Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup
A service of DavidDuke.com
From The Times of Israel
Hezbollah and Islamic State tussle in Lebanon
Battle marks second time in a week the Syrian civil war has spilled over the border
The TV station of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia said the group repelled an attack by Islamic State group fighters in an area on the Lebanon-Syria border.
Al-Manar TV said Tuesday’s attack left several IS fighters dead or wounded and three vehicles, including a bulldozer, destroyed.
Hezbollah has been on the offensive in Syria’s Qalamoun mountains for weeks and has captured territory from al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, the al-Nusra Front.
Al-Manar said the IS attack targeted several Hezbollah positions outside the Lebanese border village of Ras Baalbek.
Hezbollah is deeply involved in Syria’s civil war, fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces, and has reportedly lost as many as 1,000 fighters in battles there.
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From PressTV
Israeli troops kill young Palestinian in West Bank
One young Palestinian man has been killed by Israeli military forces, who clashed with a group of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and fired live bullets to disperse the crowd.
Palestinian sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israeli military vehicles rolled into Jenin refugee camp early on Wednesday. The Israeli forces broke into dozens of homes and violently searched them, causing excessive property damage.
Scuffles broke out when Israeli troops assaulted the protesters and fired live bullets, stun grenades and tear gas canisters to break up the protest.
A 20-year-old Palestinian, identified as Ezzeddin Walid bin Gharra, sustained gunshot wounds to the upper part of his body, and was shifted to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Israeli troopers also took away Ahmed Kaffah al-Nusra, 20, following clashes.
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From PressTV
Senior Egyptian intelligence officials meet with Hamas: Sources
A delegation of senior Egyptian intelligence authorities has recently met with top officials from the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas to discuss bilateral relations, sources say.
Palestinian sources said on Tuesday that during the talks, whose place and exact time are unknown, Hamas officials asked Egypt to reopen its Rafah border crossing with the besieged Gaza Strip, ruled by Hamas. Egypt, in return, demanded several confidence-building moves.
Hamas has agreed to some of these measures, but others require further discussion, according to the sources.
Also on Tuesday, senior Hamas official Salah al-Bardawil told Palestinian media outlets that a recent Egyptian court verdict overturning Hamas’ designation as a “terrorist” group is a positive step towards reconciliation between Egypt and Hamas.
The earlier verdict, listing Hamas as a terror group, had been issued by the Cairo Court of Urgent Matters on February 28. It claimed the resistance group was involved in recent attacks against Egypt’s security forces in the restive Sinai Peninsula, an allegation strongly denied by Hamas.
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From PressTV
Israel warned over Palestinian prisoner
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has warned that it will hold the Israeli regime responsible over the health condition of a prisoner who has gone on hunger strike in an Israeli prison.
The PA issued a statement Tuesday warning about the desperate situation of Khader Adnan, saying that the prisoner is “in danger of dying” after 36 days of protest against his imprisonment conditions.
“Israel is entirely responsible for the life of prisoners in administrative detention,” the statement said.
A father of six, Adnan was arrested in July 2014 and was sentenced to administrative detention for the 10th time in his life. His ongoing hunger strike has been described as one of the longest in history, with reports saying that he has lost a considerable amount of weight while his heart rate keeps lowering to very dangerous levels.
The Palestinian Prisoners Club said recently that Adnan is determined to continue his strike despite having been hospitalized since several days ago.
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From PressTV
Palestinians set to file complaints against Israel at ICC: FM
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki says the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority is planning to file two war crimes complaints against Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Al-Maliki said Tuesday that the two files, which are over Tel Aviv’s illegal settlement activities in the occupied West Bank and its latest devastating war on the besieged Gaza Strip, will be submitted to the Hague-based court on June 25.
The Palestinian official said all preparations for submitting the two lawsuits have been made by Palestinian and international experts.
Israel started its latest war on the Gaza Strip in early July last year. The onslaught, which lasted for 50 days, claimed the lives of over 2,130 Palestinians and injured some 11,000 others.
In addition to its repeated aggression against the besieged coastal enclave, Israel continues to press ahead with its illegal settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories despite a global outcry.
From The Times of Israel
Palestinian official: United States created Islamic State
Fatah Central Committee member tells Syrian TV the US is to blame for deterioration in the Middle East
A Fatah Central Committee member accused the US of creating the Islamic State terror group while speaking on a Syrian news show.
Abbas Zaki, a loyalist of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and a former PLO representative in Lebanon, told Syrian News TV on June 2 the region is on a “destructive path” that was brought about by “the ‘constructive anarchy’ initiated by the US, which was, in fact, ‘destructive anarchy.’”
America has failed the Middle East, he went on, and now “the US is destroying itself by its own hand.”
Asked to clarify, Zaki explained, “They created IS, but cannot control it. Some countries that used to be American allies are now looking for a savior, because they realized that the administration cannot help them or make any agreement with them.”
His comments were translated Monday by the media watchdog group MEMRI.
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From The Times of Israel
Israel frees top Palestinian lawmaker after year behind bars
Hamas-linked parliament speaker Aziz Dweik was arrested in sweeps to find three murdered Israeli teens
Israel released Tuesday the speaker of the Palestinian parliament, an AFP reporter said, after almost a year in prison following an army crackdown over the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers.
Aziz Dweik, the Hamas-linked speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was arrested on June 16, 2014, as Israel staged a massive manhunt for three Israeli teenagers who were snatched from a road in the southern West Bank by Palestinian terrorists, operatives of Hamas.
During the search, which lasted until June 30 when their bodies were found, Israel arrested hundreds of Palestinians, most of them members of Hamas.
Palestinians responded to the crackdown — the biggest in a decade — with a surge of rocket fire at Israel’s southern town and cities from the Gaza Strip, the Islamist movement’s stronghold, which ultimately led to a 50-day war in and around the coastal enclave, the third in six years.
According to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, 12 of the 130 MPs in the PLC are being held by Israel; that number included Dweik.
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From The Times of Israel
Iran arrests former vice president under Ahmadinejad
Hamid Baghaei apprehended; second detention of senior official from ex-president’s administration
TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian authorities on Monday arrested a former vice president who served under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the second such detention of a senior official from the hard-line former leader’s administration, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Hamid Baghaei, who was Ahmadinejad’s vice president in charge of executive affairs, was arrested on Monday, IRNA quoted judicial spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi as saying. The report did not provide further details.
Ahmadinejad was best-known in the West for his harsh rhetoric toward Israel, at one point saying it should be wiped off the map. Inside Iran, his administration faced a growing chorus of corruption allegations, particularly during its latter years.
President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate who succeeded Ahmadinejad in 2013, has repeatedly alleged widespread corruption under the administration of his predecessor.
In January, Iran’s supreme court convicted and sentenced former Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi to five years in prison and fined him 10 billion rials ($300,000).
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israel’s president to U.S. military chief: ‘I was born in Jerusalem and I am Israeli’
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff at a Jerusalem meeting, “I was born in Jerusalem and I am Israeli.”
Rivlin, meeting Wednesday at his official residence with Gen. Martin Dempsey, was referring to this week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that American citizens born in Jerusalem cannot list Israel as their birthplace on their U.S. passports.
Rivlin is a seventh-generation Jerusalemite who was born nine years before Israel became a state in 1948.
“Of course we have no criticism of the decision of the Supreme Court in Washington,” he said, according to the Times of Israel website. “We salute the rule of law, and we appreciate and understand that they have decided not upon if Jerusalem is part of Israel or not, but who is going to decide upon those matters once it is a matter that goes between the Congress and the administration and the president.”
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Adelson summit raised at least $20 million to fight BDS on campus
(JTA) — A summit to organize against anti-Israel boycotts and anti-Israel activity on campus hosted by U.S. billionaire Sheldon Adelson raised at least $20 million.
The meeting last week in Las Vegas of pro-Israel Jewish philanthropists and organizations had a funding goal of $50 million, the daily Forward reported, citing a Jewish communal leader who did not attend the meeting but spoke to the organizers.
It is not known how much was raised at the summit, since participants have declined to say what they or their fellow activists pledged. However, according to the Forward, participation in the event was limited to donors willing to pledge at least $1 million over the next two years to the initiative, dubbed the Campus Maccabees. At least 20 donors took part in the meeting, according to the Forward.
Many of the groups in attendance prepared presentations for the donors, the Forward reported. Potential funders could then decide which groups to fund and at what level.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Campaign launched to protest neo-Nazi rally in London
(JTA) — Communal and religious leaders have launched a campaign against a neo-Nazi demonstration in a Jewish neighborhood of London.
On Monday, the London Jewish Forum, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the anti-fascist organization Hope Not Hate launched the Golders Green Together campaign to protest the July 4 rally against the local Shomrim, a Jewish volunteer security group, in Golders Green.
The campaign in the northern London neighborhood will hang gold-and-green banners and ribbons along its main streets to show solidarity with the Jewish community, the Guardian reported.
The New Dawn Party and other far-right groups are planning the demonstration. They do not plan on marching, and English police cannot ban “static demonstrations” due to a 1986 law.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
British filmmakers call on theater chain to cancel Israeli film festival
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A group of British filmmakers and actors called on a British movie theater chain to cancel an Israeli film festival.
The 39 members of the film industry, including British directors Aki Kaurismäki, Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, made their call to the theaters to refuse to host the London Israeli Film and Television Festival in an open letter published Monday in the British daily The Guardian.
The festival is scheduled to open on Thursday.
“This festival comes in the aftermath of the wanton destruction and killing in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military in 2014, and the re-election of an Israeli prime minister who denies Palestinians their equal rights and self-determination,” the letter read in part.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Senate passes resolution condemning anti-Semitism in Europe
WASHINGTON (JTA) – The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution condemning anti-Semitism in Europe.
The resolution, authored by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) had 60 cosponsors. It calls on the secretary of state and attorney general to work with the European Union and other European governments to address the rise in anti-Semitism.
United States and European officials are charged with taking a stand against anti-Semitism and working to end it, Menendez said.
“We have witnessed what happens when anti-Semitism is not condemned whenever and wherever it arises, and we must ensure that history is not repeated,” Menendez said in a statement to JTA.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Spanish Congress to vote on final amendments to Jewish citizenship law
(JTA) — Spain’s congress is poised to vote on final amendments that would make it possible for descendants of Sephardic Jews to apply for citizenship.
The Congress of Deputies is scheduled to vote on the amendments on June 11, according to a statement published on the congress’ website on Monday.
Under the amendments, approved by the Spanish senate on May 27, applicants would be able to apply without traveling to Spain, as proposed in previous amendments which did not pass, but are required to hire a Spanish notary and pass tests on the Spanish language and history.
Applicants can study for the tests and take them at the facilities of the Cervantes Institute, a government entity that offers courses on Spanish culture and its language in over 20 countries, including Israel.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
At the Tonys, Larry David jokes that he’s a victim of showbiz anti-Semitism
Larry David must be feeling anxious about relinquishing the lead role in his Broadway play “A Fish in the Dark.” Or he could just be up to his usual egotistical antics.
On Tuesday night, “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander takes over for David in the play, which has grossed over $21 million since opening earlier this year. At the Tony Awards on Sunday, while presenting the award for best musical (to “Fun Home”) with Alexander, David joked that his play wasn’t nominated for any awards because of anti-Semitism.
Watch the entertaining rant, in which Alexander calls David a loser, below.
From Ynet News
US military chief: Iran will increase funds to proxies after nuclear deal
General Martin Dempsey visits Israel, says Iran will fund ‘additional military capability’ after sanction refief, offers assurances regarding Israel’s military superiority over Gulf states.
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey visited Israel on Tuesday, when he said that sanction relief in the wake of a nuclear deal with Iran will lead to increased funding for the Islamic Republic’s proxies in the Middle East. “I think they will invest in their surrogates; I think they will invest in additional military capability.”
The General said he understands why Israelis believe a nuclear deal will give Iran room to accelerate its funding of surrogate Shiite groups like Hezbollah and to put more resources into its own military.
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From The Times of Israel
Defense minister: Palestinian state unlikely ‘in my lifetime’
Ya’alon warns against the dangers of change in the West Bank, where a Hamas takeover would threaten neighboring Jordan
Israel’s defense minister on Tuesday mirrored contentious remarks made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the run-up to national elections in March, cautioning against the notion of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and stating that he did not foresee such a development in his lifetime.
Moshe Ya’alon, 64, warned that even without territorial concessions, if Israel were to keep its security forces from acting in the West Bank, the survival of the neighboring monarchy in Jordan would be called into question.
Referencing US President Barack Obama’s recent interview on Israel’s Channel 2, in which Obama said he did not foresee an end-of-claims agreement between Israel and the Palestinians during his final year in office, Ya’alon declared, “Some say not in the next year, some say not during their term, but I, to my dismay, with my vast experience…I do not see a stable settlement during the period of my life, and I plan to live a bit more.”
Ya’alon, who spoke from the podium at the Herzliya 2015 security conference, called instead for “a realistic modus vivendi” not rooted in “impossible goals that could cause instability.”
