(JTA) — Leaders of a synagogue in London apologized for giving an honor to a convicted fraudster two days before he was sentenced to six years in prison for his crimes.
Freddy David, who defrauded 55 people, mostly Jewish, of nearly $19 million, was called up to the bimah of his Borehamwood and Elstree Synagogue in London on Saturday during Shabbat services. David performed an aliyah — a ceremony in which a member of a Jewish congregation reads a blessing before a reading from the Torah from the bimah, or pulpit.
On Monday, he admitted in court to stealing the money in Ponzi schemes, many involving members of the same synagogue.
David, 49, used his standing within the community to scam his victims by selling them fake investments while he was managing director at wealth management company HBFS Financial Services, The Jewish Chronicle reported Wednesday. He transferred the money into his own account and used it to fund his lavish lifestyle and gambling addiction.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israel closes Gaza crossing to fuel shipments in response to arson balloons
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel froze fuel and gas shipments into Gaza though the main border crossing with Gaza over the continued arson kite and balloon attacks on southern Israel.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman issued the order for the Kerem Shalom crossing on Wednesday after the flying firebombs sparked seven fires. Food, medicine and humanitarian aid will still be permitted to pass into Gaza. The crossing will be closed “until further notice,” Liberman said.
Kerem Shalom is the only crossing for commercial goods and the main crossing for humanitarian aid between Israel and Gaza.
The crossing was closed to all but humanitarian aid at the beginning of July, and partially opened last week after the number of incendiary kites and balloons launched toward Israel significantly decreased. That number has risen dramatically in recent days.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Judge dismisses lawsuit brought by parents of Seth Rich against Fox News
Seth Rich, the voter expansion data director for the Democratic National Committee, also was involved in Jewish outreach. (Facebook)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by the parents of Seth Rich, the Jewish Democratic National Committee staffer killed near his Washington, D.C., home in 2016, against Fox News for a story saying he was part of a conspiracy involving WikiLeaks.
The ruling Thursday in Manhattan District Court said the lawsuit did not meet the standard of “intentional infliction of emotional distress,” one of several claims made by the family. The judge, George Daniels, said the legal standard was much tougher than it is for defamation.
Defamation was not available to the Riches, as it does not apply to a deceased person.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Ivanka Trump says she does not believe the media are ‘enemy of the people’
Ivanka Trump with her father at a new Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., Oct. 26, 2016. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Ivanka Trump said she does not believe the media are the “enemy of the people,” a departure from the rhetoric of her father, President Donald Trump, who has come under fire for repeatedly using the phrase.
Ivanka Trump, appearing Thursday at an event organized by Axios, a political newsletter, replied “No, I do not” when she was asked if she agreed with the phrase.
“I can share my own personal perspective,” she said. “I have certainly received my fair share of reporting on me personally that I know not to be fully accurate. So I have some sensitivity around why people have concerns and gripe especially when they sort of feel targeted. But no, I do not feel that the media is ‘the enemy of the people.'”
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From PressTV
Why is Israeli 'nation-state' law so much of a big deal?
The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, adopted a controversial bill on May 19 that declared Israel “the nation-state of the Jewish people," in what was widely criticized as an apartheid measure discriminating against the Arab population.
The law was passed by a vote of 62-55 after a long and stormy debate, prioritizing “Jewish” values over democratic ones in the occupied territories.
It declares Jerusalem al-Quds the “capital” of Israel, allows Jewish-only communities, sets Hebrew as the official language of Israel and relegates Arabic from an official language to one with “special status.”
The so-called "Basic Law" gives only Jews the right to self-determination. It allows the Israeli regime to expand its annexation of Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds and views Jewish-only settlement expansion as a "national value."
Political analysts believe the legislation puts another nail in the coffin of peace with the Palestinians and discards any pretense of democracy in Israel.
S Mubashir Noor, a freelance journalist based in Pakistan, wrote in a recent article that the unconditional US support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had emboldened him to ignore all international laws and conventions.
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From PressTV
Israel's Lieberman admits Assad back in charge in Syria
Israeli minister of military affairs has admitted that the government of President Bashar al-Assad is regaining control of the Syrian territory and that stability is returning to the occupied Golan Heights.
The situation in Syria is returning to how it was before the conflict began in 2011, Avigdor Lieberman told reporters on Thursday while visiting Israeli military positions near Tzefat.
"From our perspective, the situation is returning to how it was before the civil war, meaning there is a real address, someone responsible, and central rule," he said.
Backed by its allies, namely Iran and Russia, the Syrian government has stepped up its gains against foreign-backed Takfiri terrorist groups on several fronts.
Israel is especially concerned about Syria’s advances against militants in the south near the occupied territories in Golan.
Tel Aviv has recently beefed up its military presence on the occupied side of Syria’s Golan Heights, deploying more military equipment and forces to the region.
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From PressTV
Syrian president praises armed forces for sacrifices in battle against terrorism
President Bashar al-Assad has hailed the achievements of Syrian Armed Forces on the battlefield against foreign-backed militant groups, saying final victory over terrorism is close thanks to their sacrifices.
He made the remarks in a speech published by the Jaish al-Sha’ab (People's Army) magazine on Wednesday in commemoration of the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the national Syrian military.
Assad congratulated Syrian soldiers for “moving from one achievement to another and from one victory to another in the face of the systematic terrorism and its regional and international backers.”
The army, he said, has managed to foil the “Zionist-American” plot against Syria by liberating most of the country from the grip of terrorists, and thus should be regarded as an example of nationalism and sacrifice.
“Our heroic armed forces, you have proven to the whole world over the past seven years that you are an integrated example to follow in nationalism and sacrifice and that you are the fortresses in the face of terrorism,” Assad said.
The Syrian army’s sacrifices led to the restoration of security and stability to most areas and undermined the Zionist-American plot against the country’s sovereignty, he pointed out.
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From PressTV
Norway: Israel must explain seizure of Gaza-bound boat
Norway’s Foreign Ministry calls on the regime in Israel to explain the legal grounds on which it seized a Norwegian-flagged boat taking humanitarian aid supplies to the Tel Aviv-blockaded Gaza Strip.
“We have asked the Israeli authorities to clarify the circumstances around the seizure of the vessel and the legal basis for the intervention,” a ministry spokesman said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
The Israeli navy intercepted the vessel al-Awda (Return) some 60 nautical miles off the coast in international waters on Sunday.
The captain was struck on the head by the forces, who had ordered him to sail to the coastline of the Israeli-occupied territories instead, said Torstein Dahle, the head of Ship to Gaza Norway, which had organized the trip.
The ministry said that its diplomatic mission in Israel was trying to secure the release of five Norwegians who were sailing on board the vessel among 22 others. Two Israelis on board were, however, quickly released.
A spokesman for Israel’s ministry for foreign affairs declined to comment on the matter.
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From PressTV
Is establishing an Arab NATO possible?
By Jafar Razi Khan
As tensions between Iran and the United States continue to heighten under America’s hawkish President Donald Trump, latest reports have indicated that Trump's administration has been quietly pushing ahead with a plan to create a NATO-like security and political alliance between Arab countries to confront Iran.
The purported security and military alliance is reportedly supposed to include six Persian Gulf Arab states, Egypt and Jordan, with its main goal being to counter what they call Iran’s expanding regional influence.
Political experts, however, have cast serious doubt on feasibility of Washington’s plans in this regard, noting among other things that the United States is actually trying to “milk” the aforesaid countries by making them buy increasing amounts of American-made weapons in the hope of warding off the spurious “Iran threat.”
Analysts believe that there are many reasons for the American support of an Arab military union styled on a Western alliance like NATO. Arab NATO is a goldmine for American arms exporters and military-industrial complex as NATO-styled, binding treaties would only increase the flow of American weapons across the lucrative Middle East market and elsewhere.
In that respect, Trump has squeezed hundreds of billions of dollars out of Arab monarchs for weapons they neither need, nor possess the expertise to use. By inking an arms deal worth over USD 110 billion, Trump has invariably expanded the longstanding military ties between Riyadh and Washington even further.
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From PressTV
Israeli navy intercepts Norwegian-flagged Gaza-bound ship
The Israeli navy has intercepted a Norwegian-flagged ship with activists on board as it was approaching the shores of the besieged Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian relief to the inhabitants of the impoverished enclave.
“The activity ended without exceptional events. At this time, the ship is being transferred to the port of Ashdod” along the coast of central Israel, said a statement released by the Israeli military on Sunday.
The intercepted vessel was one of the four ships that made up the Freedom Flotilla, which intended to break Israel’s nearly 12-year blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Adham Abu Salima, a spokesperson for Gaza's National Committee for Breaking the Siege, confirmed the attack by Israeli forces on the Freedom Flotilla ship. He said the committee had lost contact with the flotilla members. He added that 36 solidarity activists from 15 various countries were on board the vessel, which left the Italian city of Palermo on July 21.
According to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a second boat of the flotilla, the Swedish-flagged Freedom, is expected to arrive in the same area in the next couple of days.
Back in late May 2010, an Israeli raid on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, comprising six civilian ships, killed 10 Turkish activists in high seas and sent the Ankara-Tel Aviv ties into a tailspin.
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From PressTV
General says Daesh wants to drag Israel into Syria war
An Israeli general has claimed that it was the Daesh that fired two rockets into the occupied Palestinian territories on Wednesday, saying it was an attempt by the terrorist group to draw the Tel Aviv regime into the conflict in Syria.
“I actually think [Daesh] did want to harm us,” said Amos Yadlin, a former Israeli army general, adding, “What [Daesh] wanted was apparently to cause some kind of confrontation between us and the Syrians, who are putting immense pressure on them...”
Yadlin added that Daesh was taking advantage of recent attacks by Israel against the Syrian government positions and was trying to help escalate the situation between Israel and Syria. He said such an escalation could undermine Syria’s advances against the terrorists and help Daesh remain longer in south and east of Syria.
The claims by the Israeli general come against the backdrop of reports showing that Israel has helped anti-government terrorists in Syria since the very beginning of the war in the Arab country in 2011. Daesh Takfiri terrorists are generally believed to have been a main recipient of the Israeli assistance as many members of the group have been transferred for treatment from battle grounds in Syria’s part of the Golan Heights to Israel.
In its most recent show of sympathy for the adversary groups fighting the Syrian government, Israel sent around 100 buses to southern Syria earlier this week to evacuate members of the so-called White Helmets, a group which Damascus has designated as a terrorist organization.
Israel also shot down a plane belonging to the Syrian army last week, claiming that it had entered the Israeli airspace from Syria. The plane was in the midst of an anti-militant operation and many believe Israeli downed it deliberately to help the terrorists escape from their hideouts.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Record 30,000 participants at Jerusalem Pride Parade march for LGBTQ community
Tens of thousands march through the streets of Jerusalem in the annual Pride Parade, Aug. 2, 2018. (Adi Eddy/Courtesy of Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A record crowd estimated at 30,000 or more marched Thursday in support of the LGBTQ community at the Pride Parade in Jerusalem.
Some 2,500 uniformed and plainclothes police officers were mobilized to secure the event through the streets of Israel’s capital.
The march comes a week after more than 60,000 demonstrators in Tel Aviv protested the Knesset’s passage of a new surrogacy law that excludes gay couples as well as single men. That demonstration capped off a day of strikes and protests in support of gay surrogacy and the LGBTQ community.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Druze don’t like Israel’s nation-state law. Now there’s a plan to make them feel better.
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A team tasked with formulating a plan to address the Druze community’s discomfort with the nation-state law has presented its recommendations three days after it was assembled.
The findings presented Wednesday will be turned over to a newly established ministerial committee chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that will oversee its advancement and implementation.
The controversial law with quasi-constitutional status passed last week enshrines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. The law identifies Arabic as a language with “special status.”
In the wake of backlash from the Druze community, Netanyahu has met with Druze political, community and religious leaders.
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From PressTV
Activists on board Gaza Freedom Flotilla fear imminent Israeli attack
A Swedish-flagged boat attempting to break the siege of Gaza is expecting to be attacked by Israeli forces at any moment.
A few hours ago earlier today (Friday) we spoke to Press TV reporter Richard Sudan, who's currently on board The Freedom vessel which is carrying medical aid for besieged Palestinians, as well as activists who're trying to raise awareness about the Israeli-imposed blockade.
He said he and 11 pro-Palestine activists on board the boat are currently less than 90 nautical miles from Gaza.
“About a day or so ago we actually stopped briefly in Alexandria,” he said. “We were expecting to actually receive some kind of resistance from the Egyptian military, but on the contrary once they had checked us out they actually advised us to be on our way. There were a few people there that were favourable.”
But Richard Sudan said he expects The Freedom to be apprehended by Israeli forces sometime on Friday, given that a previous Flotilla vessel, the Al Awda, was attacked on Sunday.
“Given that the Al Awda was roughly 49 nautical miles when it was intercepted, we expect to be apprehended within the next 4-5 hours which is our remaining time of daylight,” Sudan said.
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From PressTV
Russian FM: Need for 'final blow' to terrorists in Idlib
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the counter-terrorism fight in Syria is not over yet and it is necessary to eliminate militants in the country's northwestern Idlib Province.
"The work [in Syria] is in full swing, a lot is yet to be done. At the same time, it is necessary to deal a final blow to terrorists near Idlib, which still remain there," Lavrov said while speaking on the sidelines of the 51st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meeting in Singapore on Thursday.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Russian minister said only the Syrian people were entitled to determine the fate of their country, not external players, whose meddling in the war-torn state's affairs was "counterproductive."
Lavrov said that based on the UN Security Council Resolution 2254 only the Syrians should decide the future of their homeland and that Syria's unity and independence should be preserved.
The top Russian diplomat also criticized attempts by external players to determine Syria’s future and form of government.
"There are some external players who would prefer to decide everything for the Syrians but it is the Syrian people who should rule the country, determine its form of government and write a constitution. We do not support such attempts as we consider them to be counterproductive," he said.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jeremy Corbyn no longer scheduled to address Jewish audience in London
(JTA) — Talks between Jeremy Corbyn and the Jewish Museum in London on a speech by the leader of the British Labour Party have broken down.
The party, beset by allegations of anti-Semitism, approached the Jewish Museum with a plan to host a speech on the issue, the London-based Jewish Chronicle first reported on Thursday. Corbyn also has been fighting accusations of harboring anti-Semitic sentiments.
But on Friday, the Chronicle reported that the speech was off following a disagreement over who would be invited to attend.
Last month, the party’s ruling body and leadership endorsed a code of conduct that is based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism, but excluded several of the definition’s examples concerning Israel.
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From PressTV
UAE says wants 'bigger military role' in Middle East
A United Arab Emirate minister has claimed that his country can take on a bigger military role in the region, saying it can no longer rely on Western allies like the United States and Britain for its security.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said Thursday that the UAE was ready to deploy more troops across the Middle East now that the US and the European countries differed on their policies toward the security of the region.
“In this current international system, it is no longer ‘write a cheque and someone is going to come and secure the stability in the region'. You have to do some of the burden-sharing,” said Gargash in a speech in London.
The minister said his country was mainly worried about the increasing differences between the US and Europe on how to deal with Iran.
The UAE has spent billions on military equipment and weapons under the sheer pretext of countering Iran’s regional influence. It has also joined Saudi Arabia and other allies in a devastating war against Yemen. The campaign has claimed the lives of around 15,000 people, mostly civilians. UAE forces specifically have an active presence in an ongoing operation to capture Yemen’s only major port in Hudaydah, on the Red Sea.
Furthermore, the Emirates is trying to establish control over the strategic island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea, which Yemen’s resigned president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi had rented out to the Persian Gulf kingdom for nearly a century.
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