Israeli Jets Said to Strike Syrian Army, Hezbollah Sites

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Times of Israel

Israeli airstrikes hit an important Syrian regime military airport in Damascus, the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese news network Al Mayadeen claimed Wednesday.

According to the report, the planes struck the Mezzeh Military Airport, located in a suburb of Damascus, around 4 a.m..

Other Arabic media, including al Jazeera and al Arabiya, confirmed that a large explosion had occurred at the airport. Some reports say the fire was caused because a weapons depot exploded.

The Al Mayadeen report noted there had been no official confirmation from the Syrian regime that Israel was responsible, but added “it was almost certain” the explosion was due to IAF airstrikes carried out from Lebanese air space.

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Where Jewish Leaders Stand on Ellison’s DNC Bid

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Times of Israel

By Eric Cortellessa: Since Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison announced his bid to chair the Democratic National Committee, he has spurred a virulent debate within the American Jewish and pro-Israel community about what his ascension would mean for the Democratic Party and its official posture on Israel.

Ellison, the first Muslim ever elected to Congress, has been an outspoken critic of many Israeli governmental policies throughout his career in public life, most notably for its continued settlement enterprise and military response during periods of intensified conflict with the Palestinians.

He opposed efforts on Capitol Hill to castigate the UN Goldstone Report, which alleged that Israel committed war crimes during the 2008-2009 Gaza war, a claim later retracted by the report’s main author, Richard Goldstone, in 2011. He was also one of just eight members of Congress to vote against increased funding for Israel’s sophisticated missile defense system known as Iron Dome amid the 51-day Israel-Hamas conflict during the summer of 2014.

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How Trump Should Renegotiate the Iran Deal

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Washington Post

By Joseph I. Lieberman and Mark D. Wallace: Like President-elect Donald Trump, we vigorously opposed the Iran nuclear agreement, so we sympathize with his promise to “dismantle” it. But we hope that he and his administration will first try to aggressively enforce and then renegotiate the deal beyond the confines of the nuclear issue to make it better for us and the world.

Before such renegotiations begin, the Trump administration could strengthen its hand by closely consulting with our allies in Iran’s neighborhood — Israel and the Arab states. They were missing from the group that developed and consented to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the agreement is formally known. That was wrong, for two main reasons: because the Arab states and Israel are our allies and the Iranians are not, and because the countries in the region have the greatest equities at stake and should have a significant voice in the outcome.

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Shaare Zedek: Where Israeli and Arab Doctors are Working Together to Save Lives

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Independent-UK

By Alan Schaller: In an intensive care ward in Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem, a three-month-old Arab baby boy is struggling for his life in a room next to a young Israeli girl who is also receiving urgent care. He has only been in the hospital for eight hours, but already has had to be resuscitated and has severe intestinal problems. The family rushed him to Shaare Zedek from a facility in East Jerusalem when it became clear that he urgently needed the specialist care the hospital and its staff can provide.

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Angela Merkel Calls for Ban on Full-Face Veils in Germany

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NY Times

To loud applause, Chancellor Angela Merkel told her party members on Tuesday that Germany should ban full-face veils “wherever legally possible” and that it would not tolerate any application of Shariah law over German justice.

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Like Trump, Europe’s Populists Win Big With Rural Voters

Author hzPosted on Categories Articles
NY Times

By Rick Lyman: …Populist, anti-establishment political parties are on the move in Europe. If they are far from homogeneous, these parties share common ground in their core constituencies, rural voters. Just as Donald J. Trump rolled up a big rural vote in his unexpected presidential victory, Europe’s populists are rising by tapping into discontent in the countryside and exploiting rural resentments against urban residents viewed as elites.

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“Slice Open the Enemy’s Chest – Slice It!” – Fatah Song on PA TV

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Palestinian Media Watch

PA TV chose to honor Fatah during the Seventh Fatah Conference, held from Nov. 29 – Dec. 4, by broadcasting 11 times in six days a song celebrating Fatah’s terror and murder of Israelis. The Fatah movement is headed by Mahmoud Abbas, who is also chairman of the Palestinian Authority.

The Fatah song emphasizes that Fatah’s “oath” is to destroy Israel, saying “free the state from the hands of the Zionists,” and that this will be done through violence, terror and killing:

“Slice open the enemy’s chest, slice it”
“Shoot the Dashka (machine gun) and the cannon”
“The Fatah man… fires the mortar and the machine gun”
“Strike, mortar, strike!”

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Colleges Aren’t Just Politically Correct — They’re Anti-Semitic

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NY Post

It was billed as a rally for students to demand free tuition from public institutions of higher education and lodge a cornucopia of grievances.

Instead, some giddy demonstrators devolved into a pack of rabid haters.

“Death to Jews! Death to Jews!” members of the crowd shrieked.

This didn’t happen in Germany in the 1930s, nor was it a modern-day ISIS extravaganza. The hatefest occurred last year at the Million Student March at Manhattan’s Hunter College, part of the City University of New York.

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New York State Blacklists 13 Foreign Companies Over BDS

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Froward

New York state has released a blacklist of 13 foreign companies that support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS, movement against Israel.

The list on stationary from the Office of General Services is dated Dec. 2. It was first reported by the New York Post.

Among the companies on the list are Danske Bank, FreedomCall UK and Vitens NV.

None of the businesses are American, the Post reported, citing state officials, who also told the newspaper they do not believe any state agency has financial dealings with them.

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After Five Frosty Years, Israeli Ambassador Returns to Turkey

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Times of Israel

Israel’s new ambassador to Turkey on Monday handed his letter of credence to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, hailing a “new phase” in bilateral ties.

Eitan Na’eh is Israel’s first ambassador in Ankara in half a decade. Before he was greeted by Erdoğan in the Presidential Palace for a short ceremony, a military band played Israel’s national anthem, Hatikva.

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