August 28, 2013

The US

Headline: Iran's Khamenei says U.S. intervention in Syria would be disaster

To Read: David Rothkopf believes that Obama's real reason for considering a possible Syria intervention is not a humanitarian one-

If you doubt this and feel that the U.S. and allied action is based on the principle of humanitarian relief, you need only note that while the estimated toll from this recent attack, according to Doctors Without Borders, is 355, the total death toll from Syria's civil war has now likely exceeded 100,000. Principle has nothing to do with this. Surely it makes no difference to the families and friends of the Syrian dead whether their loved ones die from chemical weapons, bullets, bombs, or disease. The idea that somehow chemical weapons are a special prohibited category of ways by which a government can murder its own people rings as hollow as a crypt.

Quote: “We know that the Syrian regime are the only ones who have the weapons, have used chemical weapons multiple times in the past, have the means of delivering those weapons, have been determined to wipe out exactly the places that were attacked by chemical weapons”, VP Biden explicitly saying that there's 'no doubt' that Assad is responsible the chemical attack in Syria.

Number: 6, the New Republic talks to 6 leading liberals to see what they think about a possible Syria intervention.

Israel

Headline: Ya'alon pledges IDF's 'might' against Syria

To Read: A Cambridge Grad student reports about Israel's omnipresence at the European debating championship-

There is in much of the world an unhealthy obsession with Israel, and the debating world is no different: Israel found its way into virtually every debate – no matter what the motion was.

Video games make people violent: they’re the reason that Israeli soldiers are so aggressive in Gaza! The Muslim Brotherhood‘s biggest anxiety is not Al Qaeda in the Sinai or Hamas in Gaza, but Israel, which wants to conquer the whole of Egypt. Foreign aid budgets should be approved by referendum because governments cannot be trusted to allocate money responsibly: just look at how the US gives Israel foreign aid in order to oppress the Palestinians. China does not need fear international criticism of its support for North Korea: after all, Israel slaughters Palestinians on a daily basis, and nobody blames America. This was all heard by just one judge, by the way, in a competition of more than 200 teams. None of these debates had anything to do with Israel – until the debaters decided that everything boils down to Israel in the end.  

Quote: “There would no logic in Assad attacking Israel. But remember, we live in a jungle”, Giora Inbar, the former head of the IDF’s liaison unit in southern Lebanon, commenting on Israel and Syria.

Number: 400, the number of Falashmura Jews who are set to arrive in Israel today.

The Middle East

Headline: Western strikes against Syria 'within days'

To Read: A new RAND report takes a look at Turkish-Iranian relations and at how these relations might affect the US-

Iran's nuclear program has been a source of strain and divergence in U.S.-Turkish relations. However, the differences between the United States and Turkey regarding Iran's nuclear program are largely over tactics, not strategic goals. Turkey's main fear is that Iran's acquisition of nuclear arms could lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. This, in turn, could increase pressure on the Turkish government to consider developing its own nuclear weapon capability. U.S. and Turkish interests have become more convergent since the onset of the Syrian crisis. However, while U.S. and Turkish interests in the Middle East closely overlap, they are not identical. Thus, the United States should not expect Turkey to follow its policy toward Iran unconditionally.

Quote:  “Dissolving the party or the group is not the solution and it is wrong to make decisions in turbulent situations. It is better for us to monitor parties and groups in the framework of political action without dissolving them or having them act in secret”, Egypt's interim PM, Hazem el- Beblawi, making a significant statement about the Muslim Brotherhood.

Number: 350, Italy's coast guard and navy rescued about 350 people, mostly Syrians, off the coast of southeastern Sicily on Wednesday.

The Jewish World

Headline: BDS groups protest Israel Philharmonic in Buenos Aires

To Read: A new book tells the story of the Jew who tracked down and caught Rudolf Höss-

Three days later, on March 15, 1946, Hanns delivered Rudolf to Camp Tomato, a British-run prison near the town of Minden. There, Colonel Gerald Draper—the War Crimes Group’s lawyer—began a further round of intensive questioning. A few hours afterwards, Rudolf’s statement was typed up into an eight-page confession and a one-paragraph summary. It was the first time that a concentration camp Kommandant had provided details of the Final Solution. Rudolf had confessed to coordinating the killing of two million people.

Quote:  “dandies in fox hats and rags”, Alexei Navlany, one of Russia's popular opposition leaders and Moscow mayoral contender, describing Religious Jews.

Number: 5000, there were 'no more than 5000 white people' who participated in that famous March on Washington, according to one of its Jewish participants.