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Tuesday, March 08, 2022

03/08 Links Pt2: The women who built Israel with hands and hearts; This Isn’t Obama’s Iran Deal. It’s Much, Much Worse; The UN is an irrelevant fossil

From Ian:

The women who built Israel with hands and hearts
This year, the theme of International Women’s Day is #BreakTheBias. Which is terrific news, as women everywhere still face discrimination and prejudice in matters big and small.

In hope for a gender-equal world, we’d like to take a moment to celebrate the women who broke the bias long before hashtags became a thing – those who helped turn Israel into a flourishing country.

According to historian Prof. Margalit Shilo, women in pre-state Israel began their pioneering, gender-expectation-renouncing work in the early 20th century.

One of the first examples was the Women’s Farm established in 1911 on the shores of Lake Kinneret in northern Israel, where Zionist activist and feminist Dr. Hannah Maisel educated women in matters of agricultural work and housekeeping.

And yet, despite the images that we have of pioneering women working in the fields, Shilo notes that in fact women did not usually undertake agricultural work.

“On the kibbutz, women weren’t usually accepted to agricultural roles but rather to more womanly jobs – in the kitchen, doing the laundry and taking care of the children. Although there was a group of feminists in the kibbutz movement who demanded more equality,” she says.

“Meanwhile, in 1919, in the cities and not on the kibbutzim, a rather large group of Jewish women was established, and they founded a women’s political party. It was the first women’s party in the world, and they fought for women’s voting rights in the national institutions.”

At around the same time, an assembly of representatives that would later develop into the Knesset was established.

“These women fought, and in January 1926 the assembly gave women the right to vote and to be elected. By the time the state was founded, there wasn’t any debate about whether or not women would participate in the Knesset,” says Shilo.

“In the first Knesset there were altogether 11 female members out of 120. I’ve researched this, and in the Knesset’s first 50 years the average percentage of women in the Knesset stood at 10 percent. It’s only undergone change in the past two decades or so,” Shilo adds.

Highest percentage of female physicians
During the three decades of the British Mandate in Palestine, thousands of Jewish women with a higher education relocated from Europe, giving the future Israeli state the largest percentage in the world of female doctors compared to male doctors, Shilo notes.


Ten Questions for Natan Sharansky
Born in Donetsk, then called Stalino, in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1948, Natan Sharansky remains the world’s leading anti-Soviet, dissident Zionist, and pro-democracy voice. A chess prodigy, mathematician, refusenik, political prisoner, human rights activist, and Israeli statesman, Sharansky is a living monument to 20th-century Jewish heroism, and is uniquely positioned to analyze the significance of breakdowns in freedom, democracy, and world order in the 21st. On Sunday, he sat down with Tablet to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the two Vladimirs, the dilemmas of Israeli diplomacy, and the wisdom of BDS for Russia.

How do you feel about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a state where you grew up in a Jewish family under the former USSR, and which is led today by a proudly Jewish president?

I have to say that it is very difficult for Jews to believe, but the Jewish question has nothing to do with this conflict. The fact that Zelensky is a devoted Jew is an absolutely outstanding fact of Ukrainian history, as well as the fact that even Putin, with all the awful things he is doing, is unique in Russian history for his positive attitude toward Jews and Israel. There are no anti-Jewish pogroms at this stage, neither in Ukraine nor in Russia, and it’s not the case that Jews are at the center of this.

When I was growing up in Donetsk, “Jew” was the worst thing you could have in your papers. It was like being born with a disease, and many parents dreamed of how to bribe officers to write in anything else for their children. Today, when refugees move to the border, the best thing they can have in their ID is the word “Jew,” because the only country that sends official representatives there to get people and give them citizenship is Israel. So, a lot can be said about it—but again, if you want to understand the roots of this awful, barbaric Russian aggression, it’s not the point from which we have to start.

OK, let’s start here: When I was born in Donetsk, it was then called Stalino. When Stalin died I was 5 years old, and I remember my father explained to me that it was a great day for us, for Jews, but not to tell that to anybody. And then I remember the other big event of my childhood, in 1954, after the death of Stalin, was the celebration of 300 years of the voluntary unification of Russia and Ukraine. In 1654, when Bohdan Khmelnytsky won a war, it made Ukraine independent from Poland. So we had a huge celebration about the brotherhood of Ukrainians and Russians.

Later, when I became a dissident, I got to know Ukrainian nationalists and found out that it was in fact more like a Russian enslavement of Ukraine. But by then it didn’t matter in the same way, because in fact Donetsk was a very international city, it had many nations. It was an industrial center, so for 100 years people had been coming there to look for work from different parts of the Russian empire. There were Ukrainians and Russians in Donetsk, of course, but also Kazakhs and Armenians and Georgians and Tatars. So none of that really mattered. What really mattered was: Are you Jewish or not?
Israel Can’t Be ‘Racist’ or ‘Apartheid’ — Here’s Why
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is clearly an attempt by Vladimir Putin to revive the Soviet empire — if not its communist ideology. He has said that the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest disaster of the 20th century, and now he’s trying to resurrect that ultimate imperialist edifice.

Another aspect of that era that is alive and well — indeed, is making a resurgence like the empire — is the Soviet-inspired theme that the Jewish liberation movement called Zionism, is the embodiment of racism.

Let us recall that the passage by the United Nations General Assembly of the 1975 resolution claiming that Zionism was racism was entirely a Soviet-inspired initiative. The Soviets concocted it to weaken America’s leading ally in the Middle East.

Israel had proven to have great strength in opposing Soviet-influence in the region, as evidenced by its victories over Soviet allies in both the Six-Day and Yom Kippur wars. If Israel was not to be defeated militarily, then the Soviets creatively came up with a totally fabricated conceptual weapon: that democratic Israel was actually a product of racist ideology.

Against this context, comes the updated version of that Soviet invention — the labeling of the Jewish state as an apartheid entity, which was most recently manifest in a report by Amnesty International.

In recent years, the main version of the “Israel is racist” charge was that its policy toward the Palestinians in the West Bank was an apartheid policy. Undoubtedly, there are problematic elements of Israel’s dealing with Palestinians, including different levels of regulations toward Jews and Arabs in the West Bank.

But whatever these challenges — and they are complex because of Palestinian terrorism and rejectionism — they are not the South African apartheid system, which was a racially-based ideological system of discrimination.

Now, however, as represented by the Amnesty report, the charge goes way beyond that apartheid libel, and resurrects the notion that the very concept of a Jewish state, known as Zionism, is in fact racist. In other words, the state of Israel is illegitimate.
Life Lessons With Doctor Bob: Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon
Robert J. Shillman, aka “Doctor Bob,” has been a supporter of The David Horowitz Freedom Center for many years. He has recently started a podcast, Life Lessons with Doctor Bob, and he has agreed to let us share those valuable lessons about achieving success with our readers. His in-depth interviews with interesting and successful people prove that, unlike the MSM’s portrayal of America, this nation has been, and continues to be, a land of opportunity for anyone willing to put in the effort. Make sure to subscribe to the show at Doctor Bob's website: lifelessonswithdoctorbob.com.

In this new episode of Life Lessons with Doctor Bob, Doctor Bob welcomes Ambassador Danny Danon, Israel's 17th Permanent Representative to the UN, who has had his hand in public policy and international relations for over a decade. He and Dr. Bob discuss finding common ground between the United States and Israel.


Gabriel Noronha: This Isn’t Obama’s Iran Deal. It’s Much, Much Worse.
Anyone seeking to gauge the imminent outcome of the international talks over Iran’s nuclear program being held in Vienna should take a look at reports from late January that three top U.S. diplomats had quit—largely in protest over the direction set by U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley, who serves as the U.S. government’s chief negotiator.

Having served for two years in former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s Iran Action Group, I knew that this development was tantamount to a public cry for an intervention. Such resignations—not of conservative dissenters, but of career staff and President Joe Biden’s own political appointees—should have been cause for Biden or Secretary Antony Blinken to recall Malley and investigate. Their failure to do so is a sign either of a troubling lack of attention to the talks, or else the possibility that Malley—who served in the same capacity under President Barack Obama when the first Iran deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was originally negotiated and signed—has been given a free hand to negotiate whatever he wants, as long as he gets Iran to sign.

Evidence for the latter view can be gleaned from the fact that Blinken has reneged on his pledge that his Iran negotiating team would have “a diversity of views.” Instead, he has let Malley continue to concede issue after issue in Vienna. Multiple career officials view these capitulations as so detrimental to U.S. national security that they contacted me requesting that I rapidly share details of these concessions with Congress and the public in an effort to stop them.

Reports out of Vienna indicate that a deal could occur within the next few days. While some issues are still being ironed out—such as whether the United States will grant Russia immunity from any economic sanctions relating to Iran, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has publicly demanded—the details that follow have been conveyed to me as finalized. My subsequent discussions with foreign diplomats—including those directly involved and those outside but close to the negotiations—confirmed their claims. Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov, who led negotiations on behalf of Russia, has crowed that “Iran got much more than it could expect. Much more,” and bragged about how Russia teamed up with China and Iran to get dozens of wins over the United States and European negotiating positions.

The list of concessions that follows is long, detailed, disturbing, but also somewhat technical. But this much is clear to me: The deal being negotiated in Vienna is dangerous to U.S. national security, to the stability of the Middle East, and to the Iranian people who suffer most under that brutal regime. The lack of evidence to justify a removal of U.S. sanctions is illegal, and the deal that will be foisted upon the world without the support of Congress will be illegitimate. This deal will not serve U.S. interests in either the short or long term.

With Robert Malley in the lead, the United States has promised to lift sanctions on some of the regime’s worst terrorists and torturers, on leading officials who have developed Iran’s WMD infrastructure, and has agreed to lift sanctions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) itself. In exchange, Iran will receive fewer limitations than those imposed under the JCPOA, and the restrictions on its nuclear program will expire six years sooner than under the terms of the old deal. And that’s just the beginning.
David Singer: The UN is an irrelevant fossil
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has given credence to the oft-used statement that “Truth is always the first casualty of war”.

Addressing the media after the UN General Assembly (UNGA) had resolved by 141 votes to 5 to demand that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally” withdraw its military forces from Ukraine - Guterres stated:
“The General Assembly has spoken.
As Secretary-General, it is my duty to stand by this resolution and be guided by its call.
The message of the General Assembly is loud and clear:
End hostilities in Ukraine — now.
Silence the guns — now.
Open the door to dialogue and diplomacy — now.
The territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine must be respected in line with the UN Charter.
We don’t have a moment to lose.
The brutal effects of the conflict are plain to see.
But as bad as the situation is for the people in Ukraine right now, it threatens to get much, much worse.
The ticking clock is a time bomb ...
... Today’s resolution reflects a central truth.
The world wants an end to the tremendous human suffering in Ukraine.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson supported Guterres with this equally-misleading fatuous statement:

“Rarely has the contrast between right and wrong been so stark, 141 countries voted to condemn Putin.”

The General Assembly’s message was not that loud and clear - or as stark – as a closer analysis of the recorded votes reveals (See diagram):


Notably:
The world’s two most populated countries – China and India – representing 36.1% of the world’s population - abstained from voting.
12 countries failed to vote.
35 countries abstained from voting.
Those 47 countries abstaining or not voting represent 54.72% of the world’s population and 24.35% of the 193 member states in the United Nations.

U.S. ambassador to the U.N. - Linda Thomas-Greenfield - said before the vote:
"We believe this is a simple vote, Vote yes if you believe U.N. member states, including your own, have a right to sovereignty and territorial integrity. Vote yes if you believe Russia should be held to account for his [Putin’s] actions. Vote yes if you believe in upholding the U.N. Charter and everything this institution stands for.”

Thomas-Greenfield’s message obviously failed to resonate with those 47 abstaining or non-voting countries.

Despite this embarrassingly-divisive vote – the UNGA can still act to protect and uphold the principles of the UN Charter by utilising that 141-5 majority to isolate Russia whilst simultaneously supporting Ukraine in its struggle to regain its territorial sovereignty and independence.
Rapprochement aside, Turkey is not Israel's friend
There is, of course, no direct link between the common interest of Turkey and Israel in stopping the war in Ukraine and Erdogan's decision to roll out the red carpet for Herzog, who is slated to visit Ankara on Wednesday.

Over the past year, the Turkish president has signaled in almost every possible way that he is interested in improving diplomatic relations with Israel, which deteriorated since the deadly 2010 Marmara flotilla incident and reached their lowest with the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from Turkey about four years ago.

Erdogan has already spoken with Herzog three times, with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid at least once, and he has hinted at more than one occasion of his desire to get diplomatic relations back on track.

Turkey has reasoned the change in its position to the change of government in Israel and the fact that "there is now someone to talk to" in Jerusalem. But the reasons for this change run much deeper.

With the June 2023 presidential election now clearly in sight, Turkey is in one of its most difficult periods under Erdogan's rule. The Turkish economy is crashing with 48% inflation and a shortage of basic goods, energy prices have doubled, and the local currency has lost half its value. Turkey feels regionally isolated, and its relations with the United States are poor.

Erdogan needs Israel to get out of this predicament, mainly because he needs Israel to help him mend fences with the Biden Administration and persuade the US to revive tis sale of F-35 stealth jets to Ankara, which Washington canceled after Erdogan procured Russian-made surface-to-surface S-400 missile batteries.

Israel has no reason to reject Ankara's outstretched hand or oppose restoring ties in full – as long as no one deludes themselves into thinking that Erdogan transformed from a devout Muslim and an ardent supporter of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood to a lover of Zion. The Turkish president is a rigid ideologue, who in the next conflict in Gaza, Jerusalem or Judea and Samaria will once again turn against Israel.


PMW: PA TV host radically misrepresents Israeli broadcast to demonize Jews as “cursing Prophet Muhammad inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque”
As part of the PA’s policy to demonize Jews, two hosts on official PA TV have distorted Jewish prayers as being “hostile” to Palestinians, “causing fear and terror,” and “cursing Prophet Muhammad inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

In the PA TV program From the Israeli Archive, the PA TV host misrepresented an Israeli news program about the Temple Mount and Jewish prayer there, claiming the Jews “cursed” Islam’s prophet Muhammad.

In fact, the Israeli footage shows former Israeli Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel with a group of religious Jews at the Temple Mount plaza. Ariel is saying a biblical blessing from Numbers 6:26. Needless to say, the blessing contains no reference to Muhammad:
Official PA TV host Nasser Al-Lahham, misrepresenting: “They are starting to pray and film… to ridicule and dance, to curse the prophets, and to curse Prophet Muhammad inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Former Israeli Minister Uri Ariel says in Hebrew: “The LORD bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace! (Numbers 6:26) - Amen!
Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel, and I will bless them. - Amen!”

[Official PA TV, From the Israeli Archive, Nov. 28, 2021]

When Israelis in Hebron were singing in Hebrew “The people of Israel live, our Father yet lives” and “Purify our hearts to serve You in truth,” this was demonized by a PA TV host as a “provocative and hostile” song that scared Palestinian children:
Official PA TV host: “In this video we see settlers gathering in the Jaber neighborhood of Hebron while sounding calls that are provocative and hostile to the Palestinians, which caused fear and terror in the children.”

[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Feb. 13, 2022]


Houthis Warn Israel, Touts Military Training
Yemen’s Houthi movement (also known as Ansarallah) recently published a military training video warning Israel of a potential response by the Iran-backed group if conflict with the Palestinians or Hezbollah were to erupt.

The publication shows Houthi militants performing various training exercises including hand-to-hand combat and weapons training on targets resembling the flag of Israel.

The publication included a threat subtitled in Hebrew warning Israel that it needed to consider the Yemeni people before it involved itself in any future confrontation with Hezbollah or the Palestinians.

Although not as impressive, the video is a near carbon copy of several publications by Hezbollah’s Radwan Force which were disseminated online over the last two years.

The video offers some insight into the influence Hezbollah has within the ranks of the Houthi movement which should not come as a surprise due to the numerous reports of Hezbollah’s direct involvement in the Yemen conflict.

As a member of the Resistance Axis, the Houthis oppose Israel and regularly call for its destruction. They have also accused Israel of participating in the Yemen conflict since it began in 2015.

In 2019, Houthi Defense Minister Mohammed al-Atefi stated that the group had the ability to strike Israel, saying it had a “bank of military and maritime targets of the Zionist enemy” ready to be targeted when given the order.

Despite the recent threatening video and past warnings of an attack from Yemen, there is no clear evidence demonstrating the Houthis having attempted to launch a military operation against Israel.


U.S. Treasury Designates Four ISIS Financiers in South Africa
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that four financial facilitators working for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and ISIS-Mozambique (ISIS-M) have been designated. These money men, based in South Africa, are integral in facilitating the transfer of funds from ISIS’s financial networks to its branches across the African continent.

Treasury asserted that these “key ISIS supporters” have been exploiting South Africa’s financial system to bankroll ISIS insurgent and terrorist networks across Africa. Treasury also states that ISIS has attempted to expand its presence in Africa, relying on “local fundraising schemes” such as extortion, theft, and kidnapping as well as financial support from the “ISIS hierarchy.”

The four individuals listed within Treasury’s designation were identified as: Farhad Hoomer, Siraj Miller, Abdella Hussein Abadigga and Peter Charles Mbaga.

Hoomer, who reportedly leads an ISIS cell based in Durban, South Africa, has “recruited and trained cell members” while raising funds through “kidnap-for-ransom operations and extortion of major businesses,” according to Treasury.

In 2018, South African authorities arrested Hoomer for a plot to detonate incendiary devices near a mosque and various commercial buildings in Durban. However, in 2020, he and the other 11 suspects were released as the case against them was struck off the roll – though it is clear from Treasury’s designation Hoomer continues to be involved in illicit activity in support of ISIS.

Treasury’s statement indicated that Hoomer was in direct contact with members of the ISIS cell in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (ISIS-DRC), locally known as the Allied Democratic Forces, and provided “residential properties and vehicles” to support operational activities in South Africa.

Treasury also designated Siraj Miller. In the designation, Treasury decscribed Miller as the leader of an ISIS cell in Cape Town, South Africa, who trained militants in conducting robberies to raise funds for the group.
Iran plotting assassination of John Bolton, others, even while Biden negotiates nuclear deal
At least two Iranians belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards’ covert-action Quds Force have been plotting to assassinate former national security adviser John Bolton, according to a Justice Department official with direct knowledge of the investigation.

The source tells the Washington Examiner that the department possesses indictable evidence against the Iranians but that Biden administration officials are resisting publicly indicting the men for fear that it could derail their drive for a nuclear deal with Iran, currently nearing completion in negotiations in Vienna, Austria. Biden’s hope is to resume the 2015 JCPOA Iran nuclear accord. Former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the accord, and Iran suspended its compliance.

It is possible but unlikely that there are sealed indictments against the men, but the DOJ source said the seriousness of the conspiracy and the evidence warranted public indictment without delay. Sealed indictments would be unusual and probably unnecessary in this case, as they are usually used to prevent the target evading justice. The Quds Force is fully aware of U.S. law enforcement and intelligence attention toward it, so its members are unlikely to put themselves in a position to be arrested with or without a sealed indictment.

The Washington Examiner is withholding some details of the plot against Bolton for national security reasons, but the DOJ source described it in highly specific terms as supported by significant Revolutionary Guard reconnaissance activity and involved an effort to recruit an assassin on U.S. soil. A Justice Department official told the Washington Examiner that "it would be categorically false to claim that these kinds of policy considerations would drive such a charging decision."

The intelligence community became aware of the plot at an early stage, and it prompted high-level concern and a full-time Secret Service protective detail being assigned to Bolton earlier this year or late in 2021. Significant FBI assets were also deployed to disrupt the plot and assist in protecting Bolton. The plot is also believed to have precipitated national security adviser Jake Sullivan's Jan. 9 warning to Iran that the U.S. would protect officials "serving the United States now and those who formerly served."

Similar Iranian threats have been made and continue to be made against former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other former Trump administration officials who worked on Iran issues. As the Washington Examiner reported in December 2020, Congress quietly extended Pompeo's Diplomatic Security Service protective detail beyond his government tenure in response to these Iranian threats. That protective detail continues and has a high level of enhanced capability.
Biden Administration Appeases Mullahs, Iran Escalates Assassinations [A]t least two men from Iran's Quds Force... are planning to assassinate former US National Security Advisor John R. Bolton.... However, Biden administration officials do not want to indict the Iranian assassins, for fear of disrupting the "progress" in Vienna, Austria, of a globally catastrophic "nuclear deal," during which the interests of the United States are being negotiated by – Russia!

Similar assassination plots, according to the report, also exist against former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other officials serving the United States now or who have served.

Iran's theocratic regime also targets foreign political leaders and diplomats whom the regime opposes. The Iranian regime is known to have "target packages" which most likely include foreign citizens or residents who are human rights defenders, critics of the Iranian leaders, political activists, and dissidents.

The Biden administration and the EU, instead of rewarding Iran's terrorist regime with billions of dollars, international legitimacy and a full-blown nuclear weapons program to unleash on the world, should hold the regime accountable for its countless terror activities and nuclear and missile programs, by resuming "maximum pressure" sanctions...

Most importantly, the EU needs to officially designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies as terrorist organizations.

The more the Biden administration appeases Iran's regime, lifts sanctions against it, and funds and empowers its brutal expansionism, the more the ruling mullahs will be empowered to carry out savagery at home and assassinations, terrorism and marauding abroad. IRGC successfully sends 2nd military satellite into space
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has successfully put a second military satellite, the Noor 2, into orbit, the semi-official news agency Tasnim said on Tuesday.

The announcement came as talks held in Vienna to revive an agreement restraining Iran's nuclear program have reaching a critical stage.

Noor 2 is orbiting at an altitude of 500 kilometers (311 miles). The first military satellite, launched by the Islamic Republic in April 2020, placed the Noor, or "light" in Persian, at an orbit of 425km (265 miles) above the earth's surface.

Putting a second satellite in space would be a major advance for Iran's military, raising concerns about the country's nuclear and missile programs.

The U.S. military says the same long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit could also allow Tehran to launch longer-range weapons, possibly including nuclear warheads.

Tehran denies U.S. assertions that such activity is a cover for ballistic missile development and says it has never pursued the development of nuclear weapons.

"The IRGC successfully placed Iran's second military satellite, Noor 2, into orbit 500 kilometers from earth," Tasnim said.

The three-stage Qased, or "Messenger", the carrier launched the Noor 2, from the Shahroud spaceport, it added. The same type of rockets, which use a combination of liquid and solid fuels, carried the first military satellite.
Iran Won’t Back Down on its ‘Red Lines’ in Nuclear Talks, Raisi Says
Iran will not back down on its red lines in nuclear talks with major powers, President Ebrahim Raisi said on Tuesday, after the European Union said the time had come for Washington and Tehran to take political decisions needed to reach an accord.

Eleven months of negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal which lifted sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program have reached their final stages.

Iran has sought to remove all sanctions and it wants guarantees from the United States that it will not abandon the deal once more, after then-US President Donald Trump left the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions.

Iran’s top negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, returned to Tehran on Monday for consultations.

“The government pursues nuclear negotiations in full accordance with the principles and framework set by the Supreme Leader,” Raisi said, referring to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in Tehran’s decision.

“It has not and will not back down on any of these red lines,” the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Raisi as saying.

Talks coordinator Enrique Mora of the European Union said on Monday that the political decisions needed to conclude the negotiations successfully must be taken in the next few days.
Russia: Tehran, Beijing, and Moscow Aligned To Win US Concessions on Nuclear Deal
Iran, Russia, and China aligned in talks over a revamped nuclear deal to force the United States and Western countries to give up significant concessions that resulted in Tehran getting "much more than it could expect," according to Russia’s lead negotiator.

"I am absolutely sincere in this regard. Iran got much more than it could expect," Mikhail Ulyanov said in a recent interview about the negotiations. "Much more. … Realistically speaking, Iran got more than frankly I expected, others expected. This is a matter of fact."

Ulyanov’s comments come as the negotiations in Vienna enter their final stage, with an announcement of a new deal expected in the coming days. Iran is certain to receive billions of dollars in cash windfalls in exchange for minimal restrictions on its nuclear program.

Details of the agreement have been closely guarded for more than a year, with Republican foreign policy leaders in Congress saying they have been completely cut out of the negotiations. The Biden administration has avoided fully briefing Congress on the deal and appears poised to violate a 2015 law mandating that any accord with Iran first be approved by Congress. Republican leaders also have objected to Russia’s position in the talks. Moscow has served as the United States’ key interlocutor with Iran even as it faces international scorn for the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

With Russia and China’s assistance, Iran was able to get more than it ever expected out of the talks, according to Ulyanov.

"Iranian clerics are fighting for Iranian nuclear national interests like lions," the Russian diplomat said. "Indeed, I’m very serious. They fight for every comma, every word, and, as a rule, quite successfully. I must recognize that."


Satellite photos show construction at North Korea nuclear testing site
Commercial satellite images suggest a resumption of construction activity at North Korea’s nuclear testing ground nearly four years after leader Kim Jong Un declared the site’s closure and invited foreign journalists to observe the destruction of tunnels ahead of his first summit with then-US President Donald Trump.

Analysts say it’s unclear how long it would take North Korea to restore the site for nuclear detonations if it intends to do so. The site in Punggye-ri in the country’s northeast was used for its sixth and last nuclear test in 2017.

The sighting of construction activity at the site comes amid a deepening diplomatic freeze since the collapse of the second Kim-Trump meeting in February 2019, when the Americans rejected North Korean demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities.

North Korea has used the pause in talks to further expand its military capabilities, including nine rounds of missile launches in 2022 alone. The unusually fast pace indicates an intent to pressure the Biden administration, which has offered open-ended talks but shown no willingness to concede on sanctions.

Kim presided over a ruling Workers’ Party meeting in January where Politburo members denounced what they described as US hostility and issued a veiled threat to resume tests of nuclear explosives and long-range missiles that Kim unilaterally suspended in 2018 to create diplomatic space with Trump.

Some experts say Kim is reviving an old playbook of brinkmanship to extract concessions from Washington and his neighbors as he grapples with a decaying economy crippled by the pandemic, mismanagement and persisting US-led sanctions.
University of Toronto to Withhold Thousands in Graduate Student Union Fees Over Israel Boycott
The University of Toronto will withhold thousands in student fees from the Graduate Student Union (UTGSU), in an unprecedented response to the body’s embrace of efforts to boycott the Jewish state.

The decision to withhold $10,918 in student fees earmarked for the union — assessed as the annual amount spent by the union to promote the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign — was announced Friday in a letter by Provost Cheryl Regehr, according to B’nai Brith Canada.

“Today marks a pivotal step forward in the struggle against antisemitism at U of T, and at Canadian universities more broadly,” said Michael Mostyn, CEO of the Jewish advocacy group.

Mostyn noted that while the university only withheld a portion of UTGSU funds, it was was the first time that a Canadian school has stripped funds from a student union for backing BDS or for antisemitism generally.

In addition to using student fees to support BDS, UTGSU has hosted speakers who made antisemitic remarks during their presentations. Most recently, in November, the union attempted to establish a permanent BDS Committee, in a vote that was rejected with 34 dissenting votes, seventeen in favor, and eleven abstentions.

In 2020, graduate student Chaim Katz filed a complaint with the university arguing that UTGSU was discriminating against Israel based on nationality. Last February, U of T’s Complaint and Resolution Council for Student Societies ruled in Katz’s favor and recommended several ways UTGSU could reform its conduct. It proceeded to ignore the council’s ruling, however, prompting Provost Regehr’s decision on Friday.


Indy Arabia refers to mass-murderers as 'Generals of Patience'
Once again The Independent’s Arabic edition has failed to uphold the “world-renowned standards, code of conduct and established ethos” of their English edition (despite this prior announcement by Indy’s editorial board upon the Arabic website’s launch). This time it was West Bank correspondent Khalil Mousa who wrote the following on January 31:
ABBAS DEMANDS THAT ISRAEL RELEASE 25 DETAINEES* OF THE “GENERALS OF PATIENCE”

It is with appreciation and honor that the Palestinians treat the detainees in Israeli prisons. Having sacrificed the flower of their youth so that the Palestinian people’s other individuals would enjoy independence and liberation, they are viewed as “detainees of freedom”. This perspective grows twofold in the case of senior detainees who spent over 20 years since their arrest; thus, whoever spent time which exceeds 25 years is described as a “colonel among the detainees” and a “general of patience”.

The number of colonels among the detainees in Israeli prisons stands at 121, with their number increasing annually since there are more than 500 detainees sentenced for life imprisonment, most of them arrested during the peak of the second intifada between 2002-2003.

Then Mousa continued to report about the Palestinian Authority’s demand for Israel to release a group of 25 prisoners, all imprisoned before 1993.

So, which Palestinians have been imprisoned in Israel since the turbulent years of 2002-2003, seemingly on the verge of becoming “generals of patience” in just a few years?

What kind of people do the Palestinians reportedly admire for “sacrificing the flower of their youth” in favor of others’ “independence and liberation”?

And most importantly, what were they sentenced for?
New York Times Correction Gets Close, but Can’t Quite Acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel‘s Capital
For the second time in three months, the New York Times has published a correction after mistakenly describing Tel Aviv as the capital of Israel.

The March 8 New York Times carries the following correction: “A subheading with an article on Sunday about a meeting between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett of Israel and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia referred imprecisely to Tel Aviv, implying that it was the seat of Israel’s government. Israel’s government is in Jerusalem, not Tel Aviv.”

The January 9, 2022 New York Times had carried a similar correction: ““A review on Dec. 19 about “Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy,” by Martin Indyk, referred imprecisely to Tel Aviv, implying that it was the seat of Israel’s government. Israel’s government is in Jerusalem, not Tel Aviv.”

Journalist Gary Weiss drew attention to the more recent Times error in a tweet that included a photo of the print pullquote, which said, “Tel Aviv tries to keep good relations with Ukraine and Russia.”

Weiss’s comment: “I guess Times editors don’t know the capital of Israel is Jerusalem. This is like saying in a story on US policy — ‘New York tries to keep good relations with Ukraine and Russia.’” He went on: “There’s so much ignorance and prejudice packed into this one block of type. A Times editor or editors doesn’t/don’t like Israel, don’t like its capital being Jerusalem so they deny Israel’s capital is that city. Which it is. They don’t like it, so they lie. In print. Joyously.”

A former national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, replied, “When will the New York Times drop its bias against Israel the Jewish state. It is after 75 years no longer simply an error or ignorance. The NYT cannot bring itself to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Shame!!!”
Michigan candidate calls feminism a Jewish plot to degrade white men
Robert Regan, the Republican nominee for a safely conservative state House seat in Michigan, has frequently re-posted antisemitic content and shared his own extreme views on Jews.

Regan is in a good position to win a May 3 special election for a vacant seat representing Kent County, Michigan’s 74th state district, after winning a crowded Republican primary last week by a narrow margin of 81 votes (according to unofficial tallies). Michigan’s Republican Party congratulated Regan on Wednesday for winning the primary.

In May 2021, Regan’s personal Facebook page shared two posts, still visible on his page as of Monday, in which he expressed antisemitic opinions. In one, he shared an image of a quote branded by the logo of Smoloko News, a now-defunct antisemitic website. The quote described “feminism” as “a Jewish program to degrade and subjugate white men.”

In January of last year, Regan shared a link to an antisemitic “family history” of the Rothschilds, the Jewish banking family often at the center of conspiracy theories about Jews and world banking domination. Two months later, he shared a meme made by a QAnon influencer that called “(((Them)))” the “real virus” in a post calling public health measures to combat COVID-19 “nonsense.” The triple parentheses, or echo symbol, is used online by antisemites to identify Jews.

In another post, Regan himself called Jewish financier and far-left donor George Soros a “Jewish communist investor” and “pure evil.”


Major Weapons Show in Tel Aviv Expecting Record Attendance Amid Ukraine-Russia War
Precisely at the time that countries around the world are preparing to increase defense budgets in response to the battles going on in Ukraine, the Indian Ministry of Defense canceled their big security exhibition, Defexpo, which was scheduled to open in Gandhinagar, Gujarat this coming Thursday.

India is currently an important security market. At the event, held once every two years, 1,000 arms manufacturers from all over the world, including the major defense industries from Israel, display their products. Those arms have already arrived in India.

Officially, the reasons given for the cancellation were the exhibitors’ logistical problems, but it is estimated that it was due to the absence of Russian industries, which could not come because of the international boycott following the invasion of Ukraine. India is a major customer for Russian weaponry and depends on Moscow for the supply of spare parts and maintenance for fighter jets, tanks and air defense systems, which also led it to abstain in voting for a UN resolution condemning the invasion.

On the other hand, the battles in Ukraine and the removal of restrictions on the arrival of foreign tourists in Israel gave a boost to the ISDEF exhibition to be held at the Tel Aviv Expo (formerly known as the Exhibition Center) at the end of the month. According to the organizers of the exhibition, Avnon Group, the registration rate for the event has accelerated by 50% in the last week and currently 4,500 visitors from abroad are expected to attend, including for the first time about 100 people from the Gulf countries and Morocco. Delegations coming from Eastern European countries include: Croatia, Slovakia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and there will also be official delegations from longtime customers of the defense industries from Israel, the US, Italy, UK, Finland, South Korea, and the Philippines. The number of participants is 40% higher than the last event in 2019, before the outbreak of the pandemic.

Companies from Russia and Ukraine, which have not yet officially canceled their arrival, are also currently registered for the event. Among those registered is TSNK, which manufactures screening and scanning devices. Alongside the exhibition, there will also be a conference on security issues, which will deal with crisis management and protection against cyber attacks, with the participation of the retired chief of police and former chairman of the board of Migdal Yohanan Danino, former police chief Roni Alsheikh, former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, former head of Israel’s National Cyber Network, Yigal Unna, the chief of staff of Zambia, the chief of staff of the Philippines, and defense ministers of Kosovo, Bosnia, and Ghana. The conference will be chaired by Israel’s former defense minister and chief of staff Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon.
UBQ lands Nestle, Anheuser-Busch as clients with thermoplastic solutions
Israeli startup UBQ Materials, which develops a world-leading, patented and climate-positive thermoplastic material, announced in late February that they have reached new agreements with leading food and beverage corporations Nestle and Anheuser-Busch.

The latest collaboration will see Anheuser-Busch’s Brazil-based subsidiary, Anheuser-Busch InBev, implement UBQ’s eponymously-named material (short for ubiquitous) into their packaging production process – with considerations into expanding the implementation of UBQ into other projects in Europe and test the feasibility of mass-adoption of the material. They will also see Nestle’s Israel-based subsidiary implement the material into logistics pallets used in the Osem-Nestlé’s Tzabar Salads product line.

“Using waste in the form of a recyclable substitute for plastic helps cater to the environment in more ways than one. We remain committed to having a positive impact on the ecosystem and contributing to a circular economy” said Karina Turci, Packaging Sustainability Manager at Ambev.

UBQ Materials uses a patented conversion process to turn landfill-destined municipal solid waste, including all organics, into a climate-positive, cost-competitive and fully recyclable plastic substitute – thus offering a sustainable alternative to plastic, wood or concrete.

“Environmental responsibility extends beyond the consumer-facing products and runs through the entire supply chain. Pallets made with UBQ™ are one example of an opportunity for an impact that occurs behind the scenes in our logistics infrastructure,” said Amit Ron, packaging manager at Osem-Nestle.


Ancient heritage of Iraq’s last few Jews at risk as synagogues fall into ruin
In a busy district of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, there is little to distinguish the faded brick building, except for a Hebrew inscription above the entrance.

Iraq’s Jewish community was once one of the largest in the Middle East, but its members have dwindled to a handful, outside of the autonomous Kurdistan region.

“Our heritage is in a pitiful condition” and authorities take no notice, said a member of the congregation who requested anonymity, fearing reprisals.

Their precious history, including the synagogue, is threatened in a country torn apart by decades of war, corruption and armed groups.

While historical treasures ruined by jihadists are being restored in Iraq, rare international efforts at saving the Jewish heritage have not been enough.

Baghdad’s Meir Tweig Synagogue, built in 1942, seems to have been frozen in time.

Behind its padlocked doors, the benches are covered in white cloth to shield them from the sun. The walls of the sky-blue two-story columned interior are crumbling.

The steps leading to a wooden cabinet holding the sacred Torah scrolls are coming apart.

Flanked by marble plaques engraved with seven-branched candelabra and psalms, the cabinet shelters the scrolls written in hand calligraphy on gazelle leather.

“We used to pray here,” the member said. “We celebrated our festivals, and in summer we studied religious courses in Hebrew.”

One synagogue in Iraq’s south has been illegally occupied and turned into a warehouse, the woman added.

“Save this heritage,” she said, asking for the United Nations’s help.






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