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THE JEWISH PRESS
Friday, March 5, 2010
Week In Review EDITED BY JASON MAOZ
ISRAEL NEWS PA PROTESTS ISRAELI POSITION ON HEBRON
The Palestinian Authority Cabinet held its weekly meeting this week in Hebron instead of Ramallah to protest Israel’s decision to include the Cave of the Patriarchs on its national heritage site plan. On Sunday during a meeting with PA President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah II called on the international community to protect Muslim holy sites in eastern Jerusalem, which he said were threatened by “unilateral Israeli measures.” “Jordan also rejects and condemns the Israeli decision to add Haram al-Ibrahimi and the Belal Mosque to the list of Jewish heritage sites,” the king said, referring to the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb.
CLINTON: NO BRAKES ON ISRAEL RE HIZBULLAH
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Lebanon’s speaker of the parliament, Nabih Berri, that the United States will not stand in Israel’s way in the wake of Hizbullah’s stockpiling of advanced weapons. The Lebanese website Naharnet said Clinton’s letter stated, “Washington cannot make an effort to prevent Israel from making any aggression if Hizbullah does not stop replenishing its arsenal.” It said the letter was delivered by U.S. Ambassador Michele Sison. Government sources told the Arabic-language daily Al Hayat that Berri asked the American envoy to tell Clinton while Lebanon “has no problem in finding a solution to the issue of arms,” the United States “should stop supplying weapons to Israel.”
INVESTIGATE GAZA WAR, UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY VOTES
Israel and the Palestinian Authority must investigate their actions in the Gaza war, the United Nations General Assembly voted. The new resolution adopted last Friday passed 98-7 with 31 abstentions. It comes despite a report submitted last month by Israel and an independent inquiry underway in the PA. The United States voted against the resolution. Fifty countries were not present for the vote. The resolution calls for an investigation that is “independent, credible and in conformity with international standards” into charges raised in the UN’s Goldstone report, which stated that Israel and the Palestinians committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity during last winter’s Operation Cast Lead. The resolution follows a similar resolution adopted last November but sets no deadline to complete the investigations.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS VANDALISM OF ROME’S HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CONDEMNED
Civic and Jewish leaders condemned the defacing of a recently inaugurated Holocaust memorial in Rome. Vandals covered with black paint a set of “stumbling stones” that had been placed in front of the house of a Jewish family that had been deported to Auschwitz during the Holocaust. The Stumbling Stones – or Stolpersteine – memorial project was begun in the 1990s by the German artist Gunter Demnig. Brass plates, like cobblestones, are placed in front of the houses of deportees, with the name, year of birth, and fate of the person memorialized. So far, about 20,000 such stones have been placed in several countries. The first ones in Rome were unveiled this year on Holocaust Remembrance Day at the end of January. Rome Province President Nicola Zingaretti called the vandalism a “horrible action,” and along with Rome’s mayor and other officials expressed solidarity with the Jewish community.
VENEZUELAN ENVOY: JEWS NOT TARGETED
Venezuela’s U.S. ambassador denied that Jews are being targeted by the government of President Hugo Chavez and justified Venezuela’s growing friendship with Iran. “I have twice taken delegations of the World Jewish Congress to Venezuela, and we reaffirmed to them that Venezuela is against all kinds of discrimination,” said Bernardo Alvarez. “In fact, Jewish people who had left for Israel are now coming back to Venezuela.” Over the past decade, Venezuela’s Jewish community has fallen from a high of about 20,000 members to the oft-cited figures of 13,000 to 10,000, according to local Jewish activists. Tiferet Israel, the main synagogue in the capital city of Caracas, was vandalized in January 2009. Eight police officers were among those charged in connection with the attack. Alvarez also defended the close personal ties Chavez has cultivated with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.
ONTARIO LEGISLATURE CONDEMNS ISRAEL APARTHEID WEEK
The legislature in the Canadian province of Ontario has condemned Israel Apartheid Week. All 30 members of the 107-seat provincial legislature who were present on Feb. 25 voted for the resolution that denounced the campus event that kicked off March 1 at universities and colleges in 35 cities around the world. Israel Apartheid Week events and speakers are scheduled at several university campuses across Ontario. The term Israeli Apartheid Week incites “hatred against Israel, a democratic state that respects the rule of law and human rights, and the use of the word ‘apartheid’ in this context diminishes the suffering of those who were victims of a true apartheid regime in South Africa,” Conservative legislator Peter Shurman told Shalom Life, a Toronto-based Jewish website. “If you’re going to label Israel as apartheid, then you are also calling Canada apartheid and you are attacking Canadian values,” he said. “The use of the phrase ‘Israeli Apartheid Week’ is about as close to hate speech as one can get without being arrested, and I’m not certain it doesn’t actually cross over that line.” Jewish students across Canada have adopted several campaigns to counter Israel Apartheid Week.
EU COURT: NO TARIFF BREAKS FOR WEST BANK GOODS
The European Union’s high court has ruled that Israeli goods produced in the West Bank cannot receive EU tariff breaks. The decision handed down by the Luxembourgbased European Court of Justice drew a legal distinction between Israel and areas located over the Green Line, according to the French news agency AFP. The case before the court dealt with the German company Brita, which wanted to import drink makers and syrups from Soda-Club, which is based in the West Bank near Jerusalem. A German court had refused to extend EU trade privileges to the goods. The EU court upheld the German court decision. The ruling said that “Products originating in the West Bank do not fall within the territorial scope of the European Community-Israel agreement and do not therefore qualify for preferential treatment under that agreement.”
U.S. NEWS CONGRESS MEMBERS PRESS CLINTON ON GOLDSTONE
A bipartisan slate of U.S. Congress members urged the Obama administration to keep the Goldstone report from advancing to the International Court of Justice. The UN General Assembly is poised to refer to the report, which accuses Israel and Hamas of war crimes in last winter’s Gaza war, to the United Nations Security Council. The council is the only body
able to refer the report to the court. “We know you share our concerns about an anticipated UN General Assembly resolution that is expected to refer the Goldstone Report to the Security Council, and ultimately to the International Court of Justice,” said the letter signed by 95 members of the House of Representatives and sent to Secretary of State Clinton. “This is an extremely troubling development that threatens to undermine the renewal of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at a critical time, and is counterproductive to our foreign policy goals. A large majority last year condemned the report in a House resolution. In testimony Thursday, Clinton said she also favored Israeli review of the allegations, and noted that Israel has done so – but avoided saying whether the United States would exercise its Security Council veto to impede such a referral.
CONGRESSIONAL LETTER URGES ABBAS ON INCITEMENT
A letter circulating in the U.S. Congress would urge the Palestinian Authority to crack down further on televised incitement. The letter, circulated by Rep. Steven Rothman (D-N.J.) among his colleagues in the House of Representatives, refers to a Jan. 29 broadcast by an unnamed Nablus imam who said “Jews will always be Jews. Even if donkeys cease to bray, dogs cease to bark, wolves cease to howl, and snakes cease to bite, the Jews will not cease to be hostile to the Muslims.” The letter to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, urges him to “condemn this imam and his statements in the strongest possible language. We also request that you clarify the editorial position of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation with respect to incitement of any kind. We further respectfully request that you share with us the steps you have taken and will take to ensure that this type of incitement will not happen again.” The letter also commends Abbas for steps he has taken so far to stem incitement. In 2007, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad cut off government funds to a slate of preachers known for their incitement.
AMERICAN TEENS CHOOSE FAST OVER BASKETBALL
A group of Jewish teenagers from Washington State made headlines by turning down a state championship basketball game in order to fast. The Northwest Yeshiva girls team was scheduled to play in a consolation-bracket game but bowed out after realizing the game was scheduled to take place on the Fast of Esther. The Northwest Yeshiva team asked if the game could be moved, but officials said they were unable to do so because it would affect the entire tournament schedule. The team informed sports officials it would be unable to play. The girls did, however, show up at the time of the scheduled game in order to congratulate their opponents. Compiled from reports by JTA, Israel National News, Middle East News Line and Jewish Press staff.