From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Israel bars U.N. investigators of Gaza operation
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel denied entry to members of a commission appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate possible war crimes committed during Israel’s Gaza operation this summer.
Israel on Wednesday did not permit the so-called Schabas Commission to enter Israel from Jordan, then announced it would not cooperate with the investigation.
In July, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the council for choosing to investigate Israel rather than nearby crisis zones such as Iraq or Syria, and implied he would not cooperate with U.N. investigators. The operation was ongoing at the time.
The Human Rights Council moved that month to establish a commission of inquiry “to investigate all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” while Operation Protective Edge was still going on.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Rising anti-Semitism threatens all of Europe, Samantha Power tells Berlin confab
(JTA) — Rising anti-Semitism in Europe threatens not only Jews but overall European values, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said at a conference on anti-Semitism in Berlin.
The event, which concluded Thursday, was organized by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to mark the 10th anniversary of the first OSCE conference on anti-Semitism and its concluding declaration, which underscored that political events in the Middle East were no excuse for hate crimes.
That admonition of 2004 remains relevant today, Power said, adding that “robust steps must be taken” to combat the problem.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s foreign minister, confirmed at the conference that “bold and brutal anti-Semitism has shown its ugly face again” in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Hasidic family charged in $20 million fraud case
NEW YORK (JTA) — More than a dozen members of a prominent Satmar Hasidic family in New York were charged with lying to obtain $20 million in mortgages while also receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in public benefits.
Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and George Venizelos, the assistant director of the New York field office of the FBI, announced the indictments on Thursday charging 14 defendants with conspiracy to commit bank fraud related to mortgages on properties in three counties, two in New York City.
The indictment also charges several of the defendants with additional crimes, including making false statements to lenders, aggravated identity theft and theft of public money. Thirteen of the defendants were arrested Thursday and will be arraigned in federal court in White Plains, N.Y.
The defendants include real estate developer Irving Rubin, as well as his brothers, sons, wife and various in-laws. A real estate lawyer and real estate appraiser are also charged in the case.
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From PressTV
Hamas warns Israel of new ‘explosion’ over Gaza siege
“We are saying to all sides: if the siege on Gaza and the obstacles for reconstruction remain, there will be a new explosion,” said Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, on Thursday.
The brigades issued the warning during a rally in Gaza City, which drew at least 1,500 people. The rally was held in memory of Hamas’ military commanders who lost their lives during the most recent Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
“We hold the enemy fully responsible for an explosion if the reconstruction does not begin,” Abu Obeida said, adding that “the fight is not over.”
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From PressTV
ISIL announces plan to mint own currency
The terrorist group said in a statement on Thursday that the currency will be in the form of two gold, three silver and two copper coins.
The Takfiri group said that the motive behind the move was to avoid the “tyranny of the international monetary and financial system,” adding that the currency will make it possible to avoid the “global economic system that is based on satanic usury.”
Commenting on the announcement, Jimmy Gurule, a former US Treasury undersecretary, told CNN that the ISIL “is the wealthiest terrorist organization that the world has ever known, and so, with that kind of money, it’s hard to understand ‘what’s the potential?’ What could they do with that?”
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From PressTV
UNSC urges Lebanese parliament to pick new president
In a statement on Wednesday, the 15-member council “expressed concern at the prolonged vacancy in the office of the presidency with a view to preserving the stability and the unity of Lebanon”.
Australian Ambassador Gary Quinlan, whose country currently chairs the top UN body, strongly urged Lebanon to show “urgency and flexibility” and “move without delay” to agree on a successor to Michel Sleiman as the Arab country has been without a head of state, who is also the commander-in-chief, for more than five months.
The Lebanese parliament has failed to pick a new president since Suleiman’s term came to an end in May.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
$20 Million Hasidic Mortgage Fraud Suspect Bribed Witness in Nechemya Weberman Case
Abraham Rubin Just Out of Prison for Intimidation
One of the men arrested in a $20 million Satmar family mortgage fraud conspiracy is the same man who was convicted of trying to intimidate a witness against notorious Hasidic sex abuser Nechemya Weberman, the Forward has learned.
Abraham Rubin is fresh out of prison after serving three months for trying to bribe into not testifying against Weberman, an unlicensed counselor who was convicted in 2012 of repeatedly abusing a teenage girl in his care.
Rubin was arrested November 13 along with 14 of his family members and associates in a sprawling mortgage and public fraud conspiracy. He now faces up to 35 years in prison.
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