From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
White House vows to veto bill mandating congressional review of Iran deal
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The White House said it will veto a bill that would subject any Iran nuclear deal to congressional approval.
The bill, which was introduced Friday by leading senators from both parties, would keep the president from suspending sanctions on Iran for 60 days while Congress considers any deal.
The White House maintains that any new legislation would scuttle talks underway.
“The president has been clear that now is not the time for Congress to pass additional legislation on Iran,” Bernadette Meehan, the spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said in an email.
Click here for the full story
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Nemtsov murder risks civil war, Russian dissident Khodorkovsky warns
(JTA) — The murder of former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov risked plunging Russia into civil war, Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky said.
An unidentified shooter on Saturday gunned down Nemtsov, a leading opposition politician in Russia. Nemtsov was a Christian but said he had Jewish ancestry.
Khodorkovsky, a Russian Jew who left for Switzerland in 2013, made the warning in a statement posted Saturday on his website. The dissident, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison following graft trials that critics alleged were designed to eliminate his political ambitions and criticisms of human rights abuses by Russian President Vladimir Putin, noted that Nemtsov was murdered “a hundred meters from the Kremlin.”
Nemtsov died hours after appealing for support for a march on Sunday in Moscow against the war in Ukraine.
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
Israeli forces arrested 285 Palestinians in February: Report
Israeli forces have detained 285 Palestinians in February, shows a new report by a Gaza-based organization.
According to the report published by Hussam Association of Palestinian Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners on Monday, 30 children aged under 18 were among the total 285 arrested last month.
The majority of the detainees were held for hours or days before their release, the report added.
The southern city of al-Khalil (Hebron) in the occupied West Bank saw the highest number of youths detained with 72, followed by al-Quds (Jerusalem) and Ramallah recording 56 and 32 arrests respectively.
According to reports, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli prisons for a long time without trial while they are not even provided with their basic needs, including visiting family members.
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
Israel’s army conducts major drill in fear of Palestinians attacks
Israeli army has recently carried out a large-scale drill to test response time of its forces to a potential attack by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday that the two-week drill was held by the Menahse territorial brigade, which covers the Palestinian cities of Jenin and Tulkarm.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Kfir Edri, deputy commander of the brigade, exercise lasted two full weeks, using both conscripts and reserve forces.
The drills focused on dealing with large-scale unrest and the consequences of a possible collapse of security cooperation with the Palestinian Authority.The drill also centered around fighting a possible attack on the Zionist settlements.
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
Israeli forces shoot 2 young Palestinians in West Bank
Israeli soldiers have shot and injured two Palestinians during scuffles with a group of young people at a refugee camp south of the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israeli forces raided Dheisheh refugee camp just south of Bethlehem, located about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Jerusalem (al-Quds), on Sunday morning to detain a young man at his house.
Clashes then broke out between young Palestinians and Israeli soldiers, and Israeli troopers fired tear gas canisters, stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets to disperse the crowd.
Two Palestinians sustained gunshot wounds, and were transferred to a hospital in the nearby town of Beit Jala to receive medical treatment.
In recent months, Israeli forces have frequently raided the houses of Palestinians in the West Bank, arresting dozens of people, who are then transferred to Israeli prisons, where they are kept without any charges brought against them.
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
Israel plans to raze more Bedouin homes
The Israeli regime plans to carry out more demolitions in an area populated by Palestinian Bedouins near al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Local residents told media outlets on Sunday that they have already received orders from the Israeli military to demolish their homes themselves.
Tel Aviv authorities say they want to build settlements and military structures in the area.
The demolition of Bedouin homes is part of Israel’s massive land grab plan, which will forcefully displace thousands of people.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Ex-Israeli military officials call on Netanyahu to cancel speech
JERUSALEM (JTA) — More than 180 Israeli former military and intelligence officials called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel his speech to the U.S. Congress.
An alliance calling itself Commanders for Israel’s Security made the announcement on Sunday, hours after Netanyahu left for Washington and two days before his controversial address. The alliance includes ex-officials from the Israel Defense Forces, the Mossad, the Shin Bet security service and the Israel Police.
“When the Israeli prime minister argues that his speech will stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, he is not only misleading Israel, he is strengthening Iran,” the group’s founder, Amnon Reshef, the former head of the IDF armored corps, told a news conference on Sunday.
“The way to prevent a nuclear Iran is by strengthening the alliance between the countries, between the U.S. and Israel, and between Israel and the international community. It’s already impossible to conceal the rift with the Americans, and it’s impossible to accept such a rift. We believe that this constitutes a clear and present danger to Israel’s security.”
Click here for the full story
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Ex-Israel envoy tapped to head Uruguay Foreign Ministry
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — The new president of Uruguay appointed the country’s former ambassador to Israel as head of the Foreign Ministry.
Dr. Tabare Vazquez on Sunday named Bernardo Greiver as secretary general of the ministry — a move that was seen as signaling closer Uruguay-Israel ties. Greiver, who is Jewish, has spoken publicly in recent years in favor of strong ties between Israel and Uruguay.
The new Uruguayan foreign minister, Nir Novoa, said in a radio interview that Greiver was tapped “because he knows the office, he is a diplomat with experience and is a hard worker.” Novoa told Universal Radio that he “talked with members of the Jewish community and they are pleased with this appointment.
“Without any doubt, this can be considered as a signal to Israel,” he said. “Uruguay had a very important role in the creation of the State of Israel and we need to continue on this path.”
Click here for the full story
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
White House squeezes U.S.-Israel into two sides of a card
It’s the week of the AIPAC policy conference.
It’s the week of That Speech — Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, organized without consulting the White House.
With all the drama and tension, the Obama administration doesn’t want you thinking loyalty to the president and support for Israel are incompatible. So it’s giving supporters a two-sided card called “5 Things You Need to Know About the U.S.-Israel Relationship Under President Obama.”
Here it is:
From The Times of Israel
With dozens bailing, will PM address empty seats at Congress?
In 2011, Netanyahu received 29 standing ovations. This time, applause will be less overwhelming, underlining rift in bilateral ties, expert says
March 1, 2015, 2:27 pm
As of Sunday afternoon, more than 30 congressmen — five senators and 27 members of the House of Representatives — have announced that they will not attend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming Congress speech, and the list continues to grow as the tension between Jerusalem and Washington intensifies.
The large number of American lawmakers snubbing a speech by an Israeli leader, which is unprecedented in history, has left some observers with the impression that Netanyahu will be forced to address a less-than-full house during his address, which, some have argued, would send a terrible message of discord between the two allied nations.
Such an embarrassing scenario would be the exact opposite of Netanyahu’s last speech to a joint meeting of Congress in 2011, when a packed house honored him with 29 standing ovations — four more than President Barack Obama received during his State of the Union address that year.
But while the prime minister will likely face a significantly less enthusiastic reception on Tuesday, he will probably be spared the humiliation of empty seats when he takes the podium for a historic third time.
Contrary to some reports, Republican congressmen — who generally support Netanyahu’s speech, in defiance of President Barack Obama — will not have to bring in their staffers to fill up the vacant chairs. The House Chamber, located in the center of the Capitol’s south wing, has 448 permanent seats, all of which will be taken by those congressmen in attendance, plus the members of the Israeli delegation, who also sit on the House floor.
Click here for the full story
From The Times of Israel
Boehner: Huge ‘demand for tickets’ for PM’s speech
At AIPAC, senators urge ‘good deal,’ but warn Iran is untrustworthy; Jewish senator calls PM ‘arrogant’; Kerry says US deserves ‘benefit of the doubt’ on Iran
March 1, 2015, 1:52 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left to Washington, DC, early Sunday to address Congress on the Iranian nuclear deal on Tuesday, and to speak at the AIPAC policy forum on Monday night. Before departing, he said he is on a “fateful, even historic, mission.”
Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog vocally opposed the prime minister’s upcoming US speech, saying it’s “solely for the sake of elections.” Meanwhile, an Iranian officials said the speech will “benefit Iran.”
A group of veteran security officials urged Netanyahu to call off the speech, and accused him of destroying ties with the US and bringing Iran closer to the bomb.
Click here for the full story
From The Times of Israel
Former US secretary: Netanyahu speech ‘poisoning’ ties
Robert Reich, who headed Department of Labor under Clinton, says Tuesday’s Congress address pitting Jews against Israel
March 1, 2015, 8:43 am
Former US labor secretary Robert Reich offered sharp criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, saying that the premier’s intention to address Congress on Tuesday, against the wishes of the White House, was driving many US Jews to speak out against Israel when in the past they may have remained silent. He also said that the speech was “poisoning the relationship” between Israel and the US.
In a post to his Facebook page, Reich, who was secretary during the Clinton administration from 1993 to 1997, appealed not to Netanyahu but rather to the people of Israel, and warned them that the prime minister was meddling in internal US politics.
“You should know that the new-found alliance between your prime minister and our Republican Party, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and some wealthy right-wing Jews here (such as billionaire Sheldon Adelson), is poisoning the relationship between Israel and the United States,” wrote Reich, who is Jewish.
“Netanyahu’s decision to address Congress on Tuesday to argue against a nuclear deal with Iran that’s one of the president’s highest priorities, and also to speak to AIPAC – just two weeks before your own national elections – foists your own domestic politics onto ours,” he wrote.
Click here for the full story
From The Daily Mail
BBC’s apocalyptic drama about the tragedy of an EU break-up is condemned as ‘scaremongering propaganda’
- Apocalyptic vision of Europe descending into social chaos aired tonight
- BBC4 programme condemned by Eurosceptics as ‘pro-EU propaganda’
- BBC say The Great European Disaster Movie is ‘authored documentary’
- It shows terrorists advancing to Vienna, Nigel Farage as Prime Minister
An army of Islamic State terrorists has advanced to the outskirts of Vienna, Spain has cut off routes to Gibraltar and Nigel Farage – prime minister of ‘Great England’ – has deported all immigrants who have arrived in the past ten years.
This, according to the BBC, is what the world would be like if the European Union were to collapse.
The apocalyptic vision of a continent in which social order has broken down – to be screened on BBC4 tonight at 10pm – has been condemned by Eurosceptic critics as ‘scaremongering’.
The 75-minute film shows what the supposedly impartial broadcaster suggests might happen should the EU implode, and depicts the final days of the European dream as it turns into a nightmare of worthless currencies and predictions of even darker days to come.
From The Daily Mail
Unmasked, Edward the Nazi King of England: Princess Diana’s biographer reveals the Duke of Windsor’s collusion with Hitler… and a plot to regain his throne
- Unique microfilm revealed the innermost workings of the Nazi regime
- Found incriminating correspondence relating to former King of England
- New book by Diana biographer reveals the Duke of Windsor was willing to deal with Hitler to win back his throne
- Called Hitler a ‘great man’ and openly criticised Churchill the ‘warmonger’
- Was convinced conflict could’ve been avoided if he stayed on the throne
- The Nazi leader would put the Duke back on the Throne as a puppet king
- However, details of the secret deal were ordered destroyed after the war
- Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee and American President Eisenhower among those who attempted to cover up damning dossier
It was the most unlikely place to find a treasure trove: tucked inside a battered metal canister covered in a tatty plastic raincoat and hidden in a remote German estate, where it had been hastily buried in the dying days of the Nazi regime.
The men who discovered it in the weeks following the end of the war were dubbed ‘documents men’, Allied soldiers charged with finding the secrets of Hitler’s Third Reich. Inside was unique microfilm that revealed the innermost workings of the Nazi regime. Back in London, the haul was triumphantly called pirates’ gold.
But within days, they realised with horror that the thousands of files detailing every part of the Nazi regime’s inner workings contained incriminating correspondence relating to the former King of England, Edward VIII, his wife – the divorced American Wallis Simpson, whom he married in 1937 – and their links to dictator Adolf Hitler.
This was dynamite that could explode beneath the Monarchy.
For the next 12 years, war leader Winston Churchill, post-war Prime Minister Clement Attlee, American President Eisenhower and others in the political elite attempted to destroy or cover up the damning Windsor dossier.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WATCH: Leonard Nimoy explains Spock’s salute
Leonard Nimoy, who played the overly logical part-human, part-Vulcan hero Spock on “Star Trek,” passed away Friday at the age of 83.
To quote Spock’s most famous recurring line, Nimoy certainly lived long and prospered.
Though he had a wide-ranging career that included acting on stage and screen, directing, and writing, Nimoy was (and will be) forever associated with Spock.
The character’s signature gesture, as most people with moderate pop culture knowledge know, was his split-finger Vulcan salute greeting.
Click here for the full story
From Russia Today
Ex-guerrilla, pot-legalizing, champion of the poor president: Uruguay’s Mujica steps down
Published time: March 01, 2015 12:36
Mujica, 79, is leaving office with a 65 percent approval rating. He is constitutionally prohibited from serving consecutive terms.
“I became president filled with idealism, but then reality hit,” Mujica said in an interview with a local newspaper earlier this week, according to AFP.
Some call him “the world’s poorest president.” Others the “president every other country would like to have.” But Mujica says “there’s still so much to do” and hopes that the next government, led by Tabare Vazquez (who was elected president for a second time last November) will be “better than mine and will have greater success.”
Mujica said he succeeded in putting Uruguay on the world map. He managed to turn the cattle-ranching country, home to 3,4 million people, into an energy-exporting nation, Brazil being Uruguay’s top export market (followed by China, Argentina, Venezuela and the US.)
Click here for the full story
From Ynet News
Haredi seminary test: Woman’s job is to cook for her husband
Exam taken by girls studying in special education class in Jerusalem reveals how women are educated in ultra-Orthodox schools. “What is the woman’s duty in the world? To prepare food for her husband.” This was one of the correct answers in an exam for girls studying in a special education class in an ultra-Orthodox seminary in Jerusalem, which was obtained by Ynet.
This outrageous question and others – including “how does a woman make her husband happy?” and “how would you define a bad woman?” – point to the way women are educated in haredi schools.
In one of the questions, the students were asked to “explain the woman’s purpose in the world, using the verse: ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make for him a companion suitable for helping him.'” The answer, according to one of the students who received a “well done” from her teacher, is: “To make sure that her husband won’t lack a thing.”
From The Times of Israel
Ivanka Trump happy to be Jewish
Daughter of billionaire Donald Trump talks to Vogue magazine about how converting has blessed her family life
March 1, 2015, 9:51 am
Ivanka Trump, the model-turned-businesswoman, has spoken up about her conversion to Judaism and how it has improved her family life.
In an interview with Vogue magazine published last week, the daughter of business mogul Donald Trump revealed that she and her husband, Jared Kushner, keep Shabbat, including not using their telephones on the day of rest.
“We observe the Sabbath,” Trump said. “From Friday to Saturday we don’t do anything but hang out with one another. We don’t make phone calls.”
The subject of her conversion, which Trump, 33, admits she has preferred to keep out of the public eye, came up during a meeting with reporter Jonathan Van Meter in the Trump SoHo hotel. As waiters brought over food, Trump noted, “We don’t eat meat… or, well, we keep kosher.”
The mother of two then went on to speak more about life after her 2009 conversion, a move she made because husband Kushner’s family are Orthodox Jews, but has since been kept discreet. Trump’s father, Donald, is a Presbyterian Christian.
Click here for the full story
