Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup, May 28, 2015
Nobody was injured in the incident, according to authorities
From PressTV
Palestinian fisherman injured by Israeli naval fire
At least one Palestinian fisherman has been injured by Israeli naval forces who opened fire on him off the coast of the besieged Gaza Strip.
The fisherman, identified as Islam Murad, was injured by Israeli fire on Wednesday in the coastal waters west of Gaza.
He was the third fisherman to have been injured by Israeli forces in less than a week.
Tel Aviv declined to provide any explanation as to why its forces opened fire on the fisherman when asked by media in the occupied Palestinian territories about the incident.
Palestinian fishermen face almost daily military attacks and harassment by Israeli forces and also, according to Palestinians, from Egyptian naval forces.
Click here for the full story
From Ynet News
Sources: US defense aid to Israel to rise over Iran deal fears
Israeli and American officials say they expect assistance to increase to more than $3.5 billion annually after 2017, possibly to assuage fears over nuclear deal. US defense aid to Israel is likely to increase after 2017, sources on both sides said on Thursday, seeing a possible link to Washington’s efforts to assuage its ally’s fears over nuclear diplomacy with Iran.
A current package worth $3 billion a year expires in 2017. A US official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said negotiators were close to a new deal that would bring annual payouts to $3.6-$3.7 billion on average.
Click here for the full story
From Ynet News
UN envoys wants IDF on blacklist with Islamic State
Israel pressuring UN chief Ban not to include it in list – which also includes al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and the Taliban – of organizations or countries that regularly cause harm to children.
The UN secretary-general’s envoy for Children and Armed Conflict recommended this week to include the IDF on a blacklist of countries and organizations accused of regularly causing harm to children.
The blacklist includes terror organizations like al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, the Islamic State, and Taliban, as well as African countries such as the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and others.
Click here for the full story
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
U.S. chief Iran negotiator Wendy Sherman to leave post after nuclear deal deadline
(JTA) – Wendy Sherman, the United States’ chief negotiator with Iran, will leave her post shortly after the June 30 deadline for a final deal with the Islamic Republic.
Sherman, the under-secretary of state, made the announcement in an interview published in the New York Times on Wednesday.
She made the announcement as she left for Vienna, where a final round of talks before the deadline is taking place.
Earlier on Wednesday, Iran’s senior nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi told Iran’s state TV that the talks to reach a nuclear agreement between Iran and the world powers may be extended beyond the stated June 30 deadline in order to formulate “a good deal that covers our demands.”
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
UN seeking to put Israeli military on blacklist
The United Nations is seeking to put the Israeli military on its blacklist over the regime’s aggressive policies against the Palestinian people, particularly children.
The move is recommended by Leila Zerrougui, the UN secretary-general’s special representative for children and armed conflict.
Zerrougui said such an act must be taken because of some 500 Palestinian children who were killed and 3,300 others who were injured during last summer’s Israeli aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip.
Observers believe the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon seems likely to resist the call because the move could fully terminate ties between Tel Aviv and the UN.
On Wednesday, US senator Lindsey Graham said the US will cut funding to the UN, should the world body continue to function in a manner that “marginalizes” Israel.
Israel started its latest war on the Gaza Strip in early July last year. The onslaught ended on August 26, 2014, with a truce that took effect after indirect negotiations in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
Click here for the full story
From Russia Today
Ukraine humanitarian crisis ‘one of the world’s worst’ – UN refugee agency
Click here for the full story
From Russia Today
Martial law in Ukraine can be declared within hours – Poroshenko
Published time: May 28, 2015 16:44
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko says he can declare martial law in his country within hours, in case there is an advance on the Ukrainian army’s positions.
Poroshenko spoke in the interview program titled “A year of Poroshenko”, dedicated to the anniversary of him being elected president after the previous leader was toppled in a coup. Ukrainian TV aired the program on Thursday night.
He said he would sign a decree introducing martial law immediately, should there be an offensive against Kiev’s army in the east of the country: “My key position: if the ceasefire is broken now, if the line of confrontation is crossed, if an advance against the Ukrainian armed forces is organized, at that very moment I will sign the decree on introducing martial law and pass it to parliament.
Click here for the full story
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Hasidic sect in Britain bans women from driving
(JTA) — The Hasidic Belz sect of Britain has barred its women from driving.
A letter sent out last week by the sect’s rabbinic leaders said that allowing women to drive goes against “the traditional rules of modesty in our camp,” the Jewish Chronicle reported Thursday.
The letter also said that as of August students would not be allowed to enter school if their mothers drove them there.
According to the letter, the increasing numbers of mothers who drive has led to “great resentment among parents of pupils in our institutions.”
Click here for the full story
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
German man loses appeal on ‘anti-Zionist’ chants
(JTA) — An anti-Semitic agitator has lost his appeal in a German court on his conviction for incitement to hate.
An appeals court in the Essen District has upheld January’s verdict in the groundbreaking case against Taylan Can, who unsuccessfully argued that his chants at an anti-Israel demonstration last summer were purely political.
In January, Judge Gauri Sastry had stated that calling for “death and hate to Zionists” was tantamount to anti-Semitism. She sentenced Can to three months of probation and a fine of about $200.
The appeals court has affirmed her verdict and extended the probation period to 10 months.
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
FIFA vote on Israel to go ahead as planned: Palestinian official
The Palestinian Football Association’s president, Jibril Rajoub says a vote aimed at seeing the expulsion of Israel from the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) will go ahead as planned.
The Palestinian football chief made the announcement on Wednesday.
“Nothing has changed, the vote is still on the agenda,” Rajoub said.
Rajoub said the scheduled vote would be held on Friday, following a meeting with FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who has been trying to convince Palestine to avoid the vote.
He said the vote would go ahead despite a recent corruption scandal involving FIFA.
Click here for the full story
From Ynet News
Iranian cartoon features Netanyahu leading Islamic State
New exhibition asked cartoonists to mock ISIS; among the works are cartoons criticizing US and Israel’s ‘help’ in ISIS rise to power.
After putting on an exhibition that deal with Holocaust denial, the Iran regime is organizing a new exhibition in which cartoonists are asked to mock the Islamic State group and the atrocities it committed.
According to Iranian news agency IRNA, cartoonists from around the world were told to focus on the “crimes committed by ISIS.”
Click here for the full story
From Ynet News
Israeli, US Jewish leaders discuss Jewish solidarity in polarization times
Annual Jewish People Policy Institute brainstorming conference in Long Island focuses on changing relationships in Jerusalem-Washington-US Jewry triangle and on Jewish values and use of force in armed conflict. Dr. Henry Kissinger analyzed the impact of the new world order on the Jewish future and the State of Israel at the annual Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) brainstorming conference held on Glen Cove, Long Island earlier this month.
In the same session, Dr. Eric Schmidt, Chairman of Google, praised Israeli high-tech and discussed how the nation’s innovations can contribute to Israel’s place in the world.
Ambassadors Dennis Ross, Stuart Eizenstat and JPPI President Avinoam Bar-Yosef convened the gathering which brought together 60 American and Israeli leaders and academics from both countries.
Click here for the full story
From Ynet News
Dutch textbook: Jews murdered Arabs, Begin was a terrorist
Required high school schoolbook says that during Israel’s founding, Jewish militias committed murder against Palestinians, and that Menachem Begin ‘was known as a terrorist and a radical’. An official Dutch textbook says that “Jewish militias committed murder in Arab villages” during the formation of the Israeli state, and that as a consequence “hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled and arrived at refugee camps beyond the border”.
The history book, which was approved by the Dutch Education Ministry ahead of final examinations, also describes former Prime Minister Menachem Begin as a terrorist.
Click here for the full story
