Archive for January 28, 2018

‘Attack again, and I’ll launch a missile at Ben Gurion airport’

January 28, 2018

Syrian President Assad sends threat to Israel via Russian President Putin: ‘Syrian honor above all else.’

Mordechai Sones, 28/01/18 10:29

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/241243

Syrian missiles iStock

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad today sent a threat to Israel through Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that if Israel attacked them again, Syria would respond by firing Scud missiles at Ben-Gurion Airport. “Syrian honor above all else,” Assad told Putin, who replied that he would convey the message to Israel.

Assad, Putin Reuters

About three weeks ago, the Syrian army announced that Israel had carried out a series of attacks on an Assad army base in the eastern Kalmon Mountains, north of Damascus, confirming reports by media outlets close to the regime and as reported by Mako news. According to the army’s announcement, Israel carried out three attacks with fighter jets and missiles. “The air defense forces opened fire at the sources of the fire and hit aircraft,” the statement said. In Israel no confirmation was forthcoming regarding damaging aircraft.

According to the official report, the series of attacks began at 2:40 am when planes fired missiles from Lebanon’s airspace towards the Al-Katifa area. Then, at 3:40 am, another attack was carried out using surface-to-surface missiles launched from the Golan Heights. At 4:15 a third attack was carried out by four missiles fired from the Tiberias area. The Syrian army also claims that in response, its air defense forces opened fire at the aircraft and the missiles, and succeeded in intercepting or destroying some of them.

Free Syrian Army fighters fire anti-aircraft weapon צילום: Reuters

Syria repeatedly warns of the dangerous consequences of Israel’s attacks and promises to continue fighting the rebel groups, which are called “Israel’s terrorist affiliates”. Media outlets belonging to the Syrian opposition and rebels reported that the targets of the attack were ammunition depots in which long-range missiles were stored. The Syrian Center for Human Rights said that weapons warehouses belonging to Hezbollah and the Syrian army were damaged in the attack and that there was a fire and damage to the buildings. It also said that no injuries were reported as a result of the attacks.

About a month ago, foreign media reported an attack on the Jamariya area on the outskirts of Damascus. According to reports on the Russian television network RT and Syrian television, at around 23:30, Israel attacked a Syrian military post located on the outskirts of Damascus with missiles.

Syria’s state television reported that local anti-aircraft forces had intercepted three missiles fired by Israel while they were still in the air: “Air defense forces were hit by an Israeli missile attack,” the official SANA news agency reported, “The target was a military site in the suburbs of Damascus.” Other media outlets in the country reported that Israeli aircraft were shot at.

Ben Gurion airport Flash 90

Under Pressure From Pro-Israel Groups, New Orleans Repeals BDS Resolution

January 28, 2018

January 27, 2018 at 9:23 am Written by Middle East Eye

Source: Under Pressure From Pro-Israel Groups, New Orleans Repeals BDS Resolution

{New Orleans has always been proud of it’s diversity and this native New Orleanian is proud they stuck to their roots. – LS}

(MEE) — The New Orleans City Council rescinded a human rights resolution backed by Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) advocates after pressure from pro-Israel politicians and groups.

The short-lived resolution, which was withdrawn on Thursday, recommended removing corporations that violate human rights from the city’s list of contractual partners, but it did not specifically mention Israel or Palestine.

The New Orleans Palestinian Solidarity Committee had pushed the measure, known as R-18-5, which drew the ire of Israel’s supporters immediately after its passage.

Max Geller, a member of the New Orleans Palestinian Solidarity Committee, said city officials had been “cowardly” in succumbing to pressure from the Israeli lobby.

Still, opponents of the measure had called the resolution bigoted and unjustified.

“The BDS movement, which has inherently anti-Semitic components, is designed to challenge Israel’s economic viability and very right to exist,” the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans (JFGNO) said in a statement on 12 January, a day after the measure was passed.

In a joint statement, JFGNO and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) welcomed scrapping the resolution, saying that BDS “does not advance the discussion towards meaningful resolution and peace between Israelis and Palestinians, or a workable two state solution.”

The BDS movement started as a call by Palestinian civil society activists for a peaceful means to resist the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. They liken their movement to boycott calls against the apartheid government in South Africa in the 1960s.

BDS critics accuse it of anti-Semitism because it targets Israel.

Geller told MEE that Israel’s supporters are only interested in maintaining the “apartheid practices” of the Israeli government.

“There’s nothing anti-Semitic about non-violently resisting state violence,” Geller said in defense of BDS. “There’s nothing anti-Semitic about putting an end to ethnic cleansing and allowing people to stay on their own land.”

Council members felt a backlash from pro-Israeli groups “immediately” after the resolution was passed.

“Almost immediately, my fellow council members and I received sharp criticism for the manner in which the resolution was passed, as well as the unintended, but serious consequences of its passage,” Mayor-elect LaToya Cantrell said in a statement.

Although she authored and introduced the measure, Cantrell added that its “unintended impact does not reflect my commitment to inclusivity, diversity, and respect and support for civil rights, human rights and freedoms of all New Orleanians.”

New Orleans-based Republican State Senator Conrad Appel‏ had called the pro-BDS resolution “absurd.”

Outgoing Mayor Mitch Landrieu also said in a statement that the resolution does not represent the policy of the city, calling the measure “gratuitous.”

Even outside New Orleans, pro-Israel politicians slammed the resolution, with South Carolina State Representative Alan Clemmons calling for a boycott against the southern city.

One after another, council members started distancing themselves from the pro-BDS measure that they had approved.

Council President Jason Williams, who co-sponsored the resolution, said he had to educate himself about BDS and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after R-18-5 was passed.

“Let me be very clear to citizens of New Orleans and citizens of the world; this city council is not anti-Israel,” Williams said in a statement. “That sentiment is inconsistent with the council’s actions and certainly mine personally.”

However, BDS activists say city officials knew exactly what they were voting on, and Williams had cited the boycott against apartheid in South Africa while discussing the resolution.

The council president did not return MEE’s request for comment.

Geller said council members are acting like they did not know the aim of R-18-5, which “doesn’t jive with reality”.

He said Palestinian rights activists had had dozens of interactions with council members before 11 January and every single time, they introduced themselves as the New Orleans Palestinian Solidarity Committee.

Despite the disappointment, Tabitha Mustafa, an organiser for the Solidarity Committee, said the repeal of the resolution is not a loss for BDS.

She explained that the affair has put Palestinian suffering and Israeli abuses in the public eye.

“We haven’t lost anything. This is a victory. I would like to say thank you to the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans for getting out the word about Palestinian human rights and Israeli apartheid violations of human rights.”

Tillerson: Washington and Europe to start work on Iran nuclear deal

January 28, 2018

By REUTERS January 27, 2018 17:56

Source: Washington and Europe to start work on Iran nuclear deal

(There’s a new sheriff in town. – LS)

WARSAW – US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Saturday that working groups on fixing what the US sees as flaws in the Iranian nuclear deal have already begun to meet, trying to determine the scope of what is needed and how much Iran needs to be engaged in it.

Tillerson, ending a week-long European trip in Warsaw, said that he had secured support from Britain, France and Germany – all parties to the 2015 agreement – to work on the deal that President Donald Trump has warned he will walk away from unless changes are made.

“It’s always darkest before the dawn,” Tillerson told journalists. “The working groups have already begun to meet on efforts to agree principles, what is the scope of what we attempt to address and also how much we engage Iran on discussions to address these issues,” he said.

The nuclear deal gave Iran billions of dollars in sanctions relief in return for curbs on its atomic program.

Trump vowed to stop waiving US sanctions unless the Europeans agreed to strengthen the deal’s terms by consenting to a side agreement that would effectively eliminate provisions that allow Iran to gradually resume some advanced atomic work. Trump also wants tighter restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Iran has rejected any renegotiation.

Tillerson said the nuclear deal was only a “small” part of US policy in the Middle East and Washington was more immediately concerned about other issues including Iran’s support for the Houthi rebels in Yemen and its supplying weapons to militias in the region.

“Our work group also is intending to identify areas of greater cooperation (with) Europe to push back on Iran’s malign behaviour,” he said.

RUSSIA BLAMED

Despite statements from Russia earlier this week that Washington’s accusations against Moscow that it and the Syrian army were behind a chemical attack in eastern Ghouta were “unfounded”, Tillerson reiterated that ultimately Russia bore responsibility.

“I stand by my comments,” he said.

“The chemical weapons … are being used to hit the civilian population, the most vulnerable – children inside of Syria … We are holding Russia responsible for addressing this. They are (Bashar al-) Assad’s ally.”

Russia is providing direct military support in Syria against various rebel groups trying to oust Assad, and giving diplomatic cover in the UN Security Council.