Bill protecting IDF from slander passes first Knesset reading
(JNS.org) People and groups who slander the Israel Defense Forces may find themselves facing lawsuits, according to an amendment to Israel’s libel law that passed a preliminary reading in the Knesset on Wednesday.
MK Yoni Chetboun (Habayit Hayehudi) initiated the bill in response to the film “Jenin Jenin,” which falsely accused the IDF of massacring Palestinians during the 2002 IDF operation at the Jenin refugee camp, Israel Hayom reported.
The bill says Israel’s detractors have felt free to engage in slander “because they are aware that no legal proceedings would be taken against them.” Current Israeli libel law does not allow for slander lawsuits to be filed against “the general public” without first being approved by Israel’s attorney general, but the new proposal would make the IDF “a separate entity from the greater Israeli public, which would allow for the filing of a lawsuit for defamation of the Israel Defense Forces.”
*
Iran sanctions may get boost from new House bill
(JNS.org) The House Foreign Affairs Committee has adopted a new package of sanctions against Iran to further discourage the country from using its nuclear research to build nuclear weapons. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee praised the the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act (H.R. 850) and urged the House to pass the measure.
If passed, the bill will give U.S. President Barack Obama the power to bar businesses from operating in the U.S. if they engage in any significant commercial trade with Iran. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY) authored the bill, which would also expand penalties against those who violate existing Iran sanctions and increase sanctions specifically targeting human rights violations in Iran. The bill now has a bipartisan group of 344 co-sponsors.
*
Google puts Gush Etzion residents in Palestine
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Residents of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc located in Judea and Samaria near Jerusalem were shocked recently to see that, according to Google, they live in “Palestine.”
While trying to perform Google searches, Gush Etzion residents found that the search engine has been redirecting them to google.ps, the Palestinian handle, instead of google.co.il, as the rest of Google users in Israel are directed to.
“It’s unfortunate that the Google company, which is a business entity and not a political body, has decided that the residents of Judea and Samaria belong to the Palestinian Authority,” wrote Director-General of the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel Nahi Eyal in a letter to Google. “We are calling on you to remove this kind of proclamation.”
Google spokesperson Nathan Tyler clarified that Google Israel—the company has offices in Tel Aviv and Haifa—had not decided to include the Gush Etzion community in the Palestinian territories region, adding that the search engine aimed to provide the “best experience” for all of its users.
*
Ahmadinejad ally and reformists barred from Iranian election
(JNS.org) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s handpicked successor Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, in addition to several reformist candidates including former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, have been left off the list of approved presidential candidates by Iran’s Guardian Council for the June election.
Ahmadinejad, who has had a falling out with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said he plans to appeal the decision.
“I believe the right of an oppressed man won’t be trampled at this level in a country where there is Velayat-e-Faqih [guardianship of Islamic jurist],” Ahmadinejad said, the Associated Press reported.
Rafsanjani, on the other hand, was purportedly barred from the list due to his advanced age. But most analysts believe it is because of his support for reformist candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi in the contested 2009 election that launched widespread riots known as the “Green Revolution.”
While approved list of eight candidates includes several hardliners and loyalists to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, two candidates are seen as pro-reform: former nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani and former vice president Mohammad Reza Aref, according to the Associated Press.
*
CAMERA launches new website to aid pro-Israel students
(JNS.org) The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) has launched a new website geared towards helping pro-Israel students “win the fight” on campus.
CAMERAonCampus.org, along with its student-oriented blog, In Focus, was recently launched by CAMERA’s campus department.
“This project grew out of repeated requests by students for a site that would provide them very specific information they need, with campus speakers, films, and books,” Aviva Slomich, CAMERA’s campus director, said in a statement.
The website will be resource for students looking to educate themselves about the complexities of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It includes a “Middle East Issues” section that addresses many hot topics such as Jerusalem, the BDS movement, Israeli construction beyond the 1949 armistice lines, and more.
“It combines an array of resources including quick access to information on pertinent Middle East issues such as Jerusalem and the security fence, student work, our online social media sites of Twitter and Facebook, and our new blog, which covers news on campus, current events, and includes student guest contributors. The site addresses issues the moment that they come up,” Slomich added.
The website will also be a tool for students looking to hold pro-Israel campus events. It features a reliable database of speakers and experts on Israel.
A “whose who” directory will identify reliable speakers to host on campuses and connect students with key experts on different topics,” Gilad Skolnick, editor-in-chief of CAMERAonCampus.org, said in a statement.
*
Preceding provided by JNS.org