From the Independent
The West is to blame for Syrian conflict, says Saudi prince
From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Jewish group leading N.Y. protest march on Eric Garner decision
NEW YORK (JTA) – Several high-profile New York rabbis are scheduled to join a Manhattan protest of a grand jury’s decision not to indict the police officer who killed Eric Garner, an unarmed black man.
The march set for Thursday night on the heavily Jewish Upper West Side neighborhood is being coordinated by the Jews for Racial & Economic Justice advocacy group. The protest is in solidarity with a coalition of 64 local and national organizations.
Among the rabbis scheduled to take part are Rolando Matalon of B’nai Jeshurun, a major Upper West Side congregation; Jill Jacobs, the executive director of T’ruah, a Jewish human rights advocacy organization; and Sharon Kleinbaum of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the largest LGBT synagogue in North America.
On Wednesday, a Staten Island grand jury decided not to indict Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who was shown in a video from July 17 holding Garner in a chokehold while arresting him. The medical examiner ruled that Garner’s death was a homicide.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Eric Cantor’s son is member of frat at center of Univ. of Virginia rape scandal
(JTA) — A son of the former congressman Eric Cantor is a member of the University of Virginia fraternity at the center of a high-profile rape scandal.
Michael “Mikey” Cantor, whose father until recently was the sole Jewish Republican in Congress, belongs to Phi Kappa Psi at the Charlottesville school, according to The Daily Caller website.
The younger Cantor has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
An investigative report published last month in Rolling Stone magazine chronicles the story of a woman named Jackie, who alleges that she was gang-raped at the fraternity house in 2012 by seven men while two other men looked on. In response to the article, the university suspended all fraternity activities through Jan. 9.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
House approves bill that strengthens U.S. alliance with Israel
WASHINGTON (JTA) – The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill that strengthens the U.S.-Israel alliance.
The 2014 United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act, which passed the House on Wednesday night, declares Israel a “major strategic partner” of the United States, thus expanding authority for U.S. weapons stockpiles in Israel and upgrading Israel’s trade status to expedite export licensing.
The measure, which passed the Senate unanimously in September, awaits the signature of President Obama.
It also encourages the inclusion of Israel in the United States’ visa waiver program if it meets program requirements. Cooperation between the two countries in the fields of energy, water, homeland security, agriculture and alternative fuel technologies also is included in the legislation.
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From PressTV
Israel regularly arrests Palestinian children
The Israeli regime arrests Palestinian children on a daily basis in an attempt to intimidate the families under occupation, Press TV reports.
“Around 1,200 Palestinians have been arrested, mostly children. Many of them were assaulted during arrest,” said an activist on Wednesday.
He also said Tel Aviv was even breaking the Israeli law by the arrests.
“Even the method of arrest is facing severe criticism in all levels, even in the level of the Israeli law… (which) dictates that it is forbidden to arrest a child alone or to interrogate him alone. It has also forbidden the arrest of children at night. All these procedures exist today out in the open to frighten families and their children.”
From PressTV
Israeli soldiers shoot, injure Palestinian teen in West Bank
Israeli soldiers have shot and injured a Palestinian teenager during clashes near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.
Palestinian security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said scuffles broke out between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces after the latter stormed Askar refugee camp on the outskirts of Nablus, located approximately 49 kilometers (30 miles) north of al-Quds (Jerusalem), on Wednesday morning.
The Israeli troopers fired gunshots to disperse the crowd and a 14-year-old Palestinian teenager, identified as Ahmad Mazin, was shot in the foot.
Israeli troops also raided downtown Nablus and the city’s eastern neighborhood of al-Makhfiyya, where clashes also erupted. There were no immediate reports on possible casualties.
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From PressTV
Israeli forces target Palestinian fishermen off Gaza, injure one
Israeli warships have opened fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of the besieged Gaza Strip, seriously wounding a fisherman.
Head of the Gaza Fishermen’s Syndicate, Nizar Ayash, said the fisherman, identified as 32-year-old Fakher Nizar Abu Riyaleh, was critically injured in the head by shrapnel from Israeli shells on Wednesday.
Ayash added that the injured Palestinian fisherman was taken to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to receive medical treatment.
On November 9, Israeli gunboats targeted a Palestinian fishing boat off the coast of the besieged Gaza Strip, injuring three fishermen.
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From PressTV
Lebanese army opens fire at intruding Israeli drone
The Lebanese army has fired at an intruding Israeli reconnaissance drone flying at low altitude in the Bekaa region.
In a statement, the Lebanese army said it opened anti-aircraft fire at an Israeli reconnaissance drone over Riyaq military airport in east-central Bekaa region on Thursday.
“Around 10:30 am an Israeli reconnaissance plane overflew Riyaq region and army units in the area responded by opening anti-aircraft fire,” the army said.
It is unclear whether the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was shot down.
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From PressTV
UN raps Israel over demolition of Palestinian houses
The United Nations has censured the Israeli regime for demolishing Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank, calling it a violation of the most basic human rights.
The demolition of homes as a “punitive” measure against Palestinians runs counter to international laws and must stop, UN Humanitarian Coordinator James W. Rawley told a press conference on Thursday.
The Israeli regime routinely demolishes the houses of those Palestinians whom it accuses of being involved in attacks against Israelis.
Rawley said, “Punitive demolitions are a form of collective penalty that punishes people for acts they did not commit. They render innocent people homeless. The impact on children, women and the elderly is particularly devastating.”
From PressTV
Some 14,000 Israelis raided al-Aqsa Mosque in 2014: NGO
A Palestinian non-governmental organization says nearly 14,000 Israelis, most of them extremist settlers, have forced their way into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) since the beginning of 2014.
The al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage said in a statement issued on Thursday that as many as 13,757 Israelis have stormed the site since the start of 2014, compared to 12,771 who stormed the compound throughout the preceding year.
The organization stated that some 1,600 Israelis, including 1,411 settlers, 104 soldiers and 83 intelligence agents, stormed the sacred site in October alone.
In November, over 1,200 Israelis entered the place, including 1,081 settlers, 104 soldiers and 22 Israeli intelligence officers.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Ben Carson, potential GOP presidential candidate, stands by U.S.-Nazi Germany comparison
(JTA) — Dr. Ben Carson, who is considering a 2016 Republican presidential run, reiterated his provocative opinion that the United States is comparable to Nazi Germany.
Carson, asked Wednesday in an interview Wednesday with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer whether he would like to qualify or retract his comparison, said “absolutely not.”
In March, the prominent retired neurosurgeon and author had made the analogy in an interview with the conservative outlet Breitbart News. He said then that the U.S. government uses “its tools to intimidate the population.”
On Wednesday, Carson told Blitzer that the pressure to be politically correct is an issue of liberty affecting the entire country.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
U.S. Holocaust museum gets $25 million gift, largest in its history
WASHINGTON (JTA) – An Arizona family is donating $25 million to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum — the largest gift in the Washington museum’s history — to increase its educational programming.
The gift from the William Levine family of Phoenix will be used to expand and diversify its reach, especially to young people, according to the museum. The museum’s National Institute for Holocaust Education now will be called the Levine Institute for Holocaust Education.
Levine is an investor and real estate developer who founded Outdoor Systems, an outdoor advertising firm. He was appointed to the museum’s governing council by President George W. Bush in 2007.
“The Holocaust is receding in time and yet its lessons have never been more relevant and urgent than they are today as we witness rising anti-Semitism, hatred, and extremism,” museum director Sara Bloomfield said. “Complacency is not an option, and thanks to Bill Levine’s leadership and generosity, we can tackle the future with a very ambitious vision of reaching a global audience.”
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Matti Friedman vs. alleged anti-Israel media bias, Round 2
Whatever the circumstances surrounding Matti Friedman’s departure from The Associated Press in 2011, it’s safe to say he’s not returning anytime soon.
The former reporter and editor with the international wire service’s Jerusalem bureau made waves in August with a remarkably popular Tablet essay in which he argued that the Western media had a “hostile obsession with Jews.” In a second essay, published Sunday in The Atlantic, Friedman insisted that Western journalists depict the Jews of Israel “more than any other people on earth as examples of moral failure,” and accused AP staffers of a number of questionable journalistic practices.
While the first essay prompted a slew of raves and rebuttals, including a response from former AP Jerusalem Bureau Chief Steve Gutkin, the second was apparently too much for the media giant. The AP shot back at its former employee Monday with an online statement one day after his piece went live on The Atlantic’s website.
“Over the past three months, in one media forum after another, Matti Friedman . . . has eagerly offered himself as an authority on international coverage of Israel and the Palestinian territories, repeatedly referencing the AP. His arguments have been filled with distortions, half-truths and inaccuracies, both about the recent Gaza war and more distant events,” the statement began.
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From PressTV
Israeli troops arrest 13 Palestinians across West Bank
Israeli forces have abducted more than a dozen Palestinian people in overnight operations on a number of houses across the occupied West Bank.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society, Israeli troops stormed the Palestinian town of Tuqu’, located 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) southeast of Bethlehem, late on Wednesday, and detained six people.
A Palestinian was arrested in the town of Beit Fajjar, situated eight kilometers (about five miles) south of Bethlehem, while an 18-year-old Palestinian, identified as Abd al-Rahman Naim Abd al-Rahman, was detained in the village of Deir Abu Mash’al, located 24 kilometers (15 miles) west of Ramallah.
Israeli soldiers also seized five Palestinians during operation across East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
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From PressTV
US-led coalition airstrikes in Syria illegal: Syria president
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has described as “an illegal intervention” the US-led aerial bombarding campaign purported to be against Takfiri ISIL militants in his country.
“It is an illegal intervention, first, because it did not receive the approval of the [UN] Security Council. Then, because it has not taken into consideration the sovereignty of a state, which is Syria,” Assad said in an interview given to Paris Match magazine published on Thursday.
Since late September, the US and some of its Arab allies have been conducting airstrikes against the ISIL inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate. However, the raids have so far failed to dislodge the ISIL.
Assad further said that the war between the Syrian army and the Takfiri militants “is not about a war between two armies, where one occupies a territory and the other another one. It is another type of war. We are dealing with terrorist groups that infiltrate a town or village. So this war will be long and difficult.”
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