From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
CNN’s Jim Clancy resigns after controversial Israel tweets
(JTA) — Veteran CNN anchor Jim Clancy stepped down on Friday, one week after a series of Twitter posts in which he mocked pro-Israel tweeters on a thread discussing the Charlie Hebdo massacre.
Neither CNN nor Jim Clancy gave a reason for his departure, which was reported by AdWeek. Clancy had worked at CNN for 34 years.
Although Clancy’s Twitter account no longer existed as of Thursday, the tweets have been preserved on a number of websites, including Twitchy and Mediaite, and by Tablet journalist Yair Rosenberg.
On Jan. 7, Clancy posted a tweet arguing that the cartoons posted by the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which was attacked last week by Islamist gunmen who killed 12, did not mock the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
French PM: Keep troops at Jewish sites for as long as possible
(JTA) — Prime Minister Manuel Valls of France asked his country’s defense minister to keep soldiers deployed outside Jewish institutions for as long as possible.
Valls informed members of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations, an umbrella group that represents 50 national Jewish organizations in the United States, of the request Thursday during a conference call.
“Today, I asked the minister of defense to prolong for as long as possible the deployment of armed forces around Jewish institutions,” Valls said in reference to the measure, which was taken last week following the slaying of four at a kosher shop near Paris — one in a series of terrorist attacks that left 17 dead.
Valls added that the protection by 10,000 troops “will remain necessary for many months, as long as there is a fear that not all of the accomplices of the assailants are in custody, and as long as the threat remains.”
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From PressTV
Israel expresses outrage over an ICC probe into Tel Aviv’s crimes in Gaza
Israel has expressed outrage over a move by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to launch a preliminary investigation into Tel Aviv’s war crimes against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that he rejected the “scandalous” ICC decision, claiming the court has no jurisdiction over Palestine as it is not a state.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed or injured in Israel’s war on Gaza last summer.
Netanyahu described the probe as “absurd” and claimed that Israel “fights terror while maintaining international law and has an independent justice system.”
In a statement on Friday, the ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said the court launched a preliminary probe into Israel’s war crimes against the Palestinian people.
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From PressTV
ICC opens preliminary probe into Israel’s war crimes in Gaza
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has launched a preliminary investigation into Israel’s war crimes against the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip.
In a statement on Friday, the ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said she will conduct the examination in “full independence and impartiality.”
Herman von Herbel, who serves as ICC registrar, confirmed on January 5 that the body has received documents from the Palestinian Authority declaring its acceptance of the body’s jurisdiction.
The move paves the way for the ICC investigation of crimes by the Israeli regime, which is not a member of the court, committed during the recent war on Gaza.
When Palestine accedes to the Rome Statute, The Hague-based court would be able to prosecute Israeli officials for crimes they have committed over the past months in Gaza and the West Bank.
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From PressTV
Israel approved nearly 17,000 settler units in 2014: Report
New data show the Israeli regime gave the green light for the construction of nearly 17,000 new illegal settlement units across the occupied Palestinian lands last year.
Palestinian authorities said in a statement on Friday that the majority of some 16,700 settlements were approved to be built in al-Quds (Jerusalem), Bethlehem and Salfit.
The report said more than 10,500 trees and seedlings were also uprooted across the occupied territories in 2014. Over 300 Palestinian homes were reportedly demolished by the Israeli forces over the past few months.
The Tel Aviv regime’s move has affected thousands of acres of Palestinian land.
Israeli authorities have escalated the process of approving the settlement units in violation of international law and despite global condemnations.
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From Ynet News
US slams ICC over war crimes probe of Israel
State Department ‘strongly disagrees’ with prosecutor’s action, says it is ‘tragic irony that Israel, which has withstood thousands of terrorist rockets fired at its civilians, is now being scrutinized by the ICC.’
The US State Department late on Friday condemned the International Criminal Court’s decision to open a preliminary probe into possible war crimes in Palestinian territories, calling it a “tragic irony.”
“We strongly disagree with the ICC Prosecutor’s action today. As we have said repeatedly, we do not believe that Palestine is a state and therefore we do not believe that it is eligible to join the ICC,” State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said in a statement.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Plea Deal in Jeffrey Epstein Teen Sex Case May Be Made Public — Tie to Alan Dershowitz
Legal Eagle Suing Lawyers Who Claimed He Bedded Girl
A U.S. judge may allow sealed documents on financier Jeffrey Epstein’s 2008 plea deal in a sex crime case to be made public.
“Public policy favors judicial records being open to the public,” Judge Kenneth Marra, of the Southern District of Florida, wrote on Thursday, ordering Epstein to explain why the plea negotiations should stay sealed.
Under the 2008 deal, Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting sex with a minor and was sentenced to 18 months in jail, of which he served 13. He had been accused of sexually abusing as many as 40 young women.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
U.K. steps up security in Jewish areas in wake of Paris attacks
(JTA) — The United Kingdom is increasing security patrols around Jewish areas in response to last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris.
“The global picture of terrorist activity does give us heightened concern about the risk to the Jewish community in the UK,” said Britain’s assistant police commissioner and lead counterterrorism official Mark Rowley in a statement Friday.
“In addition to our existing security measures, we are in dialogue with Jewish Community leaders about further actions that we will taking, including more patrols in key areas,” Rowley said.
The statement said that these actions were discussed after the attacks in Paris last week that left 17 dead.
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From PressTV
Hundreds of Gazans protest closure of Rafah crossing
Hundreds of people in the besieged Gaza Strip have joined a protest against the protracted closure of the Rafah border crossing — the enclave’s only land terminal that bypasses Israel — by Egyptian authorities.
The Palestinians gathered in front of the crossing, where they performed Friday prayers and demanded that Egypt reopen the border point.
Over 25,000 patients and students are on a waiting list to use the crossing for medical treatment and to continue their studies abroad, Palestinian officials say.
Closing the Rafah crossing keeps Gaza’s population of over 1.8 million at the mercy of the Israeli-controlled Erez Crossing in northern Gaza.
Analysts accuse Egypt of acting as Israel’s proxy in maintaining Tel Aviv’s years-long blockade.
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From PressTV
Palestine to table another UN bid for independence: Envoy
Palestine plans to submit another draft resolution on the creation of an independent Palestinian state to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the Palestinian ambassador to Russia says.
“The discussion of a new draft resolution is just beginning. It is hard to say when it [the discussion] may end; in a month or two. That definitely will not happen in the next two weeks but certainly will happen in the near future,” Interfax quoted Fayed Mustafa as saying on Thursday.
The decision is closely related to the outcome of a UN Security Council meeting on December 30, when the body failed to pass a resolution requiring Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories captured in 1967.
“If our efforts come to an impasse and the UN Security Council’s door closes to us then we will revise the entire relationship with Israel and the role of the Palestinian autonomy. We will not be putting up with this situation forever. Israel will feel that it has to pay a price for its occupation unless its policy changes,” the ambassador underscored.
During a meeting with Arab foreign ministers in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on January 15, the Arab League said in a statement it will seek to table another resolution at the UNSC on ending Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Kerry lays wreath at Paris kosher market
Kerry, in France to express solidarity with the republic following the murder of 17 people in terrorist attacks in the Paris area last week, also reportedly “apologized” to his French counterpart, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, for not attending a march protesting the attacks.
Fabius said Kerry offered the apology Friday, AFP reported.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Major increase in Islamist threats against Swedish Jews
(JTA) – The Swedish Jewish community reported a significant increase in threats following terrorist attacks by Islamists in France.
Lena Posner-Korosi, the president of the Council of Swedish Jewish Communities, estimated that the number of threats have doubled following the murder of four people Jan. 9 at a kosher shop outside Paris.
Posner-Korosi said the community does not have exact figures, but most of the threats have been identified as coming from Islamists.
Sweden’s National Council for Crime Prevention recorded 190 anti-Semitic incidents in 2013, of which 61 were classified as threats or insults.
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