MP suspended over calling Israel an ‘apartheid state’
(JNS.org) British Member of Parliament David Ward was suspended by his Liberal Democrat party on Thursday over a recent message on Twitter calling Israel an apartheid state.
“Am I wrong or are am I right? At long last the #Zionists are losing the battle—how long can the #apartheid State of #Israel last?” Ward tweeted last Saturday.
Ward refused to apologize for the tweet, Reuters reported.
In January, Ward said he was he was “saddened that the Jews, who suffered unbelievable levels of persecution during the Holocaust, could within a few years of liberation from the death camps be inflicting atrocities on Palestinians in the new State of Israel and continue to do so on a daily basis in the West Bank and Gaza.”
Suspended by his party until Sept. 13, Ward until then will sit in the parliament as an independent.
“[Ward’s] use of anti-Semitic language veiled in anti-Israel rhetoric has finally been dealt with by his party,” Paul Charney, chairman of Zionist Federation UK, said in a statement. “I applaud Lib Dem Chief Whip Alistair Carmichael MP and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg MP for taking this necessary action. Should Mr. Ward continue to abuse his position by using it as a platform to broadcast his prejudice against Jews and Israel, then his party should withdraw the whip permanently. This action sends a clear message that racially prejudiced language will not be tolerated in our society.”
Three Gaza rockets shatter calm in southern Israel
(JNS.org) Three Qassam rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip toward southern Israel on Thursday, ending several weeks of calm in the area. No injuries or property damage were reported.
On Thursday night, rocket-warning sirens sounded in several communities in the Eshkol region. Radar systems identified two rocket launches in Gaza, and a shortly after, Eshkol residents reported hearing explosions. The rockets apparently struck open areas.
Earlier, on Thursday afternoon, a Qassam rocket fired from Gaza toward Israel exploded in Gazan territory.
Last November, the Israel Defense Forces conducted an eight-day operation in Gaza in response to ongoing rocket fire by Palestinian terrorist groups. Since Operation Pillar of Defense, the frequency of rocket attacks from Gaza has dropped dramatically.
El Al cancels package for BDS activist Roger Waters
(JNS.org) El Al Israel Airlines said it promptly canceled a promotional package that appeared on its website for an August concert in Budapest by Pink Floyd band member Roger Waters—a vocal activist in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel—when it learned of the “sensitive issue” on Wednesday.
“This matter was brought to my attention yesterday afternoon,” Sheryl Stein, an advertising/public relations/social media manager for El Al, wrote in an email to JNS.org on Thursday. “Our Head Office received my email this morning and I am pleased to say this issue was resolved in a timely manner. On a regular basis, EL AL offers passengers packages to cultural events around the world. As soon as this sensitive issue was brought to our attention, the package was canceled.”
Waters accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing,” “apartheid” and “international crimes” in a November 2012 address at the United Nations, and last fall was also at the forefront of efforts to boycott an Israel Philharmonic Orchestra performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
Richard Allen, head of JCC Watch, an organization that is calling for the establishment of new guidelines to prevent Jewish funding of activity that gives BDS a platform, said he was “very pleased” by El Al’s quick removal of the Waters package. JCC Watch is organizing monthly protests until it sees new Jewish community guidelines on BDS, in response to the recent scheduling of events with Waters and The Color Purple author Alice Walker, another high-profile BDS activist. The Waters event that was scheduled for this spring was ultimately canceled, but Walker appeared at the Y—which receives $900,000 in funding per year from the UJA-Federation of New York—in late May.
“We hope that [El Al’s cancelation of the Waters package] is an indication that other Jewish organizations, such as the 92nd Street Y and the UJA-Federation of New York, will stop the promoting and offering of Jewish institutions to be used to proselytize the BDS movement against Israel,” Allen told JNS.org.
*
Facebook removes page of Hungarian anti-Semitic website
(JNS.org) Facebook has removed the page of a major Hungarian racist website, in a decision that was welcomed by The Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The Action and Protection Foundation, an organization monitoring and combatting anti-Semitism in Hungary, complained to Facebook regarding Kuruc.info with the the help of ADL.
“Through its Facebook page, Kuruc.info was conveying threats against Jews and Roma, inciting to violence, spreading vile anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, all of which are crimes in Hungary,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director.
“Facebook deserves credit for taking the time and effort to evaluate Kuruc.info’s activity on their platform and for making the right decision which is consistent with their policies,” Foxman added.
*
Argentine-Israeli association criticizes engagement with Iran over 1994 bombing
(JNS.org) On the 19th anniversary of the the bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) in downtown Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people, the group has criticized the Argentine government for engaging with Iran despite evidence that the Islamic Republic, along with the terrorist organization Hezbollah, was behind the attack.
Iran has denied any involvement, though a joint Argentine-Iranian “truth commission” has promised to allow Argentine prosecutors to visit Teheran and question Iranian officials. But Iran is not expected to be willing to extradite anyone accused of the crime, and AMIA has filed a lawsuit in an effort to block the truth commission due to their view that the suspects must be tried in Argentina.
“What confidence can we have in Iran when the same government has denied the genocide of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust?” said AMIA President Leonardo Jmelnitsky, the Associated Press reported.
*
Polish Jews continue shechita despite ban on ritual slaughter
(JNS.org) The Polish-Jewish community is still practicing shechita (kosher slaughter), despite a January legal ban on ritual slaughter passed by the country’s parliament, the Sejm. Last week, a bill that would have created an exception to the ban, thus re-legalizing both kosher and halal slaughter, was voted down in the Sejm, 222-178.
American-born Chief Rabbi of Poland Michael Schudrich told the Jerusalem Post, “I have no hesitation to do shechita. When it becomes necessary we certainly will do shechita [again] because I believe it’s legal.”
Polish Minister of Administration and Digitization Michael Bon, who deals with religious issues, has recommended the re-examining of the ritual slaughter ban to see whether it contradicts the Polish constitution’s prohibition against violating freedom of religious worship.
*
Editor accused of anti-Semitism remains on ‘Christian Century’ masthead
(JNS.org) Christian Century, a mainline Christian magazine based in Chicago, has confirmed that it has no plans to remove James M. Wall, an associate editor at the controversial Veterans News Now (VNN) magazine, from its masthead.
According to the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), VNN “traffics in ugly anti-Semitic tropes and imagery,” including several recent pieces that highlighted “Jesus’ Aryan identity” and a pro-Iran piece titled “Abraham is Not My Father.” The VNN front page recently featured an article titled “Earth’s alpha predator: Zionist Mafia” that argued the American public has been “brainwashed by lies” from the Zionists.
But Rev. Peter Marty, who is listed as chairman of the Christian Century foundation’s board of directors on its recent tax documents, cited “freedom of expression” in an email he wrote to CAMERA confirming that VNN’s Wall will remain on the Christian Century masthead.
“The board of directors for the Christian Century magazine holds as its primary objective the advancement of the Century’s print and web communications,” Mary wrote. “We are proud of our magazine’s publishing tradition and its consistently thoughtful review of all editorial submissions. The board does not assume a role in limiting any past or present editor’s freedom of expression, or in determining what they may publish in other forums.”
Reacting to Mary’s email, CAMERA wrote on its website July 17, “It’s official. One can serve on an editorial board for an explicitly anti-Semitic publication and remain on Christian Century’s masthead.”
*
Kerry repeats Arab position that Israeli-Palestinian conflict key to area instability
(JNS.org) After meeting with Jordanian and Arab League officials in Amman on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stressed that the ministers he met with told to him that the “core issue of instability” in the Middle East is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The remark comes amid the recent fall of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi’s regime in Egypt, and the continued turmoil of the Syrian civil war.
“Peace is in the common interest of everybody in this region,” Kerry said. “And as many ministers said to me today in the meeting that we had—many of them—they said that the core issue of instability in this region and in many other parts of the world is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”
Kerry has drawn concern for his focus on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, which his critics say is a relatively stable situation compared to ongoing upheaval in the rest of the region.
“The fact that the administration, represented by the Secretary of State, has chosen to be preoccupied with the Palestinian issue proves that they have ignored a fundamental principle. If you are smothered by lethal sandstorms, don’t be preoccupied with the tumbleweeds,” Amb. Yoram Ettinger, former Minister of Congressional Affairs in Israel’s Embassy to the U.S., recently told JNS.org.
*
Dr. Oz to visit Israel, expected to meet Netanyahu
(JNS.org) Television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz will come with his family to Israel on July 28, his first visit to the country. Dr. Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, is likely to garner considerable fanfare because his television show, “The Dr. Oz Show,” is broadcast in 118 languages, including in Israel on the Health Channel.
“The Dr. Oz Show” recently won the Emmy award for best show for the third consecutive year. Dr. Oz’s books have also sold millions of copies worldwide and have been translated into 40 languages, including Hebrew.
“I’m very happy to be coming to Israel,” Dr. Oz told Israel Hayom.
“My being of Turkish descent, I have always appreciated the ties and deep friendship shared between the Turkish people and the Israeli people, and me being an American I have always appreciated the deep friendship between Israel and the American people,” he said.
Dr. Oz is expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit.
*
Preceding provided by JNS.org