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Turkish Justice: ISIS Walks Free; Peace Activists Jailed by Uzay Bulut

Posted By on April 10th, 2016

Belonging to ISIS or trafficking in slavery evidently do not constitute serious crimes in Turkey. But signing petitions calling for peace and non-violence, or requesting political equality for Kurds, are unspeakable offenses.

“We are not shocked that the defendants have been acquitted. This lawsuit has become one of the hundreds of other lawsuits in our country in which the criminals have been protected even though the evidence against them is obvious.” — Association of Progressive Women, on the acquittal of six people charged with having ties with ISIS and trading in Yazidi sex slaves.

“Requesting peace has become a crime in this country. The state of Turkey has committed the gravest rights violations against those who struggle for human rights, against the Kurds and against free thought.” — Sebnem Korur Fincanci, President of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey.

Turkish politics has therefore not been able to go beyond a clash between assorted Islamists whose worldviews are foreign to democratic values, and non-Islamist but still extremely oppressive political parties that operate under the shadow of a tyrannical military, whose worldview is also foreign to democratic values.

Turkey’s “fight” against the Islamic State (ISIS) continues. On March 24, Turkey released seven suspects who had been arrested in a case involving the Turkish branch of ISIS.

Halis Bayancuk, alleged to be the “Emir,” or commander-in-chief, of ISIS, is among the suspects. This was the fourth hearing of the trial known as the “Istanbul ISIS trial.” A total of 96 suspects are on trial. Only seven had been jailed; the others had not. Although those seven were released on March 24 at the end of the hearing, their trial is still ongoing; the final verdict has not been given. All of them are now outside jail, free, and living their lives as they wish.

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BILL CLINTON BACKTRACKS AFTER STANDING UP TO RACIST BULLIES

Posted By on April 10th, 2016

The Big Dog Backs Down

Steve wrote here and Paul here about Bill Clinton’s standing up to Black Lives Matters bullies who tried to disrupt his speech yesterday. It was classic Big Dog: Clinton effectively put the unschooled demonstrators in their place, and taught them a history lesson. Why were strict criminal penalties, e.g. for crack cocaine, enacted during his administration? Because drugs and crime were ravaging the black community, and African-American leaders properly demanded a crackdown.

Black Lives Matter is an unpopular movement, supported by only a small minority of Americans. It is repellent to far more, especially because of its refusal to admit that all lives matter. Beyond that, disruptive protesters in general are held in ill repute by a large majority of Americans. So Bill Clinton’s putting the protesters in their place was approved of by most.

But not, apparently, by those who counted. Left-wing web sites like Jezebel and Salon criticized him, as did some black leaders. That was all it took. No matter that history and logic are on his side, even the Big Dog can’t get in the way of the Democratic Party’s need to kowtow to one of its key constituents.

So today, Bill more or less apologized. The New York Times reports:

Former President Bill Clinton said Friday that he regretted drowning out the chants of black protesters at a rally in Philadelphia the day before, when he issued an aggressive defense of his administration’s impact on black families. …

“I know those young people yesterday were just trying to get good television,” Mr. Clinton said Friday of the Black Lives Matter protesters who had accused him and Hillary Clinton of supporting policies that devastated black communities. “But that doesn’t mean that I was most effective in answering it.”

Actually, he was very effective in answering the ill-informed demonstrators’ criticisms of his administration, but perhaps not so effective in bowing to the irresistible political winds of the day. By today, he was standing on a narrow ledge, almost apologizing–but not quite:

By Friday, Mr. Clinton said, “I almost want to apologize.”

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Posted By on April 10th, 2016

Whatever you want to say against Ted Cruz, the excellence of his campaign operation is unarguable.

The Cruz team has stood head and shoulders above any other national campaign in either party and the Texas senator just might be rewarded with the nomination because of it.

The Cruz delegate wrangling operation literally ran rings around the Trump team in Colorado this weekend, giving the candidate 21 more delegates and a chance for more. This comes after another stellar performance by the Cruz team in North Dakota last weekend.

ABC News:

Slates loyal to Cruz won every assembly in Colorado’s seven congressional districts, which began April 2 and culminated Friday with 12 delegates selected. The Texas senator is well-positioned to pad his total Saturday, when 13 more delegates will be chosen at Colorado Republicans’ state convention.

Of Cruz’s delegates, only 17 were formally pledged to him, and in theory the other four could change their vote in Cleveland. But they were all included on the senator’s slates and are largely state party officials who said they were barred from signing a formal pledge for Cruz but have promised to back him in balloting at the convention.

The result shows how Cruz’s superior organization has helped him as he tries to catch up with front-runner Donald Trump. While Cruz’s campaign spent months recruiting slates of delegates and securing pledges, Trump only this week hired a Colorado state director. Two candidates Trump’s campaign told backers to support in one district were not even on the ballot.

The Trump campaign said it wasn’t worried and had always expected to fare poorly in Colorado because its assembly process is dominated by party insiders. “If we had a primary, yes, we would have done very well here,” said Trump senior adviser Alan Cobb.

Cruz also appeals to Colorado Republican activists who dominate party functions — a deeply conservative, religious crowd with a libertarian streak.

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Israel and the Occupation that Isn’t By Steve Postal

Posted By on April 10th, 2016

March saw a return of economic warfare against Israel, masked in discontent with Israel’s “occupation” of “Palestine.” On March 24, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted 32-0-15 to create a database of companies that have profited from Israeli settlements, which the Israeli government has called a “blacklist.” A petition by the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Jewish Voice for Peace, CODEPINK, and others, which has surpassed 144,000 signatures, calls for Airbnb to “[s]top listing vacation rentals in Israeli settlements built on stolen Palestinian land and deemed illegal under international law.” On March 7, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) called on its members and all other countries to “ban products produced in or by illegal Israeli settlements from their markets.”

The “occupation” theme also made a recent appearance in the 2016 presidential race. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, in his first major policy statement on the Middle East, stated that “peace will mean an end to what amounts to the occupation of Palestinian territory.”

What these economic and political warriors don’t seem to realize is that Israel is not occupying anything. There was never an Arab state known as Palestine. In fact, the Arabs have rejected multiple offers to establish such a state.

Before Jewish sovereignty was reestablished with the modern state of Israel in 1948, the (Turkish) Ottoman Empire ruled the Holy Land for approximately 400 years up until 1917. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Turks in World War I, the British and French administered it in a period of joint military administration (1917-1920). The San Remo Conference (1920) formally established the British Mandate of Palestine’s borders to encompass modern day Israel, Jordan, the Gaza Strip, and what is today often referred to as the West Bank.

Britain Created “Palestine” for the Jews…

The legal document that created the Mandate recognized the “historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home” and called for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish People.” The document also obligated the British to “facilitate Jewish immigration” and “encourage…settlement by Jews on the land…” The British, with the approval of the League of Nations (the predecessor to the United Nations) took on the obligation to help Jewish immigration and settlement of the Mandate, which included the West Bank. Indeed, Jews lived in this area in historic (Hebron, today’s “East” Jerusalem, Nablus/Shechem) and new (Gush Etzion) communities during the Mandate period.

…And Then Gave 75% of it to the Arabs.

In 1922, Britain partitioned the British Mandate of Palestine into two separate mandates, Palestine (west of the Jordan River) and the Transjordan (east of the Jordan River). Transjordan eventually became sovereign Arab territory. Despite the partition, the land that is now known as the West Bank still remained within Palestine and was still slated to be included in a new home for the Jewish people.

The Arabs Rejected the West Bank Twice.

Arab leaders did not accept any further partitions. The Arabs rejected two offers (in 1937 from Britain and in 1947 from the United Nations) that would have established Arab independence from Jewish sovereignty west of the Jordan River, including the West Bank. The Jewish community in Palestine, on the other hand, accepted both of these offers. So, before Israel’s War of Independence (1947-1949), there was no Arab ownership of the West Bank, and no sovereign from which to occupy it.

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Terror Cell Planned Fresh Attack in France, Say Belgian Authorities Attackers changed target to Brussels as probe closed in By Laurence Norman

Posted By on April 10th, 2016

BRUSSELS—Belgian authorities said Sunday they believe the terror network that killed 32 people in Brussels last month was initially planning a fresh attack in France but changed the target as investigators closed in.

“The Federal Prosecution Office can confirm that numerous elements in the investigation have shown that the terrorist group initially had the intention to strike in France again. Eventually, surprised by the speed of the progress in the ongoing investigation, they urgently took the decision to strike in Brussels,” prosecutors said in a press release.

On March 18, Belgian and French police arrested key terror suspect Salah Abdeslam in Brussels. The terror attacks at the national airport and the city’s metro station took place four days later.

Federal prosecutors also said they are now charging Mohamed Abrini with terrorist murders and participation in a terror group in the Brussels attacks. On Saturday, he was charged with the same offenses over the Paris attacks of last November.

The prosecutors said on Saturday that Mr. Abrini admitted to his involvement on the attack on Brussels’ national airport on March 22. CONTINUE AT SITE

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Iran spurns Kerry bid for ‘new arrangement’ on missile tests

Posted By on April 10th, 2016

Foreign Minister Zarif dismisses US counterpart’s suggestion of negotiations on ballistic rockets as ‘baseless’; defense minister calls plan ‘nonsense’.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Sunday rebuffed US Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposal Thursday to negotiate a “new arrangement” for Tehran’s ballistic missile program.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Tehran with Estonia’s foreign minister, Zarif said that Iran’s missile and defense programs are nonnegotiable, echoing similar statements by other Iranian officials over the weekend.

Washington has denounced Iran’s ballistic missiles program, including a March 9 test of two ballistic missiles, as a violation of a United Nations ban. Iran maintains they not covered by the UN ban, which is linked to last year’s landmark nuclear agreement.

Kerry said the US and its partners were telling Iran that they were “prepared to work on a new arrangement to find a peaceful solution,” but that Iran first had to “make it clear to everybody that they are prepared to cease these kinds of activities that raise questions about credibility and questions about intentions.”

Zarif retorted Sunday saying Kerry’s comments were “baseless.” He said that if the US were serious about the issue, it should stop selling weapons “which are used for killing innocent Yemenis or used by the Zionist regime against civilians,” the Iranian Students’ News Agency reported.

BOOKS Comments turned off

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

Posted By on April 10th, 2016

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Successful trial of blocked artery treatment. Israel’s Eximo (see 30th Aug newsletter) has successfully completed a multicenter clinical trial of its laser system and unique catheters for treating peripheral artery disease (PAD). Doctors cured 20 patients, some of whom otherwise required bypass surgery or leg amputation.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-eximo-succeeds-in-trial-of-blocked-artery-treatment-1001115579

Prostate cancer treatment goes live. (TY JBN) I reported on Weizmann Institute’s groundbreaking prostate cancer treatment previously (in my 10th Jan newsletter). After 100% successful Mexican and European trials it has now been approved by Israel’s Ministry of Health and administered to a patient at Beilinson Hospital.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4787207,00.html

Nanotech antioxidant protection. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Israel’s Technion have activated the body’s natural defense against free radical damage. Enhanced micro-emulsion liquids produce a powerful antioxidant protein called Nrf2 and nanotechnology delivers it to the skin and organs.
http://www.israel21c.org/nanotech-formula-could-be-skins-fount-of-youth/
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9284/3/1/1/htm

Detecting diseases at cell level. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a disease diagnostic method called methylation which identifies the source of fragmented DNA caused by cell death. In tests on 320 patients it has identified pancreatic cancer, pancreatitis, diabetes, traumatic brain injury and MS.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/209423#.VwO5Fkfn95R
http://www.pnas.org/content/113/13/E1826.abstract http://new.huji.ac.il/en/article/29796

Bionic heart patch unveiled. (TY Nevet) Tel Aviv Professor Tal Dvir has unveiled his remote-controlled, bionic heart patch, which researchers say could become a revolutionary alternative to heart transplants for patients whose hearts have been damaged by heart attacks or cardiac disease. (See also Oct 2014 newsletter)
http://www.timesofisrael.com/tel-aviv-u-unveils-revolutionary-cyborg-heart-patch/
http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nmat4590.html

Sleep apnea solution goes global. At the 13th International Dead Sea Symposium on Innovations in Technology, Treatment & Prevention of Cardiac Arrhythmias, Israel’s Itamar Medical announced that 60 international hospitals have now adopted Itamar’s Total Sleep Solution. (see 17th May newsletter)
http://www.timesofisrael.com/how-sleep-apnea-causes-heart-attacks-and-how-israeli-tech-helps/

An implant to treat spinal degenerative disc disease. (TY Dan) Israel’s Rainbow Medical is working with with Medos International Sarl (part of Johnson & Johnson) to develop a minimally invasive implant to treat spinal degenerative disc disease – which has no current cure and leads to acute chronic back pain.
http://www.orthospinenews.com/rainbow-medical-to-collaborate-with-johnson-johnson-innovation/

The lengths Israel goes to save Syrian girl. (TY Ron) Doctors at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center healed a 5-year-old Syrian girl from her civil war wounds but then discovered she had cancer. Israeli security services mounted a secret operation to smuggle a relative with matching bone marrow from “an enemy state” into Israel.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-doctors-spies-rally-to-save-5-year-old-syrian-girl/

Fighting the Zika virus. One of the Grand Challenge Israel winners is Israeli startup BioFeed. It will use the 500,000-shekel prize money to advance its solution in the fight against the Aedes aegypti mosquito, carrier of the Zika virus. Biofeed uses odor to attract insects to poison that eliminates the pest without spraying crops.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-start-up-takes-on-grand-challenge-of-beating-zika/

Fish virus identified. Israeli scientists have helped isolate a deadly virus that is killing both wild and farmed tilapia fish – an important global food source. Tilapia eat algae and are essential for freshwater quality. The tilapia lake virus is related to the influenza virus and the research will help the development of a vaccine.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/210367#.VwSJRUfn95Q

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The Enormous Fraud of the Iran Deal Is Catching Up with Obama : Fred Fleitz

Posted By on April 10th, 2016

After a recent surge in threatening behavior by Iran and reports that it may soon be given access to the U.S. financial system, the House Intelligence Committee opened an investigation into whether Obama officials misled Congress about the July 2015 nuclear deal with Iran (the Joint Comprehensive plan of Action, or JCPOA). The “historic” deal, they said, would help bring Iran into the “community of nations” and lead to improved relations between Iran and the United States.

While this congressional investigation is a welcome development, it is too little and too late to reverse the Obama administration’s policy of offering any and all concessions – including over $100 billion in sanctions relief – to get a nuclear agreement with Iran. Most members of Congress thought the JCPOA was a bad deal; the majority of them voted against it last fall. But many now realize that this agreement is in fact an enormous fraud that is undermining Middle East and international security.

As I have explained here on National Review Online, in “Obama’s Iran Deal Is the Opposite of What He Promised the American People,” the negotiations that produced the JCPOA were an endless series of fallacies and deceptions. To get Iran to the negotiating table, the Obama administration foolishly agreed that the mullahs could continue to enrich uranium and develop advanced enrichment centrifuges. This means that the timeline for an Iranian nuclear weapon will shorten when the JCPOA is in effect, because Iran will all the while be improving its capability to produce nuclear fuel.

Obama officials made several misleading statements about the JCPOA last July that have come back to haunt them. These will be the focus of the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation.

One of the most controversial of these statements was President Obama’s and Secretary Kerry’s assertion that under this agreement, Iran agreed to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions barring missile tests for eight years. But there is no language barring missile tests in the JCPOA; this provision is buried in a U.N. Security Council resolution (Resolution 2231) that merely endorsed the JCPOA.

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Remembering Rita Gam And The Play That Pushed The Zionist Cause By: Dr. Rafael Medoff

Posted By on April 10th, 2016

Rita Gam, one of the last surviving cast members of a controversial 1940s Zionist play, passed away recently at age 88.

Gam made her theatrical debut as a minor character in “A Flag is Born,” a Ben Hecht play that opened on Broadway seventy years ago this fall. The play was intended to stir up American public support for the cause of creating a Jewish state in British Mandatory Palestine but it ended up also playing an unexpected role in promoting racial desegregation in the United States.

With Holocaust survivors languishing in European Displaced Persons camps and the British permitting just a trickle of Jewish immigration to Palestine, Hecht conceived of the idea of using Broadway to promote the Zionist cause.

The play was produced by the Bergson Group, a Jewish activist committee with which Hecht was active. The group’s leader, Hillel Kook (better known as Peter Bergson), would later become a member of Knesset.

The play featured Yiddish theater stars Paul Muni and Celia Adler as elderly Jewish refugees making their way across postwar Europe. In a cemetery, they encounter a fiery young Zionist, played by 22 year-old Marlon Brando in one of his earliest major acting roles. Brando’s impassioned monologues about the need for a Jewish state form the emotional centerpiece of the play.

American theater critics were for the most part strongly impressed. Walter Winchell, for example, wrote that “Flag” was “worth seeing, worth hearing, and worth remembering…it will wring your heart and eyes dry…bring at least eleven handkerchiefs.”

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Israel’s U.S. Ambassador on Capitalism, Genius and Chutzpah

Posted By on April 10th, 2016

The recent nuclear deal with Iran. The ongoing threat of terrorism in the Middle East. The still-unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Issues involving Israel appear in the news almost daily. And the country’s political actions continue to spark strong opinions inside and outside its borders.

But often lost in public perceptions of Israel is what this tiny country of a mere 8 million people — founded only 67 years ago, possessing few natural resources, and facing constant security threats from its neighbors — has achieved from an economic and business standpoint. Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, recently spoke at Wharton on this subject and promised to reveal “the secret of Israel’s success.”

The second-youngest ever Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Dermer was born and raised in Miami Beach, Fla. He earned degrees from both Wharton and Oxford. He graduated from Wharton in 1993 where, he noted, he arrived “a supporter of capitalism,” and left “a champion of it.” In 2004, Dermer co-authored, with Israeli human rights activist Natan Sharansky, the bestseller The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror, which has been translated into 10 languages.