Israel focusing on closing loopholes, not imposing Russia sanctions, officials say | The Times of Israel

Lapid, ministries working to ensure country not used to bypass West; Jerusalem says it has no legal ability to declare sanctions — which it doesn’t want to do now in any case

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Israel is offering tentative support for Ukraine, but not full support as they are not imposing sanctions on Russia. yes, currently there is no legislation in  Israel in which sanctions could be imposed, but this could be remedied by changing the legislation. Instead, they are claiming that they will act as negotiators between Russia and Ukraine and only time will tell if this is the right approach.

However, Israel was created after the end of World War 2 in which Jews went through Hell at the hands of Hitler and the German armed forces in Germany and all the countries which were invaded by Germany. So, if any nation understood the destruction and death in Ukraine at the hands of Russia, then Israel would be able to do so.

We all hope that there will be a Russian withdrawal from Ukraine, then so allowing Ukraine to do all they can to recover from the death and destruction already seen in Ukraine by Putin and the invading Russiam armed forces and be allowed to continue as an independent country under their own elected government and not one imposed by Putin.

 

Source: Israel focusing on closing loopholes, not imposing Russia sanctions, officials say | The Times of Israel

Huge explosions rock Gaza as Israeli warplanes launch first airstrikes since ceasefire | Daily Mail Online

Israel’s military said the explosions were a response to the launching of incendiary balloons that caused fires in fields in southern Israel.

 

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Here we have the classic no trust on both sides, similar to what we had in Northern Ireland, which is still not fully sorted, but peace has been kept to a major degree.

Israel are still allowing israeli settlemen ts on what the Palestians believe to be their land, so there needs to be some show of faith from Israel, otherwise nothing will ever be sorted. One side has to show contrition to show they can be trusted.

If there was one on whom I would expect this to be so, would be the Jewish faith for over the years they have and are still being subjected to acts against them, but they need to take the lead and to not be so distracted by act against them. To bomb Gaza as they are doing is way above the acts from Hamas. Surely a toned down response could be put in place.

It is easy for me to say, for I am not involved in either side, but in some instances eyes of others can be an advantage. This is so because the acts so far are not easing the situation just maintaining it and could well be making it much worse.

Source: Huge explosions rock Gaza as Israeli warplanes launch first airstrikes since ceasefire | Daily Mail Online

Hamas, Islamic Jihad agree to stand together in future fight with Israel – The Jerusalem Post

Qatar says aid to Gaza will continue.

Source: Hamas, Islamic Jihad agree to stand together in future fight with Israel – The Jerusalem Post

If Germany atoned for the Holocaust, the US can pay reparations for slavery

The idea of paying reparations for slavery is gaining momentum in the United States, despite being long derided as an unrealistic plan, to compensate for state violence committed by and against people long dead.

The topic saw substantive debate in the July 30 Democratic primary debate, with candidate Marianne Williamson calling slavery “a debt that is owed.” Some Democratic congressional representatives are also pushing for financial recompense for the descendants of enslaved people.

Calls for reparations in the U.S. are generally met with skepticism: What would reparations achieve? Who should receive them, and under what conditions?

Other countries have tackled these questions. In 1995, South Africa established its Truth and Reconciliation Commission and paid reparations to the victims of apartheid. Eight years before, the United States apologized to 82,000 Japanese Americans unduly imprisoned during World War II and paid them US$20,000 each to compensate for their suffering.

Even Germany, birthplace of the worst racism ever institutionalized and elevated to official policy, has some lessons for the United States as it considers reparations.

Compensating victims of Nazi enslavement

I am a professor of political science who studies the relationship between democracy, citizenship and justice. My recent work on Germany examines how the country dealt with the horrors of the Holocaust.

Nazi Germany not only killed millions of Jews between 1933 and 1945. It also forced over 20 million people into slave labor, working them to their death in German industries. By 1944, a quarter of the German workforce was enslaved laborers.

 

Source: If Germany atoned for the Holocaust, the US can pay reparations for slavery

Trump unleashes in lengthy exchange with reporters at White House | TheHill

 President Trump, facing criticism on multiple fronts from his handling of the economy to his relationship with the NRA and statements on Jewish Democrats, unleashed on the press Wednesday during lengthy comments to reporters.

The president defended himself against the idea that he’s waffling on support for stronger gun background checks; rejected allegations of anti-Semitism for questioning Jewish Americans’ loyalty; slammed Danish leaders for dismissing a possible sale of Greenland to the U.S.; and insisted his posture on the economy was a winning one despite signs of a possible recession.

The marathon media session ahead of Trump’s trip to Kentucky for a speech to AMVETS and a political event lasted roughly 40 minutes.

The president grew animated at times — at various points chastising NBC and The New York Times and CNN over the outlets’ credibility — as he sought to stave off concerns that his agenda is faltering.

Trump made headlines a day earlier by saying Jews who vote for Democrats either “lack knowledge” or show “great disloyalty” as he railed against two progressive congresswomen who have criticized the U.S.-Israel alliance. He escalated the controversy Wednesday, telling reporters that allegations the comments were anti-Semitic were “only in your head.”

“In my opinion, if you vote for a Democrat you’re being very disloyal to Jewish people and you’re being very disloyal to Israel. And only weak people would say anything other than that,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House.

The president has made support for Israel a centerpiece of his foreign policy, and asserted Wednesday that he has been responsible “for a lot of great things” for the Middle Eastern ally.

But he took the fight to another longstanding partner by chastising Denmark’s prime minister over her dismissal of a possible sale of Greenland. Trump announced late Tuesday he would no longer go to Denmark next month after Danish and Greenlandic leaders said a sale of the island was a non-starter.

Trump reportedly mused about the idea privately, and publicly said in recent days he viewed it as a strategically interesting venture. But he took exception to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen calling the proposal “absurd,” saying her response was “nasty” and “sarcastic.”

“I thought it was a very not nice way of saying something. They could have told me no,” Trump told reporters. “She’s not talking to me, she’s talking to the United States of America. You don’t talk to the United States that way.”

Trump was forced to defend his domestic agenda as well, with talk of stronger gun laws and the state of the economy consuming the White House over the past week.

The president see-sawed over his stance on background checks, simultaneously insisting he had an “appetite” for the legislation while parroting pro-gun groups who believe the laws would be a “slippery slope” to confiscating legally owned weapons.

“We have background checks, but there are loopholes in the background checks, and that’s what I spoke to the NRA about yesterday,” Trump said. “They want to get rid of the loopholes as well as I do. At the same time, I don’t want to take away people’s Second Amendment rights.”

Trump has taken heat for appearing to cave once again to groups like the NRA, but he insisted he remained open to a compromise with lawmakers.

On the economy, Trump similarly tried to have it both ways.

 

Source: Trump unleashes in lengthy exchange with reporters at White House | TheHill

Trump: Jews who vote Democrat show ‘lack of knowledge or great disloyalty’ | TheHill

President Trump said Tuesday that Jewish people who vote for Democrats are either ignorant or disloyal as he railed against two congresswomen who have been critical of the U.S.-Israel alliance.

“I think Jewish people that vote for a Democrat — I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with the president of Romania.

Trump and the GOP have sought to win over Jewish voters from the Democratic Party by criticizing statements by Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the first two Muslim women elected to Congress. Both have criticized Israel’s government.

Trump last week urged Israel to block Tlaib and Omar from visiting the country, saying in a tweet that allowing the visit would show “great weakness.” An hour after Trump’s tweet, Israel denied the congresswomen entry.

But in stating that Jewish people who voted for Democrats were disloyal, Trump appeared to step into the same verbal quagmire about Jewish loyalty to the Israeli state that had drawn criticism to Omar earlier this year.

Omar took heat for remarks that suggested to some that Jewish Americans were more loyal to Israel than the United States.

Trump’s comments came as he accused Tlaib and Omar of hating Israel and the Jewish people, and he complained that Democrats should also be criticizing them.

“The concept of even talking about this … of cutting off aid to Israel because of two people that hate Israel and hate Jewish people, I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

“Where has the Democratic Party gone?” he continued. “Where have they gone … where they’re defending these two people over the state of Israel?”

Jewish groups and Democratic lawmakers swiftly condemned the president’s Tuesday remarks.

“At a time when anti-Semitic incidents have increased — due to the president’s emboldening of white nationalism — Trump is repeating an anti-Semitic trope. If this is about Israel, then Trump is repeating a dual loyalty claim, which is a form of anti-Semitism. If this is about Jews being ‘loyal’ to him, then Trump needs a reality check,” said Halie Soifer, executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America.

It’s unclear who @POTUS is claiming Jews would be “disloyal” to, but charges of disloyalty have long been used to attack Jews. As we’ve said before, it’s possible to engage in the democratic process w/o these claims. It’s long overdue to stop using Jews as a political football.

— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) August 20, 2019

Disgusting. The President of the United States just said that over 75% of American Jews are either disloyal or unintelligent. https://t.co/l6qTtZOaIB

— J Street (@jstreetdotorg) August 20, 2019

 

Source: Trump: Jews who vote Democrat show ‘lack of knowledge or great disloyalty’ | TheHill

If Germany atoned for the Holocaust, the US can pay reparations for slavery : The Conversation

The idea of paying reparations for slavery is gaining momentum in the United States, despite being long derided as an unrealistic plan, to compensate for state violence committed by and against people long dead.

The topic saw substantive debate in the July 30 Democratic primary debate, with candidate Marianne Williamson calling slavery “a debt that is owed.” Some Democratic congressional representatives are also pushing for financial recompense for the descendants of enslaved people.

Calls for reparations in the U.S. are generally met with skepticism: What would reparations achieve? Who should receive them, and under what conditions?

Other countries have tackled these questions. In 1995, South Africa established its Truth and Reconciliation Commission and paid reparations to the victims of apartheid. Eight years before, the United States apologized to 82,000 Japanese Americans unduly imprisoned during World War II and paid them US$20,000 each to compensate for their suffering.

Even Germany, birthplace of the worst racism ever institutionalized and elevated to official policy, has some lessons for the United States as it considers reparations.

Compensating victims of Nazi enslavement

I am a professor of political science who studies the relationship between democracy, citizenship and justice. My recent work on Germany examines how the country dealt with the horrors of the Holocaust.

Nazi Germany not only killed millions of Jews between 1933 and 1945. It also forced over 20 million people into slave labor, working them to their death in German industries. By 1944, a quarter of the German workforce was enslaved laborers.

 

Source: If Germany atoned for the Holocaust, the US can pay reparations for slavery : The Conversation

Israel has killed one child for every week in the last seven months | The Canary

Since March, Israel has reportedly shot and killed 34 children. That’s more than one murder for each week. In fact, the violence is so extreme that witnesses have claimed children are deliberate targets.

Nakba

On 30 March, known as ‘Land Day‘, thousands of Palestinians peacefully camped on the Israeli-Gaza border. The intention was to remain there until 15 May, the 70th anniversary of the Nakba (Arabic for “catastrophe”). Nakba acknowledges the displacement of Palestinians after the founding of the Israeli state.

But these peaceful protests met with extreme violence from Israel. In April, a UN statement clearly stated that Gaza is under “military occupation”. And it warned against Israel’s continued use of “excessive force”.

Since then, demonstrations known as the Great Return March have continued. But the violent response of the Israeli military (IDF) hasn’t stopped. And as the Electronic Intifada reported on 24 October, witnesses say Israel intentionally targets children.

This week, some reports suggested Israel had murdered 31 children in 31 weeks:

 

Source: Israel has killed one child for every week in the last seven months | The Canary

BBC succumb to pressure from Foreign Government to change news headline. | Nye Bevan News

** Last night Israeli forces pounded Gaza from land and air killing 3 Palestinians, including Inas Muhammad Khamash, a 9 month pregnant 23-year-old, along with her 18-month-old toddler daughter Bayan.

** The BBC News website posted a headline image which read:

“ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE KILL WOMAN AND TODDLER.”

** At 7:35am this morning, Israeli media correspondent Amichai Stein reported on Twitter that the Israeli Foreign Ministry “has issued a formal complaint to the @BBCWorld after their Gaza headline” referring, we believe to BBC World Service.

** Shortly afterward the BBC News changed their headline to read “Gaza air strikes ‘kill woman and child’ after rockets hit Israel.” removing any obvious reference to the fact that Israel was perpetrating the strikes upon Gaza and also removing the emotive reference to the death of a ‘toddler’ at Israeli hands.

 

Source: BBC succumb to pressure from Foreign Government to change news headline. | Nye Bevan News

Thousands of Druze protest against Israel’s Jewish nation law | Israel News | Al Jazeera

A rally against a “discriminatory” law that declares Israel the exclusive homeland of Jewish people has gotten under way in Tel Aviv.

Druze community members, who organised the event, estimate 150,000 people will take part in Saturday’s protest, held under the motto, “Equal rights for all citizens”.

The Druze are an Arabic-speaking group with their own distinct religious and cultural traditions.

https://players.brightcove.net/665003303001/BkyLdqdhZ_default/index.html?videoId=5811285065001

WATCH

24:00

Israel: A law that divides and discriminates

They make up two percent of Israel’s 8.8 million population and are found mainly in the northern regions of Galilee and Carmel.

 

Source: Thousands of Druze protest against Israel’s Jewish nation law | Israel News | Al Jazeera