Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup
A service of DavidDuke.com
From PressTV
Israeli navy forces seize Swedish ship en route to Gaza: Reports
The Israeli navy troops have reportedly captured a Swedish ship en route the Gaza Strip to break the regime’s long-time blockade of the Palestinian sliver.
Contact was lost earlier with one of the vessels of the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla III as Israeli navy ships approached the convoy, the Freedom Flotilla Organization said.
The Swedish-registered the Marianne of Gothenberg was surrounded by Israeli gunboats while it was on the way to Gaza in an attempt to break the siege.
According to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), their latest contact with the Marianne boat was when she was still in the international waters, about 105 nautical miles off the Gaza coast.
The group added that three sailing boats accompanying Marianne — Rachel, Vittorio, and Juliano II – have changed their course and are returning to their ports of departure.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
U.S. Jews among biggest backers of same-sex marriage, data show
(JTA) — American Jews are among the most supportive religious groups of same-sex marriage.
Some 77 percent of American Jews expressed support for same-sex marriage, according to data gathered in 2014 by the Public Religion Research Institute. Some 47 percent of American Jews polled said they “strongly favor” allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally, and 30 percent said they “favor” it.
Thirteen Jewish groups, among them organizations representing the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative streams, were among the 25 groups that joined the amicus brief filed by the Anti-Defamation League in Obergefell v. Hodges, the case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday that legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
The only religious group to be more supportive of same-sex marriage are Buddhists at 84 percent, with 48 strongly favoring and 36 in favor. Seventy-seven percent of religiously affiliated also support same-sex marriage, with 45 strongly in favor and 32 in favor.
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From PressTV
Israeli forces begin military maneuvers around Gaza Strip
Israeli forces have begun a week-long military drill in areas surrounding the besieged Gaza Strip, Press TV reports.
The military maneuvers started on Sunday and will continue for the next several days.
Tel Aviv has said that the military exercises are aimed at keeping Israeli soldiers in the Gaza front “ready” for any potential aggression on the coastal enclave.
The drills were taking place mainly in the western Negev desert near the Israeli settlement of Sderot.
“These army trainings are previously planned. They are not something new, but this time the exercises are taking place in areas close to the Gaza Strip,” said Mohammad Masri, a military expert from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
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From Russia Today
Israel intercepts & escorts Gaza flotilla flagship, RT columnist aboard
Edited time: June 29, 2015 13:45
Contact has been lost with the Swedish boat Marianne, which had been leading the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla, after other boats turned back. The IDF announced that they intercepted and searched the vessel which had tried to “breach the maritime blockade.”
RT’s Nadezhda Kevorkova who is on board the Marianne, the flotilla’s flagship, said by phone that a military helicopter had been flying above the flotilla as well as an unknown military plane “flying very low above the water” near the activists’ vessels.
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From Russia Today
Israel to be fully encircled with hi-tech fence
The Security Cabinet of Israel has approved construction of new sections of the fortified fence on its border with Jordan. When finished, it will fence Israel off from the outside world completely.
The cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going to finalize fortification of the national borders with constructing a barrier on the remaining parts of the frontier.
The 30km border fence running north of the port of Eilat in the southern part of the Red Sea is supposed to prevent African migrants and “armed jihadi infiltrators” from entering Israel via Jordan, Reuters reports.
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From Ynet News
Ya’alon: Protecting Syrian Druze is condition of Israeli aid to rebels
Defense minister says Israel knew there were rebels among those it was helping, and conditioned its help on terrorist groups not approaching the fence, and the safety of the Druze. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said on Monday it had conditioned humanitarian aid to select Syrian rebel groups on its border – on them not harming the Druze minority in the country’s civil war.
The Druze in Syria have long been loyal to President Bashar Assad, and their brethren in Israel and the Golan Heights; who have been lobbying the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to safeguard the community.
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From Ynet News
Kerry says ‘too soon’ to tell if Iran deal sealed
Russian FM Lavrov on his way to Vienna to meet with American counterpart, while Iranian FM returns from Tehran after consultation with leadership.
US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Monday it was too soon to tell if tough negotiations with Iran on a deal curtailing its nuclear program will succeed.
On the eve of Tuesday’s deadline, which everyone has already acknowledged will slip, Kerry met with Yukiya Amano, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog.
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From The Times of Israel
Three of four flotilla vessels headed for Gaza turn back
Contact lost with Swedish-registered ‘Marianne’ making its way to Palestinian enclave alone; Israeli Navy boats said to be nearby
Three of the four vessels that make up the flotilla en route to the Gaza Strip changed course and were heading back to their ports of origin, organizers announced overnight Sunday-Monday, adding that the Swedish-registered Marianne of Gothenburg was continuing on solo toward the blockaded Palestinian enclave.
Organizers also said they lost contact with the Marianne shortly after 4:00 a.m. local time, when it was about 100 nautical miles away from the Gaza coast, and that at least three Israeli Navy boats were seen trailing the flotilla earlier.
It was not yet clear if the ship was intercepted by the IDF.
“Marianne called at 1:06 CET: 3 boats, the closest being 500 m away. They have identified themselves as Israeli military. #NextPortGaza,” the Freedom Flotilla tweeted.
From The Times of Israel
European Bank set for emergency talks as ‘Grexit’ looms
Greece hurtling toward default; French prime minister warns of ‘real risk’ country will leave eurozone
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — The European Central Bank was set to hold emergency talks Sunday on whether to keep or cut its financial lifeline to Athens, as France warned of a “real risk” Greece will leave the euro.
After talks in Brussels broke down in acrimony Saturday between Athens’ left-wing leaders and the rest of the eurozone, Greece hurtled toward default with its EU-IMF creditors, left solely reliant on emergency cash from the ECB.
Time was of the essence after scenes of anxious Greek citizens queuing at cash machines — fearing that capital controls may be introduced — and the horror scenario of a Greek exit from the euro, often referred to as a Grexit, is expected to unsettle global financial markets Monday morning.
Hopes were slim that ECB chief Mario Draghi and the Governing Board, who were set to hold a telephone conference, would keep cash-starved Greece on financial life support, which was so far based on hopes Greece would reach a deal.
“There is no reason to give more money,” said one source close to the negotiations on Saturday. “The ECB will suspend ELA tomorrow, it’s clear,” the source said, referring to the so-called Emergency Liquidity Assistance.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israeli Cabinet moves control of developing natural gas to gov’t
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Israeli Cabinet voted to transfer to the government control over the development of natural gas, calling it a matter of national security.
On Sunday, the Cabinet voted to allow the government to override the Antitrust Authority, which objects to the current draft agreement between the Israeli government and the gas companies, U.S.-based Noble Energy and Israeli-owned Delek Group. The full Knesset will vote on Monday.
“I am determined to advance a realistic solution that will bring gas to the Israeli economy,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday at the Cabinet meeting. “I will not capitulate to populist proposals that will leave the gas deep underground. We have already seen enough countries that succumbed to these pressures and the gas has remained in the ground. This cannot be allowed to happen here.”
The Cabinet move comes days after the security Cabinet unanimously approved the expedited development and expansion of the natural gas fields that have been discovered off Israel’s coast.
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From PressTV
Palestinian detainee ends hunger strike: Lawyer
Palestinian detainee Khader Adnan has ended his 55-day hunger strike after Israel agreed to release him in two weeks, his lawyer says.
“Khader Adnan ended his hunger strike last night, after an agreement was reached to release him on July 12,” his lawyer Jawad Boulos said Sunday.
Boulos said that doctors at the Israeli hospital where he is being kept considered ways to start feeding him.
In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoners Club also confirmed that Adnan had begun to eat and drink.
On Sunday, Adnan’s family was allowed to visit him in the hospital for the first time since he began his hunger strike.
From Russia Today
‘Initiative is in ISIS hands’, coalition airstrikes not enough to win – Kremlin
Besides controlling large parts of Iraq and Syria, ISIS also has a “military and political initiative” ramping up its activity in other states, a Kremlin foreign policy aide said, insisting on a closer engagement of the anti-ISIS coalition with Damascus.
Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) “controls large parts of Syria and Iraq, including important facilities of their economic infrastructure,” a senior Russian foreign policy adviser, Yury Ushakov said, as quoted by TASS.
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From The Times of Israel
Israel to free Palestinian security detainee on hunger strike
Khader Adnan, senior Islamic Jihad member, has been in prison for a year under administrative detention
Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan ended a 56-day hunger strike on Sunday after Israel agreed to release him, his lawyer and the Palestinian Prisoners Club announced.
Adnan, a 37-year-old senior member of the Islamic Jihad terror group in the West Bank, has been in prison for a year under administrative detention, which allows imprisonment without charge for renewable periods of six months indefinitely, and his case had been at the heart of concerns in the Palestinian territories.
Officials and activists had recently sounded the alarm, warning that he could die “at any moment”.
“Khader Adnan ended his hunger strike last night, after an agreement was reached to release him on July 12,” his lawyer Jawad Boulos said, adding that doctors at the Israeli hospital he was transferred to were considered ways to start feeding him.
In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoners Club also confirmed that Adnan had broken his hunger strike.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Queen Elizabeth II visits Nazi camp Bergen-Belsen
(JTA) — Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II met with survivors and liberators in a visit to the former Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.
The visit to the camp in northern Germany was the concluding event in the queen’s three-day state visit to Germany that ended Friday. It was her first visit to a Nazi concentration camp.
Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Phillip, met with survivors of the camp and British soldiers who liberated it, the BBC reported.
“The memory of the Holocaust remains such a fundamental aspect of modern Jewish identity that the queen’s journey to memorialize the victims will be viewed as tremendously significant by Jewish communities across the world,” Ephraim Mirvis, the chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth in Britain, who met with the queen at the Bergen-Belsen ceremony, told The Associated Press.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
French, Canadian Jewish leaders meet to discuss fighting Islamic radicalization
MONTREAL (JTA) — Jewish leaders from Montreal and France met in the Canadian city to discuss ways to combat the rising tide of global anti-Semitism and Islamic radicalization.
Thursday’s two-hour meeting at City Hall came the day before an Islamist attack on the premises of a factory near Lyon, France, in which the decapitated body of a man was found and an attacker brandishing an Islamic State flag was arrested. The meeting was billed as being held in the wake of the deadly Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket attacks in January.
The participants included officials from the French Jewish umbrella organization CRIF and B’nai B’rith in France, and locally from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and Jewish member of Parliament Irwin Cotler.
One possibility they discussed for Montreal was to establish a designated police hate crimes unit.
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From Ynet News
Palestinian woman stabs female IDF soldier
Terror suspected after soldier stabbed in neck at security check; attacker arrested; soldier in serious condition.
A Palestinian woman on Monday stabbed a female soldier in the Bethlehem area near Rachel Crossing, which leads to the Tomb of Rachel, apparently during a security check. The soldier was seriously wounded in the neck.
Security forces at the scene arrested the attacker. She is a resident of the territories and was found to have two other knives on her person.
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From The Times of Israel
‘Come home!’ Israeli minister urges French Jews amid terror wave
Hours after Islamist attack near Lyon, Ze’ev Elkin warns that anti-Semitism is rising, terror is increasing; Netanyahu says ‘enlightened world’ battling ‘dark forces’
Israel’s immigration minister urged French Jews to move to Israel Friday, hours after an Islamist attack on a gas factory near Lyon where the severed head of a local businessman was pinned to the gates.
“I call on the Jews of France – come home! Anti-Semitism is rising, terror is increasing,” said Immigration and Absorption Minister Ze’ev Elkin, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.
“We are prepared to receive with open arms the Jews of France,” Elkin wrote in a post on Facebook.
“This is a national mission of the highest priority,” he added.
Netanyahu said the numerous terror attacks witnessed Friday in France and the Mideast demonstrated that the world was locked in a struggle against “dark forces.”
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