By Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

French Jewish Defense League activists demonstrating in Paris, 2011. (Ligue de Defense Juive)

PARIS (JTA) — With scooter helmets in hand, a man called Yohan and six buddies stroll around Paris’ 20th arrondissement. The seven look much like a typical group of French students — until they locate a group of Arab men they suspect of perpetrating an anti-Semitic attack the previous day.

Using their helmets as bludgeons, members of France’s Jewish Defense League, or LDJ, set upon the Arabs and beat them. Several of the Arabs attempt to escape in a blue sedan, but the LDJ members pursue the vehicle, causing it to crash into a stone wall.

The attack last August, filmed by a television crew shooting a documentary on LDJ, was one of at least 115 violent incidents that critics attribute to the group since its registration in France in 2001 — a year after the eruption of the second intifada in Israel and the sevenfold increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the 12 years that followed.
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By Jonathan Adelman & Asaf Romirowsky, Forbes, May 14, 2013

When we think of Israel, we usually think of the Middle East (its neighborhood), North America (its close ally the United States) and Europe (the long history of Ashkenazi Jews). Rarely do we think about Israel and Asia, even less about Asia as Israel’s new frontier. We don’t think of Asia as playing any significant role in Israel’s evolution given the tiny Asian Jewish population, the lack of significant Jewish history in Asia, and minimal relations between Israel and most Asian countries for the first 40 years (1948-1988) of Israel’s existence. Yet, last year Israel called 2012 “the year of Asia in Israel.” The Israeli government sponsored an Asian Science Camp attracting over 220 Asian students to join nearly 40 Israeli students for a week long program of lectures by world class Israeli researchers

How did such a gathering ever happen? Many factors propelled Israel-Asian relations to the forefront. Historically, Asia largely lacks the anti-Semitism that was so prominent in Europe and also the Middle East. Geographically, Israel is in West Asia, only four hours by air from India and 11 hours by air from China. Historically, Israel, like most Asian states, is a new state born after World War II after a struggle with a Western colonial power, in this case Great Britain.
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Livni says “Democracy is “is a system of values meant to exist harmoniously with my perception of Judaism, which fosters equality, for example, as a Jewish and democratic value.” What a circular argument. She wants the state to be Jewish-democratic” what ever that is. But Levin is right when he says “Livni’s objection is a denial of the fundamentals of Zionism and it reflects [her] misguided path.”

By Gideon Allon and Israel Hayom Staff

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who serves as chairwoman of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, announced Wednesday that she would oppose a bill promoted by Likud and Habayit Hayehudi Knesset members that seeks to cement Israel’s Jewish character by law.

The bill, presented in late June by Coalition Chairman Yariv Levin (Likud) and MK Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi), aims to solidify Israel’s identity as Jewish first and democratic second, as part of the country’s Basic Laws.
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Defense Minister Ya’alon says Mitzpeh Kramim deserves legal status as it was constructed on grounds of authorized settlement nearby; court scheduled to deliberate Palestinian petition against construction.

By Revital Hovel, HAARETZ

The Mitzpe Kramim settlement. Photo by Michal Fattal

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon have reached a clashing point regarding the legalization of a West Bank outpost built on private Palestinian land northeast of Ramallah. Read more…

By Paul Eidelberg, INN

Why do the Arabs reject the legitimacy of Israel as the State of the Jewish people? The answer to this question transcends politics. Indeed, it is somewhat mysterious.

Beginning on the level of politics, there are two ways by which a state may obtain legitimacy, de jure and de facto. In democratic times, de jure legitimacy is usually based on popular ratification of a state’s Constitution. Moreover, those who draft the Constitution should derive their authority, directly or indirectly, from the people.

Now, it happens that Israel does not have a written Constitution. Instead, it has a hodgepodge of Basic Laws enacted intermittently by the Knesset. Israel’s first Basic Law: The Knesset, was enacted in 1958, ten years after the founding of the State. Until then, there was no fixed term or tenure for the Knesset. Each session determined its own longevity!
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I have a lot of trouble with this report. It goes without saying that he would divide Jerusalem but Haaretz didn’t comment on this. On what basis do the Ministers say that we can’t keep more than 10%. That 10% would include all lands west of the fence, except mush of east Jerusalem and would include Ariel and Maaleh Adumin. My guess E1 is up for grabs. Over 100,000 Israelis would have to be evacuated. I believe the public would support such a deal, but would the government? Bibi really does want this deal and is prepared to continue freeze on construction to get it. But on what basis is he hopeful that Abbas would agree to give up 10%. No basis that I can see. And if 10% is the most we get to keep who is to say that we will be offered 10%. Ted Belman

By David Lev, INN

A report in Ha’aretz Thursday quoted top Likud ministers as saying that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is prepared to give up as much as 90% of Judea and Samaria in a deal with the Palestinian Authority. If Netanyahu is satisfied that Israel’s security needs are accounted for, the report quoted the ministers as saying, nearly all of Judea and Samaria outside of the large “settlement blocs” could be handed over to the PA. “Isolated” communities would be demolished, with residents forced to resettle elsewhere.
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Gilad Morag, YNET

Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan offered on Wednesday a strong rebuttal to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s statement that Israelmust instill fear in the heart of Syria. Responding to the prime minister’s implied threat, Dagan asserted: “If you want to shoot – shoot – don’t talk”. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the Golan Heights region on Wednesday morning and observed an exercise conducted by the Golani Brigade. “We must have the will to break the enemy and instill within it – at the moment of truth – the fear of death,” he said, adding that “This is how you win a battle, and if they test us, we will know how to defeat them.”
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By Jerry Gordon

Phillipe Karsenty was convicted of defamation by what passes for a Court in France for having the effrontery of revealing the fraud of the Al Dura affair and attacking the lies of the producer of the infamous child killing fraudulent video Charles Enderlin and the state owned France 2 TV News channel.

This is Kafkesque. Doubtless this travesty of justice will be appealed. The stain of this court ruling is on the honor of France for this calumny. But then think of the Dreyfus affair. After three trials it was left for the President of France to ‘pardon’ Capt. Henri Dreyfus for the sin of being Jewish and set up by an anti-Semitic French General Staff. The irony in the Karsenty case is that both he and Enderlin are Jewish.
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Russia evacuates Tartus, also military, diplomatic personnel from Syria. High war alert in Israel

DEBKA

Shortly after the DEBKA aired a special video on the Syrian war’s widening circle, Moscow announced Wednesday June 26, that the evacuation which had begun Friday of all military and diplomatic personnel from Syria was now complete, including the Russian naval base at Tartus.

“Russia decided to withdraw its personnel because of the risks from the conflict in Syria, as well as the fear of an incident involving the Russian military that could have larger consequences,” said a defense ministry official in Moscow. He stressed that a 16-ship naval task force in the eastern Mediterranean remains on post and arms shipments, including anti-air weapons, would continue to the Syrian government in keeping with former contracts.
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by Raymond Ibrahim, http://www.meforum.org/3540/egyptian-christians-brotherhood

As Egyptians of all factions prepare to demonstrate in mass against the Muslim Brotherhood and President Morsi’s rule on June 30, the latter has been trying to reduce their numbers, which some predict will be in the millions and eclipse the Tahrir protests that earlier ousted Mubarak. Accordingly, among other influential Egyptians, Morsi recently called on Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II to urge his flock, Egypt’s millions of Christians, not to join the June 30 protests.

While that may be expected, more troubling is that the U.S. ambassador to Egypt is also trying to prevent Egyptians from protesting—including the Copts. The June 18 edition of Sadi al-Balad reports that lawyer Ramses Naggar, the Coptic Church’s legal counsel, said that during Patterson’s June 17 meeting with Pope Tawadros, she “asked him to urge the Copts not to participate” in the demonstrations against Morsi and the Brotherhood. Read more…

By Walter Russell Mead, The American Interest

In a move that would have the world awash in rage and grief had Israel done it, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has tightened the screws on his country’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. Predictably, since it’s the Muslim Brotherhood government of Egypt and not Israel treating the Palestinians so pitilessly, nobody seems to care. Reuters reports:

Egypt has intensified a crackdown on smuggling tunnels between its volatile Sinai desert and the Gaza Strip, causing a steep hike in petrol and cement prices in the Palestinian territory. […]

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Brave columnist or ignorant bigot? Controversial writer Melanie Phillips launches a new platform to reach middle England and spread her truth

By MIRIAM SHAVIV, TOI June 26, 2013,

Walking around the offices of The Guardian newspaper, journalist Melanie Phillips bumped into the lead editorial writer, Geoffrey Taylor. It was June 1982, and while Britain was preoccupied with its war in the Falkland Islands, Israel had invaded Lebanon.

“Well, now, Melanie,” said Taylor, an old-fashioned English gentleman and an Arabist. “What on earth are we going to say about your war?”

Phillips, a British Jew who had never written about Israel, was shocked to realize that by “her” war, he was referring to the Israeli one, turning her into an outsider.
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Yossi Beilin, who needs no introduction, says A one-state solution is deranged. But no where in his article does he say why other than to say :No joint Israeli-Palestinian state will come to be as long as the Israeli government is headed by a Zionist leader. Any such leader will prevent a situation in which a Jewish minority rules over a Palestinian majority.”

But what I found interesting is this comment:

During my visit to Washington, D.C. last week, I was asked, seriously for the first time, for my opinion on the one-state solution as opposed to the two-state solution. When I respond that it is an inane idea, I am told that it is being raised by increasingly serious actors and figures in the arena, particularly from the Palestinian side, but also from the Israeli side. The interesting thing, say the people I spoke with, is that it is being raised by speakers from the Israeli Right as well as the Left, and by people from the mainstream of the Palestinian leadership. These people claim that Netanyahu is unwilling to pay the price of peace, and that Abbas cannot speak for Gaza. Neither of them is keen on interim arrangements, and therefore bestowing full rights and citizenship upon the Palestinians is the most practical solution.

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MK Levin said:

“This is a Jewish state that’s a democracy, not a democracy with some Jewish elements. We need to strengthen these principles, and give them legal priority.”

Exactly.

Protecting Jewish national rights should be the supreme value. That’s democratic.

By LAHAV HARKOV, JPOST

Talks between Yesh Atid, Likud Beytenu, Bayit Yehudi break down; Yesh Atid submits bill while Levin, Shaked work on own bill.

On Tuesday morning, MK Ruth Calderon (Yesh Atid) submitted “Basic Law: Independence Scroll,” while coalition chairman Yariv Levin (Likud Beytenu), Bayit Yehudi faction chairwoman Ayelet Shaked and Yisrael Beytenu faction chairman Robert Ilatov submitted “Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People” hours later.
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By Rina Tzvi, Israel Resource Review
israelnationalnews.com/ Tue Jun 25 2013

The textbooks used in UNRWA-funded schools never acknowledge and Jewish rights in “Palestine”, nor any Jewish past in the Land of Israel, said Dr. Arnon Groiss, a respected expert in the promotion of Tolerance in Education at a briefing in the Knesset reviewing the Palestinian Authority Textbooks used in UNWRA schools.

Israel is almost never shown on any map and no city is ever identified as a Jewish city, he said, reiterating the extensive history of Anti-Israel propaganda in Arab textbooks.

The funding for the schools are provided by Western countries, led by the US, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Australia and others.
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FRESNO ZIONISM

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, described the special situation of Palestinian refugeeson the recent World Refugee Day:

Unlike other refugees, the Palestinians have their own set of rules, their own funding and even their own international agency, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency or UNRWA. To paraphrase George Orwell, all refugees are equal, but some refugees are more equal than others.
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