Lebanon’s new president vows to retake ‘Israeli-occupied’ land
(JNS.org) The Lebanese parliament elected Michael Aoun as its president Monday, ending a two-and-half-year vacuum that threatened to destabilize the highly sectarian country.
Aoun, 81, is a retired general from the Lebanese Civil War and a polarizing figure whose Christian political party, the Free Patriotic Movement, is allied to the terror group and political party Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s previous president, Michel Suleiman, stepped down in 2014. Since then, Lebanon’s major political parties, mainly controlled by competing sectarian Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, had been deadlocked in the search for a consensus president. Under the Lebanese Constitution, only a Christian can become president.
After taking the oath, Aoun said in a speech he will prioritize political stability for the country.
“I came at a hard time, and there is a lot of hope that I will overcome difficulties. … The Lebanese need their state to protect their rights and obligations and for there to be a president who guarantees safety,” he said.
Aoun also promised to “release what is left of our lands from the Israeli occupation” referring to contested areas along the Lebanese-Israeli border.
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Three Israeli police wounded in ramming attack in Samaria
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Three Israeli border policemen sustained minor injuries Sunday after a terrorist attempted to run them over on a road leading to the Palestinian village of Beit Ummar, near Hebron in Samaria.
The troops opened fire at the vehicle and killed the terrorist, later identified as a 23-year-old resident of Beit Ummar.
According to available details, the incident took place around 5 p.m. The troops were on routine patrol when a car traveling on the road suddenly sped up and hit them. They were mostly able to jump out of the way, escaping more serious injuries, and were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and released within a few hours.
Meanwhile, earlier Sunday, a 5-year-old Israeli boy was lightly injured after his family’s car was stoned while traveling on a Gush Etzion road.
The boy’s father, who was driving, was unharmed and rushed the child to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem for treatment.
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Canadian Jewish group outraged over BSD stickers found on Israeli products
(JNS.org) Stickers supporting the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement have been found on SodaStream boxes in two department stores in one of the largest malls in Winnipeg.
The stickers warn buyers not to purchase the products because they were “Made in Israel, a country violating international law, the 4th Geneva Convention and fundamental human rights.” They also state, “stand up for human rights” and “boycott Israel until it respects international law.”
SodaStream is the Israel-based producer of a popular beverage carbonation machine.
Adriana Glikman, B’nai B’rith’s Winnipeg Programming Coordinator, said she was notified of the stickers, which she found on SodaStream products in Hudson’s Bay and Sears department stores at Winnipeg’s Polo Park shopping center. She notified both store managers, who were “shocked and disturbed,” she said.
“We had to address a very angry call about this,” Glickman said, the Canada Free Press reported. “The couple took photos of the stickers and brought them to the office. They wanted B’nai B’rith to take action. I was disgusted and upset, but it’s important to let people know that the managers took action quickly.”
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International lawyers petition FIFA to investigate Palestinian soccer association
(JNS.org) Several dozen international lawyers are calling on the world soccer body, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), to investigate what they call “egregious” violations by the Palestinian Football Association (PFA).
In a letter to the chair of the FIFA Monitoring Committee for Israel and Palestine, the Lawfare Project, a nonprofit legal organization, along with dozens of international lawyers, sought to draw attention to violations of FIFA statues by the Palestinian Football Association.
“If FIFA officials plan to take action against the Israeli clubs in disputed territories, they must also be prepared to acknowledge and punish the Palestinian Football Association for these brazen violations of FIFA codes,” the letter stated. “FIFA must protect itself and all institutions of international sport from being politicized and dishonored in Palestinian attempts to ostracize the Jewish state.”
The FIFA violations cited include: the PFA punishing Palestinians who participate in soccer games with Israelis, PFA officials regularly denigrating Israel and Israelis, the promotion and glorification of terrorism by Palestinian soccer clubs, and the use of the PFA to promote a political agenda and to politicize FIFA.
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American Express pulls Roger Waters’ $4 million sponsorship over anti-Israel views
(JNS.org) Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters has reportedly suffered a large financial setback for his upcoming North American tour over his anti-Israel views.
American Express has declined to spend up to $4 million to sponsor Waters’ 2017 US + Them North American tour, the New York Post reported.
“Roger is putting on a huge show,” a source at American Express told the Post. “The company was asked to sponsor his tour for $4 million, but pulled out because it did not want to be part of his anti-Israel rhetoric.”
Waters has been one of the most vocal figures behind the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. He’s often on the forefront in pressuring other musicians and artists to boycott performing in Israel due to its policies with the Palestinians.
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Israel’s nuclear research facility named for Shimon Peres
(JNS.org) Israel’s nuclear research facility in Dimona will be named to honor the memory of former President Shimon Peres.
On Friday, the tombstone of the Israeli leader was unveiled at a service held at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl national cemetery and attended by 1,800 people, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, the Peres family and other public figures.
Speaking at the service, Netanyahu said the decision to name the nuclear facility to honor Peres was made almost immediately.
“Before I even asked, the Israel Atomic Energy Commission decided to name the Nuclear Research Center in Dimona for Shimon Peres,” Netanyahu said. “He walked among us as a beacon of knowledge and curiosity, with shining eyes filled with hopes and dreams. He left us one instruction: Establish a state that would not shame our children nor disappoint our grandchildren. We will do everything, dear Shimon, to make that happen.”
At the request of Peres’s family, the tombstone includes a passage from the Book of Isaiah as well as a quote by Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion.
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UK’s Liberal Democrats suspend baroness over anti-Semitic event
(JNS.org) The United Kingdom’s Liberal Democrats has suspended a House of Lords member after she held an event that compared Israel to the Islamic State and blamed the Jews for the Holocaust.
Baroness Jenny Tonge, an independent peer in the Lords, chaired a meeting organized by the Palestinian Return Centre. It was part of a larger campaign calling on the British government to apologize for the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which pledged British support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
Tonge had previously stepped down as leader of the party’s parliamentary group in 2012 after previous anti-Semitic comments.
“It is high time that Baroness Tonge has been suspended from the Liberal Democrats, and I welcome this step by the party, it is long overdue,” Simon Johnson, chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, said in a statement.
The Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel also praised the decision, saying: “Finally, Baroness Tonge has reaped what she has sown. She is an anti-Israel zealot, who can now espouse her offensive views outside our party.”
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IDF fortifies Lebanese border to protect against Hezbollah infiltration
(JNS.org) The Israel Defense Forces is fortifying a stretch of the Lebanese border to prepare for a possible infiltration by Hezbollah fighters in the next conflict.
The 18.6-mile project consists of a series of engineered barriers including reinforced concrete panels several feet high, concrete blocks, fortified towers and upgrades to existing fences originally built in the 1980s, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
The project is expected to stretch along the entire 75-mile Lebanese border.
Meanwhile, most Israeli resources are focused on beefing up the border along the Gaza Strip in the south. As a result, the IDF Northern Command has used other methods.
“We can’t dig everywhere, so we found other solutions, such as reinforcing the border fence, and we placed large boulders near Hanita to act as an obstacle against possible infiltration,” said Col. Zaky Yeffet, of the IDF Northern Command.
“The concrete panels we also placed in the areas guard against small-arms fire and anti-tank missiles,” he said. “Additionally, we cleared brush wherever we could along the border to allow us to see approaching threats easier.”
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In bid for UN Human Rights Council, Iraq promotes history of banished Jews
(JNS.org) In a bid to land a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the Iraqi government is touting thousands of years of Jewish life in its country, ignoring the destruction of Iraqi Jewry during the course of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
In a brochure posted online, Iraq promoted its human rights record ahead of the annual election for seats on the 47-nation Human Rights Council, which will be held Friday. Baghdad boasts that the names of the Jewish calendar months come from ancient Babylonian, and that “Jewish Iraqis have lived in the region for thousands of years, as early as the Sassanians of the Talmudic era.”
However, by the end of the 1950s, all but 6,000 of Iraq’s 130,000 Jews, stripped of their citizenship, had fled the country. Iraq had declared that Zionism was a crime punishable by death, and economic and political persecution of Jews were the norm.
“Iraq’s UNHRC election brochure says, “#Jews have lived in Iraq for thousands of years;” right—but were all chased out decades ago,” tweeted Hillel C. Neuer of U.N. Watch, an advocacy group highly critical of the diplomatic organization.
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Jewish Federations to allow settlement visits during missions
(JNS.org) One of the United States’ largest Jewish organizations will allow participants on its Israel missions to visit Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria as well as cities under Palestinian Authority control.
Senior leaders of The Jewish Federations of North America, an umbrella organization representing hundreds of local Jewish federations and communities in the U.S. and Canada, decided on the new policy during a conference call Wednesday ahead of a high-profile trip run by the affiliated Israel Action Network.
“Six months ago, the Israel Action Network (IAN) transitioned into The Jewish Federations of North America’s (JFNA) administrative structure,” the organization said in a statement. “Today, the JFNA Board of Trustees approved a number of appropriate and necessary protocols to support the advocacy and educational trips of IAN. This vote ensures that IAN will continue to travel to Israel and surrounding areas not historically visited by JFNA staff. We are pleased that the board reaffirmed the ability of IAN to continue this mission-critical work.”
David Ha’ivri, a prominent pro-settlement voice and former head of the Shomron Liaison Office, welcomed the news, telling JNS.org that he congratulated the federations “for amending the rules to allow their missions to visit Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria.”
“Visits of the leadership of the American Jewish community in Shomron and Judea are long overdue,” he said. “Regardless to one’s personal thoughts on future of this area, it is extremely important to see the reality on the ground. I would be glad to host personalized day experience visits in Shomron [Samaria] for American leaders.”
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Pope Francis says God promised the Holy Land to Jews
(JNS.org) Pope Francis declared that God promised the Holy Land to the people of Israel in a speech at the Vatican in Rome Wednesday.
“The people of Israel, who from Egypt, where they were enslaved, walked through the desert for 40 years until they reached the land promised by God,” Pope Francis said, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Francis made the statement shortly before meeting with Israeli Deputy Minister for Regional Cooperation Ayoub Kara, where he thanked him for his work on behalf of Christians in Israel.
The statement by the pontiff came just hours after UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee passed a resolution ignoring Jewish and Christian ties to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. The resolution, which was similar to a previous resolution passed Oct. 13 by the body’s Executive Committee, exclusively referred to the Temple Mount by its Muslim names.
While the Vatican has yet to make a formal statement on the UNESCO Jerusalem resolutions, Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein wrote a letter to Cardinal Parolin saying the resolutions are “an assault on history and is deeply offensive to both Christianity and Judaism” urging the Vatican to “use its best offices to prevent the recurrence of developments of this sort.”
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Trump tells GOP Jerusalem rally he’ll ‘make US, Israel safe again’
(JNS.org) Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told a rally in Jerusalem held by Republican supporters he will make “America and Israel safe again.”
On Wednesday evening, hundreds of Israeli Trump supporters gathered in a Jerusalem restaurant overlooking the Old City in an event titled “Jerusalem Forever,” organized by the Republicans Overseas Israel. The event came just hours after UNESCO voted on a second resolution ignoring Jewish and Christian ties to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.
“I love Israel and honor and respect the Jewish tradition, and it’s important we have a president who feels the same way,” Trump said in the minute-long video message.
“My administration will stand side-by-side with the Jewish people and Israel’s leaders to continue strengthening the bridges that connect, not only Jewish Americans and Israelis, but also all Americans and Israelis,” he added. “Together we will stand up to enemies, like Iran, bent on destroying Israel and her people. Together we will make America and Israel safe again.”
Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, also recorded a video message for the event, and spoke about the common threats Israel and the U.S. face.
“Donald Trump and I stand with Israel because Israel’s fight is our fight, because Israel’s cause is our case,” Pence said. “Like the U.S., Israel is hated by terrorists and the failed states that support them. She is hated by too many progressives because she is successful and her people are free.”
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Israeli soldier injured from gunfire along Lebanese border
(JNS.org) An Israeli soldier was wounded from gunfire that originated from Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
According to the IDF, a passing vehicle on the Lebanese side of the border open fired on Israel soldiers patrolling near the Reches Ramim area along the border fence. The Israeli soldiers returned fire hitting the vehicle.
The Lebanese army denied the shooting took place, telling Lebanon’s official National News Agency “there is no truth to the claims by some media reports from the Zionist enemy.”
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNFIL) said it was investigating the shooting. A spokesperson said it appeared the gunfire originated from Kafr Kila, across the border in Lebanon.
The wounded Israeli soldier was taken to a hospital for treatment. Local farmers were told to evacuate areas near the border fence.
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