Israel in the News Mar/Apr 2013
NYT Columnist Calls AIPAC ‘Pigs’
A New York Times columnist has come under fire after retweeting a message calling the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the National Rifle Association (NRA) “the 2 most pig like lobbies” in America.
According to Adam Kredo of The Washington Free Beacon, Nicholas Kristof in January retweeted the message written by longtime Israel critic M. J. Rosenberg. “OBAMA told the 2 most pig like lobbies, AIPAC & NRA, to drop dead in same month. Next: Chamber of Commerce,” wrote Rosenberg, who was recently fired by the liberal Media Matters for America for his use of borderline anti-Semitic language.
A pro-Israel activist said Kristof is helping to promote anti-Semitic slurs. “Given that Rosenberg regularly deploys rhetoric associated with neo-Nazis and classic Jew hatred, engaging in what has been described by the Simon Wiesenthal Center as ‘toxic anti-Jewish prejudice,’ it is shocking to see a New York Times journalist promoting his ideas.”
Arutz-7 (IsraelNationalNews.com)
U.S. Arms Egypt
The Egyptian government has started taking delivery of 10 F-16 fighter jets and 200 American-made tanks, all paid for by U.S. taxpayers. However, opposition mounted following exposure of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi’s remarks calling Jewish people “blood-suckers,” “warmongers,” and “the descendants of apes and pigs.”
The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) circulated a petition that read, “A Shariah dictatorship on Israel’s border—armed with American weapons—is a deadly threat to Israel and America. All U.S. funding to Egypt must be cut off until we can certify that aid to Egypt will help the national security interests of the United States and Israel.”
Morsi’s remarks, made in a 2010 interview, were translated and posted that year by the Middle East Media Research Institute. He also said, “Negotiations must stop once and for all. Everybody must turn to the support of the resistance….We must all realize that resistance is the only way to liberate the land of Palestine.”
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) recently called for ending aid to Egypt. He told FoxNews.com in December 2012 that giving state-of-the-art fighter jets to the Muslim Brotherhood-backed government may be dangerous. “American tax dollars must not be used to aid and abet any dictatorial regime that stands with terrorists,” he said.
Archaeology Archive Online
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has launched a new Israel Archaeological Archive accessible online in English, with a general explanation also available in Hebrew.
A Heritage Program jointly initiated by the Prime Minister’s Office and the IAA, the digital archive will feature tens of thousands of documents, photos, maps, and plans from the period of British Mandate (1919-1948). “The information constitutes the principal foundation of archaeological research of the past one hundred years,” noted a spokesperson. “We will make this extraordinary information accessible to the general public in Israel and abroad.”
The archive may be accessed at www.iaa-archives.org.il.
Arutz-7 (IsraelNationalNews.com)
‘We’ll Do What’s Good For Israel’
Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett, commenting on reports the White House is deeply concerned about growing support for his party, said recently, “We will listen to the Americans, but we will do what is good for Israel.”
Bennett wrote on his Facebook page that the United States is an important ally, but “Israeli citizens must first of all think about the Israeli interest—a secure Israeli state. A State of Israel without terrorist attacks in its cities. A State of Israel not flooded by Palestinian refugees.”
He said when Israel gave central cities in Judea and Samaria to the Palestinians in 1994, encouraged by the United States, “We took the first wave of bombers in Israeli cities,” referring to terrorist attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad that claimed dozens of Israeli lives.
“When, under American pressure, we held talks at Camp David between (Ehud) Barak and (Yasser) Arafat, the second intifada began immediately and over 1,000 Israelis were murdered. Yes, a thousand Jews were murdered here. It was hell. When we gave Gaza to the Palestinians, and under U.S. pressure we also gave up the Philadelphia crossing, in return we got thousands of rockets on southern Israel—until this very day.”
Bennett added that Israel should respect the United States, but “above all” the country has to protect its own interests and must do what is necessary to ensure security within the state. “A weak Israel, under a barrage of missiles and attacks, is not in America’s interests either,” added Bennett.
Arutz-7 (IsraelNationalNews.com)
New Spy Station
Iran has established an intelligence station in the Golan Heights, close to Syria’s border with Israel, to supply information on Israel to Hezbollah, Iran’s leading terror proxy.
Israel has been monitoring Syria’s chemical weapons arse-nal containing hundreds of tons of chemical agents, including sarin and VX nerve agents, as well as older blistering agents. U.S. officials recently said there is evidence Syrian President Bashar Assad’s troops have moved deadly sarin and that its binary components, usually stored separately, have been combined and placed into bombs.
Arutz-7 (IsraelNationalNews.com)
Al Gore Sells Out Israel
Former Vice President Al Gore, the “go green” king and aggressive advocate of alternative energy, has sold his failing, liberal cable-television station, Current TV, to Al Jazeera for a reported $500 million. The new network will be called Al Jazeera America.
“He’s supposed to be the face of clean energy and just sold to very big oil, the emir of Qatar! Current never even took big oil advertising,” said one high-placed Current staffer, according to a report by Linda Stasi in the New York Post.
Worse than being “ungreen,” however, is the fact that Al Jazeera has long been considered an outlet for Arab extremists and terrorists. Osama bin Laden regularly used Al Jazeera to spew his anti-American venom, as have others who found a sympathetic ear in Al Jazeera for their anti-Jewish, anti-Israel propaganda. The deal gives the all-Arab network access to 40 million American homes.
One political pundit declared, “Gore, who consistently postured himself as a friend of Israel, shows now how unreliable the Jewish state’s ‘friends’ are when the chips—or the money—is down.” In fact, he said, an Al Jazeera journalist suspected of being a Hamas operative was arrested in Israel in 2011.
The English-language Al Jazeera operates 24 hours a day. The programs, reported The Jerusalem Post, “are geared to give their wealthy Arab financial backers the pictures they wish to project worldwide, ensuring the way they are keen to be seen and supported internationally. It is a highly professional and effective advocacy vehicle.”
Abe Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, “is reeling,” reported Newsmax.com. He “worries the pan-Arab media company may spew anti-Israeli propaganda to a huge American audience.” Foxman told Newsmax that Al Jazeera has given “all manner of virulent anti-Israel and even anti-Semitic extremists access to its airwaves.” And though the English version is somewhat toned down, Foxman said the rhetoric “stems from the same source. It’s the same ownership, it’s the same direction.”
“Al [Gore] was always lecturing us about green,” a staffer told the New York Post. “He kept his word about green all right—as in cold, hard cash!”
Arab Gang Attacks U.S. Yeshiva Student
A gang of Arabs brutally attacked an American yeshiva student visiting his family in Venice, Italy, recently. The student was knocked unconscious when he strolled late at night in the center of the city.
Fifteen Arab youths pounced on him, dragged him into a dark corner, and pummeled him using sharp weapons. The student lost consciousness. The attackers fled when a passerby spotted them and called police and medics.
The Milan-based Center for Jewish Documentation’s Observatory on Anti-Jewish Prejudice reports that anti-Semitic episodes in the country soared last year: “From the street insult to the swastika graffiti, from the online publication of proscription lists to physical aggression, anti-Semitic episodes almost doubled” in 2012.
Observatory researcher Stefano Gatti pointed out that Italian pundits and politicians now write discriminatory posts and tell racist jokes. “Making certain issues seem normal, even funny, is one of the root causes of the rise in anti-Semitic episodes in Italy,” Gatti said.
Arutz-7 (IsraelNationalNews.com)
