Jewish news briefs: August 25, 2015

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Book drawing parallels between Holocaust and Palestinian Nakba sparks outrage

(JNS.org) A new book that draws parallels between the Holocaust and the Palestinian Nakba (the Arabic term for the displacement of Palestinian refugees during Israel’s War of Independence) has sparked outrage ahead of an official book launch, to be hosted by the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute on Sept. 7.

The Zionist organization Im Tirtzu wrote a letter to the institute demanding that it cancel an event it planned in honor of the book’s authors, under the title “The Holocaust and the Nakba: Memory, National Identity and Jewish-Arab Partnership.”

The book is a collaboration between the institute and the Hakibbutz Hameuchad-Sifriat Poalim Publishing Group.

In the letter, Im Tirtzu told the institute’s director, Professor Gabriel Motzkin, that “we are highly disturbed by this preposterous comparison between the Holocaust of the European Jewry—when millions of Jews were burnt to death, shot and buried alive despite doing nothing wrong—and the colossal defeat of Israel’s enemies during the War of Independence, which is referred to in Arabic as the Nakba.” The letter called the event “an affront to Holocaust survivors who live in Israel and abroad by disrespecting their plight, by insulting our collective intelligence, and by disgracing human ethics.”

Motzkin told Israel Hayom, “We are not equating the Holocaust to the Nakba; we are just drawing parallels between the way both are memorialized—it is not the same thing.”

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Temple Mount group that monitors Jews should be outlawed, Israeli minister says

(JNS.org) Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Monday asked Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon to urgently declare the Murabitat organization—which is active on the Temple Mount and poses as “a religious studies group”—as an unlawful association.

The Murabitat is funded by the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, headed by “Al-Aqsa Sheikh” Raed Salah. Its hundreds of male and female members are paid thousands of shekels per month to agitate and verbally abuse Jewish visitors there.

According to Erdan, Murabitat members monitor visits by Jews to the Temple Mount, shout obscenities and incite against them, and block visitor access to the holy site.

The Palestinian Authority condemned Erdan’s proposal to outlaw the group.

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Assad: Syria will fight Israel after defeating own rebels

(JNS.org) In his first public response to recent Israeli airstrikes in Syria, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television network Monday that Syria would not directly respond against Israel while the civil war in his country continues to rage.

Referring to rebel groups seeking to oust him from power, Assad said, “The terrorists operating in Syria are a tool serving the Zionist enemy, and their actions are far more grave and dangerous than the criminal military attacks Israel conducts against Syria from time to time.”

The Syrian ruler said that after the rebel groups were defeated, Syria would “fight against Israel and respond to its criminal attacks.”

Late last week, the Israel Defense Forces struck more than a dozen Syrian military targets in response to rockets fired from Syria into northern Israel by the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad terrorist group. The cell that fired the rockets was also targeted and eliminated by the IDF.

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Lebanon violence erupts over uncollected garbage, Iran-Saudi Arabia rivalry

(JNS.org) Public violence erupted in Lebanon over the weekend, spurred by citizens’ frustration over uncollected garbage on the streets of Beirut. The violence also signals frustration in Lebanon over the conflicting influences of Iran and Saudi Arabia there.

Renewed violence erupted Sunday just hours after Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam suggested he might step down in the wake of ongoing violent protests. According to the Lebanese Red Cross, 402 people were treated for injuries and exposure to tear gas.

Frustration has boiled over in Lebanon due to a political stalemate that has resulted in projects being frozen. The piles of uncollected trash, resulting from the Lebanese government’s failure to agree on a new landfill site, has become a symbol for the government’s dysfunction in the eyes of many citizens.

The protests also represent a wider political schism in Lebanon. Retired general Michel Aoun, who wants to assume the presidency, represents his country’s Shi’a Muslims and about half of its Druze and Christian population. Lebanon’s Shi’a Muslim community is known to be backed by Iran, which also supports the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah. On the other side of the equation, the country’s Sunni Muslims as well as the other half of its Christians and Druze are backed by Iran’s chief regional rival, Saudi Arabia.

“We are ruled by corrupt losers. All of them—warlords, legislators, and ministers—are working for their own interest and not those of the people,” said protester Nada Qadoura, the Associated Press reported.

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American voters in key swing states strongly oppose Iran deal, poll says

(JNS.org) A poll released Monday by Quinnipiac University reveals that strong majorities of voters in three key “swing states” for U.S. presidential elections oppose the Iran nuclear deal.

According to the poll, in Florida, 61 percent of voters oppose the Iran deal and 25 percent support it (14 percent are undecided); in Ohio, 58 percent oppose it and 24 percent support it (18 percent undecided); and in Pennsylvania, 61 percent oppose it and 26 percent support it (13 percent undecided).

The survey data could be inauspicious news for Iran deal supporter Hillary Clinton, the presumed Democratic nominee in the 2016 presidential race.

Earlier this month, a survey conducted by Gallup found that only 33 percent of Americans approve of how President Barack Obama is handling Iran policy, while 55 percent disapprove. Obama’s rating on Iran marked his lowest approval among eight issues measured by Gallup.

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Nearly 800 rabbis sign petition opposing Iran nuclear deal

(JNS.org) Nearly 800 rabbis have signed an online petition opposing the Iran nuclear deal, while urging Congress to vote against it.

“We have weighed the various implications of supporting—or opposing—this agreement. Together, we are deeply troubled by the proposed deal, and believe this agreement will harm the short-term and long-term interests of both the United States and our allies, particularly Israel,” says the petition, which identifies its organizers as Rabbis Kalman Topp and Yonah Bookstein.

As of Monday, 790 ordained rabbis from across the U.S. had signed the petition. The organizers hope to gain 1,000 signatures by Sept. 7.

The petition describes how Iran will get nearly $150 billion in sanctions relief “without any commitment to changing its nefarious behavior,” noting that the Islamic Republic calls for Israel’s annihilation, denies the Holocaust, and finances terrorism throughout the world.

“We call upon our Senators and Representatives to consider the dangers that this agreement poses to the United States and our allies, and to vote in opposition to this deal,” says the petition.

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Rivlin to Judea and Samaria leaders: no political debate on Jewish right to land

(JNS.org) Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told leaders from Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria that the Jewish right to the land of Israel is not up for “political debate.”

“Our right to the land is not a matter of political debate,” Rivlin said, the Times of Israel reported. “It is a fundamental fact of modern Zionism. We must not let anyone have the feeling that we doubt our right to the land.”

Rivlin noted that Jews in Judea and Samaria have had to contend with increased attacks in recent months.

“In the last few months, and especially in the last few days, the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria has been dealing with grave terror attacks,” he said.

“We have to cope,” Rivlin added. “We have the ability to cope with the current wave of terror, to fight against it, and not to give anyone the power to disrupt daily life. We must be an iron wall, a strong shield against those who wish to rise against us.”

Last week, an Israeli soldier was wounded in an attack on an army post south of Jerusalem. A Jewish toddler and father were wounded the same day in a rock-throwing attack north of Jerusalem.

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