amid reports of an imminent deal between Ankara and Jerusalem that would end a four-year long diplomatic crisis between the two governments.New Saudi Law: 20 Years for Belonging to Terrorist Groups
While Israel and Turkey could easily repair bilateral ties on a political level, hostility toward Jews — deliberately fomented by Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s fiery rhetoric — is likely to persist, even if a different government takes power in Ankara, said Aykan Erdemir, a freshman lawmaker from the center-left Republican People’s Party, or CHP, Turkey’s largest opposition party.
Saudi King Abdullah on Monday decreed jail terms of up to 20 years for belonging to "terrorist groups" and fighting abroad, AFP reported.
The new law comes as part of Saudi Arabia’s struggles to deter Islamist Saudis from becoming jihadists.
"Taking part in combat outside the kingdom, in any form" will be punished by jail terms of between three and 20 years, said the decree published by state news agency SPA.
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