Ben Gurion Airport guards may inspect email accounts
(JNS.org) Foreign citizens visiting Israel may be asked to open their email accounts for airport security when they land at Ben Gurion Airport, the Israeli Attorney-General’s Office stated Wednesday in response to a petition by a leading Israeli civil rights group.
“The threat of using foreign citizens for terrorist purposes is a growing trend,” the Attorney-General’s Office warned, in a missive to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which had petitioned the Israeli Justice Ministry to overrule such security measures over concerns that they were invasive and against Israeli law. “Searching an email account is to be carried out in exceptional cases only after suspicious or pertinent information has been identified.”
Though the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) can request access to an email account before the passenger passes customs and leaves the airport, it cannot demand passwords or personal information that would allow the agency itself to access private accounts. Rather, Shin Bet staff may ask the traveler to open his or her account in view of security personnel, who can then check emails for incriminating evidence that may be relevant to issues of public or national security, wrote lawyer Nadim Avod on behalf of the Attorney-General’s Office.
In addition, the traveler can refuse access to his or her personal email to security personnel, but Shin Bet agents at Ben-Gurion airport can consequently deny the traveler entry to Israel. Avod cited the law of entry to Israel, written in 1952, which states that a foreigner does not have the explicit right to enter the country. The relevant authorities decide who can enter and who cannot, and in such cases of exceptional suspicion, access to private email may be required.
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Marathon suspect could be connected to murder of Jewish men
(JNS.org) The relatives and acquaintances of three men whose throats were cut on Sept. 12, 2011, in Waltham, Mass., suspect that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the alleged Boston Marathon bombers, was involved in the murder of the men. Tsarnaev, who was killed in a shootout with Boston police last Thursday night, was a close friend of the three men, particularly of 25-year-old victim Brendan Mess, his boxing partner.
In the wake of the Boston Marathon explosions, suspicion has risen around the fact that the 2011 murders occurred just after the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and that the other two victims, Erik Weissman and Raphael “Rafi” Teken, were Jewish, reported the Daily Beast.
The murder was originally suspected to be connected to the drug trade, but remains unsolved. “We are definitely going to pursue any new leads,” Stephanie Guyotte, a spokeswoman for the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office in Massachusetts, told Reuters.
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Anti-Semitism in Europe rises, reports show
(JNS.org) The U.S. State Department issued a report on human rights showing a rise in anti-Semitism in many European countries, particularly in Hungary and the Ukraine.
“Through July, a spate of anti-Semitic incidents occurred that included vandalism of Jewish memorials and cemeteries and the accosting of Jewish public figures on the streets,” stated the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012, which was released April 19. Hungarian politicians, particularly the extreme-right Jobbik party, strive “to rehabilitate the reputations of several World War II era figures associated with anti-Semitism,” according to the report.
In the Ukraine, although many “senior government officials and politicians from various political parties continued efforts to combat anti-Semitism,” members of the Jewish community expressed concern that some politicians still “use elements of anti-Semitism both in their public rhetoric to mobilize supporters and also as part of propaganda aimed at discrediting their political opponents,” the State Department report said.
Another report, by the Center for Research on Prejudice at Warsaw University, showed that 60.7 percent of Warsaw high school students would dislike having a girlfriend or boyfriend who is Jewish. Forty-four percent would dislike having a Jewish family live in the same neighborhood and 45 percent would dislike discovering a person of Jewish origin in their own family.
The State Department report’s findings are not limited to European countries. In Venezuela, Jewish community leaders “publicly expressed concern about numerous anti-Semitic statements linked to the government,” the report said. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, known for his anti-Jewish attitude and policies, died in March, but was replaced by his handpicked successor, Nicolas Maduro.
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Jewish groups slam UN official Falk
(JNS.org) Jewish organizations are calling for Richard Falk of the United Nations to step down following comments he made in an online essay suggesting that U.S. and Israeli policies were responsible for the Boston Marathon explosions.
Falk, who serves as a special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories with the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), wrote in an article titled “A Commentary on the Marathon Murders” on the Foreign Policy Journal website that the Boston Marathon explosions were “retribution” for the actions of the U.S. military in the Middle East, which he considers part of the “the American global domination project.”
Falk—who last fall issued a report calling for a boycott of companies doing business with Israel and in 2011 posted an anti-Semitic cartoon on his blog—also blamed Israel for the attacks, writing “[a]s long as Tel Aviv has the compliant ear of the American political establishment those who wish for peace and justice in the world should not rest easy.”
American Jewish Committee Executive Director David Harris questioned the UN’s judgment in allowing someone like Falk to serve for the international body.
“Given his public record, the question is why Richard Falk still occupies a UN position. Is there no shame?” Harris said in a statement.
“Falk’s latest commentary demonstrates his total insensitivity to the victims of the terror attacks in Boston,” Harris added. “His malicious propaganda regarding the U.S. and Israel—and his glaring inability to see the stark truth about extremist violence and terrorism—has no place in any international body that takes itself and its mission seriously.”
B’nai B’rith International also called for Falk to be removed from his UN position.
“We once again call for Falk’s removal from his position within the UNHRC. His latest string of inflammatory remarks—whether it be on the Internet or in one of his “reports” to the council—has no place in the United Nations and his continued presence at the UNHRC further undermines the credibility of the system,” B’nai B’rith International said in a statement.
The watchdog group UN Watch also sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice urging them to “speak out” against Falk.
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Defense deal does not include ‘bunker-buster’ bombs for Israel
(JNS.org) The massive new defense deal signed by the U.S. and Israel will not include the highly sought after “bunker-buster” bombs that Israel could use to hit Iran’s underground nuclear facilities, the New York Times reported.
Officially known as Massive Ordnance Penetrator, the bombs weigh about 30,000 pounds and are designed to penetrate earth and destroy deeply buried sites.
Termed as the “zone of immunity,” Israel is concerned that Iran will soon transfer its nuclear enrichment capabilities to an underground military site at Fordo, putting the facilities out of reach for potential Israeli bombers.
The U.S. has been reluctant to supply Israel with the massive bombs. Additionally, the U.S. has also been reluctant to sell Israel heavy aircraft such as the B-2 stealth bomber capable of carrying the weapons.
Nevertheless, the U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said at news conference in Israel that he remains committed to maintaining Israel’s “qualitative military edge” and preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
“Iran will not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. Period,” Hagel said, according to the New York Times.
In related defense news, U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin, which produces the highly advanced stealth F-35 fighter jet, has signed a contract with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to produce wings for the F-35, Israel Hayom reported. Touted as the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world, the F-35 program has been delayed by manufacturing issues and its high price tag. Israel is set to receive an order of 25 F-35s in 2016.