Iran proposes splitting Syria into mini-states to fight IS-Tehran says Assad regime, rebels should set aside hostilities to combat jihadists; each would keep captured territory-By Avi Lewis August 11, 2015, 2:50 pm 2-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Iran has suggested suspending the Syrian civil war in order to allow all sides to unite in battling the larger enemy of Islamic State.According to a report (Arabic link) in the London-based Arabic daily al-Araby al-Jadeed Tuesday, Tehran proposes carving up the embattled country into multiple mini-states, with each faction administering territories currently under its control.Under the plan, all sides would uphold a mutual ceasefire, while uniting to take up arms against the Sunni terror group that has quickly conquered about one-third of Syria and Iraq.Meanwhile, negotiations will begin toward establishing a national unity government, drafting a new constitution and, eventually, holding elections under international supervision. Saudi Arabia has also floated its own initiative for resolving the conflict, which does not expressly call for Syria’s splintering but does demand that Iran and Lebanese-based proxy Hezbollah withdraw from the country.The Arab world has been polarized for years amid ratcheting tensions between Iran and the Gulf powers, particularly Saudi Arabia, fueling the Sunni-Shiite divide and inflaming existing conflicts.In Syria, Iran’s support has ensured the survival of Assad against Sunni rebels backed by Gulf nations in his country’s devastating civil war, which has claimed some 250,000 lives since 2011. The Islamic Republic, for its part, is currently engaged in a proxy war with the Islamic State on two separate fronts: in western Syria through Hezbollah, and in Iraq through a number of Shiite militias under de facto control of Tehran.Tariq al- Shammari, a Saudi analyst and president of the Council of Gulf International Relations, told the Associated Press last month that following the deal on Iran’s nuclear program, Gulf Arab countries will work to try to keep Tehran isolated politically and economically, noting that Saudi Arabia in particular has already moved to improve ties with Russia, a strong ally of Iran.Last week, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem met with Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran to discuss the civil war, now in its fifth year, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Nabbed Hamas man reveals new Gaza war plans-Ibraheem Shaer, caught entering Israel from the Strip, tells Shin Bet materials for rebuilding are being diverted to tunnels-By Stuart Winer August 11, 2015, 3:21 pm 93-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
A Hamas fighter nabbed last month in a joint Shin Bet and police operation has provided a wealth of information on the terror group’s tunnel-digging in the Gaza Strip, its strategy for a future conflict with Israel, and its methods for obtaining cash from Iran, the Shin Bet said on Tuesday.The capture of Ibraheem Adel Shehadeh Shaer, 21, a resident of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, was only cleared for publication on Tuesday.Shaer, a tunnel digger in the group’s armed wing, was arrested at the beginning of July as he tried to pass though the Erez border crossing from Gaza into Israel.During questioning by security officials, he disclosed a plethora of details about Hamas activities in Rafah, and in particular Hamas’s emergency procedures, as well as its intention to use tunnels dug under the border to attack Israel in a future fight.Shaer told investigators that in recent months he worked on some of the tunnels and was shown a passage dug from Rafah that led in the direction of the Kerem Shalom border crossing into Israel, the Shin Bet said in a statement sent to Hebrew-language media.The Hamas member provided data on Hamas tunnels in the Rafah area, including digging locations, access shafts, diggers and the routes of the tunnels. He also revealed that a new road recently laid down by Hamas near the border fence was installed for the purpose of carrying out surprise attacks using vehicles that would speed over the border into Israel.According to the Shin Bet, Shaer was personally involved in various types of warfare training, including combat training, command methods, use of advanced weapons and sabotage.During last summer’s Operation Protective Edge, when the Israeli army battled against Gaza militias led by Hamas, Shaer served in the group’s logistics support division and helped in the provision of military equipment and explosives to fighters. He also admitted to taking part in the military action by placing anti-tank charges and helping with observation posts.Shaer said he was privy to many details about Hamas activities and the organization’s senior figures in recent years. He offered investigators intel on Hamas’s links to Iran and the latter’s military support for the Gaza group.Iranian support came in the form of cash, advanced weapons and sophisticated electronic equipment meant to interfere with control signals for Israeli drones over the coastal enclave. The Shin Bet said Shaer also briefed them on Iranian training for Hamas fighters in the use of paragliders capable of penetrating Israeli airspace.The fighter provided details about Hamas’s elite units, the organization’s anti-tank and anti-aircraft capabilities, the location of its observation posts and the three-kilometer range of its photographic capabilities into Israel.In July, Hamas published a short video clip that it claimed showed the former chief of staff of the IDF, Lt. Gen. (res.) Benny Gantz, within rifle range near the border fence with the Gaza Strip during the 2014 fighting in the coastal enclave.Shaer said Hamas has altered its combat strategy in the wake of Protective Edge, during which IDF forces penetrated deep into the Strip with the goal of destroying a network of cross-border tunnels that were used by Hamas to launch attacks inside Israel.Shaer told investigators that material for Hamas’s war infrastructure is now being brought into Gaza under the guise of reconstruction programs aimed at repairing the damage caused during the fighting, when thousands of buildings were destroyed.He also confirmed that fighters kept explosives and other materiel in their homes because Hamas commanders feared the group’s weapons stores would be bombed by Israel. Shaer noted that he had stored several explosive charges of 50 kilograms each in his own home.On July 31, an indictment was filed against Shaer in the Beersheba District Court for being a member of, and engaging in activities, with a banned organization, attempted murder, contact with an enemy agent, forbidden military training, and various firearms charges.
UK Labour front-runner scrutinized for ties to anti-Semites, extremists-Tony Blair warns electing Jeremy Corbyn as leader could lead to opposition party’s ‘annihilation’-By Times of Israel staff and JTA August 13, 2015, 2:50 am
Jeremy Corbyn, a left-wing British MP on track to become the head of the main opposition Labour Party, is coming under increasing scrutiny for his apparent ties to figures with anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli views, including 9/11 conspiracy theorists who blame the attacks on the Jews.Earlier this year Corbyn wrote a letter in support of a priest who claimed that Israel and wealthy Jews were behind the terror attack on the World Trade Center. At a 2014 pro-Palestinian event in Parliament organized by Corbyn, an activist who has claimed Jewish elders control the world’s finances was allowed to speak, and called for the arming of Palestinian militias. Another anti-Israeli activist at the event compared the Jewish state to Nazi Germany.Corbyn has referred to terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah in the past as “friends.”The MP has gained a decisive lead over his rivals in polls ahead of the election of the new Labour chief, being held because party leader Ed Miliband quit following a crushing defeat to David Cameron’s Conservatives in May. A recent YouGov survey had Corbyn winning 53 percent of the vote, a staggering 32 points ahead of his closest rival, Andy Burnham. Corbyn was originally seen as a dark horse candidate holding views too radical to enable him to win the party leadership.This led former Labour prime minister Tony Blair to warn voters on Wednesday that the party faced “annihilation” if Corbyn was elected leader. In an opinion piece for the Guardian, Blair contended that Corbyn could not possibly win a general election.“The party is walking eyes shut, arms outstretched, over the cliff’s edge to the jagged rocks below,” he said.Corbyn in February defended Rev. Stephen Sizer, who posted an article on Facebook blaming Israel for 9/11, the Daily Mail reported. In a letter to Anglican Church leaders after they decided to ban Sizer from using the Internet for six months, Corbyn wrote that Sizer was unfairly “under attack by certain individuals intent on discrediting the excellent work [he] does in highlighting the injustices of the Palestinian Israeli situation.”Sizer had been accused of anti-Semitism even before his February Facebook post. In 2014 he delivered a speech on the “Israeli lobby” at an Iranian conference that sought to “unveil the secrets behind the dominance of the Zionist lobby over US and EU politics,” according to the Daily Mail. He has also visited Hezbollah leaders in Southern Lebanon and appeared on a Hezbollah television station.Holocaust denier Paul Eisen, who runs a pro-Palestinian group called Deir Yassin Remembered, has claimed to be a close friend of Corbyn. In a blog post referenced by the Daily Mail, Eisen said he and Corbyn had been close for 15 years, that Corbyn attended his group’s anti-Israel events each year, and that the MP donated money to the group.The Corbyn campaign denied this, saying “Paul Eisen clearly holds some of the most extreme views that are entirely his, and Jeremy totally opposes them and disassociates himself from them.”During an October 2014 event in Parliament organized by the Labour MP, far-left activist James Thring reportedly seized the stage during a lull and spoke of the need to arm Palestinians against Israel. Thring has also spoken in the past of “Jewish elders” who control the world financial system.Corbyn later said Thring’s speech was unscheduled and unsanctioned by him.Anti-Israeli activist Max Blumenthal, who Corbyn did invite to speak at the event, called Israel a “racist society” and compared treatment of African immigrants in the country to “Kristallnacht” — the 1938 Nazi pogrom against German Jews in which dozens were murdered.During a 2009 speech Corbyn gave as patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the candidate invited members of Hamas and Hezbollah to address Parliament.“It will be my pleasure and honor to host an event in Parliament where our friends from Hezbollah will be speaking,” he said at the time. “I’ve also invited our friends from Hamas to come and speak as well… So far as I’m concerned, that is absolutely the right function of using Parliamentary facilities.”In July Corbyn attempted to clarify his position, insisting that he used the word “friends” in “collective way” to describe the extremist Islamist organizations, but did not endorse their views.“I’m saying that people I talk to, I use it in a collective way, saying our friends are prepared to talk,” he said.“Does it mean I agree with Hamas and what it does? No. Does it mean I agree with Hezbollah and what they do? No. What it means is that I think to bring about a peace process, you have to talk to people with whom you may profoundly disagree,” he said.Britain’s pro-Israel community is viewing the race for the Labour Party leadership with concern after the UK’s biggest union, Unite, threw its weight behind Corbyn.Corbyn, MP for the inner city London constituency of North Islington since 1983, was a surprise addition to the leadership race, set for a September vote. But Corbyn’s very difference from the other candidates — former health secretary Burnham, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (wife of ousted shadow chancellor Ed Balls, who lost his seat in the May election), and Shadow Health Care and Older People Minister Liz Kendall — has brought him into prominence.Commentators say that where Israel is concerned, Burnham is the candidate most obviously akin to Labour’s former leader Miliband, who led the party to an unexpectedly heavy defeat to Cameron’s ruling Conservatives in May.Not very interested in foreign policy, Burnham is said to be basically sympathetic to the Palestinians but opposed to boycotts. Labour Friends of Israel supporters such as MPs Michael Dugher and Luciana Berger have backed his nomination, although in March, after the Israeli elections, Burnham tweeted that Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election meant that “Palestine will need more international support.”Cooper and Kendall are thought to be marginally more pro-Israel, particularly Cooper, who is said to “get” the anxieties of the Jewish community. Ballot papers go out on August 14 and must be returned by September 10. On September 11 the leadership result will be announced.Jenni Frazer contributed to this report.
US jets launch first anti-IS Syria strikes from Turkey-Ankara’s involvement in campaign against jihadists enters new phase, with Turkish bombing raids expected next-By Fulya Ozerkan and Stuart Williams August 13, 2015, 1:03 am-the times of Israel
ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — US warplanes Wednesday carried out their first air strikes on Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria after taking off from a Turkish base, kicking off a key new phase in the campaign against the jihadists.A US drone had last week executed a single lethal air strike against an IS target in Syria but this was the first time manned US fighter jets had carried out raids after taking off from Turkey’s strategically-located Incirlik base.Turkey is currently pressing a two-pronged “anti-terror” offensive against IS jihadists in Syria and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq and southeast Turkey following a wave of attacks inside the country.But until now the Turkish air strikes have overwhelmingly concentrated on the separatist Kurdish rebels, to the frustration of Western commentators who want to see Turkey ramp up its involvement in the fight against IS.Using the Incirlik base outside the city of Adana in southern Turkey drastically cuts the distance needed for the US jets to fly to northern Syria compared with other launch bases further afield in the Middle East.“Today, the United States began flying manned counter-ISIL missions from Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. Strikes were conducted,” Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Elissa Smith said.Turkey’s Dogan news agency said three US fighter jets were seen taking off from Incirlik in the evening.Last month, Turkey agreed to open up the base to coalition planes for bombing IS targets in Syria following months of tough negotiations.The expectation now will be that Turkish forces — which so far have only carried out the most limited strikes against IS — will also join in the bombing raids.“Turkey and the United States will coordinate operations,” a Turkish official said on condition of anonymity in Ankara just before the Pentagon announcement.“From our perspective, there has been a pause right now as Americans asked to wait for coordination purposes.”Brett McGurk, deputy US envoy for the anti-IS coalition, meanwhile wrote on Twitter that he was back in Ankara for talks with Turkish officials “to advance our joint cooperation” against IS militants.Turkish officials have indicated a major priority will be the establishment of a safe zone inside Syria free of IS jihadists where some of the 1.8 million Syrian refugees Turkey is hosting could be housed. But Washington has yet to express clear enthusiasm for the idea.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed there would be “no concessions” in Turkey’s relentless offensive against Kurdish militants, as its southeast was hit by new deadly violence.One Turkish soldier and two suspected PKK members were killed Wednesday in clashes in the southeast that erupted when the Kurdish rebels attacked a military post in the Diyarbakir region, the army said.“Let me put it clearly, the operations will continue,” Erdogan told local municipal chiefs at his presidential palace in Ankara.“We will never stop in the face of all these attacks,” he added.The state-run Anatolia news agency reported over the weekend that so far 390 “terrorists” had been killed in the campaign against the PKK.But the Kurdish rebels have hit back, leaving a 2013 truce in tatters and a peace process to end its over 30-year insurgency for autonomy and greater rights at a dead end. According to an AFP toll, 30 members of the security forces have been killed in PKK-linked violence since the current crisis began.In the southeastern Hakkari province, Turkish police and protesters clashed at the funeral of a senior PKK figure, Baris Tekce, who was killed in clashes a day earlier, reports said.Turkish authorities earlier detained at least a dozen suspected IS members in coordinated dawn raids including in the capital Ankara and Istanbul, Anatolia news agency reported.The authorities on Tuesday announced the arrests of 23 foreign nationals — from China, Indonesia, Russia and Ukraine — who were trying to cross into Syria to join IS via the southeastern border town of Kilis.In Paris, a high-ranking Turkish official told reporters that Ankara had this year expelled more than 700 people who had tried to enter Syria to join IS.Iran closed its main border crossing into Turkey after an Iranian truck was attacked after crossing over from the Islamic Republic, state television said Wednesday, without saying who was behind the violence. Turkey still has no new government following June 7 legislative elections, which saw the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), founded by Erdogan, lose its overall majority.Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu are to meet Thursday for what is seen a make-or-break meeting on forming a coalition.
Trump card-How Jewish values help Ivanka Trump stay classy-Daughter of Republican presidential hopeful says she’s ‘pretty observant’ and ‘very modern, but… also a very traditional person’-By Debra Kamin August 10, 2015, 11:45 pm 7-the times of israel
JTA — A dishy dispatch in Vanity Fair has taken careful note of the skillful way that Ivanka Trump is supporting the scorched-earth presidential campaign of her father, Donald Trump, while avoiding any tinge to her own reputation. The answer, it appears, lies in a careful combination of Jewish family values, hard work and a culture of reality-star worship.“Everyone knows she is first and foremost a Trump – she even works for the family company,” a source from the within Trump society circles told Vanity Fair of the socialite. “But that doesn’t mean she is 100 percent just like her father, or even agreeing with everything her father says. She is definitely her own person, and she is a person a lot of people would like to be associated with for exactly that reason.”Indeed, while Ivanka Trump may have kept the Trump name, she has her own family — and her own religion. She converted to Orthodox Judaism in 2009 when she married real estate mogul Jared Kushner, with whom she now has two children.“We’re pretty observant,” she told Vogue magazine in February. “I am very modern, but I’m also a very traditional person, and I think that’s an interesting juxtaposition in how I was raised as well. I really find that with Judaism, it creates an amazing blueprint for family connectivity.”Trump’s image as a loving wife and mother is now central to her “practically impenetrable” brand, the Vanity Fair article noted. Even as her billionaire father spouts polemical remarks about women and immigrants in the Republican presidential race, the daughter’s Instagram feed continues to feature a steady stream of praise for her and her two young children.Ivanka Trump’s strong social media presence also highlight her accomplishments as a businesswoman and fashion icon, and it helps that socialites and reality stars have a stronger foothold in high society than they did in generations past.But unlike many of the Twitter-happy demigods of today’s Insta-star society, Trump has the advantage of excellent manners and unflappable decorum, the article suggested. She can steer a conversation and support her father while never wading too deep into any mess he might have created.“According to friends, Ivanka will proudly acknowledge her father’s decision to run, but don’t expect her to get into a political debate with you over appetizers,” the article said. “This is what makes the younger, Ivy League–educated Trump so diplomatic: she knows exactly how to stand her ground while still maintaining her grace.”When push comes to political shove, it seems, Trump relies on the age-old gift of excellent etiquette. Call it her, ahem, trump card.
Iran has suggested suspending the Syrian civil war in order to allow all sides to unite in battling the larger enemy of Islamic State.According to a report (Arabic link) in the London-based Arabic daily al-Araby al-Jadeed Tuesday, Tehran proposes carving up the embattled country into multiple mini-states, with each faction administering territories currently under its control.Under the plan, all sides would uphold a mutual ceasefire, while uniting to take up arms against the Sunni terror group that has quickly conquered about one-third of Syria and Iraq.Meanwhile, negotiations will begin toward establishing a national unity government, drafting a new constitution and, eventually, holding elections under international supervision. Saudi Arabia has also floated its own initiative for resolving the conflict, which does not expressly call for Syria’s splintering but does demand that Iran and Lebanese-based proxy Hezbollah withdraw from the country.The Arab world has been polarized for years amid ratcheting tensions between Iran and the Gulf powers, particularly Saudi Arabia, fueling the Sunni-Shiite divide and inflaming existing conflicts.In Syria, Iran’s support has ensured the survival of Assad against Sunni rebels backed by Gulf nations in his country’s devastating civil war, which has claimed some 250,000 lives since 2011. The Islamic Republic, for its part, is currently engaged in a proxy war with the Islamic State on two separate fronts: in western Syria through Hezbollah, and in Iraq through a number of Shiite militias under de facto control of Tehran.Tariq al- Shammari, a Saudi analyst and president of the Council of Gulf International Relations, told the Associated Press last month that following the deal on Iran’s nuclear program, Gulf Arab countries will work to try to keep Tehran isolated politically and economically, noting that Saudi Arabia in particular has already moved to improve ties with Russia, a strong ally of Iran.Last week, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem met with Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran to discuss the civil war, now in its fifth year, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Nabbed Hamas man reveals new Gaza war plans-Ibraheem Shaer, caught entering Israel from the Strip, tells Shin Bet materials for rebuilding are being diverted to tunnels-By Stuart Winer August 11, 2015, 3:21 pm 93-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
A Hamas fighter nabbed last month in a joint Shin Bet and police operation has provided a wealth of information on the terror group’s tunnel-digging in the Gaza Strip, its strategy for a future conflict with Israel, and its methods for obtaining cash from Iran, the Shin Bet said on Tuesday.The capture of Ibraheem Adel Shehadeh Shaer, 21, a resident of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, was only cleared for publication on Tuesday.Shaer, a tunnel digger in the group’s armed wing, was arrested at the beginning of July as he tried to pass though the Erez border crossing from Gaza into Israel.During questioning by security officials, he disclosed a plethora of details about Hamas activities in Rafah, and in particular Hamas’s emergency procedures, as well as its intention to use tunnels dug under the border to attack Israel in a future fight.Shaer told investigators that in recent months he worked on some of the tunnels and was shown a passage dug from Rafah that led in the direction of the Kerem Shalom border crossing into Israel, the Shin Bet said in a statement sent to Hebrew-language media.The Hamas member provided data on Hamas tunnels in the Rafah area, including digging locations, access shafts, diggers and the routes of the tunnels. He also revealed that a new road recently laid down by Hamas near the border fence was installed for the purpose of carrying out surprise attacks using vehicles that would speed over the border into Israel.According to the Shin Bet, Shaer was personally involved in various types of warfare training, including combat training, command methods, use of advanced weapons and sabotage.During last summer’s Operation Protective Edge, when the Israeli army battled against Gaza militias led by Hamas, Shaer served in the group’s logistics support division and helped in the provision of military equipment and explosives to fighters. He also admitted to taking part in the military action by placing anti-tank charges and helping with observation posts.Shaer said he was privy to many details about Hamas activities and the organization’s senior figures in recent years. He offered investigators intel on Hamas’s links to Iran and the latter’s military support for the Gaza group.Iranian support came in the form of cash, advanced weapons and sophisticated electronic equipment meant to interfere with control signals for Israeli drones over the coastal enclave. The Shin Bet said Shaer also briefed them on Iranian training for Hamas fighters in the use of paragliders capable of penetrating Israeli airspace.The fighter provided details about Hamas’s elite units, the organization’s anti-tank and anti-aircraft capabilities, the location of its observation posts and the three-kilometer range of its photographic capabilities into Israel.In July, Hamas published a short video clip that it claimed showed the former chief of staff of the IDF, Lt. Gen. (res.) Benny Gantz, within rifle range near the border fence with the Gaza Strip during the 2014 fighting in the coastal enclave.Shaer said Hamas has altered its combat strategy in the wake of Protective Edge, during which IDF forces penetrated deep into the Strip with the goal of destroying a network of cross-border tunnels that were used by Hamas to launch attacks inside Israel.Shaer told investigators that material for Hamas’s war infrastructure is now being brought into Gaza under the guise of reconstruction programs aimed at repairing the damage caused during the fighting, when thousands of buildings were destroyed.He also confirmed that fighters kept explosives and other materiel in their homes because Hamas commanders feared the group’s weapons stores would be bombed by Israel. Shaer noted that he had stored several explosive charges of 50 kilograms each in his own home.On July 31, an indictment was filed against Shaer in the Beersheba District Court for being a member of, and engaging in activities, with a banned organization, attempted murder, contact with an enemy agent, forbidden military training, and various firearms charges.
UK Labour front-runner scrutinized for ties to anti-Semites, extremists-Tony Blair warns electing Jeremy Corbyn as leader could lead to opposition party’s ‘annihilation’-By Times of Israel staff and JTA August 13, 2015, 2:50 am
Jeremy Corbyn, a left-wing British MP on track to become the head of the main opposition Labour Party, is coming under increasing scrutiny for his apparent ties to figures with anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli views, including 9/11 conspiracy theorists who blame the attacks on the Jews.Earlier this year Corbyn wrote a letter in support of a priest who claimed that Israel and wealthy Jews were behind the terror attack on the World Trade Center. At a 2014 pro-Palestinian event in Parliament organized by Corbyn, an activist who has claimed Jewish elders control the world’s finances was allowed to speak, and called for the arming of Palestinian militias. Another anti-Israeli activist at the event compared the Jewish state to Nazi Germany.Corbyn has referred to terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah in the past as “friends.”The MP has gained a decisive lead over his rivals in polls ahead of the election of the new Labour chief, being held because party leader Ed Miliband quit following a crushing defeat to David Cameron’s Conservatives in May. A recent YouGov survey had Corbyn winning 53 percent of the vote, a staggering 32 points ahead of his closest rival, Andy Burnham. Corbyn was originally seen as a dark horse candidate holding views too radical to enable him to win the party leadership.This led former Labour prime minister Tony Blair to warn voters on Wednesday that the party faced “annihilation” if Corbyn was elected leader. In an opinion piece for the Guardian, Blair contended that Corbyn could not possibly win a general election.“The party is walking eyes shut, arms outstretched, over the cliff’s edge to the jagged rocks below,” he said.Corbyn in February defended Rev. Stephen Sizer, who posted an article on Facebook blaming Israel for 9/11, the Daily Mail reported. In a letter to Anglican Church leaders after they decided to ban Sizer from using the Internet for six months, Corbyn wrote that Sizer was unfairly “under attack by certain individuals intent on discrediting the excellent work [he] does in highlighting the injustices of the Palestinian Israeli situation.”Sizer had been accused of anti-Semitism even before his February Facebook post. In 2014 he delivered a speech on the “Israeli lobby” at an Iranian conference that sought to “unveil the secrets behind the dominance of the Zionist lobby over US and EU politics,” according to the Daily Mail. He has also visited Hezbollah leaders in Southern Lebanon and appeared on a Hezbollah television station.Holocaust denier Paul Eisen, who runs a pro-Palestinian group called Deir Yassin Remembered, has claimed to be a close friend of Corbyn. In a blog post referenced by the Daily Mail, Eisen said he and Corbyn had been close for 15 years, that Corbyn attended his group’s anti-Israel events each year, and that the MP donated money to the group.The Corbyn campaign denied this, saying “Paul Eisen clearly holds some of the most extreme views that are entirely his, and Jeremy totally opposes them and disassociates himself from them.”During an October 2014 event in Parliament organized by the Labour MP, far-left activist James Thring reportedly seized the stage during a lull and spoke of the need to arm Palestinians against Israel. Thring has also spoken in the past of “Jewish elders” who control the world financial system.Corbyn later said Thring’s speech was unscheduled and unsanctioned by him.Anti-Israeli activist Max Blumenthal, who Corbyn did invite to speak at the event, called Israel a “racist society” and compared treatment of African immigrants in the country to “Kristallnacht” — the 1938 Nazi pogrom against German Jews in which dozens were murdered.During a 2009 speech Corbyn gave as patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the candidate invited members of Hamas and Hezbollah to address Parliament.“It will be my pleasure and honor to host an event in Parliament where our friends from Hezbollah will be speaking,” he said at the time. “I’ve also invited our friends from Hamas to come and speak as well… So far as I’m concerned, that is absolutely the right function of using Parliamentary facilities.”In July Corbyn attempted to clarify his position, insisting that he used the word “friends” in “collective way” to describe the extremist Islamist organizations, but did not endorse their views.“I’m saying that people I talk to, I use it in a collective way, saying our friends are prepared to talk,” he said.“Does it mean I agree with Hamas and what it does? No. Does it mean I agree with Hezbollah and what they do? No. What it means is that I think to bring about a peace process, you have to talk to people with whom you may profoundly disagree,” he said.Britain’s pro-Israel community is viewing the race for the Labour Party leadership with concern after the UK’s biggest union, Unite, threw its weight behind Corbyn.Corbyn, MP for the inner city London constituency of North Islington since 1983, was a surprise addition to the leadership race, set for a September vote. But Corbyn’s very difference from the other candidates — former health secretary Burnham, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (wife of ousted shadow chancellor Ed Balls, who lost his seat in the May election), and Shadow Health Care and Older People Minister Liz Kendall — has brought him into prominence.Commentators say that where Israel is concerned, Burnham is the candidate most obviously akin to Labour’s former leader Miliband, who led the party to an unexpectedly heavy defeat to Cameron’s ruling Conservatives in May.Not very interested in foreign policy, Burnham is said to be basically sympathetic to the Palestinians but opposed to boycotts. Labour Friends of Israel supporters such as MPs Michael Dugher and Luciana Berger have backed his nomination, although in March, after the Israeli elections, Burnham tweeted that Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election meant that “Palestine will need more international support.”Cooper and Kendall are thought to be marginally more pro-Israel, particularly Cooper, who is said to “get” the anxieties of the Jewish community. Ballot papers go out on August 14 and must be returned by September 10. On September 11 the leadership result will be announced.Jenni Frazer contributed to this report.
US jets launch first anti-IS Syria strikes from Turkey-Ankara’s involvement in campaign against jihadists enters new phase, with Turkish bombing raids expected next-By Fulya Ozerkan and Stuart Williams August 13, 2015, 1:03 am-the times of Israel
ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — US warplanes Wednesday carried out their first air strikes on Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria after taking off from a Turkish base, kicking off a key new phase in the campaign against the jihadists.A US drone had last week executed a single lethal air strike against an IS target in Syria but this was the first time manned US fighter jets had carried out raids after taking off from Turkey’s strategically-located Incirlik base.Turkey is currently pressing a two-pronged “anti-terror” offensive against IS jihadists in Syria and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq and southeast Turkey following a wave of attacks inside the country.But until now the Turkish air strikes have overwhelmingly concentrated on the separatist Kurdish rebels, to the frustration of Western commentators who want to see Turkey ramp up its involvement in the fight against IS.Using the Incirlik base outside the city of Adana in southern Turkey drastically cuts the distance needed for the US jets to fly to northern Syria compared with other launch bases further afield in the Middle East.“Today, the United States began flying manned counter-ISIL missions from Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. Strikes were conducted,” Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Elissa Smith said.Turkey’s Dogan news agency said three US fighter jets were seen taking off from Incirlik in the evening.Last month, Turkey agreed to open up the base to coalition planes for bombing IS targets in Syria following months of tough negotiations.The expectation now will be that Turkish forces — which so far have only carried out the most limited strikes against IS — will also join in the bombing raids.“Turkey and the United States will coordinate operations,” a Turkish official said on condition of anonymity in Ankara just before the Pentagon announcement.“From our perspective, there has been a pause right now as Americans asked to wait for coordination purposes.”Brett McGurk, deputy US envoy for the anti-IS coalition, meanwhile wrote on Twitter that he was back in Ankara for talks with Turkish officials “to advance our joint cooperation” against IS militants.Turkish officials have indicated a major priority will be the establishment of a safe zone inside Syria free of IS jihadists where some of the 1.8 million Syrian refugees Turkey is hosting could be housed. But Washington has yet to express clear enthusiasm for the idea.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed there would be “no concessions” in Turkey’s relentless offensive against Kurdish militants, as its southeast was hit by new deadly violence.One Turkish soldier and two suspected PKK members were killed Wednesday in clashes in the southeast that erupted when the Kurdish rebels attacked a military post in the Diyarbakir region, the army said.“Let me put it clearly, the operations will continue,” Erdogan told local municipal chiefs at his presidential palace in Ankara.“We will never stop in the face of all these attacks,” he added.The state-run Anatolia news agency reported over the weekend that so far 390 “terrorists” had been killed in the campaign against the PKK.But the Kurdish rebels have hit back, leaving a 2013 truce in tatters and a peace process to end its over 30-year insurgency for autonomy and greater rights at a dead end. According to an AFP toll, 30 members of the security forces have been killed in PKK-linked violence since the current crisis began.In the southeastern Hakkari province, Turkish police and protesters clashed at the funeral of a senior PKK figure, Baris Tekce, who was killed in clashes a day earlier, reports said.Turkish authorities earlier detained at least a dozen suspected IS members in coordinated dawn raids including in the capital Ankara and Istanbul, Anatolia news agency reported.The authorities on Tuesday announced the arrests of 23 foreign nationals — from China, Indonesia, Russia and Ukraine — who were trying to cross into Syria to join IS via the southeastern border town of Kilis.In Paris, a high-ranking Turkish official told reporters that Ankara had this year expelled more than 700 people who had tried to enter Syria to join IS.Iran closed its main border crossing into Turkey after an Iranian truck was attacked after crossing over from the Islamic Republic, state television said Wednesday, without saying who was behind the violence. Turkey still has no new government following June 7 legislative elections, which saw the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), founded by Erdogan, lose its overall majority.Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu are to meet Thursday for what is seen a make-or-break meeting on forming a coalition.
Trump card-How Jewish values help Ivanka Trump stay classy-Daughter of Republican presidential hopeful says she’s ‘pretty observant’ and ‘very modern, but… also a very traditional person’-By Debra Kamin August 10, 2015, 11:45 pm 7-the times of israel
JTA — A dishy dispatch in Vanity Fair has taken careful note of the skillful way that Ivanka Trump is supporting the scorched-earth presidential campaign of her father, Donald Trump, while avoiding any tinge to her own reputation. The answer, it appears, lies in a careful combination of Jewish family values, hard work and a culture of reality-star worship.“Everyone knows she is first and foremost a Trump – she even works for the family company,” a source from the within Trump society circles told Vanity Fair of the socialite. “But that doesn’t mean she is 100 percent just like her father, or even agreeing with everything her father says. She is definitely her own person, and she is a person a lot of people would like to be associated with for exactly that reason.”Indeed, while Ivanka Trump may have kept the Trump name, she has her own family — and her own religion. She converted to Orthodox Judaism in 2009 when she married real estate mogul Jared Kushner, with whom she now has two children.“We’re pretty observant,” she told Vogue magazine in February. “I am very modern, but I’m also a very traditional person, and I think that’s an interesting juxtaposition in how I was raised as well. I really find that with Judaism, it creates an amazing blueprint for family connectivity.”Trump’s image as a loving wife and mother is now central to her “practically impenetrable” brand, the Vanity Fair article noted. Even as her billionaire father spouts polemical remarks about women and immigrants in the Republican presidential race, the daughter’s Instagram feed continues to feature a steady stream of praise for her and her two young children.Ivanka Trump’s strong social media presence also highlight her accomplishments as a businesswoman and fashion icon, and it helps that socialites and reality stars have a stronger foothold in high society than they did in generations past.But unlike many of the Twitter-happy demigods of today’s Insta-star society, Trump has the advantage of excellent manners and unflappable decorum, the article suggested. She can steer a conversation and support her father while never wading too deep into any mess he might have created.“According to friends, Ivanka will proudly acknowledge her father’s decision to run, but don’t expect her to get into a political debate with you over appetizers,” the article said. “This is what makes the younger, Ivy League–educated Trump so diplomatic: she knows exactly how to stand her ground while still maintaining her grace.”When push comes to political shove, it seems, Trump relies on the age-old gift of excellent etiquette. Call it her, ahem, trump card.
