04/11 Links: The Palestinian Statehood Idea Crumbles; Why Palestinians in Yarmouk Are Unlucky

From Ian:

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The Palestinian Statehood Idea Begins to Crumble

A sea change began within hours of the Israeli election returns.
Thomas L. Friedman, who has devoted much of his life to promoting Palestinian statehood, declared in his New York Times column that the idea of a Palestinian state is “not possible anymore.” That was followed by his Times colleague David K. Shipler, another longtime advocate of a Palestinian state, announcing that the “the two-state solution looks dead.”
Just a couple of elite, pro-Palestinian journalists venting their frustration?
Don’t bet on it. The American public is losing faith in “Palestine” too. Friedman and Shipler’s declarations merely echo the latest poll numbers on the American public’s view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll has found that Americans’ support for the idea of creating a Palestinian state has reached its lowest point in 20 years. Just 39 percent of Americans support it; 36 percent are opposed.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Why Palestinians in Yarmouk Are Unlucky

For Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders, the desire to punish Israel is stronger than the will to save the lives of thousands of Palestinians being killed in Syria by the Islamic State and starved by the Syrian army, which has been besieging Yarmouk for 700 days.
Instead of devoting their energies and efforts to stop the massacres in Yarmouk, PA officials were busy preparing a new draft resolution to be submitted to the UN Security Council, establishing a timeline for ending Israeli "occupation."
The Arab foreign ministers who met in Cairo earlier this week to discuss ways of backing the new Palestinian bid, deliberately ignored that, as they were chatting and sipping coffee, Palestinians were being slaughtered and forced to flee their homes in Yarmouk.
For the PA, Jews participating in a marathon seems to be more serious and life-threatening than Islamic State terrorists beheading Palestinians and destroying Palestinian homes in Yarmouk.
"All that is left for us to do is howl, slap and cry." — Ashraf al-Ajrami, former Palestinian Authority minister.

French Activist Praises Retirement of ‘Al Durah Hoax’ Architect Charles Enderlin

With reports that veteran France 2 reporter Charles Enderlin is stepping down from his job, the French-Jewish activist who spearheaded claims he falsely accused Israel in the death of a 12-year-old boy back in 2000 is relieved to see him go.
Phillipe Karsenty spoke to The Algemeiner regarding Enderlin’s departure from the state television network, though he expressed disappointment it was not over ethical issues regarding the infamous report on the death of Mohammed al-Dura.
“This is good news but it has nothing to do with any desire of the French authorities to stop incitement against Israel and the Jews. Enderlin is leaving his job because he is retiring. He will reach 70 years old in October 2015 and he doesn’t have the right to keep on working in a French public company, which France 2 is,” he said.
The 70-year-old Franco-Israeli correspondent will be replaced as France 2‘s bureau chief in Israel by reporter Franck Genauzeau. Karsenty noted that Enderlin’s “replacement by someone who doesn’t have any track record of anti-Israel or antisemitism is good news too,” and could allow the network to prove it doesn’t engage in systematic anti-Israel bias.
“From Genauzeau’s future attitude, we will know if Enderlin’s constant incitement against Israel was his own decision or if it was a state oriented political decision,” he said. (h/t Elder of Lobby)

Where is Muhammad Durrah of Yarmuk camp?

Some websites, newspapers and magazines do publish updates about the situation in Yarmuk – an informal camp that used to house over 14,5000 Palestinian refugees until recently, but no sports games was interrupted by breaking news from Yarmuk, no head of state rushed to gather a conference on the matter, no Arab league or OIC gathering took place anywhere, no mass demonstration of solidarity took place in Cairo, Paris, London, Amman, Rabat, Tunis or any other city. And although during the last two years more than 1,000 Palestinians were murdered in Yarmuk, among them many children and teenagers, the world didn't hear of even one name of a victim, a name that would enter our collective memory like Muhammad Durrah, a 12 years old from Gaza that was killed during a gun battle in the second day of the second Palestinian Intifada. Until now when one googles the name Muhammad, the name of Muhammad Durrah comes first. Newborns were called after him, some businesses adopted the name of the fallen boy. The whole world and especially the Arab world felt a surge of anger and solidarity with the suffering of the Palestinians at that moment.
Now the Palestinians endure horrific suffering, "an inhumane condition" according to UNRWA stuff in Syria. First they were forced to choose sides – being Palestinians they were expected to be loyal to Assad, being Sunni Muslims, they were expected to be loyal to the opposition. During the last few years the camp, which is actually not more than a lower-middle class neighborhood in the southern part of Damascus, was bombed, conquered, re-conquered, sieged and divided.
Innocent people died there, including children, women and older people, when the regime and the Free Syrian Army, and later the regime and its loyal PFLP militants, Hamas, the Free Syrian Army and IS settled their score. What happened with the solidarity with those who suffer in Yarmuk and why didn't it translate to wide protests against brutality and murder? In fact, why until this very moment not a single significant protest against IS took place in an Arab or European capital? (h/t Elder of Lobby)

PSC acknowledges suffering at Yarmouk, blames Israel

Nearly four years after Harry’s Place began posting about the suffering and repression of the Palestinians in Yarmouk Camp near Damascus (see also here, here, here, here and here), the Palestine Solidarity Campaign has finally got around to taking more than a passing interest in them too (their being Palestinians and all).
Of course the PSC glosses over the role of the Syrian regime, certain Palestinian factions, and now the Islamic State in the Yarmouk catastrophe and manages to put the blame on… guess who?
Palestinians in Yarmouk are unable to return to their homeland because Israel denies them that right, granted to them by UN Resolution 194. PSC calls on the international community to exert pressure on Israel, through sanctions, to abide by international law, end the occupation, end the siege on Gaza, and allow all Palestinian refugees, including those in Yarmouk, the right to return.
The Assad regime for years has succeeded in keeping food, water and medicine from reaching Yarmouk, but couldn’t keep out IS?

JVP uses Syrian Crisis to Blame Israel

JVP is "concerned" about the ongoing humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians in the Yarmouk camp in Syria. Isn't that special?
JVP can't resist using this rather weak statement of concern as yet another opportunity to jab Israel, blaming them indirectly for the plight of Palestinians in Syria. Not a word of reproach is directed toward the Arab regimes that kept 4 generations stranded in squalid camps, deprived of citizenship JVP claims Israel has the denied the right of the Yarmouk Palestinians to "return to their homes", as stipulated by UN Resolution 194.
JVP is perpetuating one of the longest lasting myths of this conflict- that there is an internationally sanctioned "right" of return. (h/t NormanF)

Green Party Deputy Leader's Crazed Anti-Israel Rant

Shahrar Ali, deputy leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, has been filmed delivering an angry anti-Israel speech at a rally in London.
At one point, Ali compares Israel’s actions to the Holocaust, saying: “Just because you observe the niceties of Holocaust Memorial Day it does not mean you have learned the lessons of history.”
His lively speech then takes a surreal twist when he suddenly breaks into a rendition of the Manic Street Preachers’ song ‘If You Tolerate This You’re Children Will Be Next’.
This, from a party that wants to be taken seriously.

Green Party Deputy Leader - Shahrar Ali


Obama Condemns Netanyahu Opposing PA State –– Ignores Abbas Opposing Israel’s Existence

The evidence is unequivocal: Obama does not hold the PA accountable for pro-terror, anti-peace words and deeds. He is silent when Abbas’ PA takes a stance against Israel’s very existence, but lashes out at Israel when it says that, due to these very same PA anti-peace actions, a PA state is currently untenable.
Nor is this all. Obama condemned Netanyahu as a racist when Netanyahu urged his supporters to come out and vote to offset the surge of Israeli Arab voters being bused in to vote for “anyone but Bibi” (financed in part by foreign funds, including from the US State Department). But Obama’s accusation is groundless. Netanyahu’s statement was political –– not racial. He didn’t decry Arabs voting; he knew that the left-wing Israeli Arab bloc would not support him and sought to offset this by rallying his supporters to vote. If a significant portion of Israel Arabs had been voting for him, he would have said nothing.
And why does Obama never lash out at Abbas’ genuinely racist declarations that no Jew would be allowed to live in a new state of Palestine?
Put simply, Barack Obama is the most hostile of presidents to Israel, while being fervently supportive of the PA’s anti-peace, anti-Israel, terror-promoting PA regime. Obama’s 20-year-long former pastor,Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and dear friend, Columbia professor and former PLO spokesman, Rashid Khalidi, are smiling.

Khaled Abu Toameh: PLO officials: Hamas negotiating with Israel on Palestinian state in Gaza

Palestinian officials claimed over the weekend that Hamas was seeking to establish a separate Palestinian entity in the Gaza Strip.
The officials also claimed that Hamas was negotiating with Israel about its plan to turn the Gaza Strip into a separate Palestinian entity.
Mahmoud Habbash, the chief Palestinian Authority religious judge, who also serves as PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor on religious affairs, said on Saturday that Hamas’ “plan” to create a separate entity in the Gaza Strip was a “dangerous Israeli conspiracy.”
Habbash claimed that the Israeli “conspiracy” envisages the total separation of the Gaza Strip from the West Bank. “Israel wants to divide the Palestinian people and turn the Palestinian territories into separate entities and cantons,” he said.
Habbash said that Hamas’s plan to slice off the Gaza Strip from the rest of the Palestinian territories was not new. “We have warned against this plan in the past,” he added. (h/t NormanF)

Hamas says willing to cooperate with ICC to advance Palestinian cause

Hamas announced on Friday that the Palestinian Islamist group is willing to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in order to advance the Palestinian cause, indicating that it would hand over officials to the international tribunal.
Hamas official Khalil al-Haya in a state said "the referral to the ICC is not inconsistent with the organization's [Hamas'] continued resistance [against Israel] in all its forms, as it carries the goal of garnering all rights, including that of armed resistance."
He added that the terror group which controls Gaza was confident of a victory over Israel in "legal conflict."
On April 1, the ICC officially welcomed the State of Palestine as the 123rd state party to the Rome Statute.
Hamas hailed the Palestinian decision to join the ICC as a “first step toward lifting the immunity from Israel.”

Poll: Israel concerns push UK Jews towards Conservatives

Concerns over Israel loom large as Jewish voters in Britain intend to cast their ballots overwhelmingly for the Conservative Party in the upcoming parliamentary elections, according to a new poll.
The poll, conducted by The Jewish Chronicle newspaper and released Tuesday, found that Jewish voters intend to support the party of incumbent Prime Minister David Cameron by a margin of 56 percent to 18% for Labor, with 12.5% undecided and roughly 2% each going to the Liberal Democrats and the UK Independence Party. The margin climbed to 69% Conservative to 23% Labor when those who refused the survey or were undecided were eliminated from the results.
Some 73% of the 566 respondents said that the parties’ attitudes toward Israel were “very important” or “quite important” in influencing their votes. The Israel concerns paid off for the Conservatives, with 61% of respondents favoring their policies on Israel and the Middle East, while 8% favored the policies of Labor, which in recent months has been sharply critical of Israel’s conduct.
By a wide margin, respondents also saw Cameron as having a better attitude as prime minister to the UK’s Jewish population than Labor leader Ed Miliband — 64% to 13% — even though Miliband is Jewish.

British opposition leader Miliband says would recognize Palestinian statehood at right moment

The leader of Britain's opposition Labor Party said on Friday he favored recognizing "Palestine" as a state if such a move would help bring about a broader peace deal in the Middle East.
Ed Miliband was asked by a reporter if Britain would recognize an independent Palestinian state in the first year or two of his premiership, if Labor wins national elections on May 7.
Miliband said Labor backed a symbolic vote held last year in Britain's parliament in favor of recognizing Palestine.
"What we said at the time of that vote was that it was a vote about the principle of recognition. And clearly a decision about when recognition would take place was dependent on how it would constructively help negotiations."
"I am not going to get into, today, speculation about when that would precisely be. That is a judgement we would have to take at the time," he said.

Greg Sheridan: Obama’s capitulation on Iranian nuclear deal leaves the world exposed

Three American presidents, Bill Clinton, George W, Bush and Obama, have declared that Iran must never possess nuclear weapons and that if it tries to acquire them the US will act, if necessary with military force, to stop them.
We now know that Obama was just kidding.
This agreement guarantees Iran will acquire nuclear weapons eventually.
Iran’s nuclear program has always been about acquiring nuclear weapons capability. It is drenched in oil and does not need nuclear energy. The nuclear power reactor it has comes with a lifetime supply of fuel from Russia, where many other nations with nuclear power stations get their nuclear fuel. So it has no need to enrich its uranium. But it has built massive enrichment facilities plus a plutonium-producing facility. Both these routes lead to nuclear weapons.
Under the agreement Iran gives up two-thirds of its enrichment centrifuges for 10 years. But it doesn’t destroy any part of its nuclear infrastructure. They just go under temporary lock and key.
And it has a prodigious ability to cheat.

Israel: Iran’s latest demands prove nuke deal unworkable

The demand by Iran’s leaders for the immediate lifting of all sanctions on the day a deal on its nuclear program takes effect represents proof that the US-led powers are adopting an unworkable approach to thwarting Iran’s push to the bomb, Israeli sources said Friday.
A day after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ail Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani insisted that there would be no deal unless sanctions were lifted on the day it went into effect — contradicting what the US says were understandings reached in a framework agreement last week in Lausanne — Channel 2 News said Israel regards the Iranian leaders’ declarations “as proof of its central argument” against the emerging accord: “You can’t make a deal based on trust with a regime that can’t be trusted.”
Despite its relentless objections to the deal, which is supposed to be finalized by June 30, Israel actually believes that Iran will take it, the Channel 2 report said, because the deal as it stands is good for Iran and will pave its path to bomb. Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz told the TV station that Israel would spend the coming weeks “trying to get some of the loopholes” in the agreement closed. In a Times of Israel interview on Wednesday Steinitz complained that the deal, which he called “a big mistake,” neither full freezes nor fully inspects the Iranian program.

State Dept Struggles to Explain Rouhani and Ayatollah Claims US is ‘Lying’ About Iran Deal Facts

Rathke said the Iranians did not agree to the U.S. fact sheet.
“No. It wasn’t a negotiated fact sheet,” Rathke said. “That was released by the United States based on–you know, we told them what we were going to, you know, talk about the agreement publicly, but it wasn’t a negotiated document.”
Rathke was then asked whether the fact sheet reflected what occurred in the talks.
“Yeah,” Rathke said. “Not for the document itself. It isn’t like we had a process of negotiating that specific piece of paper. That’s the point I was making. But that fact sheet reflects the understandings achieved at Lausanne.”
Over the next few months, the Obama administration will negotiate with Iranian officials on a final deal. The deadline for the final deal is early July.
Associated Press reporter Matt Lee asked if the final deal would produce one fact sheet that everyone agrees on.
“I’m not going to speak to the final shape and form of the agreement,” Rathke said.

State Dept Struggles to Explain Rouhani and Ayatollah Claims US is Lying About Iran Deal Facts


‘Are We In Nursery School?’: David Brooks Slams Marie Harf Over Kissinger, Shultz Op-Ed Criticism

MARIE HARF: I didn’t hear a lot of alternatives. I heard a lot of sort of big words and big thoughts in that piece, and those are certainly, there’s a place for that. But I didn’t hear a lot of alternatives about what they would do differently.
HEWITT: David Brooks, this is the critique of the critics, is that we don’t have a lot of alternatives. In fact, every critic I’ve heard has alternatives, and I’m sure Kissinger and Shultz do. But a lot of big words? Really?
DAVID BROOKS: Are we in nursery school? We’re not, no polysyllabic words? That’s about the lamest rebuttal of a piece by two senior and very well-respected foreign policy people as I’ve heard. Somebody’s got to come up with better talking points, whatever you think. And of course, there are alternatives. It’s not to allow them to get richer, but to force them to get a little poorer so they can fund fewer terrorism armies.

Snap back? Not so fast. Sanctions provisions still a big issue for the Iran nuclear deal

The biggest enforcement provision in the preliminary nuclear agreement with Iran is turning into one of the mostly hotly contested elements. And the debate barely involves Iran.
Instead, it concerns the Obama administration's promise to quickly re-impose sanctions on Iran if the Islamic Republic cheats on any part of the agreement to limit its nuclear program to peaceful pursuits.
This would be relatively straightforward for the sanctions imposed by the U.S., as Congress is eager to keep the pressure on. But it is far from clear whether President Barack Obama can guarantee such action at the United Nations, which has imposed wide-ranging penalties that all U.N. members must enforce.
At present, there's no firm agreement on how or when to lift the sanctions in the first place. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, and President Hassan Rouhani said Thursday they want all sanctions lifted on the first day of implementation. That's not the position of U.S. and other negotiators, a major issue that still must be worked out.
Assuming it can be, that still would leave the big question of possible re-imposition.

Military sites not open for inspection under nuclear deal, senior Iranian army official says

Iran's military sites will never be open for inspection under a comprehensive nuclear deal with world powers, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported a senior Iranian commander as saying.
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said on Friday that Iranian officials have already announced “clearly and explicitly” their opposition to the inspection of the country’s military and defense facilities, Tasnim reported.
According to the report, Jayazeri dismissed US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter as "lacking in understanding" with regard to his claim that a final deal on Iran’s nuclear program would include inspection of Iran’s military facilities.
“The American side's insistence on attending Iran’s military centers can be evaluated with regard to the repressed and unattainable wishes of the White House officials,” Iran's official Press TV quoted Jayazeri as saying Friday.

US defense chief on Iran nuclear facilities: Bunker buster bombs 'ready to go'

US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter addressed the possibility of a military option against Iran, saying that bunker busting bombs, meant to penetrate Iran's underground facilities, are "ready to go."
Speaking to CNN in an interview aired Saturday morning, Carter said that the deal between Iran and the P5+1, the basics of which were recently laid out in during negotiations in Switzerland, will hinge not on "trust but rather on "verification."
"We have the capability to shut down, set back and destroy the Iranian nuclear program and I believe the Iranians know that and understand that," Carter said, indicating the US's willingness to utilize high-powered bombs if Tehran does not abide by the deal reached in the Swiss resort town where the various delegations were hosted during the eight day marathon negotiations.
The reference to the Massive Ordinance Penetrator, or MOPS, whose reach extends 200 feet below ground, is the first that any American figure has made concerning substantive military planning against the Islamic Republic's fortified subterranean facilities.

Poll: Most Americans believe Iran will not honor nuke deal

According to a survey released by NBC on Thursday, 68 percent of those polled said Tehran was “not too likely or not at all likely” to abide by a deal to curb its atomic program.
Iran and the US-led P5+1 world powers are set to negotiate a final accord by a June 30 deadline, having reached what has been described as a “historic” political framework for a potential deal last week in Lausanne, Switzerland. The framework has been highly controversial and has exposed differing interpretations about what the deal would entail, including on restrictions on centrifuges, R&D, inspections and the lifting of sanctions. There have also been contradictory statements by the US and Iran on the initial agreement, which is not a signed text.
The NBC poll found that 53% of Americans think Iran’s nuclear program presents a major threat to the US, compared with 37% who said it’s a minor threat and 8% who think it presents no threat to the US.
The poll found a marked difference in opinion among those over 45, who were witness to the 1979 hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran, and those who were not. Of those over 45 years of age, 61% said Iran’s program was a major threat, compared with 43% for those under 45.

The Seven Craziest Things Iran's Supreme Leader Was In A Rush To Tweet Following The Nuke Deal

The English-language Twitter page for Iran’s supreme leader is full of crazy tidbits ranging from the newly-announced framework for a nuclear deal to the Islamic State.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s tweets since the announcement of the nuclear framework on April 2, agreed upon by Iran, the U.S. and European allies, actually call out the U.S. for being deceptive and breaching promises.
Far from a turnabout in diplomatic relations, the supreme leader criticizes the U.S. at every turn – even alleging America is “pleased” the Islamic State is killing Muslims.

More spin than a centrifuge: BBC report on Khamenei nuclear deal speech

The bizarre reassuring spin put on Khamenei’s words by Naji according to which he “consented to the premise of the agreement” ignores the substantially conflicting views of the agreement presented in the various factsheets produced by parties to the negotiations as well as the fact that in this speech Khamenei clearly not only rejected the version of the agreement put out by the US State Department but also introduced ‘red lines’ on sanctions and inspections which do not conform to the version of the framework agreement promoted by the US and faithfully quoted and promoted by the BBC.
Following that exercise in spin, BBC audiences were pointed in the direction of the ‘real hardliners':
“The deal was celebrated by many in Iran but was dismissed by hardliners who say Iran surrendered too much in exchange for too little.
Similarly, some in the US Congress have been sceptical of the deal, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed fervent opposition.”
The BBC’s treatment of this topic continues to avoid providing its funding public with the comprehensive information needed in order to enhance their “awareness and understanding“. This particular article from the self-declared “standard-setter for international journalism” actively impedes understanding by means of the selective omission of information mixed with redundant spin-laden analysis.

28 Times Obama Said He'd Prevent Iran from Getting a Nuclear Weapon


Albanian man arrested in connection with murder of Israeli in Berlin

An Albanian man was arrested in connection with the murder of an Israeli tourist in Berlin earlier this week, German police announced Friday.
The 28-year-old suspect was arrested in the Czech Republic Friday evening, according to police, in an area close to the German border. His name was not immediately released.
Police said the Albanian met the victim, 22-year-old Yosi Damari, at a Berlin hostel where the Israeli had checked in on April 3, and suspect he carried out the killing the following day. They issued a European arrest warrant.
Police said the motive remains unclear. Germany will seek the suspect’s extradition.
Damari’s body was found by passersby early Sunday, beaten beyond recognition in the ruins of a Gothic church in Berlin, with his Israeli passport on his person.

Hoax blogger posts vile post

The Blogs platform on the Times of Israel was breached in an elaborate manner by a malicious hoaxer who on Thursday posted a hateful and racist post.
This hoaxer, it turns out, had opened a blog on the website some weeks ago using the identity of Josh Bornstein, a respected Australian lawyer, appropriating Bornstein’s name, biography, photograph and taking steps to lend the blog credibility.
Times of Israel staff had no reason to suspect this was a hoax, also given that half a dozen posts were published on this blog in subsequent days, all on topic and perfectly reasonable. As we found out Thursday, these posts were taken from Bornstein’s articles elsewhere on the internet.
After establishing his credibility on The Blogs platform, the imposter Thursday published a blog post that was vile and disturbing in the extreme. Shortly after it was published, we removed this blog post and the entire blog, and began investigating what had transpired. The post had also been copied to an online archive with the obvious intent of causing maximum harm.
We are dismayed that The Times of Israel fell victim to such a malicious and hateful hoax. Needless to say, we are appalled that the Times of Israel’s blog platform was taken advantage of in this manner.

Report: Palestinian youth shot dead by IDF near Hebron

A Palestinian was killed during a clash with the IDF near the West Bank town of Beit Umar, according to Palestinian reports.
According to one report received by the IDF's regional Coordination and Liaison Administration, the Palestinian was killed by an IDF bullet in the course of a violent clash that erupted during a funeral.
IDF sources said a funeral procession for a former Palestinian prisoner who died of natural causes erupted into a large-scale clash, with some 700 rioters hurling rocks and firebombs at army units in the area.
According to Palestinians, the casualty is the cousin of the former inmate.
Soldiers responded by firing 0.22 caliber bullets from a Ruger rifle, which fires weaker shots compared to live fire, according to the sources. Non-lethal crowd control measures were also deployed during the incident.

Spain jails 7 suspected jihadists for plots on Jewish targets

An investigative judge on Friday jailed seven suspected jihadists in a case involving planned possible kidnappings, an execution and attacks on Jewish shops and public buildings in Spain.
Other potential targets allegedly included synagogues, commercial centers, police and security forces and the Catalan regional parliament.
Authorities seized a grenade, knives, shotguns, ammunition and chemicals that could be used for bomb-making during searches that followed 11 arrests Wednesday in the northeastern Catalonia region, Judge Santiago Pedraz said in a report. It was released after the seven appeared before him in closed-door court sessions.
The suspects, mostly from the city of Terrassa about a 30-minute drive from Barcelona, had formed a group they called “Islamic Brotherhood for Jihad Predication” that was linked ideologically to the Islamic State group, the report said. (h/t Yenta Press)

Kosher Copenhagen deli targeted in anti-Semitic attack

Vandals smashed a window and scrawled anti-Semitic messages at Copenhagen’s only kosher deli, police said Thursday, less than two months after a man was killed in an attack outside a synagogue on the Danish city.
Police discovered the damage to the deli during a patrol early Thursday morning.
They said a window was broken and the word “Jødesvin,” which translates to “Jewish pig,” was written in a wall, according to TheLocal, citing Danish media reports.
The incident came amid concerns of rising anti-Semitism in Europe. Officials have pointed to a worrying uptick in attacks against Jews on the continent in the last several months, including an attack on a kosher Deli in Paris in January that left four people dead.
“All vandalism is serious, but it is obvious that when it comes to this particular location, there will be an extra focus on it,” police investigator Kenneth Jensen told Danish media outlet Berlingske, according to TheLocal.

Ecuador President Tweets ‘Heil Hitler’

Ecuador President Rafael Correa tweeted “Heil Hitler” on Thursday in response to a tweet that criticized his rule as fascist in nature.
The original tweet claimed that Osvaldo Hurtado, former president of Ecuador and a staunch critic of Correa, described the latter’s regime as fascist. Correa responded, in an apparent attempt at humor, with, “Heil Hitler!”
Correa’s government has been widely criticized for its shady public relations practices in the United States, repression of journalists, and attempts to intimidate critical news outlets, including this website. Government opponents are concerned Correa could follow the path of other authoritarian Latin American leaders and remove presidential term limits.
Correa recently appeared in a photograph with a boy who, unbeknownst to the strongman, was wearing a shirt adorned with the phrase, “I’m with stupid” and an arrow pointing at him.

Lecturer headbutted and knocked unconscious in attack in Belsize Park

Former UN diplomat Zakariah Fellah told how he was attacked by a man who had shouted anti-Semitic abuse at him as he walked his dogs along leafy Lancaster Grove.
Mr Fellah, 49, was visiting Belsize Park to stay with a friend who is a diplomat at the Polish embassy in London.
After coming round, and bleeding profusely from his smashed nose, he stumbled back to his friend’s home further down Lancaster Grove and called police - who took 45 minutes to arrive.
They took him to the Royal Free Hospital where he spent five hours and was given eight stitches to his nose. He is now waiting for the results of an X-ray to see the full extent of damage to his face.
Mr Fellah told how he had gone out for an evening stroll before bed at around 10:30pm last Wednesday when he was attacked.
He said: “I had taken the dogs out and was walking along when this guy started shouting at me. I had seen him on a previous occasion and he seemed to have a problem with the dogs. He shouted at me ‘you are rich and Jewish and you shouldn’t let your dogs Poo on the street.’ He then came over and grabbed my hat..”
“Then on this occasion from nowhere he suddenly ran towards me and headbutted me on my nose. I was stunned and fell backwards. I was not expecting it at all. The next thing I knew, when I came round after ten or 15 seconds, I am lying on the floor and he is standing over me. My nose is destroyed.”

Jewish Home in California Defaced With Antisemitic Graffiti; Power Lines Cut Before Attack

A Jewish family in California has been gripped with fear after discovering their property was defaced with swastikas during the Passover holiday.
According to The Blaze, the electricity to Israel Dahan’s Mira Mesa home was turned off on Sunday night. When the father of three went outside to investigate, he discovered that his garage and vehicle had been spray painted with swastikas.
“In Jewish history, [swastikas] mean someone wants to kill us,” Dahan explained to KSWB.
According to Dahan, the family had recently moved to the United States from Israel to provide his daughters a better life.
Local reporter Dan Haggerty tweeted photos of the attack, adding that the couple’s three daughters currently sleep in one room – while their concerned father keeps a knife under his bed.

Germany to commemorate 70 years since liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp

As Germany prepares to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Buchenwald concentration camp's liberation on Sunday, file footage reveals the horrific conditions witnessed there in 1945.
Unlike Auschwitz in Poland, Buchenwald was not one of the death camps where the Nazis set about their "Final Solution" – the systematic extermination of European Jews. Nonetheless, it was equipped with crematoria and gas chambers and 56,000 perished, 11,000 of them Jewish.
Many were summarily executed by SS guards, subjected to horrific medical experiments or forced to work in armaments factories. Starvation and disease also claimed thousands.

20 French Mayors to Visit Israel for Yom HaShoah

A delegation of 20 French mayors will visit Israel next week to commemorate Yom HaShoah (Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day). The mayors all come from towns that have commemorated residents who have been designated as Righteous Among the Nations, an honor bestowed by the state of Israel to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.
The visiting delegation was organized by the French Yad Vashem Committee and the France-Israel Foundation. On their visit to the Jewish state, the mayors will be welcomed and hosted by the mayor of Tel Aviv, Ron Huldai, and will meet with the descendants of Holocaust survivors and Righteous Among the Nations. They will also be able to meet with Israeli companies, including in the high-tech sector, that are interested in doing business in France.
“A few years ago a Jewish friend showed me a picture of a young woman holding a child. She was a Holocaust survivor, a former resident of my own town. We did not know her story and thus started digging and looking for details and for more stories like that. We contacted the French Yad Vashem Committee and began working together,” said the mayor of the central French town of Saint-Amand-Montrond, Thierry Vincon, who will be leading the delegation, the Jerusalem Post reported.
According to Jean-Pierre Gauzi, the French Yad Vashem committee’s secretary-general, 191 French communities have created memorials for residents who have been named Righteous Among the Nations.