Middle East Roundup: September 21, 2016

PBS map

PBS map

Barak 8 defense system successfully tested in India

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) India on Tuesday carried out a successful test of the Israeli-developed Barak 8 defense system. The test was held at a military base in Odisha, in eastern India.

Barak 8 is a surface-to-air missile defense system designed to intercept any type of airborne threat, including aircraft, anti-ship missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, cruise missiles, helicopters and fighter jets, from a distance of up to 70 kilometers (43 miles).

Additional test are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks, an official with India’s Defense Research and Development Organization told local media.

According to the official, “Apart from missiles, the system includes surveillance, radar, guidance and warning systems,” which will improve Indian air defense capability to neutralize airborne threats.
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Obama tells UN Israel can’t permanently ‘occupy’ Palestinian land

(JNS.org) U.S. President Barack Obama summarized his analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his final address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

“Surely Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel…[and if] Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land,” Obama said in a portion of his speech, calling for a “course correction” of nations on the path to “global integration.”

In Obama’s eight years in office, his administration has not succeeded in their efforts to produce a peace agreement.

Israel was not the only nation critiqued by Obama.

Russia was derided for using force to return to its “former glory” and fueling “nationalistic fervor.”

“The mindset of sectarianism, and extremism, and bloodletting, and retribution that has been taking place will not be quickly reversed,” Obama said. “And if we are honest, we understand that no external power is going to be able to force different religious communities or ethnic communities to co-exist for long.”

Obama said that for global integration to succeed, the world “must reject any forms of fundamentalism, or racism, or a belief in ethnic superiority that makes our traditional identities irreconcilable with modernity.  Instead, we need to embrace the tolerance that results from respect of all human beings.”
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Former Archbishop of Canterbury criticizes anti-Israel exhibit in British church

(JNS.org) Lord Carey of Clifton, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, criticized a historic Methodist church in London for demonizing Israel through a reconstructed Israeli border checkpoint exhibition.

“I am sad to learn that Hinde Street Methodist Church are planning an exhibition that portrays Israel as oppressors of victims,” Lord Carey said in a prepared statement, reiterating Israel’s need for security barrier to safeguard against terror attacks. “The methods used by democracies to defend their civilians should not be undermined by religious leaders in places of worship and brotherhood.”

Coinciding with the World Council of Churches’ World Week for Peace in Palestine, the Hinde Street church created a replica of an Israeli security checkpoint called, “You cannot pass today,” to display to allegedly portray daily life for Palestinians, who cross the border between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

“Jewish people across Europe are increasingly being targeted and killed by terrorists, who often attempt to justify their actions by demonizing Israel,” Lord Carey added. “It is therefore particularly sad to see a church in London demonizing and singling out Israel’s defensive actions against terrorism.”

Marie van der Zyl, vice president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said in a statement the exhibit “looks like a one-sided exhibition, which puts unwelcome and unnecessary strain on Christian-Jewish relations.”
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