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1. Canadian Media, Ontario Legislature, Condemn ‘Apartheid Week’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The legislature of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, and major Canadian dailies have railed against the use of the term ‘apartheid” and the "Israel Apartheid Week” campaign. However, 500 Montreal artists rallied behind an anti-Zionist call to boycott Israel.
Ontario’s resolution condemned the annual anti-Israel event, which opened this week. “I want to be clear about what it is I’m trying to do,” Ontario legislator Peter Shurman said. “I want the name changed. It’s that simple. It’s just wrong.”
The legislature unanimously agreed with him and passed a resolution against the name, which Shurman says in effect means a monologue, not a dialogue. “The name is hateful, it is odious and that’s not how things should be in my Ontario.” he declared. “It’s a term that frankly I’m sick of hearing. Get rid of this word apartheid,” he said the term "is close to hate speech.”
The resolution was passed less than three months before Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is to lead a trade mission to Israel.
In the predominantly French-speaking city of Montreal, 500 artists, including several Israelis, promoted a petition supporting Israel Apartheid Week and backing the Arab claim of the "right of return” for millions of Arabs claming ancestry to those who fled Israel during the wars in 1948 and 1967. Ample historical evidence has shown that the Arab world encouraged most of them to leave to allow the Arab Legion to complete what it thought would be the annihilation of the Jewish State.
The National Post’s David Frum sharply condemned Toronto’s York University for setting different rules for pro-Israelis and anti-Zionists. He charged that the university placed stiff conditions on the campus group, Christians United for Israel, which applied to use university space for a program of pro-Israel speakers.
Frum said the university insisted that the group pay for heavy security and provide a full list in advance of the speakers and the content of their speeches. The university also prohibited advertising the program on campus. The organizers canceled the event after declining to comply with the requirements.
The hate-Israel program
Referring to 'Israeli Apartheid Week' events, Frum wrote, “The hate-Israel program is not required to pay for its own security. It is free to advertise. Its speakers are not pre-screened by the university.... The logic is impressively brazen: Since the anti-Israel people might use violence, the speech of the pro-Israel people must be limited. On the other hand, since the pro-Israel people do not use violence, the speech of the anti-Israel people can proceed without restraint."
After asking the university if “York imposes precisely the same requirements on all student groups,” a spokesman responded, “All student groups that request university space, yes.”
Writing in a column published from Vancouver to Montreal, Leonard Stern wrote that Israel Apartheid Week gives Israel the “assigned the role of Jew among the nations — singled-out, cursed and harassed….The whiff of something medieval hangs over this March ritual. This isn’t about Jews, say the organizers. It’s about Zionists. Problem is, the activist groups behind Israeli Apartheid Week are doing everything to erase the distinction.”
He pointed out that an Ottawa research group in 2998 refused to promote a lecture on African development “because Jewish students at the University of Ottawa happened to be organizing it. The event had zero connection to Israel but [the group] said it wouldn’t partner with the Jewish students’ union due to the latter’s 'relationship to apartheid Israel.'”
2. Iran: Arab Resistance Key to Demise of World Powers
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Iran’s senior nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalil, says that Palestinian Authority resistance is the key to the demise of western dominance and freedom for Muslims. Jalil also is the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
He told the government-controlled Fars News Agency Sunday, that world powers should accept their fate. Speaking to an international conference on “National and Islamic Solidarity for the Future of Palestine” in Tehran, he insisted that "the era of supremacy of certain power clubs has ended.”
According to Jalil, “Palestine and the resistance are symbols and keys to an understanding of the relations dominating the world. Palestine is the key to resistance, standing and honor which will spread throughout the world day by day." He reasoned that world powers are worried that Arab resistance in Judea, Samaria and Gaza will become a model in international relations.
Jalil also charged that the "power club” fighting terrorism “officially supported and equipped a terrorist group [Israel] and this signals the end of the era belonging to the “power club.”
Iranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi told the Islamic conference that “resistance movements” should launch an all-out media and Internet campaign against Israel. “The social networking sites could provide the ground for exposing the Zionist regime’s atrocities; and through these networks they (Palestinian groups) can start a full-scale war against global arrogance and Israel,” Moslehi said.
Jalil is reportedly a close friend of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and is considered by some "a chief architect of the clampdown" on protests in Iran over the 2009 election.
3. Attempted Army Coup Throws Turkey into Crisis
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Turkey faces a deep crisis following the arrests by the Erdogan administration of top army commanders who allegedly plotted to bomb mosques and overthrow the increasingly Islamic-oriented government. More than 200 people, including military officers, lawyers and politicians, have been arrested on charges of trying to promote chaos in the country and stage a crisis with Greece.
Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), is “poised on the brink of disaster,” the Times of London stated Monday morning. Financial markets have fallen sharply and fears and rumors are sweeping the country. The powerful military has ousted four governments since 1950.
The army never has been comfortable with Prime Minister Tayyip Edogran’s Justice and Development Party (AK) party since it came into power in 2003. Army officers, along with academics and many Turkish intellectuals, fear a growing fundamental Islamic influence that threatens free expression and the power of the military.
The army in Turkey traditionally has been a representative of secular democracy but has been beyond government control. The latest arrests represent a tear in the fabric of Turkish society
"The authority of the army has never before been challenged in this way in this country,” according to leading Turkish columnist and author Cengiz Aktar.
The Erdogan government three years ago defeated an attempt by the army to intervene in presidential elections through court appeals, and it fears another legal bid to ban the anti-secular AK party.
4. Iran Threatens To 'Freeze' Europe for Backing Sanctions
by Maayana Miskin
Brigadier-General Hossein Salami of Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned Sunday that Iran has the power to cut Europe's energy supply. The warning was issued as European leaders prepared to debate sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
"Iran sits on 50 percent of the world's energy, and if it wants, Europe will spend the winter in the cold,” Salami told Iranian troops in the city of Kerman. His speech was published by the Iranian Fars news agency.
Iran is in possession of roughly 16 percent of the world's natural gas and is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil. In addition, Iran borders the Strait of Hormuz (Persian Gulf), through which much of the world's oil supply passes.
Salami also mentioned Iran's missiles. The country has recently tested long-range missiles, and announced just weeks ago that it had launched a satellite-capable rocket.
"Our missiles are now able to target any spot which the conspirators are in,” he said.
Western powers have been discussing the possibility of sanctions on Iran in the United Nations security council. Israel has lobbied for tough sanctions, while Russia and China continue to oppose harsh measures. The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) plans to discuss Iran's nuclear program next week.
5. Arab Protesters Leave Temple Mount, Muslims Call for War
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Twenty Arabs, who had barricaded themselves on a Temple Mount mosque since Saturday, left the holy site on Sunday after police took the unusual action of entering the controversial area. Seven Arabs were arrested, and four policemen were lightly injured by rock-throwing protesters.
As quiet returned to the Temple Mount, louder voices escalated the Arab war of words that included incitement for more violence. The Qatari daily Al-Watan called for a new Palestinian Authority-led Intifada with the support of Muslim countries.
The Hamas minister of religious affairs urged violence to “protect our Islamic holy places” from Jewish claims. Nabil Abu Rdainah, an aide to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, accused Israel of preventing the PA from resuming talks on establishing a new PA state and trying to “affect the American efforts and destroy them.”
An Arab Muslim cleric from Jerusalem accused “extremist groups” of “storming” the Temple Mount.
Israeli police usually try to remain outside of the Temple Mount but were forced to surround it and enter part of it on Sunday to remove the protesters and to ensure the safety of tourists in the wake of increasing violence. Masked Arab threw stones at police as part of continuing rage following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s declaration that the Patriarchs Cave in Hevron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem are designated Jewish heritage sites to be renovated.
Arab sources said that police used tear gas and rubber bullets in clashes with Arabs. At least four policemen were treated for wounds inflicted by rock-throwing Arabs.
The PA announced it will hold a Cabinet meeting in Hevron on Monday as a sign of opposition to the Israeli decision to include the holy places as Jewish "heritage sites." Israel has kept the Patriarchs Cave open to Muslims since the city was restored to the Jewish State in 1967 during the Six-Day War. Jordan had occupied the city since 1948 and prohibited Jews from entering.
6. Fischer, Yaalon Face ‘Chinese Wall' on Iranian Sanctions
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon and Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer are trying to scale a Chinese wall against tough sanctions on Iran. China, like Russia, has invested heavily in Iran’s nuclear development program and maintains close energy, trade and diplomatic ties with the regime of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak admitted to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy on Friday that Israel’s influence is limited. "You are living a symbiotic relationship with (China)... based on the amount of American bonds that they hold,” he said. “They didn't buy a lot of bonds in shekels. Our mission there is just about information. The Chinese are interested in facts, and we are interested in sharing [facts] with them."
Israel previously has been reported to possess specific reports on Iran’s plans to obtain nuclear capability and has disclosed some of the information to China.
One trump card in Fischer’s and Yaalon’s hands is the threat that war with Iran would cause a spike in oil prices and could threaten the supply of crude oil for China’s growing demand for energy. Iran is China’s third largest oil supplier.
Beijing has insisted that dialogue with Iran is the best way to deal with the fear that it is trying to produce a nuclear weapon. Israel and the United States are campaigning for tough sanctions aimed at damaging the Iranian economy as a lever to convince it to cooperate with United Nations nuclear inspectors.
China and Russia have been the principal obstacles to a United Nations Security Council decision to place harsher sanctions against Iran, but Russia is beginning to soften its opposition.
7. Israel and ‘One-State Solution’ Dominate US Congressional Race
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A Jewish Democrat’s support for a “one-state” solution has turned a California Congressional primary into a debate on Israel. In a senatorial race, two GOP candidates charge their opponent, a former Congressman, with being “weak on Israel.”
The southern California Congressional seat is held by Jewish incumbent Jane Harman, who has gained the support of powerful colleague Henry Waxman. He has publicly criticized challenger Marcy Winograd for adopting a policy by which “Israel would cease to exist.”
Harman (pictured), Waxman and Winograd all are Jewish. Winograd is testing the strength of the Left by challenging Harman, who has a long record as a strong backer of Israel, where she has visited several times. Harman consistently has warned about the threat of Iran becoming a nuclear power.
Winograd is a co-founder of the Los Angeles Jews for Peace. In a speech in 2008, she called the two-state solution, of the Palestinian Authority existing as a country within Israel’s current borders, an “unrealistic” and “fundamentally wrong” answer to the Arab-Israeli struggle. Her vision calls for a single state, which virtually all Israeli leaders oppose as being a threat to the existence of a Jewish state.
Waxman, who is considered far more liberal then Harman, wrote in her defense, "In Marcy Winograd’s vision, Jews would be at the mercy of those who do not respect democracy or human rights."
His support for Harman indicates that the pro-Arab Jewish lobby has gone too far out in left field. “In a Democratic primary in Southern California, Jewish voters are going to be a disproportionate share of the electorate,” according to University of California at Fullerton political scientist Raphael Sonenshein, who was quoted by Poilitco.com. “Jews are not only strong as voters but are strong as donors.
“In the Jewish community, there is going to be a wide range of views on Israel, but not as wide as Winograd’s,” said Sonenshein.
-->Waxman told Politico that Winograd “represents a fringe, extremist sentiment in the Democratic Party…, and I think liberals and progressives should reject it as well.”
Winograd’s backers have retaliated by playing the “Holocaust card.” One of her fundraisers, Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Marc Chomel, said, “Marcy Winograd is not an anti-Israel candidate. To say she’s an anti-Israel candidate ignores the fact that some of her ancestors lost their lives in the Holocaust.”
Another race featuring Israel is the Republican primary contest to displace incumbent Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is a liberal with a solid pro-Israel record. A strong Republican challenger is former Congressman Tom Campbell, who is in the lead against two pro-Israeli contestants despite recent disclosure that he accepted a campaign donation in 2000 from a college professor who pleaded guilty to helping the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.
Campbell has told voters that Arabs “are entitled to a homeland and that Jerusalem can be the capital of more than one nation.” As a Congressman in the 1990s, he proposed amendments that would have cut American aid to Israel, and he has voted against designating Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Two other GOP candidates are state legislator Chuck deVore, who has strongly backed Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas terror, and Carly Fiorina, who has flatly opposed attempts to “engage” Iran.
“We cannot afford to talk any longer,” she recently said. “We must act now to implement tough, crippling sanctions to persuade the Iranian regime to suspend its nuclear program and engage in serious negotiations.”
One important factor in the voting may be evangelical Christians.
"The bigger concern for Campbell is less with Jewish voters than with religious conservatives," according to Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC and a former GOP political operative.
Muslim Public Affairs Council officials have defended Campbell, accusing critics of using the issue of accepting money from an Islamic Jihad ally as a “scare tactic.”
