EU businesses urge ‘occupied territories’ labels for Israeli settlement products
(JNS.org) The European Union (EU), responding to demands by businesses in its member nations, plans to step up its labeling measures for Israeli products by requiring farmers based beyond the 1967 lines to clearly label produce as coming from “the occupied territories,” Israel Hayom reported Friday.
Farmers in Israel’s Jordan Valley were recently informed by two companies that export their produce to the EU that the new directive will take effect in mid-April. One Israeli exporter told Israel Hayom that following the EU’s decision to remove “Made in Israel” labels from settlement products in November 2015, many clients across Europe have made arrangements to implement the directive.
EU guidelines have left the exact nature of product labeling to the discretion of each member state. For the most part, settlement products imported to the EU are repackaged upon arrival at their destination, and a small sticker is added indicating Judea and Samaria as the goods’ point of origin. But one exporter said he was recently approached by several German supermarket chains which told him that Israeli manufacturers must now label their products prominently to indicate to consumers that they were “manufactured in territories occupied by the Israeli government.” Some German clients have decided to cease importing settlement goods altogether, he said.
The Dutch Agriculture Ministry informed importers last week that Israeli settlement products must be clearly labeled before leaving Israel, according to the Israel Hayom report.
“This is a purely anti-Semitic decision,” David Elhayani, the head of Israel’s Jordan Valley Regional Council, told Israel Hayom. “This is because we’re Jews. This is an act of humiliation, and they (the EU) are trying to make it look like we’re occupiers and land thieves.”
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As another emerging terror tunnel collapses, Hamas members refuse to dig
(JNS.org) Members of Hamas’s Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades are starting to refuse orders to dig underground tunnels, which have mysteriously collapsed one after the other in recent months as the Palestinian terror group attempts to rebuild the network of cross-border attack tunnels that Israel destroyed during Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
In an open field east of Khan Younis on Thursday, a tunnel being dug by the al-Qassam Brigades collapsed, killing 31-year-old Muhammad Musa al Astal, Hamas said. Palestinian media quoted senior Hamas officials who confirmed that an additional five tunnel diggers were missing. Thursday’s tunnel collapse was the seventh such incident in recent months.
Following the latest collapse, photographs of “advanced technological equipment for the detection of tunnels” began appearing on Palestinian websites, with one Hamas website claiming that the “Zionists are worried there are tunnels underneath their communities near the border fence.” But the terrorist group has never officially said that Israel is responsible for the collapses.
“The Zionists are nervous,” an anonymous member of Hamas told Israel Hayom. “They’re afraid the tunnels are underneath their homes, and because of their fear they are using very advanced tools to locate and collapse the tunnels. I know of those [Hamas members] who have been sentenced to harsh punishments for refusing to take part in the [tunnel-digging] effort. This is a serious offense, and the punishment for it is extremely severe.”
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Al-Qaeda warns: ‘We are coming’ to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Posters glorifying the 9/11 hijackers and late terrorist leader Osama bin Laden were displayed in the city of Mukalla in Yemen this week in a three-day event dubbed “O Aqsa, We Are Coming,” organized by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The event’s title refers to Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
According to a report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the AQAP-affiliated Al-Athir media agency shared photos from the first evening of the event on Twitter, showing hundreds of people, many of them youths, in attendance.
The event, which began Wednesday, features several activities, including Islamic music performances, martial arts, speeches, and video presentations. Posters displayed at the event show several deceased Al-Qaeda commanders, including bin Laden, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and Saeed al-Shihri.
The MEMRI report said that the phrase “O Aqsa, we are coming,” has become almost an official sign-off for AQAP in any productions by its official media arm, al-Malahem.
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Obama urged to meet victims of attacks on Jewish/Israeli sites in Argentina
(JNS.org) Members of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs this week sent a letter to President Barack Obama, ahead of his upcoming trip to Argentina, requesting that he visit and pay tribute to the victims of terror attacks on Jewish and Israeli sites in Argentina during the 1990s.
U.S. Reps. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.)—the committee’s chairman and ranking member, respectively—asked Obama to “pledge to help bring those responsible to justice.”
“The attacks that targeted the Israeli Embassy on March 17, 1992, and the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) on July 18, 1994, were the deadliest in the country’s history,” the letter said. “Recognizing the victims and pledging assistance would send an important signal that the U.S. will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Argentina to fight terrorism.”
Iran and its proxy, the Hezbollah terror group, have been linked to both attacks. The attacks killed a combined 114 people and injured hundreds more.
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New York State bill proposes ban on anti-Semitic textbooks
(JNS.org) State lawmakers in New York have proposed a new bill that would ban anti-Semitic textbooks from schools.
Textbooks and materials that misrepresent historical depictions of Jews, Christians, African-Americans, and other racial, ethnic, or religious groups would be prohibited in New York’s statewide Common Core curriculum.
“The bias that exists in some textbooks currently in use today simply does not accurately represent Judeo-Christian history in the United States. By creating this commission, New York State will be in a better position to have input and oversight on what textbooks and instructional materials get used in our elementary schools,” said State Assemblyman Brian Curran, who recently held a press conference to discuss the bill, which he is jointly proposing with Assemblyman Dov Hikind.
The bill would create a commission to review textbooks and prohibit any that are found to have pro-Islamic bias, anti-Semitic, and anti-Judeo/Christian bias, or other forms of bias.
“Unfortunately, circumstances have proven the need to address anti-Semitism and the ongoing bias toward people of different race, religion, and ethnicity within our state public-school systems,” Hikind said.
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American and Israeli military chiefs meet in Tel Aviv, stress close defense ties
(JNS.org) U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, Jr. met with Israeli Defense Minster Moshe Ya’alon in Tel Aviv on Thursday. The military chiefs emphasized close U.S.-Israel cooperation in confronting the “instability in the region.”
“The thing that gives me confidence that we’ll actually be able to deal with these challenges is that we have partners and allies to help us,” Dunford told Ya’alon, the Times of Israel reported.
Dunford is currently visiting Israel for the second time since taking over the Joint Chiefs chairman post in October 2015. His latest visit comes shortly after Ya’alon announced that a new 10-year military aid package from the U.S. to Israel will be finalized “in the coming weeks.”
“My first visit overseas was [to Israel], and I appreciate the warm welcome I had. This is my second [visit] in a short period of time, and I think that reflects what you said—how important this relationship is,” Dunford told Ya’alon. “The relationship between our two countries is about much more than just the military to military relationship, but I believe that’s one of the foundational elements.”
“This is your second trip in a very short time. Your visit now, including your visit to the Juniper Cobra exercise,” Ya’alon said, referencing the major joint Israeli-American missile defense drill that takes place every two years. Dunford’s visit, he added, “is another demonstration of the depth of the relationship between our armed forces and intelligence agencies.”
Dunford’s two visits to the Jewish state serve as a reminder of Israel’s close military cooperation with America, despite the much-discussed tense relationship between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama. In addition, U.S. officials confirmed this week that Vice President Joe Biden will visit Israel next week.
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2 Israeli Arabs charged with planning Islamic State-inspired terror attacks
(JNS.org) Two Israeli Arabs were charged on Thursday with planning Islamic State-inspired terror attacks in Jenin, Afula, and Jerusalem.
Bahaa al-Din Masarwa, 19, and Ahmad Ahmad, 21, have been accused of supporting a terrorist group and being in contact with Islamic State members. In particular, Masarwa allegedly conspired with his grandfather to commit an Islamic State-inspired shooting attack against Israeli soldiers. The two defendants are also accused of conspiring together to carry out a shooting attack at the Lion’s Gate in Jerusalem.
Masarwa is the nephew of Ayman Kanjou, 44, who was accused of trying to join Islamic State in September 2015. He is also a student from Jenin who “passes through the Jamala checkpoint [in Jenin] all the time and was planning to hurt security forces at the checkpoint,” Israel’s Northern District Police said in a statement.
Yet Masarwa denies the allegations against the Israeli Arabs. He has said, “We’ve only been arrested because we have beards,” Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
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U.S. ambassador to Israel visits new tourist information center in Akko
(By Jennifer Tzivia MacLeod/JNS.org) U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro paid a recent visit to Jewish National Fund’s (JNF) new Western Galilee Tourist Information Center in Akko (Acre) to show support for the organization’s efforts to increase tourism and employment growth in northern Israel.
While in Akko, Shapiro praised the region’s multiculturalism and ongoing commitment to coexistence and “shared citizenship.” The ambassador spent a day visiting with local authorities and others to discuss development in the region. His stop at the new tourist information center included tastes of local delicacies presented by representatives of Western Galilee Now (WGN), a grassroots consortium of more than 30 tourism-related businesses in the area.
The forthcoming tourist information center, which is set to open on March 8, was designed by local Galilee architect Ella Jungerman as a joint project of JNF and WGN with the goal of encouraging tourists to explore the Western Galilee area beyond Akko itself. The centuries-old space in the heart of the old city was badly abused as a furniture shop, but is now clean and bathed with natural light reflecting from stone walls and a high, arched ceiling, as well as a vivid bright blue trim to match other local buildings.
During Shapiro’s visit, Jungerman presented the diplomat with an artist’s concept drawing of the center as a keepsake, along with a “goodie bag” for Shapiro that included treats from several WGN member businesses around the region.
Shapiro also visited Akko’s Western Galilee College, participating in several discussions with the school’s diverse student body.
“It’s very exciting,” Shapiro said during his visit. “Especially here in the Western Galilee, [where] Jews, Arabs, and Druze all live together…opportunities to build shared citizenship where every Israeli citizen, no matter what background they come from, feels a part of it.”
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Gay Iranian novelist seeks asylum in Israel
(JNS.org) At a time when Iran is known for its hostile attitude towards Israel, openly gay Iranian poet and novelist Payam Feili this week described how he found himself living in the Jewish state.
“The more I gained a reputation outside Iran, the harder it became for me to live in Iran,” Feili said during a Jerusalem press conference regarding his native country, which executes LGBT individuals, the New York Times reported. “Long before I left Iran, I thought that the only other place in the world I could live was Israel.”
Feili said that when he was still in Iran, he began working with an Israeli to translate his latest novella into Hebrew. This caused Iranian government loyalists to write articles accusing him of immorality and collaborating with the enemy. He escaped to Turkey in 2014 after being detained several times, and was able to enter Israel on a temporary visa as a visiting artist three months ago.
“The regime was pressing me to leave the country,” Feili said. “I got afraid. People warned me that the articles could be a harbinger of worse things to come.”
Before fleeing Iran, Feili already had an existing interest in the Jewish state after he watched movies about the Holocaust and read the Torah as a young man. Modern Israel “is exactly as I expected and even better and more beautiful,” he said.
Feili is living in Tel Aviv, which is home to a vibrant LGBT community. He is seeking asylum in Israel and has tattooed a Star of David on his neck.
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