Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup
A service of DavidDuke.com
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israel OKs larger Egyptian force to fight jihadis
(JTA) – Israel has reportedly given Egypt the green light to use advanced military force against Islamic militants in the Sinai and has closed a southern Israeli highway as a precaution.
Militants in the Sinai Peninsula affiliated with the Islamic State mounted coordinated attacks on Wednesday that left dozens of Egyptian soldiers dead, Egyptian media reported. Though the peace accord between Israel and Egypt limits the type of weaponry allowed into the Sinai, Israel has continued to waive those limitations to give Egyptian forces a free hand in fighting back against the jihadis, according to an anonymous Israeli official quoted in the Times of Israel.
Egypt has used F-16 warplanes and helicopters.
Israeli Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai told Al Jazeera that Hamas is supporting the militants in the Sinai.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
British gov’t official: We oppose BDS
(JTA) — Britain’s cabinet minister for the Middle East sought to reassure Israeli politicians of his government’s opposition to boycotts against Israel.
“Many people have been concerned by recent media coverage about the United Kingdom links to the BDS movement,” Minister Tobias Ellwood said last week at a conference on Israeli-British ties, speaking of the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel. “But I hope I can reassure you all that this government’s position is very clear indeed. We oppose boycotts. We oppose attempts to delegitimize Israel – they do not further progress towards peace.”
The conference, titled “UK Israel Shared Strategic Challenges Conference,” took place at the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the British government and parliament, and was organized by BICOM, a pro-Israel lobby, and the London-based Jewish News weekly.
Last month, Britain’s national student union voted to join the BDS movement.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Report: Soros, Saban give total of $3 million to Clinton campaign
(JTA) — Billionaires George Soros and Haim Saban donated a total of $3 million to the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, the news site Politico reported.
Saban, an Israeli Hollywood mogul, gave Priorities USA Action, Clinton’s super PAC, $2 million, while Soros, a Jewish, Hungary-born business magnate, donated $1 million, according to Politico’s article published Thursday.
Clinton’s super PAC, which is dedicated to airing ads supporting her presidential bid and attacking her opponents, revealed Thursday that it had raised a total of $15.6 million during the first half of the year.
From PressTV
Israeli forces detain 550 Palestinians in six months
Israeli forces have detained 550 Palestinians, including women and children, in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of 2015.
The detainees, who were arrested in the southern city of al-Khalil (Hebron), included seven women and 105 teenagers, Amjad Najjar, the head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) in al-Khalil, said on Thursday.
The Palestinian official added that 225 of the detainees received sentences through the Israeli practice of the so-called administrative detention, under which Palestinians are kept behind bars without charge or trial for months or even years.
According to Najjar, 78 Palestinian patients “who faced a real life threat as a result of detention” were among the inmates in Israeli jails, where they receive no “medical treatment.”
He noted that Israeli forces treat the Palestinian detainees in a “savage and inhuman way during detention.”
From The Times of Israel
Iran to US: Nuke deal could result in joint cooperation
Foreign Minister Zarif urges end to ‘unjust’ sanctions, calls for West to join forces to stop ‘growing menace’ of ‘extremism, barbarism’
July 4, 2015, 12:25 am
VIENNA (AP) — In a message to Washington, Iran’s foreign minister on Friday called for an end to “coercion and pressure” at the nuclear talks, suggesting a deal acceptable to his country will open the door to cooperation on fighting the upsurge of Middle East extremism threatening both nations’ interests.
Mohammad Javad Zarif did not mention the United States by name in his video message. But with the Iran six-power talks having devolved essentially into bilateral US-Iran negotiations over the past year, his comments were clearly directed at the Americans, who have been the primary drivers of the crippling economic sanctions imposed on his country over its nuclear program.
Any deal would result in an end to the sanctions. But negotiations remain bogged down ahead of the extended July 7 target date for an agreement.
The West fears Iran could develop its nuclear program to make weapons while Iran insists it is only meant to generate power and for other peaceful uses. Suggesting that Islamic extremism is a far greater threat to the world than his country’s atomic activities, Zarif called for an end to “unjust economic sanctions” and for the West to join Iran in common cause against “the growing menace of violent extremism and outright barbarism.”
“The menace we’re facing — and I say we, because no one is spared — is embodied by the hooded men who are ravaging the cradle of civilization,” Zarif said. He called for realignment from Iran’s nuclear activities, saying it was time to “open new horizons to address important, common challenges.”
From The Times of Israel
Clinton ‘suggests to donors she’s better for Israel than Obama’
Democratic presidential candidate said to assure potential Jewish backers she’ll be able to mend ties with Jerusalem
July 3, 2015, 10:09 pm
Leading Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has suggested to potential Jewish donors in closed-door meetings that she would be a better president for Israel than incumbent Barack Obama, Politico reported Friday.
The report claimed that at a New York fundraiser last week, Clinton told a group of mostly Jewish donors that she would be able to mend the fractured relationship between Washington and Jerusalem.
While she defended President Obama against accusations that he was responsible for a deterioration in ties between Israel and the US, she noted that “Diplomacy is all about personal relationships, and I’ve got my own relationships.”
She hinted at her 20-year ties to Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose rapport with Obama has been famously unsmooth.
Obama’s rocky relationship with Israel and its leadership has been in the headlines again in the past few weeks due to accusations by former Israeli Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren that the president is to blame for the poor state of bilateral ties.
From The Times of Israel
Hamas derides Israeli claim that it’s helping IS in Sinai
Terror group’s spokesman dismisses al-Jazeera interview by top IDF official as ‘silly Israeli propaganda’
July 3, 2015, 6:54 pm
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri on Friday dismissed Israeli accusations that the group was assisting Islamic State-affiliated terrorists in the Sinai and called the accusations “Israeli propaganda.”
“Israel’s statements on helping Daesh [the Arabic acronym for Islamic State] are silly accusations. The Gaza security forces control the borders to prevent passage to and from Gaza,” he said.
On Thursday, the coordinator of government activities in the territories, Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, told the Arabic-language news network al-Jazeera that along with military support, Hamas has also been providing medical support to injured IS operatives.
Mordechai claimed a high-ranking officer in Hamas’s military wing, named as Wa’al Faraj, has been smuggling injured Islamic State fighters into the Gaza Strip for medical treatment.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
On Iran deal, Hoyer’s red lines are not AIPAC’s
Ahead of the Iran deal, Steny Hoyer seems to have chosen Menu B, for backing it. Which is not good for plans by opponents to bury it.
A statement from Hoyer late Thursday drew its red lines from a bipartisan letter posted last week by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Hoyer’s statement differed in significant ways from the wish list circulated on Capitol Hill by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. (The deadline for the plan was on Tuesday extended for a week, to July 7.)
The Washington Institute letter, from former Republican and Democratic officials, was tough on Obama and his negotiators — “most of us would have preferred a stronger agreement,” it said — but its red lines essentially comported with how Obama administration officials have described what the deal will look like.
The Maryland Democrat is the House minority whip, which is significant in itself. Republicans who overwhelmingly are skeptical of the emerging deal can reject the deal in a vote, but they don’t have the numbers by themselves to reach two-thirds and override Obama’s pledged presidential veto.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
IDF troops kill Palestinian, 17, near Ramallah
(JTA) — Israeli troops killed a 17-year-old Palestinian they said hurled stones at their army vehicle.
The troops shot and killed Hani al-Kusbah near Ramallah on Friday morning after Palestinians threw stones and rocks at their command car while it was driving through the Palestinian village of A-Ram en route to an nearby army base, the news setquoted the Israel Defense Forces spokesman as saying.
None of the Israelis were hurt but their windshield was shattered from the volley of hard objects, the IDF spokesman said. Al-Kusbah was taken to a hospital in Ramallah, where he died of his injuries.
Palestinian medical sources disputed the Israeli version of al-Kusbah’s death and claimed he was shot while trying to climb over a walled section of the security barrier that Israel has built in the West Bank.
From PressTV
Egypt’s ISIL offshoot attacks southern Israel
ISIL militants operating in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula have launched a rocket attack on southern Israel.
“Three Grad rockets were fired at Jewish positions in occupied Palestine,” militants from Velayat Sinai (Sinai Province), previously known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, said in a Friday statement on Twitter later in the day.
The Velayat Sinai pledged allegiance to the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group last November.
The rockets landed on Friday afternoon in an open area at the Eshkol Regional Council, close to the Egyptian border, causing code-red sirens to sound in nearby communities.
The attacks caused no injuries or damage but forced residents to take refuge in shelters.
From PressTV
UN rights body condemns Israel over 2014 war on Gaza
The United Nations Human Rights Council has passed a resolution condemning Israel for targeting civilians in the Gaza Strip during the Tel Aviv regime’s military offensive against the enclave last summer.
The Friday resolution said those responsible for human rights violations during the 2014 Gaza war must be held accountable, while effective remedies, including reparations, should be provided for all of the victims of the conflict.
The resolution by the 47-member Geneva-based body received yes votes from 41 states, while five countries abstained. The United States was the only country voting against the resolution.
The resolution has no binding effect but is expected to add more pressure on Israel over the crimes it committed during the 2014 war, and further complicate its case before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Israel keeps denying that its troops and military commanders have committed war crimes.
From PressTV
Israeli media say rocket explodes in southern Israel, near Gaza border
At least one rocket has struck and exploded in southern Israel near the border with the blockaded Palestinian coastal sliver of Gaza Strip.
The projectile landed on Friday afternoon in an open area at the Eshkol Regional Council, close to the Israeli-Egyptian border, causing code-red sirens to sound in communities in the area.
There were no reports of injuries or damage.
The Israeli military believes that the rocket was fired from Egypt’s violence-plagued Sinai Peninsula and not from the Gaza Strip.
The rocket fire comes only two days after Takfiri militants launched a series of bombings, using advanced weapons, against military checkpoints in the Sinai Peninsula.
From Russia Today
Putin: We don’t expect any change in hostile policies toward Russia
Published time: July 03, 2015 16:17
Edited time: July 04, 2015 11:41
Russia is not expecting a soon change in the hostile policies it’s subject to, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the country’s Security Council, adding that Moscow is not going to “trade its sovereignty.”
“We cannot expect a change in the hostile policies of some of our geopolitical opponents in the immediate future,” Putin said, without elaborating on the countries he was referring to.
“The reasons for pressuring Russia are clear: the country is conducting an independent policy and doesn’t trade its sovereignty. This is not to everyone’s liking, but it can’t be any other way,” he said.
READ MORE: Pentagon’s new military strategy calls for preserving US dominion of the world
Putin pointed to what he called attempts to split Russian society “to find the weak link,” but maintained that they had not yielded the desired results. Those attempts came from those who introduced and continue to support “restrictive measures” against Russia, the president said.
Click here for the full story
From Ynet News
Possible breakthrough on implementing Iran sanction relief
Issue of sanction relief has been the center of contention between the powers and Iran; possible breakthrough would represent a major step in the direction of a final agreement.World powers and Iran have reached tentative agreement on sanctions relief for the Islamic Republic, among the most contentious issues in a long-term nuclear agreement that negotiators hope to clinch over the next several days, diplomats told The Associated Press on Saturday.
The annex, one of five meant to accompany the agreement, outlines which US and international sanctions will be lifted and how quickly. Diplomats said senior officials of the seven-nation talks, which include US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, still had to sign off on the package.
From The Times of Israel
Top Israeli official: Nuke deal will set up Iran to take over Middle East
Prospective Mossad chief Ram Ben Barak warns of a Tehran immune to threats and gaining ‘control wherever it pleases’
July 4, 2015, 1:50 am
The prospective nuclear deal with Iran would empower it to take over the Middle East and trigger a regional nuclear arms race, a senior Israeli official warned in an interview published Friday.
Ram Ben Barak, director general of the Strategic Affairs Ministry and a leading candidate to be the next head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, told the Makor Rishon newspaper that “the deal which is about to be signed will allow Iran to decide by itself when it will be nuclear [armed], and that is the most problematic.”
He said the lifting of sanctions would give Tehran “an ocean of money,” allowing it to buy influence across the Middle East and “advance to a position where no one will be able to threaten it and it will acquire control wherever it pleases.”
Ben Barak noted that there is “almost no area in the Middle East today where Iran remains uninvolved: Iraq, where Iranian interests are in line with US interests, Lebanon, where Hezbollah is effectively an Iranian division, and Yemen, which was mostly conquered by Iran.”
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Episcopal Church overwhelmingly rebuffs divestment resolution
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops overwhelmingly rejected a motion to divest from company doing business with Israel in the West Bank.
The body, meeting at the church’s General Convention, this year taking place in Salt Lake City, on Thursday rejected in a voice vote the proposal to divest from businesses that have operations in the West Bank and to boycott West Bank settlement products.
The rejection comes two days after the United Church of Christ overwhelmingly approved a similar resolution and a year after the Presbyterian Church-USA voted to divest from three companies doing business with Israel’s military.
The American Jewish Committee, which was represented at the Episcopal convention as an observer, welcomed the rejection, saying the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement does not advance peace.
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israeli rabbi arrested at airport on rape charges
(JTA) — Israeli police arrested a prominent rabbi trying to leave the country amid accusations that he committed rape and other sex crimes.
The rabbi was arrested Thursday night at Ben Gurion Airport based on a complaint to police by a woman who claimed he raped her several years ago, Israel’s Channel 2 reported.
The rabbi’s name was not published in Israeli media but was identified as a yeshiva head from the Safed area who belongs to Modern-Orthodox Zionist circles. According to the news site nrg.co.il, the rabbi was on his way to Brazil.
The woman came forward after another woman told local rabbis the suspect committed an indecent act 13 years ago. The man’s lawyer and his wife denied the accusations to Walla News.
From Ynet News
Lieberman: Gov’t won’t survive 2015
Former foreign minister slams Netanyahu’s inability to maintain deterrence in south, calls the break up of the foreign ministry a ‘lynch’ and a ‘pogrom.’ The fate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is bleak in terms of survival according to Israeli Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman who said Saturday that the current coalition won’t make it past 2015.
According to Lieberman, who made his comments at a “Shabatarbut” event in Be’er Sheva, Israel’s deterrence factor was greatly harmed in last year’s Operation Protective Edge and has yet to be restored.
From The Times of Israel
Lion cubs get stuck on Gaza border
Charity convinces Palestinian man to give up Mona and Max, but finds Erez crossing closed
July 3, 2015, 8:15 pm
Gaza’s Hamas rulers on Friday allowed a pair of lion cubs en route to a wildlife sanctuary in Jordan back into the Palestinian coastal strip after the animals and their entourage had been stuck for several hours on no-man’s land at a Gaza-Israel border crossing.
Earlier in the day, the cubs were taken from Gaza resident Saed Eldin al-Jamal, who had kept them over a year as pets at his family’s home in the border town of Rafah, and transported to the Erez crossing with Israel.
By the time they arrived at the border, the Israeli side had closed and the cubs remained on no-man’s land after Hamas guards refused to let them back into the Palestinian territory.
But after several hours, Hamas allowed them back in and the cubs’ entourage checked into a Gaza hotel, together with the lions in crates, to wait there until the Israeli crossing reopens on Sunday.
The Israeli security branch responsible for the crossings said the lions and their entourage showed up out of the blue after the crossing had closed and without any prior coordination and preparations, unlike in a previous case involving lions.
