Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup
A service of DavidDuke.com
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israeli, Saudi former officials have met to discuss Iran strategy
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Former officials of the Israeli and Saudi governments have held five meetings over the last year and a half to discuss Iran strategy.
The meetings were confirmed Thursday at a press conference in Washington at the Council on Foreign Relations. Speaking were participants Anwar Majed Eshki, a retired Saudi general, and Dore Gold, a former adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who will soon assume the position of director general at Israel’s foreign ministry.
The meetings took place in India, Italy and the Czech Republic, according to Bloomberg News, which confirmed the meetings with another Israeli participant, Shimon Shapira, a retired Israeli general.
“We discovered we have the same problems and same challenges and some of the same answers,” Shapira told Bloomberg, referring to Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its involvement in regional conflicts. Both countries have expressed skepticism about an emergin deal between Iran and the major powers. The Obama administration backs the deal.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Hezbollah leader threatens to displace ‘millions’ of Israelis
(JTA) — The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group said “millions” of Israelis will be displaced if there is a new conflict between the Shiite group and the Jewish state.
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah made the remarks Friday during a rally in southern Beirut, responding to a comment from Israel that a future war could displace more than a million Lebanese, The Associated Press reported.
On Thursday, the Jerusalem Post quoted an unnamed Israeli military official saying that if given no choice, Israel would “evacuate 1 million, 1.5 million residents in Lebanon, and act.”
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Presidents Conference slams French response to Orange’s BDS announcement
(JTA) – The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations criticized what it said were inconsistencies in French diplomacy’s reaction to Orange’s pullout from Israel.
The statement Friday by the Conference, an umbrella for 50 national Jewish organizations, focused on a series of messages about the West Bank posted on Twitter by France’s ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud, directly following the announcement Thursday by France’s Orange telecommunications giant that it intends to pull out of Israel.
Faced with complaints over what was perceived as a politically motivated act of disassociation with Israel, Orange, which is partially controlled by the French government, released a clarification on its website explaining the move was the result of a company strategy. Israel, Orange said, was the only country where Orange was operating through an affiliate, Partner Communications — from which Orange now wished to part.
Yet Araud’s tweets, the Conference of Presidents wrote, were seen as “justifying a boycott of Israel by raising extraneous issues regarding the status of the West Bank territories.”
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Blinken replaces Kerry at AJC conference
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Tony Blinken, the deputy to Secretary of State John Kerry, will replace him in a keynote address to the American Jewish Committee’s annual Washington conference.
Kerry was to have addressed the AJC’s Global Forum on June 8, but has been waylaid by a broken leg.
Blinken will address the AJC weeks before the June 30 deadline for a nuclear deal between the major powers and Iran.
The Israeli government and a number of pro-Israel groups, including the AJC, have expressed concerns that the emerging sanctions relief for nuclear rollback deal is too generous to the Iranian regime.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
5 delightfully Jewish things from Dr. Ruth’s New York Mag interview
Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the 87-year-old sex therapist and TV host, has been in the news this week for a controversial statement on sexual consent. However, she’s also been on the interview circuit to promote her new memoir, “The Doctor is In: Dr. Ruth on Love, Life, and Joie de Vivre,” which was published Tuesday. In a New York Magazine interview published on Friday, Westheimer reveals some intriguing facts from her book and her Jewish past.
She lost her virginity atop a pile of hay on a kibbutz.
As an orphan after the Holocaust, in which her parents were killed, Westheimer immigrated to what was then the British Mandate of Palestine — which is where this steamy encounter took place.
From PressTV
French firm Orange backtracks on Israel decision
The chairman of French communications company Orange says it will continue operating in Israel, despite a previous announcement that it would halt its work there.
Stephane Richard said that he “sincerely” regretted a “controversy” over the French telecoms firm’s ties with Israel.
Richard denied that Orange would soon end its brand-licensing agreement with Partner, Israel’s second largest mobile operator.
Orange announced plans to end its operation in Israel earlier this month. It planned to cease cooperation with Israeli operator Partner Communications Company headquartered in Tel Aviv over the latter’s illegal activities in Palestinian territories.
The comments from Richard come just 2 days after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu threatened the French government to “distance itself publicly from the miserable statement and the miserable action of a company that is partially owned by the government of France.”
From PressTV
Fabius moves to appease Israel after Netanyahu request
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has expressed Paris’ opposition to any boycott of the Tel Aviv regime as tensions rise between the two sides over plans by a French firm to withdraw its brand from Israel.
“Although it is for the president of the Orange group to determine the commercial strategy of the company, France is firmly opposed to a boycott of Israel,” Fabius said in a statement released on Friday.
The top French diplomat, however, said that the position of France and the European Union (EU) on Israel’s illegal settler units is “consistent and widely known.”
The EU and France have previously criticized the Israeli regime for its illegal settlement expansion in the Palestinian territories it has occupied since 1967.
The comments by Fabius came despite earlier guidelines by the institution under his watch against economic activities by French businesses in Israeli settlements. The guidelines were non-binding, however.
From Russia Today
‘Russia would attack NATO only in mad person’s dream’ – Putin
Published time: June 06, 2015 03:22
Edited time: June 06, 2015 10:51
Russia is not building up its offensive military capabilities overseas and is only responding to security threats caused by US and NATO military expansion on its borders, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Italian outlet Il Corriere della Sera.
READ MORE: Moscow ‘closely looks’ into reported US plans to return medium-range missiles to Europe
Speaking to the paper on the eve of his visit to Italy, Putin stressed that one should not take the ongoing “Russian aggression” scaremongering in the West seriously, as a global military conflict is unimaginable in the modern world.
“I think that only an insane person and only in a dream can imagine that Russia would suddenly attack NATO. I think some countries are simply taking advantage of people’s fears with regard to Russia. They just want to play the role of front-line countries that should receive some supplementary military, economic, financial or some other aid,” Putin said.
Click here for the full story
From Russia Today
West frustrated over Kiev’s breaches of Minsk deals – Russian UN envoy
Published time: June 05, 2015 20:37
Edited time: June 05, 2015 22:30
There is frustration among Western leaders with Kiev’s failure to make peace efforts and implement the Minsk agreements, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin told the UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Friday.
The Security Council gathered on Friday to call for the full implementation of the agreements reached in Minsk on February 12 amid escalating tensions between the conflicting sides in recent weeks.
Click here for the full story
From Russia Today
Argentina lodges appeal against ‘illegal’ US court ruling handing $5.4bln to creditors
Published time: June 06, 2015 12:55
The Argentine government has said it will file an appeal against what it sees an “illegal” and “unfortunate” ruling by an American court to pay $5.4 billion of defaulted debt to over 500 additional creditors, including two US-based hedge funds.
The ruling, made by the US District Court Judge Thomas Griesa in Manhattan on Friday, accuses Buenos Aires of violating an equal treatment provision of the country’s contracts with its sovereign debt holders. As with previous similar rulings, Buenos Aires has refused to accept the decision.
READ MORE: Argentina passes law to reclaim default debt from New York
Click here for the full story
From Ynet News
Egyptian court overturns naming Hamas terror organization
Despite ruling, lawyer says he would request Egypt’s Foreign Ministry to place Hamas on terror organization list based on previous judicial decisions placing Hamas’ armed wing on list.
An Egyptian appeals court on Saturday cancelled a ruling to list the Palestinian group Hamas as a terrorist organisation, judicial sources said, signalling a possible easing of pressure on the Gaza Strip’s ruling faction.
The Urgent Matters Appeals Court cited a lack of jurisdiction as the reason for annulling the earlier court’s ruling.
From The Times of Israel
New poll finds pro-Jewish attitudes up in Europe
Amid rise in anti-Semitic crimes, marked increase in pro-Jewish sentiment in six surveyed countries
June 5, 2015, 12:57 am
A new study by the Pew Research Group found a rise in positive attitudes to Jews in Europe, amid an increase in reported anti-Semitic attacks.
The report surveyed over 6,000 people in April and May from six European countries: France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy and Poland. The results not only demonstrate majority favorable views of Jews, but also a marked increase in those views over the last 25 years.
Fully 92% of French respondents maintained a positive perspective of Jewish people, up from 89% last year and significantly higher than just 72% in a 1991 poll. Those who said they had “very favorable” views of Jews increased from 25% in 2014 to 39% in 2015.
A large majority of Britons (86%), Germans (80%) and Spaniards (75%) also responded positively about their attitude toward Jews.
The German numbers were significantly higher than in 1991, when only 53% of Germans held positive views of Jews. And the number of Germans who viewed Jews negatively fell from 24% in 1991 to 9%.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Dermer: Israel’s challenge is integrating haredim
WASHINGTON (JTA) — One of the most important challenges facing Israel is integrating its haredi Orthodox Jews, Israel’s ambassador to Washington told an Orthodox Jewish gathering.
“I see it as a huge opportunity, an untapped potential,” Ron Dermer said, this week addressing the Orthodox Union, a U.S. umbrella group with a mostly centrist Orthodox constituency.
“If it’s done in a smart way they can both be integrated and feel a part of Israeli society while at the same time they can keep the very unique special identities that they have,” Dermer said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new coalition government includes haredi parties for the first time since 2013.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Citing freedom of information, Brazil professor seeks list of Israelis on campus
(JTA) — Acting at the request of pro-Palestinian groups, the deputy dean of a Brazilian university urged faculty to list Israelis working or studying on campus.
Jose Fernando Schlosser, deputy dean of the Federal University of Santa Maria in Brazil’s south made the appeal in a flyer he sent out on May 15, the online edition of the O Globo daily reported Wednesday.
The flyer requests “urgent dispatch of information on the possible presence of Israeli students or teachers” in post-graduate programs. The text explains the request came from several groups, including the Santa Maria Committee of Solidarity with Palestinian People. According to the university, the request is based on Brazil’s 2012 law on freedom of information, which orders public institutions to provide information to interested citizens.
Reproduction of the flyer that surfaced on social media and carried the text “Freedom for Palestine, Boycott Israel” were forgeries of the original, which did not contain that text, the university said in a statement to local media. The university said it would file its own complaint for forgery.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jewish Women International joins the fight for ‘female Viagra’
This week’s approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of the first-ever drug meant to address female sexual dysfunction came after an intense lobbying campaign by Even the Score, a group of 24 organizations invested in women’s health.
The coalition — credited with helping win federal approval for flibanserin, the female equivalent of Viagra for men — includes Jewish Women International.
On Thursday, after twice rejecting flibanserin, a federal advisory panel voted 18-6 to recommend that the FDA approve the drug, designed to treat hypoactive sexual desire disorder – a condition characterized by a lack of desire for sexual activity. The FDA now faces an August 18 deadline for final approval of the drug.
Below is JWI CEO Lori Weinstein’s statement at the FDA hearing on Thursday:
From Russia Today
ISIS may have potential to ‘build chemical weapons’, Australia says
Published time: June 06, 2015 09:00
Edited time: June 06, 2015 12:15
Australia’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop, has voiced concerns over an alleged possibility of the Islamic State group to build chemical weapons. There have been several reports of ISIS using toxic chlorine gas in homemade bombs in Iraq and Syria.
“The use of chlorine by Daesh [an Arabic term for ISIS], and its recruitment of highly technically trained professionals, including from the west, have revealed far more serious efforts in chemical weapons development,” Bishop said late on Friday in Perth.
“Daesh is likely to have amongst its tens of thousands of recruits the technical expertise necessary to further refine precursor materials and build chemical weapons,” she said.
Chlorine gas is a strong oxidizer, which may react with flammable materials. The toxic gas, which was first used as a weapon during WWI by Germany, is on the banned list of chemicals under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention.
READ MORE: Iraqi Kurds: ‘Desperate’ ISIS using suicide bombers laden with chemical weapons
Kurdish officials said its peshmerga fighters, busy reinforcing their positions on a highway between Mosul and the Syrian border, came under attack from an IS suicide bomber driving a truck filled with toxic chlorine gas late January. Authorities say their forces destroyed the truck with a rocket before it had a chance to detonate near soldiers.
Shortly after the attack, the Kurdish fighters began to complain of “nausea, vomiting, dizziness and weakness” – all common symptoms of chlorine poisoning. Soon they found “20 empty canisters” in the back of the attacker’s vehicle.
The Kurds, who have been battling against Islamic State militants since last year, sent the remains of the suicide bomber to a laboratory, which said “the samples contained levels of chlorine that suggested the substance was used in weaponized form.”
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the chemical weapons watchdog, conducted a fact-finding mission in neighboring Syria last year, where ISIS has been fighting against the Bashar Assad government. According to the OPCW probe, chlorine was used “systematically and repeatedly” in Syria in 2014.
Click here for the full story
From Russia Today
Water wars: ISIS shuts down Iraqi dam, uses freshwater as weapon – reports
Published time: June 06, 2015 06:59
Edited time: June 06, 2015 12:19
Islamic State militants have shut the gates to the Euphrates River dam in western Iraq, limiting the amount of water coming through, media reports have said. The tactic gives the group battlefield advantage, and has also sparked humanitarian concerns.
By reducing the flow of the water downstream, Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants have reportedly made it easier to cross the river and attack pro-government forces based further south.
Click here for the full story
From Ynet News
Druze, Circassian to hold protest rally in Jerusalem
Community leaders say government funds promised to them for education were not transferred; ‘We should be fighting for the borders of the country, not for our rights,’ says Druze mayor.
The Druze and Circassian communities in Israel will go on strike Sunday and plan a mass protest rally in front of Kiryat HaMemshala (the government complex) in Jerusalem, saying government funds promised to them were not transferred.
Druze community leaders even decided to cancel an annual appreciation day for the Druze soldiers, which would have otherwise been marked on Sunday.
From The Times of Israel
Pope backs sainthood candidacy of allegedly anti-Semitic priest
In late 1800s, Leon Dehon said Jews ‘favor enemies of Church,’ called Talmud ‘corrupt’; pontiff says attitude must be seen in historical context
June 6, 2015, 1:22 am
Pope Francis raised eyebrows on Friday by supporting the candidacy for sainthood of a French priest whose dossier was put on hold in 2005 because of his alleged anti-Semitic views.
Leon Dehon (1843-1925), founder of the Priests of the Sacred Heart order, had been declared venerable in 1997 by pope John Paul II but his beatification — the next step on the path to sainthood — ran into difficulties.
It had been initially scheduled for April 2005 but was delayed by John Paul II’s death. Attempts to revive his case stalled under Francis’s predecessor Benedict XVI, who set up a commission to investigate the allegations of anti-Semitism.
But Francis told a Priests of the Sacred Heart delegation on Friday that he wanted the beatification process to “end well” and insisted Dehon’s attitude be placed in a historical context, according to religious news agency I.Media.
