From PressTV
EU planning to impose new sanctions on Israel over settlements
The European Union (EU) is planning to impose new sanctions against Israel over its illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories a day after the regime revealed its plans to build more settler units in the West Bank, a report says.
EU officials are “talking about sanctions against companies that do business across the border; about legal measures taken by the Palestinians with regard to the settlements; and about the renewed proposal to establish a Palestinian state through the Security Council,” Israel’s Haaretz daily cited unnamed Israeli officials as saying on Tuesday.
Discussions have been going on over the measures in the last few months, the officials said.
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From Russia Today
US military to train Kiev troops fighting in E. Ukraine – US Army commander
The training, which is scheduled to kick off in March, will see a battalion of American troops training three battalions of Ukrainians, he said.
“We’ll train them in security tasks, medical [tasks], how to operate in an environment where the Russians are jamming [communications] and how to protect [themselves] from Russian and rebel artillery,” Hodges was cited as saying by Reuters.
Hodges’ recent statement echoes a similar announcement he made in Kiev in January. At the time, he did not provide information on the numbers of US troops participating.
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From The Times of Israel
US: 20,000 foreigners heading to Syria to join Islamic State
Rate of travel of foreign jihadists is ‘unprecedented,’ officials say; 3,400 are from West, 150 are US citizens
WASHINGTON — Foreign fighters are flocking to Syria at an “unprecedented” rate, with more than 20,000 volunteers from around the world joining the Islamic State or other extremist groups, US intelligence officials said Tuesday.
The foreign fighters have traveled to Syria from more than 90 countries, including at least 3,400 from Western states and more than 150 Americans, according to the latest estimate from the National Counter-Terrorism Center.
A majority of the foreign volunteers who arrived recently have joined forces with the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, it said.
The estimate of the total number of foreign fighters flocking to Syria was up from a previous estimate in January of roughly 19,000, according to NCTC.
No precise numbers are available “but the trend lines are clear and concerning,” Nicholas Rasmussen, NCTC director, said in prepared remarks for a congressional hearing on Wednesday.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
More black lawmakers shunning Netanyahu address
WASHINGTON (JTA) – At least five more black lawmakers said they would not attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s congressional address.
Politico reported Wednesday that these members of the Congressional Black Caucus would not be going to the March 3 speech. Three leading caucus members had already announced they would not attend.
The Hill, meanwhile, surveyed Jewish Democrats and found that 14 out of 27 intended to attend. The sole Jewish Republican, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), has pledged to attend.
The opposite trends among blacks and Jews underscore how the visit is polarizing Congress, with Republicans welcoming Netanyahu and Democrats saying the visit is a mistake.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Leahy, a senior Democratic senator, says he’ll stay away from Netanyahu speech
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Sen. Patrick Leahy became the most senior Senate Democrat to say he will not attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress.
“The unfortunate way that House leaders have unilaterally arranged this, and then heavily politicized it, has demolished the potential constructive value of this Joint Meeting,” Leahy (D-Vt.), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee and a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, said Tuesday on his website.
Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, on Jan. 21 invited Netanyahu to address Congress, in part to rebut President Barack Obama’s claims that nuclear talks between Iran and the major powers were constructive.
“They have orchestrated a tawdry and high-handed stunt that has embarrassed not only Israel but the Congress itself,” Leahy said.
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From PressTV
Israel demolishes Palestinian house in southeast Tel Aviv
Israeli forces have razed to the ground a house belonging to a Palestinian family in a city southeast of Tel Aviv.
Dozens of Israeli forces forcibly evacuated al-Naqib family and sealed all entrances to their house before destroying it in the city of Lod on Tuesday.
Hana al-Naqib lived in the house with her four children.
Hundreds of Palestinians convened at the site of the demolition to voice their support for the family.
An Israeli court had issued the demolition order of the house in late 2014, claiming that the residence was not registered in the relevant Israeli ministry.
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From Russia Today
‘Normandy 4’ Ukraine peace talks in Minsk LIVE UPDATES
Thursday, February 12
There is hope for an agreement at the Minsk talks on the Ukraine crisis, a diplomatic source told Reuters on Thursday.
The source gave no further details. Leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany have been talking for more than 12 hours in the Belarussian capital to try to agree a way to end fighting in east Ukraine which has killed more than 5,000 people.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Bob Simon, Stoked Israel Controversy on ’60 Minutes,’ Dies in Car Crash
Award-Winning Journalist Killed in N.Y. Accident
Simon, 73, was a passenger in a cab that slammed into another vehicle on the West Side Highway at W. 30th Street in Manhattan.
Simon was a veteran foreign reporter who covered the Vietnam War and spent 40 days as an Iraqi prisoner after being captured while covering the first Gulf War.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Ex-Israeli chief rabbi Yona Metzger indicted on corruption
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel has indicted former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger on corruption.
The indictment filed Tuesday specifies bribery, fraud and money laundering for receiving illegal donations for services he conducted in his role as chief rabbi. Metzger is accused of accepting nearly $2.6 million in bribes — keeping nearly $2 million for himself while paying the rest to accomplices and charitable organizations.
He is accused of profiting from donations directed to charitable causes, and of taking bribes to sway his opinion on matters he decided as chief rabbi.
“The investigation painted a clear picture according to which (Metzger) received bribes and illicit funds for years in exchange to using his position and influence over issues like donations, conversion to Judaism, rabbinic appointments as well as ties with business moguls in exchange for personal gain,” the indictment read, Ynet reported.
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From PressTV
Palestine launches campaign against Israel
Palestinian activists have called for the boycott of products made by six Israeli food companies in response to the regime’s decision to halt the transfer of tax revenues to Palestinians.
Mahmoud Aloul, the Fatah official in charge of the new campaign, said shopkeepers had been notified to clear their shelves of the Israeli products in two weeks time.
“Activists of all Palestinian factions will be touring the territories to confiscate the products after the two-week deadline,” Aloul said.
According to Palestinian officials, the Fatah-led Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has been assigned by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to lead the campaign.
The companies targeted by the campaign are called Tnuva, Strauss, Elite, Osem, Prigat and Jafora, according to The Associated Press.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Stanford Senate Falls 1 Vote Short on Divestment
Students Vote 9-5 for BDS Measure — Needed 2/3
By JTA
The Stanford University student senate defeated an Israel divestment resolution.
On Tuesday night, the Associated Students of Stanford University had nine votes for the measure and five against, with one abstention. But to pass, the measure required 66 percent of the senators to approve and finished with 64 percent.
The resolution called on the Palo Alto, Calif., university to divest from corporations that engage in “specific practices that commit human rights abuses and violate international law” in the West Bank.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Who Speaks for the Jews?
Who speaks for the Jews?
Knowing how diverse and sometimes fractious Jews can be, you’d think that would be a complicated question to answer. But Joe Scarborough, the conservative morning talk show host on MSNBC, seems to know with a certainty that eludes many Jews themselves.
His answer: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He’s “basically a spokesman for Jews worldwide, that (sic) are getting slaughtered in the streets of Paris, that (sic) are facing unprecedented anti-Semitic attacks in recent memory,” Scarborough said in a long, emotional monologue February 9.
And: “The people of Israel and Jews across the globe need to know there’s at least one country — one country — that understands what they are going through, the anti-Semitism they face every day.”
Well, Joe, “they” are actually “us.” We are the Jews that you claim are represented by Netanyahu. Perhaps we shouldn’t blame you for making the connection. After all, the prime minister himself has repeated that claim in his defense for circumventing the White House to address a joint meeting of Congress in March at the invitation of the Republican speaker of the House.
