Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls Israel ‘rabid dog’
(JNS.org) On the day negotiations on the Iran nuclear program were renewed in Geneva, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Israel a “rabid dog.”
“It came from the mouth of the rabid dog of the region—Israel—that Iran is a threat to the world! No, the fake regime Israel and its allies are the threat,” Khamenei said in a speech broadcast on Iran’s Press TV with an English translation.
Regarding the nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 powers, Khamenei said, “We do insist that we will not step back one iota from our rights.”
*
Israel Air Force strikes Gaza terror sites in response to mortar fire
(JNS.org) The Israel Air Force (IAF) struck four terrorist infrastructure targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in response to mortar fire, Israel Hayom reported.
Palestinian terrorists on Tuesday fired mortar shells at Israel Defense Forces troops near the Israel-Gaza Strip border fence. No injuries or damage were reported in the attack. Later in the day, the IAF targeted a weapons-manufacturing facility and two terror tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip, as well as an additional terror hub in the northern Gaza Strip. Direct hits were confirmed.
*
Biblical archaeology discovery provides evidence of religious center at Shiloh
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) For decades archaeologists have been searching for evidence to support the hypothesis that Shiloh served as a religious center in ancient times. Now, a stone altar dated to the Iron Age—the period of Israelite kings—was accidentally exposed during a dig conducted by an archaeological staff officer of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria.
The altar was found amid the stones of a wall dated to the Byzantine period. Apparently, the Byzantines removed the altar from its original location in Tel Shiloh and used it to build a structure at the foot of the tel. The discovery is the first tangible evidence that Shiloh was a cultic center prior to and during the First Temple period. Previously, the only evidence for that theory were descriptions in the Bible about the Tabernacle at the time of Joshua and later in the time of Eli the high priest and the prophet Samuel.
Until today, archaeologists believed that after the Philistines took the Ark of the Covenant, as described in the book of Samuel, they destroyed the city and Jewish settlement there ended. The altar’s discovery suggests that some Jewish settlement continued there even after the death of Eli the high priest.
Senators: Iran sanctions deal should do more to roll back nuclear program
(JNS.org) U.S. Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), John McCain (R-AZ), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Susan Collins (R-ME) wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry stating that the Iran sanctions relief being considered by the P5+1 countries “should require Iran to roll back its nuclear program more significantly than now envisioned.”
The current U.S.-backed deal reportedly being offered to Iran requires the Islamic Republic to suspend high-grade (20 percent) uranium enrichment for six months, while allowing Iran to maintain 3.5-percent enrichment for civilian use. The deal does not require Iran to reduce its number of centrifuges, and lets Iran continue work on the plutonium-producing Arak heavy water reactor.
“It is our belief that any interim agreement with the Iranians should bring us closer to our ultimate goal, which is Iran without a nuclear weapons capability,” the six U.S. senators wrote to Kerry. “We must ensure that the steps we take in the coming weeks and months move us towards a resolution that ultimately brings Iran in compliance with all relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions, seeks to prevent Tehran from possessing any enrichment or reprocessing capability, and resolves any and all fears that Iran will develop a nuclear weapons capability.”
*
NY Times: ‘Regrettable’ photo choice for story on murder of IDF soldier
(JNS.org) The New York Times has admitted it made “a regrettable choice” by featuring a photo of relatives of the Palestinian terrorist suspected of killing 19-year-old Israeli soldier Eden Atias in its coverage on the recent murder.
“This did not represent the essence of the story, which was clearly the moment of the Israeli soldier being stabbed,” said Michele McNally, assistant managing editor in charge of photography at the newspaper, according to a post by Public Editor Margaret Sullivan.
Before the admission by the Times, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) Executive Director Andrea Levin told JNS.org that her group urged the newspaper’s foreign editor, Joseph Kahn, “to explain the very troubling decision to exclude photos of the distraught family of Eden Atias—of the mother and family members weeping over the coffin of the murdered teenager—in favor of a strikingly sympathetic image of the mother of the perpetrator.” Sullivan, citing McNally, wrote, “The selection of the Palestinian mother’s ‘art’ with the article was an effort to achieve balance, but such an effort was not appropriate in this case.”
UN’s Ban Ki-moon visits Auschwitz in Holocaust commemoration
(JNS.org) U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the remnants of the Auschwitz death camp for the first time in his current role, and walked under the notorious “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign to commemorate Holocaust victims.
“Nothing can truly prepare one for this epicenter of evil, where systematic murder unique in human history reached its atrocious climax,” Ban said, according to Reuters.
“The world must never forget, deny or downplay the Holocaust. We must remain ever on our guard,” he added. The last U.N. secretary-general who visited Auschwitz was Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 1995.
Israel: Detained Al-Qaeda terrorist a security risk if released
(JNS.org) The Israeli government told its high court that an Al-Qaeda terrorist it has been holding in custody for three years must remain imprisoned because releasing and deporting would pose a security risk. Samer Halmi Abdel Latif Al-Barq, 39, had petitioned the court for his release, stating that after a prolonged detainment he is no longer a threat to the public.
Al-Barq’s family left Israel after the Jewish state was established. Later, while living in Pakistan, he helped develop biological weapons and became close to Al-Qaeda leaders, including Osama Bin-Laden, according to reports. He was also involved in planning a terrorist attack on Jewish tourists in Jordan, according to Israel National News.
Al-Barq was detained by Israeli authorities while trying to enter Israel in 2010. The Israeli government has not filed formal charges against him.
State Department team for Israeli-Palestinian conflict talks expands
(JNS.org) The U.S. State Department team for Israeli-Palestinian conflict talks has expanded with the addition of Middle East expert David Makovsky as a strategist and senior adviser.
Makovsky, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, began working at the State Department on Monday, Al-Monitor reported.
“Drawing upon decades of experience working and writing on Israeli-Palestinian issues, Makovsky will serve as a strategist for the U.S. efforts and will be dealing with the wide range of issues associated with the negotiations,” the State Department said.
Pope Francis I condemns Catholic splinter group’s Kristallnacht memorial protests
(JNS.org) Pope Francis I has strongly condemned the actions of the ultra-traditionalist Catholic splinter during a Kristallnacht memorial service, saying that “aggression cannot be an act of faith.”
During a special memorial ceremony on Nov. 12 attended by Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant leaders in Buenos Aires to mark the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, a small group of protestors from the ultra-traditionalist Catholic group Society of St. Pius X disrupted the proceedings, shouting “followers of false gods must be kept out of the sacred temple.”
Pope Francis told a group of Latin American religious leaders visiting the Vatican that preaching intolerance “is a form of militancy that must be overcome.”
Claudio Epelman, executive director of Latin American Jewish Congress, praised Pope Francis’s comments.
“With this meeting, the Pope has once again shown his strong, personal commitment to building bridges between religions and to working together with all of us to secure peace,” Edelman said in a statement.
*
Preceding provided by JNS.org