From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israelis want a solution to the African migrants crisis, though few want them to stay
African migrants protesting in Tel Aviv, June 10, 2017. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
(JTA) — When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walked back an agreement with the United Nations last week to resettle abroad at least half of the African migrants seeking asylum in his country, it did not play well with the majority of Israelis.
But don’t assume that means the public wants the migrants to stay in Israel, pollsters warn. While most knocked Netanyahu for a lack of leadership, the Israeli public overwhelmingly rejects the idea of granting residency to all or most of the migrants.
“They are not ready to have 40,000 people being recognized,” said Tamar Hermann, the academic director of the Guttmann Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute, which has done surveys on the issue.
Hermann was referring to the 40,000 or so Sudanese and Eritrean migrants who have made their way to Israel, often to South Tel Aviv. While nongovernmental organizations in Israel and Jewish and civil rights group abroad consider them refugees, opponents regard them as “infiltrators” who came to Israel for economic reasons, not fleeing persecution.
Click here for the full story
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Third country, presumably Uganda, will ‘probably’ accept African asylum seekers, Israeli government tells high court
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Israeli government told the country’s Supreme Court it is “highly probable” that a third country will accept African asylum seekers deported by Israel.
The third country is widely reported to be Uganda, although that country denies it.
The state is asking the court to be allowed to extend the detention of 212 Sudanese and Eritrean migrants currently being held in a detention facility in southern Israel until a final deportation deal is reached. Human rights organizations are demanding their release.
The government reportedly sent a special envoy to Uganda, one of the countries with which a deportation agreement is said to have been signed prior to a deal — which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced and then rejected on Tuesday — with the United Nations.
Click here for the full story
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
How JTA reported on Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination
A view of the casket holding Martin Luther King Jr. during his funeral procession in Atlanta, April 9, 1968. (Ken Guthrie/Getty Images)
(JTA) — He demanded civil rights by invoking the Hebrew Bible, just one of the many reasons the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. drew praise, admiration and followers among American Jews in the 1960s. And when he was gunned down in Memphis, Tennessee, by an assassin on this date in 1968, JTA reported on the “profound grief” of virtually every national Jewish organization — and on incidents that foretold the deterioration of black-Jewish relations in the decades to come.
On April 8, four days after the assassination, JTA reported on a memorial march for King. “Scores” of Jewish leaders took part, and the grand rabbi of France, Jacob Kaplan, sent a telegram of condolence to King’s widow, Coretta Scott King.
That same today, the Washington Hebrew Congregation held a memorial for King where Rabbi Richard Hirsch, head of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, described the late civil rights leader as “the righteous man of our generation” and “the most American of Americans.”
Israelis, too, were touched by King’s legacy and mortified by his assassination. Israel’s president, Zalman Shazar, sent condolences to Mrs. King, JTA reported, and Foreign Minister Abba Eban called the slain leader “an historic figure in the struggle for freedom and equality” whose work “will live long after him.”
From PressTV
Israeli forces kill 2 more Palestinians, injure over 250
Israeli forces have shot dead two Palestinian protesters at the Gaza border, raising the death toll to 22 in Israel’s brutal crackdown on the week-long protests demanding the right to return to homeland.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said 38-year-old Ussama Khamis Qadih was killed east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday.
The ministry also said that Magdy Ramadan Shabat was shot dead east of Gaza City.
According to the report, 252 Palestinians were also injured during the clashes, five of them critically.
Clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli troops near Gaza’s fence as large groups of protesters gathered for a new round of protests as part of a six-week rally dubbed the “Great March of Return,” which began last Friday.
Thousands of protesters gathered in locations near the fence east of Khan Yunis, in the south of the blockaded Palestinian enclave, and east of Gaza City.
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
‘Netanyahu, Trump clash over early Syria withdrawal plan’
A recent telephone conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump grew tense over Trump’s earlier expression of his tendency to withdraw US forces from Syria “very soon,” according to two US officials.
Netanyahu and Trump discussed regional developments over the phone on Wednesday, according to the official account from the United States.
But two unidentified US officials said later that Netanyahu had objected to Trump’s remark that he would like US forces out of Syria shortly, according to The Times of Israel.
There were no more details on the give-and-take between the Israeli prime minister and the US president.
On March 29, Trump said the US would “be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now.”
The US has reportedly more than 2,000 troops stationed in eastern Syria, in addition to several thousand others in the Arab country’s north.
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
Israel, Saudi Arabia have common enemy, areas of cooperation: Bin Salman
In an apparent reference to Iran, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman says the regimes in Saudi Arabia and Israel have “a common enemy” and that they could immediately normalize their relations once the Palestine issue is resolved.
In an interview with the TIME magazine published on Thursday, the first in line to the Saudi throne spoke of the prospect of Riyadh-Tel Aviv relations, describing the regime’s conflict with the Palestinians as the only obstacle to the normalization of ties with Israel.
“We have a common enemy, and it seems that we have a lot of potential areas to have economic cooperation,” the crown prince said.
The remarks come days after bin Salman, in an interview with the Atlantic, attempted to put Israeli and Palestinian land claims on an equal footing in a dramatic shift in Riyadh’s long-held position on Palestine, saying Israelis, like Palestinians, have the “right” to have “their own homeland.”
That interview stirred so much controversy among the defenders of the Palestinian cause that apparently forced the prince’s father, Saudi King Salman, to reaffirm support for the Palestinians and their “legitimate rights” to an independent state in a phone call with US President Donald Trump.
Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, repeated the same stance in his remarks to TIME and said both Israelis and Palestinians “have the right to live and coexist.”
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
US has made a ‘decision’ on withdrawal of troops from Syria
US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats says Washington has made its “decision” on the status of US troops in Syria after calls by President Donald Trump for the removal of American forces from the Muslim country.
“I can’t go into the details of what was decided on yesterday with our national security team and with the president, but there will be released a statement shortly relative to the decision that was made on that topic,” Coats told reporters at a gathering of the Defense Writers Group in Washington Wednesday morning.
In a statement released by the White House the “decision” was not referenced and no timeline was offered for possible withdrawal of US troops from the war-ravaged country.
“The military mission to eradicate ISIS in Syria is coming to a rapid end, with ISIS being almost completely destroyed,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in the statement. “The United States and our partners remain committed to eliminating the small ISIS presence in Syria that our forces have not already eradicated. We will continue to consult with our allies and friends regarding future plans. We expect countries in the region and beyond, plus the United Nations, to work toward peace and ensure that ISIS never re-emerges.”
During a joint White House press conference with the leaders of the Baltic States on Tuesday, Trump said he is interested in withdrawal of the US army forces from Syria.
A US-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against what are said to be terrorist targets inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate.
From PressTV
UN refugee agency urges Israel to ‘reconsider’ decision on cancelling migrant deal
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to reconsider” his decision to renege on an agreement on resettling thousands of African asylum seekers following fierce right-wing criticism.
“UNHCR continues to believe that a win-win agreement that would both benefit Israel and people needing asylum is in everyone’s best interests,” the UN refugee agency said in a statement on Tuesday, encouraging the Israeli regime “to consider the matter further, while standing ready to be of help.”
Netanyahu said in a televised address on Monday that Israel and the UNHCR had reached an agreement “for the departure of at least 16,250 migrants…to Western nations.” However, a few hours later he put the deal on hold until further notice, and earlier on Tuesday changed course in a dramatic move and said that he had cancelled the agreement altogether, after facing pressure from his right-wing base.
“After having heard numerous comments on the agreement, I have examined the pros and cons and have decided to cancel the agreement,” the premier said.
There are currently some 42,000 African migrants in Israel, and more than 1,400 asylum seekers are held in two detention centers, including the notorious Holot facility in Negev desert.
Prior to the deal with the UN, Israel had handed notices to nearly 39,000 asylum seekers, mainly Eritreans and Sudanese, notifying them that they would be deported to Uganda and Rwanda.
Click here for the full story
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
British Jewish community leaders agree to meet with Labour Party head Jeremy Corbyn
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking in London, Feb. 27, 2016. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
(JTA) — British Jewish community leaders agreed to meet with embattled Labour Party head Jeremy Corbyn to discuss anti-Semitism in the party ranks.
In a letter sent Wednesday to Corbyn, Jonathan Arkush, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and Jonathan Goldstein, chair of the Jewish Leadership Council, thanked Corbyn “for the commitment you have made to addressing the anguish amongst many people in the Jewish community over the issue of anti-Semitism within the Labour Party.”
The Jewish leaders also made clear in the letter that, while they agree that Labour’s new General Secretary, Jennie Formby, should take part in any meeting, fighting against anti-Semitism in the party will require Corbyn, as its head, to “use your own personal authority as leader of the Labour Party to drive the changes required and to ensure that there will be significant, timely and measurable progress on the issues we laid out in our letter of the 28th March.”
Click here for the full story
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jeremy Corbyn attends seder hosted by far-left Jewish group
British Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking at the National Transport Design Centre in Coventry, England, Feb. 26, 2018. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Jeremy Corbyn, the embattled head of the British Labour Party, attended a seder hosted by a far-left Jewish group, angering the mainstream Jewish community.
Known as Jewdas, the group said in an op-ed in The Guardian that it has “attempted to build a community based around activist, socialist and diasporist Judaism in the UK.” It has has called Israel a “steaming pile of sewage which needs to be properly disposed of” and called Jewish community protests against Corbyn’s handling of anti-Semitism in the party “a bout of faux-outrage greased with hypocrisy and opportunism.”
On Tuesday, the day after what Corbyn called the “third night” seder, he defended his attendance there.
Click here for the full story
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Hollywood executives offer support to Netflix after BDS movement asks it to scrap ‘Fauda’
Netflix has taken heat from the BDS movement for streaming the Israeli show “Fauda.” (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
(JTA) — More than 50 entertainment industry executives have signed a letter in support of Netflix, after the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel threatened a lawsuit over its distribution of the Israeli drama series “Fauda.”
The show focuses on a commando unit of the Israeli Defense Forces whose members embed themselves in the Palestinian community, gathering intelligence and preventing terror attacks. Fauda is an Arabic word meaning “chaos.” The show incorporates both Arabic and Hebrew dialogue. It airs on Netflix with English subtitles. Netflix is set to release the second season of the series next month.
The letter sent to Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, chief content creator, and Peter Friedlander, vice president of original series, praised “Fauda” for presenting a “nuanced portrayal of issues related to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict,” Variety reported. The letter also said that the show, “mirrors the power of the arts in general; they bring up difficult but important conversations, expanding our horizons and allowing us to experience different points of view.”
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
US conditions support for Salman’s kingship to Israel normalization: Dissident prince
A dissident Saudi prince has revealed a series of “conditions” set by the US and Israel for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to secure their help in ascending to the throne at home, among them the normalization of Riyadh’s ties with the regime in Tel Aviv.
Khalid bin Farhan Al Saud, who fled Saudi Arabia in 2007, made the remarks to the pan-Arab al-Hewar television channel in Germany, where he has obtained political asylum, Lebanon’s al-Ahd news network reported on Thursday.
Besides normalizing ties with Israel, the kingdom would have to guarantee security for Israeli vessels travelling through the Straits of Tiran between the Gulf of Aqaba from the Red Sea proper if bin Salman seeks to become a monarch, he added.
Israeli vessels are allowed to freely traverse across the waters under the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, which Riyadh ostensibly does not recognize.
Moreover, Israel would have to be given a role in the so-called Neom project.
A brainchild of bin Salman, the project envisages the creation of a transnational city and economic zone in the Tabuk region in northwestern Saudi Arabia, which lies close to the border with Jordan and Egypt.
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
US approves $1.3 bn worth of artillery sale to Saudi Arabia
The US administration has given the green light to a $1.3 billion sale of artillery to Saudi Arabia, ignoring reports that its weapons have greatly contributed to a high rate of civilian deaths amid Riyadh’s war on Yemen.
President Donald Trump’s administration told the Congress of the planned sale late on Thursday, according to the State Department.
The package of arms planned to be sold to the Saudis include about 180 Paladin howitzer artillery-firing vehicles, systems that look like a combination of a tank and a cannon and are capable of firing 155mm shells.
The Congress has now 30 days to stop the new US arms sale to Saudi Arabia although it seems highly unlikely as the White House normally seeks the approval of key lawmakers before making such announcements.
This is a second major weapons deal between the US and Saudi Arabia during a trip by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the US. The young prince arrived in Washington two weeks ago and has already signed a deal that involved more than $1 billion in missiles.
Saudi Arabia was the first country Trump visited after taking office last year. It was announced during his visit to Riyadh that Washington could sell $110 billion in military equipment to Saudi Arabia in a period of 10 years. The State Department said at the time that the deal could grow to $350 billion over a decade.
Click here for the full story
From PressTV
Ahed Tamimi lawyer accuses Israeli interrogator of sexual harassment
The lawyer of imprisoned 17-year-old Palestinian girl Ahed Tamimi has accused her Israeli interrogator of sexual harassment.
According to the Middle East Monitor website on Wednesday, Gaby Lasky has filed a complaint with the Israeli general attorney pertaining to the inappropriate manner of Tamimi’s interrogation while emphasizing her status as a female minor.
Referring to leaked footage of Tamimi’s interrogation, Lasky stressed that the interrogator’s actions are a “gross violation of the law” which amount to sexual harassment.
He noted that one interrogator told Tamimi in Arabic that she had “eyes like an angel,” while making “creepy attempts at flirting” with her.
Lasky added that the fact that Tamimi’s interrogation was carried out without the presence of a female officer is also a breach of the law.
In December, Tamimi became the latest face of Palestinian resistance when footage emerged of her slapping one and then another fully-armed Israeli officer in the face during a protest in her home village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah.
Click here for the full story
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Iceland welcomes its first rabbi while considering a ban on circumcision
Rabbi Avi and Mushky Feldman with their daughters in Reykjavik, March 26, 2018. (Courtesy of Avi Feldman)
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (JTA) — At a windswept harbor of this Nordic capital, a bearded man wearing a black hat dips eating utensils into the icy water while hissing from pain induced by the bitter cold.
Perplexed by the spectacle, a caretaker helpfully offers to let the man and his three companions use a washing basin to clean their dishes instead of precariously bending over the freezing water.
“Thank you, but we need to do it in the sea,” one of the men, 27-year-old Avi Feldman of New York, tells the caretaker. “It’s for religious reasons.”
Feldman and his companions, a journalist and two relatives who are visiting him here for the holidays, haul the wet dishes back to a car parked at the foot of one of the many snow-capped volcanoes surrounding this gray but picturesque capital city.
Click here for the full story
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Trump administration: Combating anti-Semitism a ‘priority,’ but no envoy named
President Donald Trump at a White House news conference, April 3, 2018. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A State Department spokeswoman said combating anti-Semitism remains a “priority” for the Trump administration, but would not say if the Trump administration would fill the congressionally mandated job of an anti-Semitism monitor.
“The position of Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism is currently unfilled, but the Office of International Religious Freedom at the Department of State continues actively to support the mission of that office,” the spokeswoman said in response to a JTA query about why the position remains empty.
“Combating anti-Semitism internationally is a priority for this administration,” the spokeswoman said. “President Trump and Vice President Pence have publicly expressed their deep concern about high levels of anti-Semitism globally.”
Click here for the full story
