From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
2 leading black Democrats to boycott Netanyahu speech
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Two prominent black Democrats say they will not attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress.
U.S. Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a hero of the civil rights movement, and G.K. Butterfield (R-N.C.) on Thursday slammed Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), the speaker of the House of Representatives, for inviting Netanyahu to speak to Congress without consulting the White House or Democrats.
“I think it’s an affront to the president and the State Department what the speaker did,” Lewis told The Associated Press, cited by ABC.
Jewish Democrats have protested the speech’s timing in private meetings with Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, but have not said they will skip the speech.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Dems’ confronting of Israelis raises Netanyahu speech stakes
WASHINGTON (JTA) — In tense meetings, top congressional Democrats — including a number of Jewish lawmakers — confronted Israeli officials about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech to Congress.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, met Wednesday with Yuli Edelstein, the Knesset speaker who is on a U.S. visit. She likened the circumstances of Netanyahu’s agreeing to speak to Congress on March 3 to “casting a political apple of discord into the relationship” between Israel and the United States, Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said.
The meeting was the latest wrinkle in tensions arising from House Speaker John Boehner’s Jan. 21 invitation to Netanyahu to address Congress on Iran’s nuclear program and the talks underway between world powers and the Islamic Republic. The White House had not been informed of the invitation, as is protocol.
Netanyahu believes the talks will result in a bad deal and wants stricter sanctions placed on Iran. President Barack Obama opposes further sanctions while the talks are ongoing.
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From PressTV
151 Palestinian children in Israeli jails illegally: Report
A Palestinian legal monitoring group says at least 151 Palestinian children are currently being held in Israeli jails in violation of the Geneva Conventions.
In a recently released report, the Military Court Watch said 47 percent of the children imprisoned in Israeli jails are currently being held in violation of the Geneva Conventions, which forbid the transfer of detainees outside of occupied Palestinian territories.
The lawyers and family members of the children, who are being held as “security prisoners” in Israeli jails, have limited access to the prisoners.
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From PressTV
Israel arrests 11 Palestinian teens in West Bank, al-Quds
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) says Israeli soldiers arrested 11 Palestinian teenagers after the troops raided their houses in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Seven teenagers were detained in al-Khalil (Hebron) and the other four were arrested in al-Quds during the early hours of Wednesday.
All of the Palestinians are between 14 and 17 years of age.
Meanwhile, heavy clashes have reportedly erupted in al-Khalil as Israeli forces fired tear gas and sound bomb at civilians. The clashes sparked after the forces raided Palestinians’ houses in the city.
The Palestinian Prisoners Club (PPC) reported that Israel arrested 350 Palestinians from several cities and towns across the West Bank in January alone, with the highest number of arrests documented in al-Khalil, amounting to 120, followed by East al-Quds, where 20 Palestinians were detained.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israel again withholds tax revenues from Palestinian Authority
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel for the second straight has frozen tax revenue that it collects for the Palestinian Authority.
The decision not to transfer the money, which is used to pay public sector employees, was reported Wednesday by The Jerusalem Post. The freeze is in response to the P.A.’s decision to join the International Criminal Court and other international conventions and treaties.
On Thursday, P.A. Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah called on the European Union to pressure Israel to transfer the funds during a meeting with an EU representative, Ynet reported.
The total amount withheld so far is about $200 million.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Judge with ties to Jewish community taking over Nisman probe of Kirchner
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — A federal judge in Argentina who has authored a book about the Holocaust was tapped to pick up the late AMIA prosecutor Alberto Nisman’s case against President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
Daniel Rafecas, who has a relationship with the Jewish community, was chosen by lottery on Wednesday to investigate allegations that Kirchner covered up Iran’s involvement in the 1994 attack against the Jewish center that left 85 dead and hundreds injured. Nisman also accused Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, who is Jewish, of participating in the cover-up.
Following the end of January’s judicial recess, Federal Judge Ariel Lijo declined to take up the case. Lijo is investigating another aspect of the AMIA case — a lawsuit accusing former President Carlos Menem of covering up Syrian involvement.
Rafecas, who is invited often to speak about the Holocaust, is well known in Argentina for applying the country’s anti-discrimination law in a case centering on skinheads, ordering them to visit the Holocaust Museum in Buenos Aires as part of their probation.
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From PressTV
Hamas urges Palestinians in Syria, Lebanon to attack Israel
A senior leader of the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, has called on Palestinians living in refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria to launch attacks on Israel.
Mahmoud Zahar said in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday that branches of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, in both countries should strike the occupying regime of Israel “to help us liberate Palestine”, AFP reported on Thursday.
He also denied reports of the resistance group’s involvement in a recent attack by in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula, adding, “our guns are always trained on the [Israeli] enemy.”
Israel launched a 50-day war on Gaza last summer that killed more than 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children, and 73 people on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers.
Israel unleashed aerial attacks on Gaza in early July 2014 and later expanded its military campaign with a ground invasion of the Palestinian coastal enclave. The war ended in late August 2014 with an Egyptian-brokered truce.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Amy Pascal out at Sony Pictures
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Amy Pascal is stepping down as co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Pascal’s departure, which was announced Thursday morning, comes roughly two months after Sony was revealed to be the victim of a massive hacking scandal that exposed trade secrets, employee information and embarrassing emails at the alleged direction of North Korea over Sony’s film “The Interview.”
According to statements issued by Pascal, who is Jewish, and Sony, Pascal will step down in May to launch a four-year production venture financed by Sony Pictures, which will retain worldwide distribution rights for any resulting pictures.
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