From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
In Europe, the far right doesn’t quite know what to make of Trump
Demonstrators protesting against the arrival of Muslim immigrants to Europe in The Hague, the Netherlands, April 10, 2016. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (JTA) — Donald Trump’s xenophobic views are neither new nor particularly shocking in Europe, where fears of jihadism and the challenges of illegal immigration are blowing winds into the sails of a rising far right.
Although the Republican presidential hopeful’s statements on immigrants, Mexicans and Muslims are often quite moderate in comparison to the rhetoric of some popular European nationalists, Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and anti-establishment image have earned him a certain following in European far-right circles.
“I hope Donald Trump will be the next US President,” Geert Wilders, a far-right Dutch politician whose party has for months been leading in the polls, wrote on Twitter in December. “Good for America, good for Europe. We need brave leaders.”
Yet many of Wilders’ supporters and those of other far-right politicians in Europe say they are nonetheless put off by Trump’s perceived crassness, flashy commercialism and unpredictability.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Joe Biden says Netanyahu leading Israel in ‘wrong direction’ at J Street confab
Joe Biden addressing the fourth National J Street Conference at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., Sep. 30, 2013. (Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Vice President Joe Biden criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for leading Israel “in the wrong direction” in an unusually strongly worded speech to J Street.
“I firmly believe that the actions that Israel’s government has taken over the past several years — the steady and systematic expansion of settlements, the legalization of outposts, land seizures — they’re moving us and more importantly they’re moving Israel in the wrong direction,” Biden told the liberal Israel advocacy group’s annual gala Monday evening.
Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry lavished praise on J Street for embracing the Obama administration’s push last year for a nuclear deal with Iran in the face of opposition from centrist pro-Israel sentiment.
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From The Independent
Bernie Sanders backs bill that would let Americans sue Saudi Arabia over 9/11 terror attacks
Bernie Sanders has backed legislation that would let Americans sue Saudi Arabia over the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The bill is opposed by the Obama administration, but it is important to victims’ families, some of whom believe Saudi officials played some part in the attacks.
The Democratic presidential candidate spoke in favour of the legislation on NBC’s “Today Show” ahead of the New York presidential primary.
He said it was important to have a full understanding of the “the possible role of the Saudi government in 9/11.”
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Paul Ryan, out of the running for president, asks to be seen as foreign policy maven
House Speaker Paul Ryan speaking with reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., April 13, 2016. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Paul Ryan wants you to know he’s not running for president, he’s no fan of the Obama doctrine and he’s not a neoconservative.
What the Wisconsin congressman wants to be, he suggested at an April 14 breakfast in his Capitol Hill offices with foreign policy reporters, is the leader of the Republican Party, especially when it comes to corralling seemingly incompatible foreign policy visions that have in this wild election year threatened to rip his party to shreds.
Ryan expounded on his vision a week after his first visit to the Middle East as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. There he met with leaders of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Ryan sounded familiar notes on Israel, saying the United States must frustrate any Palestinian attempt to obtain statehood through the United Nations. He backs extending and expanding the defense assistance agreement with Israel, but said that was a matter right now for negotiations between the Obama administration and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. He has tasked top members of Congress with smoothing defense assistance to Israel and other allies, calling the process right now “sclerotic.”
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jewish-Israeli man convicted in revenge murder of Palestinian teen
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Jewish-Israeli man was convicted of the revenge murder of a Palestinian teen who he and two teenage accomplices burned to death in the Jerusalem forest.
Yosef Ben-David, 31, of Jerusalem was found guilty Tuesday in the Jerusalem District Court of the kidnapping and murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir in July 2014. He is scheduled to be sentenced next month.
The court in February determined that Ben-David was mentally fit to be sentenced, rejecting his insanity plea that he should not be held responsible for his actions at the time of the kidnapping and murder because of a history of mental illness. The plea noted that Ben-David was under medication for his condition.
“The court has found that at the time he committed the offense, the accused was not psychotic, fully understood the facts, was responsible for his actions, had no difficulty in understanding reality and had the capacity to prevent the crime,” the Justice Ministry said in a statement released Tuesday after the conviction.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Bernie Sanders and Israel’s ‘disproportionate’ use of force
Bernie Sanders greeting potential voters in the Queens borough of New York City, April 18, 2016. (Oleg Nikishin/Epsilon/Getty Images)
There’s been much debate recently over Bernie Sanders’ accusation that Israel used disproportionate force in Gaza during the 2014 summer war with Hamas.
In an April 1 meeting with the New York Daily News, Sanders cited Israel’s killing of more than 10,000 civilians, an inflated figure, during that conflict as evidence of Israel’s use of disproportionate force. When an interviewer looked it up and found that the United Nations estimate was 1,462 killed, the Independent senator from Vermont and Democratic presidential candidate immediately accepted the revised figure but held to his view that Israel’s actions were disproportionate.
Sanders reiterated the assertion of disproportionality during last week’s debate with rival Hillary Clinton, saying that the war wounded some 10,000 civilians. His unusually critical position on Israel has generated a great deal of commentary, both supportive and critical, especially given his Jewish background.
On Monday, JTA sent some questions to the Sanders campaign to try to drill down a bit more why the candidate believes Israel’s response was disproportionate, what he thinks the United States should have done to ensure a “more proportionate” response and whether he believes the U.S. is using disproportionate force in its own wars against terrorists in places like Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria.
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From Russia Today
Dutch MPs refuse to give up on ratification of EU-Ukraine deal despite no vote at referendum
Published time: 19 Apr, 2016 21:17
Ukrainian and EU flags © Valentyn Ogirenko / Reuters
The Dutch parliament has rejected a motion calling on the government to immediately withdraw a law ratifying the EU-Ukraine association agreement – a deal which was rejected by 61 percent of Dutch voters in a non-binding referendum earlier this month.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s ruling party narrowly defeated a motion brought by the opposition Socialist Party, which called for overturning a law approving the controversial association agreement between the EU and Ukraine.
Seventy-five lawmakers voted against the Socialists’ initiative, with 71 in favor. To secure the tiny majority, the government gained the support of independent MPs Roland van Vliet and Johan Stonemasons, De Telegraaf newspaper reported.
The agreement focuses on a trade deal between Ukraine and the EU which would open their markets to each other and remove tariffs on goods. Notably, the agreement also mentions an enhancement in defense cooperation, which many believe could mark the beginning of a low-key integration of Ukraine into Western military structures.
For the treaty to come into full legal force, it must be adopted by all 28 European Union member states.
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From Russia Today
US ‘plays with fire’ dragging feet in reducing nuclear arsenals – Ex-IAEA head to RT
Published time: 19 Apr, 2016 19:06
© U.S. Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency / Reuters
Nearly 20,000 warheads owned by big powers with “sparks flying” between them are more risky than “dirty bombs” in hands of terrorist organizations, Hans Blix and Lassina Zerbo, reputed international experts on nuclear security, told RT.
Hans Blix, a renowned Swedish diplomat who led the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency for more than 16 years, and headed the monitoring mission sent to Iraq in search of alleged weapons of mass destruction prior to the 2003 Iraq War, has described the biggest threats posed by nuclear weapons to RT in an exclusive interview.
Recalling the end of the Cold War, which was marked by massive disarmament efforts between the USSR and US, Blix said it was “the great time” that resulted in several milestone agreements banning nuclear tests and chemical weapons.
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From Russia Today
10,000 ISIS fighters in Afghanistan ‘trained to expand to Central Asia, Russia’
Published time: 19 Apr, 2016 13:49
© AFP
The terrorist group Islamic State has dramatically increased its presence in Afghanistan and is preparing to expand into other Central Asian countries and Russia, a senior Russian diplomat warned.
The presence of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in Afghanistan, is a significant security threat, said Zamir Kabulov, the head of the Asia and Middle East department of the Russian foreign ministry, who also serves as special envoy of the Russian president to Afghanistan.
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From Russia Today
John Kerry target of multiple rocket blasts in Kabul on weekend – Taliban
Published time: 19 Apr, 2016 11:01
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. © Massoud Hossaini / Reuters
US Secretary of State John Kerry was the target of rocket strikes that hit the Afghan capital on Saturday, the Taliban has confirmed. Kerry was in Kabul for talks on Afghanistan’s unity government, which has been marred by corruption and an internal feud.
Although Kerry was apparently the intended target of the blasts, the attacks occurred just after he had left Afghanistan, CNN reported. No casualties resulted from the strikes, according to Afghan government spokesman Sediq Sediqqi.
Afghan news outlet Khaama Press reported that the back-to-back explosions occurred after a number of rockets were fired from an unknown location on Saturday night.
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From Ynet News
Jews who refused to leave Yemen having second thoughts
67 Yemeni Jews turned down the Jewish Agency’s offer to make aliyah; they say their neighbors treat them poorly and fear no one can provide a Jewish education for their children. The 67 Yemeni Jews who refused to join the recent secret airlift to Israel organized by the Jewish Agency are now having second thoughts. Sources in Yemen report that the group, comprised mostly of children and the elderly and located in the Yemeni capital Sana’a and its neighboring province of Amran, has been subject to constant harassment.
Speaking to The Media Line on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals, a Yemeni Jew now trying to leave for Israel said the remaining Jews complain that in addition to increasing abuse by Muslims, there is no one to lead their religious rituals or to educate their children.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Russian protesters demand ban on Chabad movement
(JTA) — Demonstrators protesting the allocation of land to the Jewish community in the Russian city of Perm demanded the outlawing of the Chabad movement.
More than 100 people attended the rally near the area that municipal authorities in Perm, which is located 870 miles east of Moscow, designated for transfer without charge to the local Jewish community that is headed by a Chabad rabbi. They sang a song titled “Holy War,” a patriotic tune widely identified with Russia’s fight against Nazi Germany.
Unrest around the Jewish community of Perm has been brewing for years amid accusations made in 2013 that the local Jewish community made unauthorized use of a local theater. Unidentified individuals that year tried to set fire to the local synagogue.
On Saturday, the protesters showed up with signs reading “Chabad out” and “liberate us Russians from Chabad.” One protester held a placard that read “Chabad settlement is over the line: 1547,” an apparent reference to the decision that year by Ivan the Terrible, a grand prince of Moscow, to ban Jews from entering or living in his kingdom because they “bring about great evil.”
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Italian soccer team punished for anti-Semitic chants of fans
ROME (JTA) — Italian sports officials punished its top soccer team, Juventus, for its fans shouting an anti-Semitic chant, but suspended the penalty.
The order to close a section of the club’s stadium in Turin for its next game will only be enforced if there is a repeat of the behavior, ESPN reported Monday. The Curva Sud section represents about a quarter of the stadium. The anti-Semitic chants were heard coming from there on Sunday during the team’s 4-0 win over Palermo in the Serie A championship match.
According to the chant’s chorus, for which Juventus has been punished in the past, people from Florence, where the team’s chief rival is based, are “not Italian” but “a bunch of Jews.”
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Singapore’s prime minister makes historic visit to Israel
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Making the first visit to Israel by a prime minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu discussed increasing bilateral cooperation in several areas.
The two prime ministers met privately on Tuesday morning in Netanyahu’s Jerusalem office and then held an expanded meeting with other government ministers. The meetings focused on increasing cooperation on security and trade, among other economic matters, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Singapore and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1969, several years after Singapore’s founding.
“We have built dynamic, prosperous economies, despite our small size and our limited natural resources,” Netanyahu said in welcoming Loong. “The economic success of Singapore, I think, inspires the entire world. The transformation of Israel to a technological powerhouse on the global scene, I think, evokes a similar admiration. Innovation and entrepreneurship have allowed us both to punch well above our weight.
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From Russia Today
Swedish minister resigns after comparing Israel to Nazi Germany
Published time: 19 Apr, 2016 10:12
Sweden’s minister of housing Mehmet Güner Kaplan. © Joakim Berndes / Wikipedia
Sweden`s housing minister has resigned after footage of him comparing the treatment of Palestinians by Israel to that of the Jews by the Nazis surfaced in local media. The politician has recently come under fire for his alleged ties to Turkish neo-fascist groups.
Mehmet Kaplan, a high-profile Swedish politician of Turkish origin and member of the Green party, was serving as a minister of Housing and Urban Development from 2014 until his resignation on Monday amid mounting controversy over his rumored close ties to the radical Turkish Islamist groups and his video interview from 2009 in which he says that “Israelis treat Palestinians in a way that is very like that in which Jews were treated during Germany in the 1930s.”
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