From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Ex-London mayor Ken Livingstone: Creation of Israel ‘a great catastrophe’
Former mayor of London Ken Livingstone at the 2013 Asia Pacific Cities Summit in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. (Flickr Commons)
(JTA) — Former London mayor Ken Livingstone, who was suspended from the Labour Party for saying Adolf Hitler was a Zionist, called the creation of Israel “a great catastrophe.”
Livingstone said the existence of Israel in the Middle East could lead to nuclear war and advocated an international boycott on Israeli products during an interview Wednesday with the London-based Arabic-language television station Al-Ghad Al-Arabi. The interview, which was dubbed over in Arabic, was translated by the MEMRI watchdog group and posted on its website.
“The creation of the state of Israel was fundamentally wrong because there had been a Palestinian community there for 2,000 years,†Livingstone said in the interview.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Where Jewish conservatives stand on Donald Trump: A running tally
Donald Trump addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition at Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 3, 2015. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Never Trump? Always Trump? Never-doesn’t-last-forever-Trump?
And what about Hillary or Bernie?
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, presents a quandary for Jewish conservatives. He said in December that he doesn’t want Jewish Republican money, and that he would be “neutral” when it comes to Israel and the Palestinians.
He walked the “neutrality” back in his speech in March to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, but his peregrinations on foreign policy (hawk? dove? anything?), his lack of political and policy experience, his appeals to nativist, isolationist voters and his broadsides against Muslims, Hispanics and women continue to chill some conservatives, many Jews among them. On the other hand, his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner are both Jewish and involved in pro-Israel and Jewish activism, and both have played prominent roles in his campaign.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Sheldon Adelson backs Donald Trump, says he’s good for Israel
Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson speaking at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) 2014 at The Venetian Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct. 1, 2014. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson said he will back Donald Trump now that Trump has locked up the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.
“I think that Donald Trump will be good for Israel,” Adelson, who is Jewish, told the BBC on Thursday, appearing at a gala in New York for the World Values Network.
What was unclear is if Adelson, one of the world’s richest men and a major pro-Israel giver, meant he would help fund Trump’s campaign, and to what extent. Trump, a real estate magnate and reality TV star, is himself a billionaire and has mostly-self funded throughout the primaries. However, he has said he would reach out to major donors now that he is heading into a heated general election likely to cost billions of dollars.
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From PressTV
Israeli fighter jets carry out new airstrikes on Gaza Strip
Israeli military aircraft have carried out two airstrikes against areas in the Gaza Strip in yet another act of aggression against the besieged Palestinian coastal territory.
The airborne assaults, which were launched in the early hours of Saturday morning, reportedly hit two open areas east of the city of Khan Yunis, located about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Gaza City, Arabic-language Safa news agency reported.
The first airstrike struck a field behind Abu Subhia factory in the al-Zana area, south of the Gaza Strip, while the second targeted an area close to Abu Taima block making workshop.
There were no immediate reports about the possible casualties from the Israeli attacks.
The airstrikes came hours after Tel Aviv claimed that two rockets fired from the coastal enclave had hit an Israeli military base in Kissufim, which lies south of the Gaza Strip. The projectile reportedly did not cause any injuries and there was no damage.
Palestinian witnesses said Israeli warplanes launched two air raids against the city of Beit Lahia and the southern Gaza Strip town of Khuza’a on Friday morning.
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From Russia Today
Evidence hints Al-Nusra Front behind Aleppo refugee camp attack, no signs of airstrike – Russian MOD
Published time: 6 May, 2016 12:53
© / RT
Thursday’s attack on an Aleppo refugee camp could have been carried out by Al-Nusra Front militants, Russia’s Defense Ministry says. The damage pattern suggests rocket artillery use, and air control data show no sorties in the area at the time.
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From Ynet News
Israel’s status at NATO headquarters gets an upgrade
Jerusalem to open offices at North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Brussels headquarters, with its ambassador to the EU, David Walzer, doing double duty as representative to the organization.
NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has upgraded its ties with Israel, bringing Jerusalem even closer into its circle at a time of mounting instability throughout the Middle East.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Far-right lawmaker: Israeli ‘revenge’ against Palestinians could’ve prevented Jewish violence
Bezalel Smotrich (Facebook)
(JTA) — A right-wing Israeli lawmaker with a history of making controversial statements said if the Israeli government had taken revenge on Palestinians, individual acts of violence could have been prevented.
In particular, state-directed vengeance could have prevented the July 2015 firebombing that killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents, as well as the murder of Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir, Jewish Home party Knesset member Bezalel Smotrich wrote Friday on Facebook.
First reported by Haaretz, the post remains publicly visible on Smotrich’s Facebook page.
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From Russia Today
70% of Germans oppose TTIP, survey says
Published time: 6 May, 2016 13:25
Protesters demonstrate against Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free trade agreement ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit in Hanover, Germany April 23, 2016. © Nigel Treblin / Reuters
Seventy percent of Germans oppose the TTIP trade treaty, according to a new poll. The news comes after France said it is against signing the deal amid a scandal over leaked documents revealing negotiations between US and European officials.
The survey, conducted by German broadcaster ARD, found that 70 percent of participants believe the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) has more disadvantages than advantages.
Seventy-nine percent said they believed the agreement would hurt consumer protection, while 83 percent expressed dissatisfaction with the secretive way in which the government handled negotiations on the deal.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Sympathy for Palestinians over Israel up sharply among younger Americans, Pew study finds
An Israeli border policeman speaking to a Palestinian man next to a stabbing scene in Jerusalem’s Old City, October 7, 2015. (Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (JTA) – Democrats are more than four times as likely as Republicans to say they sympathize more with the Palestinians than with Israel, according to a survey published Thursday, and sympathy for the Palestinians among Americans overall is growing.
Sympathy for the Palestinians is up most sharply among the youngest American adults, growing threefold over the last decade, the new survey by the Pew Research Center shows. Some 27 percent of millennials say they are more sympathetic to the Palestinians than Israel; in 2006 the figure was 9 percent. The share of those favoring Israel has held steady at about 43 percent.
On Israel, the survey also shows one of the widest-ever gaps between the two main political parties.
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