Jerusalem News (18 December, 2014, 26 Kislev, 5775)
Contents:
1. Saudi Gazette 12 Dec. Arab and Muslim Americans find their voice in Ferguson protests, Joyce Karam
2. Gadi Eizenkot appointed the next Israeli Chief of General Staff
3. Israeli Elections Interesting Propaganda Clips
Note the clips shown here are of Naphtali Bennet and Moshe Feiglin.
4. Imra. Dr. Aaron Lerner: Weekly Commentary: A Thumbnail Sketch of the different Genuine Israeli Positions on Palestinian State
5. PM Netanyahu Lights First Chanukah Candle with IDF Soldiers
6. Legitimatizing Hamas by Rachel Ehrenfeld
7. REPORT: MOSSAD AGENT INFILTRATED HEZBOLLAH'S UPPER ECHELONS
by Ari Soffer
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1. Saudi Gazette 12 Dec. Arab and Muslim Americans find their voice in Ferguson protests, Joyce Karam
www.imra.org.il
Extracts.
The events of Ferguson play a familiar tune especially for those of Palestinian descent €œMuslims and Arabs joining hands with the African Ameican community.
FROM Ferguson to New York, Palestinian flags and signs bearing Arabic slogans against racism and for 'Ittihad' (unity) were numerous in the protests condemning the police killing of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. On one hand, they illustrate the common struggle that many Arabs, Muslim and African-Americans seek against racial profiling, prejudice and discrimination. For another, they bridge the gap that for a long time has kept these communities apart. While Arab-Americans and Muslims who immigrated to the United States, were not instrumental in the struggle for civil rights for African-Americans from the 1960s onwards, they are vocal and active in the demonstrations taking place across the US today. ... ...Surveillance of mosques and spying on Muslim student groups are some of the many 'anti-terrorism' efforts carried by the New York Police Department (NYPD) following 9-11. In a way, it has'created greater empathy in the community with what is happening in Ferguson' says Aziza-Hill, adding that 'racial profiling is the same whether it's a Muslim at the airport or an African-American on the street.'
More than three million Arab Americans live in the United States today, and around two million Muslims according to PEW. The FBI has recorded 130 hate crimes against Muslims in the US in 2012, while this number stood at 32 hate crimes in 1999. The shift has also occurred in the other direction, whereby Muslims 'are no longer perceived as foreigners' in the United States but rather 'as a minority with its own set of concerns and struggles.'
More than a quarter of Muslims in the United States are African-Americans, and key figures in US society such as former activist Malcolm X, renowned boxer Muhammad Ali and the first Muslim Congressman Keith Allison come from this community.
... Warren David reminds of the story of Vincent Jen Chin, a Chinese-American who was beaten in a racially-charged attack in Detroit in 1982. Chin, while not Japanese himself, was a victim of prejudice against Japanese automakers whose sales then had hurt car sales in Detroit. Alex Odeh is another name that David points to as a casualty of anti-Arab prejudice in California. Odeh, a Palestinian activist, died in a bomb planted near his office door in 1985. ...
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2. Gadi Eizenkot appointed the next Israeli Chief of General Staff
Gadi Eizenkot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadi_Eizenkot
Extracts:
Gadi Eizenkot (Hebrew: ; born May 19, 1960) is a Major-general in the Israel Defense Forces, and the current Deputy Chief of General Staff.[1] On February 15, 2015, Eizenkot will be sworn in as Chief of Staff of the IDF.
Eizenkot was born in 1960 in Tiberias, in northern Israel. He is the second of four children [2] to Meir and Ester,[3] Jewish Moroccan immigrants from the town of Safi. The origin of his Ashkenazi Jewish-sounding surname, however, is unclear. According to one opinion, it may have originated from European Jews who migrated to Morocco from Germany in the nineteenth century ('Eisen' means "Iron" in German).[4] Second opinion is that it is most likely originated from "Azenkot", a surname of Berber-Moroccans ('Azankad ' means "deer" in Tamazight).[5]
Eizenkot grew up in the southern port city of Eilat...
After joining the IDF Eizenkot was assigned to the Golani Brigade, which he himself would eventually command from 1997-98. During that time he received a B.A. in history from Tel Aviv University and attended the United States Army War College for a master's degree.
Eizenkot is credited with being the most prominent exponent of the Dahiya doctrine, a defense strategy which "Israel finally realizes that its enemies should be accountable for their leaders' acts".[11] It is named after Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut during 2006 Lebanon War. The doctrine's premise expressed as follows: "What happened in the Dahiya quarter of Beirut in 2006 will happen in every village from which Israel is fired on.[12] There would be no mercy shown when it comes to hitting the national infrastructure of a state that, in practice, is controlled by terrorist organization Hezbollah."[11]
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3. Israeli Elections Interesting Propaganda Clips
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/188720#.VJBa1Ztd6e8
Note the clips shown here are of Naphtali Bennet and Moshe Feiglin.
They are shown for the sake of interest.
We personally will probably not vote for either of them.
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4. Imra. Dr. Aaron Lerner: Weekly Commentary: A Thumbnail Sketch of the different Genuine Israeli Positions on Palestinian State
Weekly Commentary:
A Thumbnail Sketch of the different Genuine Israeli Positions on Palestinian State
Dr. Aaron Lerner Date:
17 December 2014
Let's set aside the rhetoric for a moment and consider the true divisions within Israel on the question of a sovereign Palestinian state.
#1. The secular messianics:
The members of this group honestly believe that if Israel were to completely and absolutely withdraw to the Green Line that the Arabs would drop their other demands (e.g. return of refugees to within Israel) and we would enjoy utopian peace in perpetuity.
Operative conclusion: There is no reason to be concerned about the efficacy of the security and other arrangements associated with the withdrawal of Israel and the founding of a sovereign Palestinian state since there will be utopian peace regardless of the details.
The purpose of all of this verbiage is only to convince those who don
t embrace this view that a deal is possible.
#2. The instrumental solution advocates:
The members of this group genuinely believe that it is possible to come up with an arrangement under which a sovereign Palestinian state could be created that did not represent an existential threat to Israel. Avigdor Liberman, the head of Yisrael Beiteinu, is probably the most important advocate of this position. Liberman has consistently taken the position that the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state does not hinge on the ability of the Palestinians to honor the commitments it makes in an agreement so long as a third party is deployed on the ground to maintain order.
Over time the identity of this third party has shifted from being Jordan and Egypt to NATO forces and most recently some kind of joint force involving Saudi and other nations.
#3. The "buy time" opponents of a Palestinian state:
The members of this group recognize that the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state would represent an existential threat to Israel but believe that, tactically, it is not possible to reject such an idea outright. Instead of openly rejecting the idea of a sovereign Palestinian state they either describe the state in terms such that it is not actually sovereign or with requirements that can be safely assumed to be "non-starter" requirements. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu best represents this approach.
#4. The "move on" opponents of a Palestinian state:
The members of this group believe that it serves Israel's interests to openly reject the concept of a sovereign Palestinian state as a 'solution' and to move on to the implementation of alternative arrangements. Naftali Bennett of Bayit Yehudi is a prime example of this school of thought with his proposal to annex areas in Judea and Samaria with the Palestinians in the annexed area, just as the Arabs of eastern Jerusalem, able to take Israeli citizenship, while those autonomous areas not annexed enjoy massive investments to improve economic conditions. Suffice it to say that the majority of Israeli voters identify with either the 'buy time' or 'move on' approach. The challenge for the Likud, Bayit Yehudi and Eli Yishai parties in the current elections is to get Yisrael Beiteinu and Kachlon national camp supporters to understand that a vote for these two parties is a vote that could empower a coalition to facilitate the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state.
Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis) (Mail POB 982 Kfar Sava) Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730 INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il Website: http://www.imra.org.il
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5. PM Netanyahu Lights First Chanukah Candle with IDF Soldiers
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Tuesday, 16 December 2014),
lit the first Chanukah candle with IDF soldiers and told them:
www.imra.org.il
"I am proud to be here and light the first Chanukah candle with you in the birthplace of the Maccabees. We then stood, the few against the many, and we won. We set light against the darkness and we were victorious. This battle is also taking place today. The battle for Israel's revival is not over; it is taking place always. The great change in the annals of our people is that we have restored our sovereignty here. We have not stopped, and we cannot stop, the desire to destroy us. They rise against us anew in every generation. But what happened with the revival of the State of Israel is that we remade the ability to return the fight. This was the vision of the founders of Zionism. They did not say that anti-Semitism would disappear from the world when the State of Israel arose. They said that the Jews would stop being defenseless and helpless in the face of those who would slaughter us, and the latter cannot win. They said that we would form a state and an army and would be able to fight for our lives - and this is exactly what haappened. I would like to tell you how I came here.
I am here because my grandfather, Rabbi Natan Milkovsky Netanyahu, as a young person, studied in a yeshiva in Lithuania and one day he worked in a railway station with his younger brother Yehuda. He saw a group of anti-Semitic hooligans. They identified them as Jews, the yeshiva students, and they fell upon them. They ran toward them with clubs, shouting 'Death to the Jews'. My grandfather told his younger brother Yehuda,
'Run, I will stop them.'
He understood that he was going to sacrifice himself to save his younger brother. He was savagely beaten until he was almost dead. Sprawled in the mud and the snow, he told himself,
'What a disgrace that the descendants of the Maccabees lay sprawled here in blood and dirt.'
Before he lost consciousness he vowed,
'If I live, I will take my family and go to the Land of Israel in order to renew Jewish independence there and the Maccabees will rise again.'
And here we are at the tombs of the Maccabees, and the Maccabees have arisen again to defend the Jewish People. This does not mean that there is no darkness round us; there is a lot of darkness. Extremist Islam is striking at the entire world - Canada, Australia, Pakistan and also here, at least it is trying.
Just yesterday we announced that a suicide attempt, by a woman terrorist who wanted to carry out a large-scale terrorist attack in the heart of Tel Aviv, had been foiled. These counter-terrorism actions are taking place daily thanks to the men and women of the security services and the brave soldiers of the IDF.
You watch over us and we watch over you. While we are talking, the Palestinian Authority is planning to go to the International Criminal Court and accuse us of war crimes. What brazen gall. The Palestinian Authority that praises terrorists, reprehensible murderers, comes to accuse the IDF, the most moral army in the world, of war crimes? You need not be concerned. We will not allow them to do this and they will not succeed. You continue to watch over us and we will continue to watch over you. A happy Chanukah to you all."
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6. Legitimatizing Hamas
by Rachel Ehrenfeld
http://acdemocracy.org/legitimatizing-hamas/
Extracts:
The European Union has taken another step, in what it apparently hopes will facilitate the Islamist dream to annihilate the Jewish State of Israel.
This step was taken by General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg, on Wednesday, by removing the Muslim Brotherhood's Gaza branch, Hamas, from its terrorist designated organization, thus legitimizing a barbaric terrorist group that when allowed, acts like ISIS.
The Court includes a stay on this ruling for a period of three months, in order to allow the European Commission or any of the 28 EU members to file an appeal against the ruling. If no one objects, Hamas can be openly funded and armed to resume its attacks against Israel.
The Court's decision came just days after Hamas celebrated its 27th year, with thousands of armed terrorist marching in Gaza, reaffirming their Charter, "'The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: 'O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.' (Article 7)."
Eager to appease Islamists, the EU Court overlooked the fact that Hamas will not be satisfied by only killing the Jews and destroying Israel. But that Hamas's agenda is to force Islam as the only way of life and the Koran as the constitution," until Islam is the way of life everywhere in the globe." This, if the European haven't noticed, includes Europe.
If one considers the growing influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran and Qatar on European governments and treasuries, increased radicalization of millions of Muslims in the Continent, submission to sharia, and promise for more Arab funding and Iranian business to struggling European economies, and centuries old anti-Semitism, this decision should not be surprising.
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7. REPORT: MOSSAD AGENT INFILTRATED HEZBOLLAH'S UPPER ECHELONS
by Ari Soffer
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/188736
Extracts:
Hezbollah says it recently exposed a Mossad agent embedded among its "elite operations unit", in what the Iranian-backed terror group says is "the most serious [intelligence] breach in Hezbollah's history."
According to Lebanese media reports, "sources close to Hezbollah" claimed an Israeli intelligence cell - comprised of four Hezbollah members under the command of the Mossad agent - had managed to foil a number of attempts by the Shia Islamist group to carry out attacks in revenge for the assassination of its most senior military chief, Imad Mughniyeh, back in 2008.
Israel never confirmed or denied it killed Mughniyeh, who died in a massive car bomb blast in Syria, but Israeli intelligence services are widely believed to be the most likely party to have targeted the elusive terrorist kingpin.
According to the latest dramatic report, the Mossad infiltrator had managed to climb the ranks within Hezbollah to become the deputy head of the terrorist group's "foreign operations apparatus", known as Unit 910.
Hezbollah sources claimed the alleged agent - a man from south Lebanon identified only by his initials, "M.Sh" - received several payments of $1 million from the Mossad.
According to Lebanon's Al-Janoubia news site, the Mossad "cell" was responsible for the "failure of Hezbollah operations in a number of countries against Israeli interests in past years."
Al-Janoubia reported that Hezbollah launched an internal investigation after Unit 910 - which is responsible for carrying out terrorist attacks outside of Lebanon - saw a string of carefully-planned attacks foiled, causing "a state of frustration in the party's ranks."
Hezbollah has attempted to "avenge" Mughniyeh's assassination via a number of terrorist plots against Israeli and Jewish civilian targets, but apart from the 2012 bombing of an Israeli tourist bus in Bulgaria, which killed six people, all have fallen flat.
In October, Peruvian counter-terror police arrested a Lebanese man who they said was planning "major" terrorist attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets in the country's capital, Lima.
The man was later identified as Hezbollah operative Mohammed Amadar; police reportedly zeroed in on him after a tip-off from Israeli intelligence and found him in possession of "traces of explosives."
In April of this year two other Hezbollah members - French-Lebanese Daoud Farhat and Lebanese-Filipino national Youssef Ayad - were arrested in Thailand. The pair are believed to have been part of a plot to attack Israelis over the Jewish festival of Passover.
That was only one of a number of apparent Hezbollah-sponsored terror plots in the Asian country, which is popular with Israeli tourists. In September 2013, Thailand jailed Swedish-Lebanese citizen Atris Hussein for possessing bomb-making equipment, as part of another suspected Hezbollah plot.
Another joint Swedish-Lebanese citizen and self-confessed Hezbollah member, Hossam Yakoub, was jailed by a Cypriot court earlier that year for "criminal activities." More serious charged were dropped, although Yakoub admitted he had been conducting reconnaissance missions on Israeli tourists and gathering information on "the Jews."