Abbas: Palestinians free to take unilateral action if prisoner release delayed
(JNS.org) During his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday night in Ramallah, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas said the recently pitched U.S. security proposal—which allows for an Israel Defense Forces presence in the Jordan Valley for 10 years following the signing of a peace deal—“looks like a plan drafted by Israel,” a senior Palestinian official told Israel Hayom. The PA had already announced its rejection of the U.S. proposal.
The official said Abbas threatened that if there is a delay of the third phase of Israel’s planned release of 104 Palestinian terrorist prisoners, the PA would feel free to take unilateral steps through international organizations—something it agreed not to do before entering renewed Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations. The PA unilaterally sought United Nations statehood in 2011 and 2012, obtaining U.N. nonmember observer state status in 2012.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting with Kerry, Abbas said he would consider a one-month extension to the nine months originally allotted for negotiations with Israel, but not more than that. “All talk about an Israeli presence in the Jordan Valley is nonsense, because so long as there is an occupation army presence on Palestinian lands there will be no solution, and all settlements must be cleared off of Palestinian territory,” Abbas said.
With regards to an interim peace deal, Abbas said, “We are not ruling out implementing a final agreement in stages, but we will never accept a partial or interim deal.”
Palestinian teen indicted for murder of IDF soldier, has ‘no regrets’
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Sixteen-year-old Hussein Jawadra from Jenin, who murdered Israel Defense Forces Cpl. Eden Atias, 18, in a terror attack in Afula last month, was indicted Thursday.
Jawadra stands accused of committing nationalistically motivated murder. Aboard the 823 Egged bus from Nazareth Illit to Tel Aviv, Jawadra crept up on the sleeping soldier from behind, placed his hand on Atias’s mouth to keep him from yelling for help, and slit his throat, according to the indictment.
Walking into the courtroom, which was crowded with Atias’s family and friends, Jawadra said, “I have absolutely no regrets.”
Sharia law de-emphasized, but still remains in Egypt’s new draft constitution
(JNS.org) Egypt’s new draft constitution, to be voted on in a national referendum in January, de-emphasizes Sharia law when compared to the 2012 Islamist-backed constitution, but mentions of Sharia are not completely removed.
The draft constitution eliminates the 2012 Muslim Brotherhood constitution’s Article 219, which defined aspects of Sharia law on which legislation could be based. Article 219 and other aspects of the 2012 constitution led many liberal and Christian leaders to boycott the Muslim Brotherhood government, culminating in popular protests and the military’s ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.
Nevertheless, remaining in the new draft constitution is Article 2, which states that the principles of Sharia “the main source of legislation.”
“The infamous Article 2, declaring the principles of Sharia to be the primary source for legislation, is still there like a sword drawn and can be used against non-Muslims at any time and in any situation,” Halim Meawad—co-founder of Coptic Solidarity, a U.S.-based international Coptic Christian human rights organization—told JNS.org.
ADL commends Time’s selection of Pope Francis as ‘Person of the Year’
(JNS.org) Time magazine’s selection of Pope Francis as its “Person of the Year” drew praise from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
The pontiff, whose popularity has soared as a result of his outspoken back-to-basics message for Catholics, beat out other newsmakers such as NSA leaker Edward Snowden, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and gay rights activist Edith Windsor.
“Time magazine has made the right choice. Pope Francis has managed in a short time to re-energize his own Church by his personal humility and his personal touch and he has reached out to those who may have felt unattended to, including gays and the poor,” Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the ADL, toldJNS.org.
Foxman added that Pope Francis has made Catholic-Jewish relations a priority, expanding on the progress of his predecessors, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II.
“For the Jewish community, the Pope has already demonstrated that his Papacy will continue to expand on the remarkable progress in Catholic-Jewish relations that has flourished in recent years,” Foxman said.
Pope Francis, who recently met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time, is expected to visit Israel in May 2014.
Ukrainian Jews concerned anti-Semitism could rise amid protests
(JNS.org) Members of Ukraine’s Jewish community are expressing concern that anti-Semitic sentiment could rise in the country amid the ongoing protests of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to freeze plans to join a free trade agreement with the European Union. Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, has indicated Thursday that Yanukovych now “intends to sign” the agreement, Fox News reported.
Eduard Dolinsky, director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, said that he has not heard of any attacks against Jews, but protesters affiliated with the Ukrainian political opposition party Svaboda have been calling for the death of “enemies” of Ukraine, with chants similar to those used by Ukrainian Nazi collaborators.
“We have turned to the American Jewish Committee and the [American Jewish] Joint [Distribution Committee] to formulate emergency plans,” Dolinsky said, according to theJerusalem Post.
In many former Soviet Union nations, political and economic instability as well as the potential use of the “Jewish card” by authoritarian regimes are major issues for Jewish communities, Josef Zisels, chairman of the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities (Vaad) of Ukraine, told JNS.org in an email interview translated from Russian earlier this week. This is an issue that is “quite successfully resolved in the Eastern European countries that have joined the EU in the last 20 years,” Zisels said.
CERN nuclear research center accepts Israel as full member
(JNS.org) The governing council of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, has voted unanimously Thursday in favor of allowing Israel to become a full member of the atomic research center. Israel is the first non-European country to become a full member.
As a full CERN member, Israel will able to participate in experiments with CERN’s particle accelerator. Israel has been an associate member since 2011, and Israeli scientists have already participated in several other CERN experiments.
“Full membership in an organization like this is a very impressive calling card, and it reflects Israel’s high scientific and technological level,” Ilana Levi, head of the Israeli Science Ministry’s foreign relations department, told Haaretz. “Acceptance as a full member would grant greater access to the most advanced and unique research labs and facilities, of a kind that Israel has neither the ability nor any reason to build in Israel.”
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