Zio-Watch News Round-up

Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup, May 17, 2015

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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Scott Walker: U.S. must view Israel as true ally

(JTA) — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a likely candidate for the GOP nomination for president, said his recent visit to Israel strengthened his belief that the United States must view Israel as a true ally.

Walker spoke about his recent trip to Israel Saturday night during the Iowa Republican Party’s Lincoln Dinner.

“It is time to send a message around the world that we stand with our allies,” he said.

Walker said his helicopter tour of the area, from Israel’s border with Syria to the Sea of Galilee and then south to the border with the Gaza Strip, made him realize the fear Israelis live with on a daily basis, the Washington Post reported.
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From Ynet News

European Parliament VP: There is no Europe without Jews

As emigration to Israel surges in wake of anti-Semitic attacks, Antonio Tajani tells Jewish community that Europe needs Jews and education must be overhauled to teach young people about religious freedom.

European Parliament Vice President Antonio Tajani has called on Jews to remain in Europe, following a surge in immigration to Israel in the wake of anti-Semitic violence.
Speaking last week at a meeting of the Conference of European Rabbis in Toulouse, Tajani said that “Europe has Jewish roots, and the Jews are a substantial part of the history of the continent.” He added that Judaism and Christianity were both part of his heritage as a European. “We need Jews in Europe,” he said. “Europe is also your heritage.
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From The Times of Israel

Scott Walker calls for aggressive stance against terrorism

Republican presidential candidate says recent trip to Israel has strengthened his resolve

May 17, 2015, 1:40 am

Gov. Scott Walker takes questions before his speech at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention on Saturday, May 15, 2015, in La Crosse, Wisconsin (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

Gov. Scott Walker takes questions before his speech at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention on Saturday, May 15, 2015, in La Crosse, Wisconsin (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says a recent trip to Israel reinforces his belief that the United State must aggressively deal with terrorists abroad.

The potential 2016 presidential candidate spoke Saturday to Iowa Republicans in West Des Moines. Walker has just returned from a five-day trip to Israel, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and toured the region.

Walker criticized President Barack Obama’s foreign policy, which he says has been to “draw a red line in the sand and allow people to cross it.” Walker says the United States should deal with terrorism head on and “take the fight to them.”

Walker was to appear later Saturday at a dinner hosted by the Republican Party of Iowa. Walker has yet to announce his 2016 plans.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.
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From The Times of Israel

IS seizes part of ancient Palmyra, ‘pearl of the desert’

Extremist group steps up attacks in Syria, Iraq, raising fears that jihadists will expand their area of influence

May 16, 2015, 8:04 pm

A Syrian policeman stands above the sanctuary of Baal in the ancient oasis city of Palmyra on March 14, 2014. (Joseph Eid/AFP)

A Syrian policeman stands above the sanctuary of Baal in the ancient oasis city of Palmyra on March 14, 2014. (Joseph Eid/AFP)

Jihadists from the Islamic State group seized control Saturday of the northern part of Syria’s ancient desert city of Palmyra after fierce clashes with government forces, a monitoring group said.

“IS advanced and took control of most of northern Palmyra, and there are fierce clashes happening now,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

He said 13 jihadist fighters were killed in ongoing clashes near the Islamic citadel in the city’s west.

Abdel Rahman had no details on regime casualties.

Most of Palmyra’s renowned ruins, including colonnaded streets and elaborately decorated tombs, lie to the southwest of the city.
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From The Times of Israel

Khamenei: US destabilizing Gulf for own interests

Iran’s supreme leader warns neighbors that if Persian Gulf ‘is not safe, it will be insecure for all’

May 16, 2015, 3:22 pm

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (photo credit: Kamran Jebreili/AP)

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (photo credit: Kamran Jebreili/AP)

TEHRAN — Iran’s supreme leader said Saturday the US is destabilizing the Persian Gulf in pursuit of its own interests, just after US President Barack Obama hosted Arab leaders at Camp David to assuage their security concerns.

Fears about Gulf shipping come after Iranian forces seized a ship and fired on another in recent days, even as the Islamic Republic negotiates a final deal with world powers over its contested nuclear program.

“What is the US’s business?” Khamenei asked in comments posted on his website. “The US is after its own interests and it will make the region insecure.”

The site also quoted him as addressing other Gulf countries: “We are neighbors; the security of the Persian Gulf is in all our interests. If it is safe, we benefit. If it is not safe, it will be insecure for all.”

After a rare Camp David summit, Obama on Wednesday pledged Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to the Sunni governments of the Persian Gulf and even spoke of authorizing US military force if their security is endangered by Shiite Iran or anyone.
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From The Times of Israel

Jerusalem forum recommends new laws on cyberhate, anti-Semitism

Gathering notes ‘pervasive, expansive, transnational’ nature of internet – and the challenge it poses to combating hate

May 15, 2015, 9:57 am

Still from the new documentary 'Crossing the Line 2,' which depicts rising anti-Semitic activity on North American campuses. (Courtesy)

Still from the new documentary ‘Crossing the Line 2,’ which depicts rising anti-Semitic activity on North American campuses. (Courtesy)

The biennial Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism issued statements recommending steps for governments and websites to reduce cyber hate, and for European governments to reduce anti-Semitism.

“Given the pervasive, expansive and transnational nature of the internet and the viral nature of hate materials, counter-speech alone is not a sufficient response to cyber hate. The right to free expression does not require or obligate the internet industry to disseminate hate materials. They too are moral actors, free to pursue internet commerce in line with ethics, social responsibility, and a mutually agreed code of conduct,” read a statement issued Thursday night in Jerusalem by the Forum, which is run by Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

Among the recommendations to Internet providers: to adopt a clear industry standard for defining hate speech and anti-Semitism; adopt global terms of service prohibiting the posting of such materials; provide an effective complaint process and maintain a timely and professional response capacity; and ban Holocaust denial sites from the Web as a form of egregious hate speech.

Recommendations to governments include: establishing a national legal unit responsible for combating cyber hate; making stronger use of existing laws to prosecute cyber hate and online anti-Semitism, and enhancing the legal basis for prosecution where such laws are absent; and adopting stronger laws and penalties for the prohibition of Internet materials promoting terrorism and supporting recruitment to terrorist groups.

The forum also addressed the upsurge of anti-Semitism in Europe.
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From Russia Today

RT crew attacked by Israeli police in Jerusalem (VIDEO)

Published time: May 17, 2015 18:11
Edited time: May 17, 2015 19:49

An RT Arabic TV crew was attacked by Israeli police while covering the Jerusalem Day march in the Old City. Although the journalists had all documents permitting them to cover the event, the police prevented them from going live.

After a terrible time we had to pass through check points that they erected everywhere along the Old City, they asked us to move away from the Damascus gate point. They didn’t do it gently, they pushed us and broke our camera,” RT Arabic reporter Dalia Nammari later told RT International.

The reporter added that other journalists covering the event were treated the same “brutal” way by the Israeli police.

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From The Times of Israel

Kerry: Iran nuke deal could be lesson for N. Korea

US secretary says nuclear agreement with Iran could have positive impact on Islamic Republic’s economy, international standing

May 16, 2015, 7:00 pm

US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a joint press conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi following their meetings at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing Saturday, May 16, 2015. Kerry is in China to press Beijing to halt increasingly assertive actions it is taking in the South China Sea that have alarmed the United States and China's smaller neighbors. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)

US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a joint press conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi following their meetings at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing Saturday, May 16, 2015. Kerry is in China to press Beijing to halt increasingly assertive actions it is taking in the South China Sea that have alarmed the United States and China’s smaller neighbors. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)

BEIJING (AP) — US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday he is hopeful that the successful conclusion of a nuclear deal with Iran will send a positive message to North Korea to restart negotiations on its own atomic program.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, Kerry said he believed an Iran agreement could have “a positive influence” on North Korea, because it would show that giving up nuclear weapons improves domestic economies and ends isolation. He stressed, though, that there was no way to tell if North Korea’s reclusive leadership would be able to “internalize” such a message.

“I am sure Foreign Minister Wang would join me in expressing the hope that if we can get an agreement with Iran, … that agreement would indeed have some impact or have a positive influence” on North Korea, Kerry said.

Although Wang did not appear to respond, Kerry explained that an Iran deal could help in showing North Korea how “your economy can do better, your country can do better, and you can enter into good standing with the rest of the global community by recognizing that there is a verifiable, irreversible, denuclearization for weaponization, even as you can have a peaceful nuclear power program.”

“Hopefully that can be a message, but whether or not DPRK is capable of internalizing that kind of message or not, that’s still to be proved,” he said, referring to North Korea by the acronym of its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
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