From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
AIPAC urges new sanctions in wake of Iran talks extension
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The American Israel Public Affairs Committee said it was “essential” for Congress to pass new Iran sanctions now that a deadline for nuclear talks has been extended.
“Congress delayed enacting additional sanctions over the past year to give negotiations a chance,” AIPAC said in a statement Monday after the world powers and Iran announced in Vienna that talks would be extended until June 30.
“It is now essential that Congress take up new bipartisan sanctions legislation to let Tehran know that it will face much more severe pressure if it does not clearly abandon its nuclear weapons program,” the pro-Israel lobbying group said. “We urge Congress to play its traditional and critical role to ensure that a final agreement truly eliminates any path for Iran to build a nuclear weapon.”
AIPAC backed enhanced sanctions earlier this year but dropped its active lobbying for them once it became clear that the Democratic-led Senate would not allow sanctions to pass.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Obama’s Order Not to Oppress the ‘Stranger’ Resonates With Jewish Groups
Immigration Reform With a Side of Passover Seder
“Scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger – we were strangers once, too,” Obama said in a live address from the White House in which he announced changes aimed at addressing the plight of millions of undocumented immigrants.
“My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants,” Obama said. “We were strangers once, too.”
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From PressTV
Israeli forces attack Palestinian prisoners
According to Palestinian Authority Department of Prisoner’s Affairs, a number of Israeli soldiers from the Nahshon unit stormed section 1 of the Rimon Prison in the town of Even Yehuda on Monday and clashed with the prisoners.
Clashes broke out at the prison on Sunday afternoon after Israeli warders prevented the families of the inmates from sending food into the jail via the prison canteen.
Tension has been running high so far due to strict inspections and midnight attacks on the cells of prisoners.
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From the Independent
From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
ADL slams Hagee for calling Obama ‘anti-Semitic’
NEW YORK (JTA) — The Anti-Defamation League slammed the founder of Christians United for Israel for calling President Obama “anti-Semitic.”
Pastor John Hagee’s “remarks about President Obama were offensive and misplaced,” Abraham Foxman, the ADL’s national director, said in a statement Monday.
“One can agree to disagree about the president and his administration’s record in dealing with Israel, but to apply the label of ‘anti-Semitic’ is a serious denigration and distortion of the term.”
Hagee made his remarks on Sunday at the annual dinner in New York of the Zionist Organization of America.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Yaalon, ADL laud Hagel as he announces resignation
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israel’s defense minister and the Anti-Defamation League lavished praise on U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on the day he announced his resignation.
The tributes from Moshe Yaalon and the ADL on Monday were in sharp contrast with the intense scrutiny that Hagel received from pro-Israel groups when he was nominated for the post two years ago.
“Chuck Hagel is a true friend of Israel,” Yaalon said in a tweet Monday illustrated by photos of Hagel and Yaalon embracing.
“His contributions to Israel’s defense infrastructure and to Israeli relations with the United States were great and very substantive,” said the tweet, written in Hebrew.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Iran nuclear talks extended until June 30
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Iran and the major powers extended their negotiations for a deal on Iran’s nuclear program until June 30.
Officials in Vienna said Monday, the deadline for the talks that were launched in January, that the two sides had agreed to extend the deadline, with the broad outlines of the deal to be in place by the end of March.
Iran would not be granted any additional sanctions relief in this period, the sides said.
It is not clear what is delaying a deal, although reported sticking points have been the period under which Iran must abide by restrictions on its nuclear activity that would keep it from manufacturing a bomb and the pace at which sanctions would be lifted in the event of a deal.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Palestinians delaying U.N. resolution seeking Israel’s West Bank withdrawal
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Palestinians will postpone sending a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council calling on the international body to set a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank.
The suspension will last until after the end of Iran nuclear talks, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told the Palestinian Maan news agency on Monday. The P.A. later denied that a postponement is planned.
The talks, which have required most of the attention of the council, were expected to be extended past their Monday deadline through at least the next month.
The P.A. also is working to gain the support of nine members to ensure that the measure passes the Security Council. The United States is expected to veto such a resolution.
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From PressTV
Bomb explosion claims 10 lives in Baghdad
At least 10 people have been killed and 30 others wounded in a bomb explosion carried out at a busy commercial district in the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad.
Police sources said the attack hit a crowded market in Baghdad’s northeastern neighborhood of al-Sha’ab on Monday.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts. However, Iraqi officials usually blame such attacks on the ISIL Takfiri terrorists.
The development comes a day after a car bomb attack at an outdoor market in the town of Yusufiyah, situated about 32 kilometers (20 miles) south of Baghdad, killed seven people and wounded more than a dozen others.
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From PressTV
Three Israelis attack, injure Palestinian man
The Palestinian man was transferred to a hospital and is in good condition, reports suggest.
Israeli authorities say the attack is being investigated.
The attack comes a day after Israeli settlers torched a Palestinian home in the occupied West Bank’s village of Khirbet Abu Falah, writing racist slogans in Hebrew on its walls.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Is Bibi Stalling Pick of IDF Chief to Promote Rightist?
By J.J. Goldberg
More mystery and intrigue in the senior ranks of the Israel Defense Forces: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reported (Maariv, Haaretz) to be stalling the nomination of Israel’s next military chief of staff. His reasons are a topic of hot speculation, though the facts seem to speak for themselves.
By law the nomination of a new chief of staff is the job of the defense minister. He’s supposed to present his choice to the cabinet for approval three months before the incumbent’s term ends. That deadline was November 15. Since then, though, Netanyahu has twice asked for delays so he could interview the candidates, most recently last Friday. He’s now asked to meet with the defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, before a name is presented to the cabinet.
From the Jewish Daily Forward
4 Problems With Israel’s ‘Jewish Nation-State’ Law
By Brent Sasley
Getty Images
Members of the Israeli government have renewed a push to create a Basic Law enshrining Israel as “the nation-state of the Jewish people.” This time, the effort is being spearheaded by Prime Minister Netanyahu. Although his is meant to be a “softer” version of previous similar bills, it’s still highly problematic for a number of reasons.
Israel’s Basic Laws are meant to serve as the basis for an eventual constitution. In the years immediately after the establishment of the state, Israeli leaders could not agree on whether to write one up, much less what it should look like. In 1950, the Harari proposal was adopted. The Knesset would pass a series of “Basic Laws” as necessary, and each would be issued as a separate chapter, to be combined into a single constitutional document whenever the time came. In 1995, the Supreme Court gave the Basic Laws constitutional status — which means they’re higher than regular laws and are meant to guide the adoption of further laws and practices in the country.
The most obvious problem is that enshrining Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people makes constitutional the second-class status of Arab citizens. Netanyahu’s bill does mention democracy and individual rights, but (unlike the Declaration of Independence) it does not refer to the equality of all Israel’s citizens. By tying Israel’s identity only to one people, it gives them constitutional privileges no other community can have access to.
From the Jewish Daily Forward
Mussolini’s Jewish Lover Who Helped Launch Fascism
By Saviona Mane
Margherita Sarfatti, Photograph via Wikicommons
(Haaretz) On November 14, 1938, shortly after the Italian Racial Laws were passed, Margherita Sarfatti slipped out of her home near Lake Como, got into her car and asked her chauffeur to drive her to the nearby Swiss border.
Among the few belongings the Jewish socialite and art critic had stuck in her two suitcases were 1,272 letters she had received from Benito Mussolini over their 20-year romantic and ideological relationship — a sort of insurance policy. Sarfatti, 58 at the time, would return to Italy only in 1947 after living in exile in France, Argentina and Uruguay.
In addition to art essays she wrote for local newspapers during her exile, Sarfatti published in 1945, shortly after Mussolini’s death, a series of articles in the Argentine paper Crítica in which she revealed details about her relationship with Il Duce. Scholars believe she waited until he no longer had the chance to harm the family members she had left behind in Rome.
