Palestinian Authority incitement complaint filed by Israel’s U.N. ambassador
(JNS.org) The murders of three Israel Defense Forces soldiers and one reservist over the last two months has prompted Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor to file an official complaint on Palestinian Authority incitement to the U.N. Security Council.
IDF Cpl. Eden Attias, 19, was stabbed to death Nov. 13 by a Palestinian teenager in the northern Israeli city of Afula, following the recent murders of Sgt. Tomer Hazan, 20, Staff Sgt. Gal (Gabriel) Kobi, 20, and Col. (res.) Sraya Ofer.
“This is the result of education that teaches people to hate. Prejudice and intolerance begin in kindergarten and school and continue on television and in the mosques. The most recent murder (Atias) is further proof of the destructive results of the PA’s goring incitement,” said Prosor, who filed the complaint Thursday, according to Israel Hayom.
Solo Israeli strike on Iran would succeed, nearly 70 percent of Israelis say in poll
(JNS.org) A new Israel Hayom-New Wave Research poll found that 52.4 percent of Israeli Jews are in favor of an independent strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, and 68.8 percent believe a solo Israeli military strike on Iran would be successful.
Asked whether Israel is right to oppose the Iran sanctions relief deal brewing between Iran and the West, 65.5 percent said Israel should continue to oppose the deal, while 16.2 percent said that Israel should support an agreement with Iran.
New pro-Israel campus group seeks to turn Florida success into national growth
(JNS.org) A new pro-Israel campus organization is looking to tap into the success its founders had in Florida in order to cultivate future pro-Israel leaders around country.
Future Leaders of Israel (FLI) was recently created by Florida State University students who were the founders of the popular Florida Loves Israel conference, which each year brings together pro-Israel students from across Florida and has been ranked as the top Israel event nationwide by the Israel on Campus Coalition in the areas of visibility, support, and impact.
FLI says that it seeks to be a bridge between pro-Israel student groups on college campuses. Its mission is to build off the model and success of the Florida Loves Israel in order to “connect and unite these students and groups to learn from scholars, experts and each other about all aspects of Israeli life and culture.”
“FLI will be able to connect student activists on campuses across the country like never before, to create bonds that surpass collegiate and even state boundaries. This type of interaction is desperately needed in the advocacy world as it will empower pro-Israel students everywhere, knowing that they have such a strong support system,” Rena Naser, FLI’s communication’s director, told JNS.org.
FLI says that the University of Pittsburgh will be the first campus outside of Florida to host its new conference.
Brandeis plans ‘detailed discussions’ with Palestinian partner school after Nazi-style rally
(JNS.org) Two Brandeis University faculty members will have “detailed discussions” with administrators at Al Quds University, a Palestinian school Brandeis partners with, regarding “a number of troubling allegations” in the aftermath of a Nazi-style military rally at Al Quds, Brandeis Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid told JNS.org on Thursday.
In recently posted photos by Middle East analyst Tom Gross, students are shown wearing black military gear, carrying fake automatic weapons, and giving the Nazi salute during a march on the Al Quds campus. Additionally, several rally participants portrayed dead Israeli soldiers and trampled a banner painted with Jewish stars.
The two Brandeis faculty members who will discuss the matter with Al Quds left Thursday for what was a previously planned trip, de Graffenreid said. Brandeis President Fred Lawrence “expects a detailed report from them [about the Al Quds situation] upon their return,” she added.
“The Brandeis University community abhors the actions that took place on the Al-Quds University campus and condemns all acts that incite or encourage senseless violence,” Lawrence wrote on the Brandeis First blog.
“We have been told that the events of November 5 at Al-Quds University were led from people outside the university and this was an unauthorized demonstration. The administration of Al-Quds University assures us that threat of violence implied by the demonstration are not acceptable on their campus and the University administration is conducting a full investigation,” he wrote.
Lawrence, the former dean of George Washington University Law School and an expert in the areas of hate speech and hate crimes, “takes these events with the utmost seriousness,” de Graffenreid told JNS.org.
“It is for these reasons that he has expressed his outrage regarding the events that took place on the Al Quds University campus, as well as his deep concern regarding the University’s possible role, and his expectations for an effective response by the institution’s administration. Once he has de-briefed with our faculty after they return from Israel, he will evaluate the appropriate next steps,” she said.
In 2003, Brandeis and Al Quds formed “a unique intercultural partnership, linking an Arab institution in Jerusalem and a Jewish-sponsored institution in the United States in an exchange designed to foster cultural understanding and provide educational opportunities for students, faculty and staff,” according to the Brandeis website.
Eve Herman, president of the Brandeis Zionist Alliance, told the Washington Free Beacon in reaction to the Nazi-style rally, “It bothers me very much that the school I am attending has a partnership with a school that inherently promotes death to Jews.”
Imad Abu Kishek, executive vice president of Al Quds, said the event “horrified the whole student body, who is not used to such acts on campus.” He said Al Quds promotes “openness and toleration” and has a “policy of non-violence and pacifism,” but also condemned “all kinds of difficulties that Al Quds University students, in specific, are facing on daily basis” from Israeli soldiers, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
Egyptian Christians face rise in kidnappings
(JNS.org) Egypt’s beleaguered Christian population has faced a spate of recent kidnappings.
Over the last two and a half years, more than 100 Egyptians, most of them Christian, have been kidnapped for ransom. In particular, since the wave of Islamist violence following the police crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood in mid-August, there has been a sharp increase in kidnappings of Christians.
The majority of the kidnappings, 80, have occurred in the Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt, where Christians make up approximately 35 percent of the population. Absent police protection, local Christian leaders have taken the law into their own hands to prevent the violence.
“Even though some Muslims would say that the church shouldn’t have a role in politics and shouldn’t interfere in such matters because it’s not our role, the truth is that the state hasn’t carried out its role, and the church members are being harmed, and they’re pushing the church to take action,” Minya’s Coptic Christian Bishop Makarios told Christian Science Monitor.
According to Gatestone Institute, which issued its August monthly report on Middle East Christian persecution, Minya has been at the center of recent attacks on Egyptian Christians.
“Upper Egypt, especially Minya, which has a large Christian minority, was hit especially hard [since July], with at least 20 attacks on churches, Christian schools and orphanages,” the report said.
Iran-Argentina investigation of Buenos Aires Jewish center bombing challenged
(JNS.org) A prosecuting attorney in Argentina requested that a judge declare an agreement with Iran to re-examine the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center unconstitutional.
Eighty-five people were killed and 300 were injured in the terrorist attack. The Argentine government believes that the terrorist group Hezbollah was responsible and had acted under the direction of Iran. Argentina since 2006 has been asking to extradite eight Iranians suspected of involvement in the attack, including Iran’s former cultural attache in Buenos Aires.
In February, the Argentine Congress approved an agreement with Iran to form a committee that will investigate the bombing composed of neither Argentine nor Iranian citizens. It also authorized an Argentine judge to travel to Iran to question suspects. Iran approved the deal in September.
The agreement was reached in the wake of accusations that the Iranian government had ordered the attack, and represents “undue interference of the executive branch in the exclusive sphere of the judiciary,” said the attorney general on the case, Alberto Nisman, according to France24.com.
Jewish education initiatives get $4.5 million from Jim Joseph Foundation
(JNS.org) The San Francisco-based Jim Joseph Foundation dedicated to Jewish learning awarded more than $4.5 million to Jewish academic institutions and programs at its October 2013 Board of Directors meeting. Some of the recipients include Brandeis University, Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation and Stanford University.
“Within this group of grantees, grants address day school curriculum, teacher training, and scholarly Jewish social research,” said Al Levitt, president of the Jim Joseph Foundation, which prioritizes support for Jewish learning. “We continue to be inspired by the determined, innovative work of these and other grantees. Working collaboratively, we strive to create ever-increasing opportunities for Jewish youth and young adults to engage in vibrant Jewish living and learning.”
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