Monday, January 19, 2015
Dear Family & Friends,
Hot on the scenes…multiple scenes. 1&2:Iran’s Nukes; 3,4&5:IAF hits Hezb’Allah on Golan; 6&7:France&Jews; 8.Economy OK after Gaza;9.Hamas still EU Terror Blacklist;
10.Steve Shamrak; 11.Hotovely Wins Likud Spot;12.Argentine Prosecutor dead; 13.Award to Caroline Glick!
Have fun, a sweet evening; a good week. All the very best,
Gail/Geula/Savta/Savta Raba/Mom
Enjoy our Website for thrills galore: WinstonIsraelInsight.com
1. State Dept: Iran Allowed To Build New Nuclear Reactors By Omri Ceren,
Tip Iran Can Build Nuclear Plants But Israel Can’t Build Settlements [Y???]
2. Obama Admin Says Ok To New Nuke Plants As Talks Continue
3. IAF Helicopter Fires Two Missiles At Syrian Golan To Thwart Attack On Israel
4. Hezb’Allah TV: Reported IAF Strike In Syria Could Be ‘Costly’ For Mideast
5. Hezb’Allah Vows Revenge, Says Attack On Israel ‘Is Inevitable’
6. Column One: The Answer To French Anti-Semitism, by Caroline B. Glick
7. After The Paris Killings — French Jews & Israel By Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld
8. No Economic Contraction From Gaza War, Updated Statistics Show
9. Hamas Blasted The EU’s Decision As Immoral To Keep It On The EU Official Terrorist Organization Blacklist
10. Steven Shamrak Www.Shamrak.Com I Am Not Charlie!
11. Hotovely Wins ‘Realistic Likud’ Spot But Dichter Not Giving Up
12. Argentine Prosecutor Found Dead Ahead Of Hearing On AMIA Bombing
13. 2015 Hasby Award For Best Pro-Israel Commentator (Exclusive To Israel/ME) To: Caroline Glick
1. State Dept: Iran Allowed to Build New Nuclear Reactors by OMRI CEREN, TIP
IRAN CAN BUILD NUCLEAR PLANTS BUT ISRAEL CAN’T BUILD SETTLEMENTS [Y??]
OMRI CEREN, TIP: On Tuesday Rouhani announced that Iran is building two new reactors. Yesterday the announcement hit the news cycle here in town. This morning the WFB published the State Dept’s response. The full article is pasted below. Key line:
“We are aware of the announcement & are reviewing the details,” said the official, who was not authorized to speak on record. However, “in general, the construction of light water nuclear reactors is not prohibited by U.N. Security Council resolutions, nor does it violate the JPOA,” the official said.
Remember that the Iranians accomplish a number of things when they bolster their nuclear infrastructure. Substantively, they inch closer to a bomb (or in the case of new reactors, they give themselves excuses to inch toward a bomb: they’re already saying they need more enrichment capacity for their reactors).
Diplomatically, new infrastructure gives the Iranians more leverage in negotiations. The more they have, the more they have to bargain with. The JPOA was supposed to freeze the Iranian program to prevent them from improving their position as talks proceeded. It failed. Instead the Iranians spent the last year building up their nuclear program – & their leverage – across all areas:
* Uranium – The JPOA allows unlimited enrichment from 0% to 3.5%, which is about 60% of the effort needed to get to weapons grade levels. Every day they’ve got 9,000 centrifuges spilling & building up their stockpile. The only caveat is they have to convert the newly enriched gas into oxide, a process that would take them a couple of weeks to reverse.
* Plutonium – The JPOA allows unlimited work on Iran’s Arak plutonium factory as long as the Iranians don’t touch the reactor at the site, & unlimited work on reactor parts off-site.
* Ballistic missiles – The JPOA allows unlimited work on ballistic missiles.
And now…
* Physical infrastructure – The JPOA allows allowed unlimited construction of full-blown nuclear reactors.
2.Obama admin says OK to new nuke plants as talks continue by Adam Kredo, FREE BEACON January 15, 2015 9:35 am Iran is permitted to build new nuclear reactors under the existing conditions of an interim deal with the United States meant to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, a State Department official told the Washington Free Beacon less than a day after Iran announced the construction of two new nuclear plants.
The construction of these new nuclear plants is not prohibited under existing United Nations restrictions or under the terms of the current interim nuclear agreement inked in 2013 with the United States, according to the State Department official.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced on Wednesday that Iran has begun construction on two new light water reactor nuclear plants in the southern Bushehr region. The announcement came as senior U.S. officials meet with their Iranian counterparts in Geneva for another round of talks.
The State Department says that it is still reviewing the details of Rouhani’s announcement.
“We are aware of the announcement & are reviewing the details,” said the official, who was not authorized to speak on record. However, “in general, the construction of light water nuclear reactors is not prohibited by U.N. Security Council resolutions, nor does it violate the JPOA,” the official said.
The United States remains committed to ensuring the “peaceful” nature of Iran’s nuclear program, which continues to progress in part as talks continue through July 1.
“We have been clear in saying that the purpose of the negotiations with Iran is to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program remains exclusively for civilian, peaceful purposes,” the official said. “The talks that we have been engaged in for months involve a specific set of issues relative to closing off all possible pathways to Iran acquiring a nuclear bomb. That remains our focus.”
Rouhani touted the new nuclear construction on Wednesday following a meeting with investors in Bushehr province, where the nuclear facilities are being built.
“Construction of two new power plants will increase the capacity of Bushehr province’s power generation to 2,000 megawatts,” Rouhani was quoted as saying by the country’s state-run Fars News Agency.
Rouhani claimed that the new nuclear construction is proof of Iran’s peaceful intentions on this front. “The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is an example showing that Iran is only looking for a civilian use of the nuclear energy & for power generation,” he was quoted as saying.
The new nuclear plants are being constructed with help from Russia, which signed an agreement in March with Iran to aid in the construction.
As talks with Iran continue, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are gearing up to pass legislation to level more sanctions on Iran, a move that the administration argues would effectively detonate the delicate negotiations.
Final language on a new sanctions bill was agreed upon late Wednesday between Sens. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) & Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), according to Bloomberg.
Critics of the ongoing negotiations maintain that the interim deal & subsequent agreements have done little to actually freeze Iran’s nuclear progress.
In addition to the nuclear plant construction, Iran is permitted under the current deal to enrich uranium up to 3.5 percent, continue working with plutonium, & continue its controversial work on ballistic missiles.
Iran also has admitted to building advanced missile sites in Syria—where it is fighting on behalf of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad—and has been accused in recent days of also building a clandestine nuclear facility there.
“Rouhani went out of his way to humiliate the Obama administration,” said one senior foreign policy hand who works on the issue. “He picked the day when negotiations were starting again & his declaration is the literal definition of building new nuclear technology.”
“And instead of fighting back, the White House is again rolling over & letting themselves be slapped around,” the source said. “They’ll do anything—anything—to get a deal with Iran.”
Senators have become increasingly frustrated by what they say is the Obama administration’s ongoing refusal to give lawmakers a say in the negotiations.
Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that Congress will move to enact legislation that will give Congress the ability to veto any final deal that it deems flawed.
“I don’t think the administration really would like for Congress to weigh in any regard on any issue relating to foreign policy, but Congress will weigh in on this,” Corker told Bloomberg. “In the very near future there will be a markup on a bill that will give the Congress the ability to weigh in.”
IRAN CAN BUILD NUCLEAR PLANTS BUT ISRAEL CAN’T BUILD SETTLEMENTS by OMRI CEREN, TIP
‘Son of late Hezbollah leader Mughniyeh was planning attacks on Israel’
Report: Six Iranians killed in Israeli strike in Syria, including Revolutionary Guards general
UN peacekeepers, Lebanese army increase activity on Blue Line in light of Golan strike
Hezbollah vows revenge, says attack on Israel ‘is inevitable’
‘Hezbollah will find it hard to show restraint after Golan attack,’ top Israeli ex-general says
As threatened ICC prosecution looms, IDF strives to prove independence of military justice
Israelis testify in Geneva before UNHRC’s Schabas commission on Gaza
Palestinians seeking ICC investigation of Arafat’s death
WATCH: Footage released allegedly showing aftermath of Israeli attack in Syria
ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT BY JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS, NOAM AMIR/MAARIV HASHAVUA
01/18/2015 14:58
Lebanese news portal el-Nashra reported that among those targeted in the strike was a senior Hezbollah commander Mohamad Issa.
Israel Air Force helicopter [file]. (photo credit:IAF)
Syrian sources said that Israeli helicopters fired two missiles into the Syrian Golan Heights on Sunday, the Hezbollah-affiliated al-Manar website reported. AFP cited an Israeli security sources as saying the strike had targeted purported terrorists who were planning an attack on the Jewish state. Lebanese news portal el-Nashra reported that among those targeted in the strike was a senior Hezbollah commander. The IDF said in response that it does not comment on foreign reports & Syrian state media did not mention the attack. The missiles reportedly hit near Quneitra, not far from the border with Israel. “An Israeli helicopter fired two missiles on Amal Farms in Quneitra,” the Lebanese news channel said, adding that two reconnaissance planes were also flying over the area. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group monitoring the civil war, said the missiles fired on Sunday targeted armed vehicles, citing local sources. It said it did not know if the vehicles belonged to the army, Hezbollah or anti-Assad insurgents. Foreign media reports have attributed a number of air strikes in Syria to Israel over the past several years, although Israel has refused to confirm the reports. In the most recent such incident, Syrian state television reported in December 2014 that Israeli jets had bombed targets near Damascus International Airport & in the town of Dimas, near the border with Lebanon. A Lebanese TV correspondent reported that Israel struck 10 crucial intelligence-linked locations in Syria that belong to Iran. The outlet reported that explosions were heard near the Israeli-Lebanese border, allegedly the result of IDF maneuvers.
4. Hezb’Allah TV: Reported IAF strike in Syria could be ‘costly’ for Mideast
Hezb’Allah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. (photo credit:REUTERS)
Following reports of an IAF helicopter strike on Sunday that targeted a convoy of Lebanon’s Hezbollah operatives & killed 10, Hezbollah-run television in Lebanon indicated the incident could prompt a “costly” surge in tensions in the region. On Sunday evening, the al-Manar news channel said the attack suggested that “the enemy has gone crazy because of Hezbollah’s growing capabilities & it could lead to a costly adventure that will put the Middle East at stake.” The helicopter strike killed a commander from Hezbollah & the son of the group’s late military leader Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah said, in a major blow that could lead to reprisal attacks. The strike hit a convoy carrying Jihad Mughniyah & Commander Mohamad Issa, known as Abu Issa, in the province of Quneitra, near the Golan Heights, killing six Hezbollah members in all, a statement from the group said. Western intelligence sources reported Sunday that Jihad Mughniyeh, along with nine others, headed a large-scale terrorist cell that enjoyed direct Iranian sponsorship & a direct link to Hezbollah. The cell had targeted Israel in the past, launching attacks on the Golan Heights. Mughniyeh, the son of the late Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh, was believed to have been in the planning stages of more deadly terror attacks against Israel in the Golan Heights, which would have included rockets, cross-border infiltrations, border bombings & anti-tank fire. The attacks were designed to kill IDF soldiers & Israeli civilians who live in the Golan, the sources said. Iran’s semi-official Tabnak news site said several of its Revolutionary Guards had also been killed in the attack, without giving further details. State-run Iranian television said the identity of the “martyrs” could not be confirmed. As of Sunday night, UN peacekeepers had intensified their patrols on the border between Lebanon & Israel, local sources said.
Hezbollah TV: Reported IAF strike in Syria could be ‘costly’ for Mideast
5. Hezb’Allah vows revenge, says attack on Israel ‘inevitable’
One pro-Hezbollah source told the Lebanese daily A-Safir that the group “will not rush to decide what steps should be taken” in retaliation to the assassination of Jihad Mughniyeh.
Lebanese Hezbollah supporters march during a religious procession in Nabatieh. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Hezbollah officials vowed on Monday to avenge the latest Israeli attack on its high-level officials, sources close to the Lebanese Shi’ite organization are quoted as saying in various Arab-language media outlets north of the border. One pro-Hezbollah source told the Lebanese daily A-Safir that the group “will not rush to decide what steps should be taken” in retaliation to the assassination of Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of slain arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh. Hezbollah officials told the newspaper that retaliation against Israel “is inevitable,” though they added that “we will not act out of emotion.” The Shi’ite group is reeling one day after Israel Air Force helicopters allegedly fired missiles at a target in the Syrian Golan, killing at least five operatives. Mughniyeh, the son of former Hezbollah operations chief Imad Mughniyeh, was among those killed in the strike, according to reports. Western intelligence sources said Jihad Mughniyeh headed a large-scale terrorist cell that enjoyed direct Iranian sponsorship & a direct link to Hezbollah. The cell had already targeted Israel in the past, launching attacks on the Golan Heights. In an official statement, the organization said the attack “was a very harsh blow to process.” Ibrahim al-Amin, the editor of Al-Akhbar, a pro-Hezbollah newspaper, wrote in Monday editions that the Shi’ite group “will launch between 4,000-5,000 rockets at Israel & will destroy hundreds of targets per day.” “The enemy’s leadership made a decision to carry out a crime,” Al-Akhbar wrote. “They did this in a direct manner, eying a specific target that was engaged in fighting in the Quneitra region. This is more proof that Israel is involved in the fighting in Syria. This is work that is not based on emotion or petty score-settling.” “A few days ago, [Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan] Nasrallah said that fighting Israel is at the top of his list of priorities despite [the organization’s involvement] in Syria & its deployment of forces there. Mr. Nasrallah is known as an eloquent man & an expert in psychological warfare, but God knows if he means every word he says, or the way he presents his facts is designed to build up the threat for the day in which he actualizes it.” “In any event, the weapons at Hezbollah’s disposal are there to be used, & not to be stored,” the newspaper wrote. “The response needs to match what it is that the enemy wanted to achieve.” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told state media that Israel’s reported attack in the Golan Heights was “an act of terror.” “We condemn all actions of the Zionist regime as well as all acts of terror,” Zarif told Press TV on Monday. “[Israeli attacks on Hezbollah] has been a practice followed for a very long time. The policy of state terrorism is a known policy of the Zionist regime.” Iran is Hezbollah’s primary financial & military supporter. Both countries are aiding Syrian President Bashar Assad in his struggle to keep power against a coalition of Sunni opposition militias & Islamist radicals. Iran’s semi-official Tabnak news site said several of its Revolutionary Guards had also been killed in the attack, but did not give further details. State-run Iranian television said the identity of the “martyrs” could not be confirmed, though an Iranian affiliated Twitter account reported that an Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander, General Allahdadi was “martyred” by the strike.
Hezbollah vows revenge, says attack on Israel ‘is inevitable’
6. Column One: The answer to French anti-Semitism By CAROLINE B. GLICK 01/15/2015 22:24
Valls words were uplifting; But it is hard to see how they change the basic reality that the Jews of France face.
Parisians gather at Place de la Republique to support Gaza. (photo credit:REUTERS)
January 16 is the nine-year anniversary of the beginning of the Ilan Halimi disaster. On January 16, 2006, Sorour Arbabzadeh, the seductress from the Muslim anti-Jewish kidnapping gang led by Youssouf Fofana, entered the cellphone store where Halimi worked & set the honey trap. Four days later, Halimi met Arbabzadeh for a drink at a working class bar & agreed to walk her home. She walked him straight into an ambush.
Her comrades beat him, bound him & threw him into the trunk of their car. They brought Halimi to a slum apartment & tortured him for 24 days & 24 nights before dumping him, handcuffed, naked, stabbed & suffering from third degree burns over two-thirds of his body, at a railway siding in Paris. He died a few hours later in the hospital. In an impassioned address to the French parliament on Tuesday, Prime Minister Manuel Valls gave a stirring denunciation of anti-Semitism, & demanded that his people stop treating it as someone else’s problem. In his words, “Since Ilan Halimi in 2006… anti-Semitic acts in France have grown to an intolerable degree. The words, the insults, the gestures, the shameful attacks… did not produce the national outrage that our Jewish compatriots expected.” Valls insisted that France needs to protect its Jewish community, lest France itself be destroyed. “Without its Jews France would not be France, this is the message we have to communicate loud & clear. We haven’t done so. We haven’t shown enough outrage. How can we accept that in certain schools & colleges the Holocaust can’t be taught? How can we accept that when a child is asked, ‘Who is your enemy?’ the response is ‘The Jew?’ When the Jews of France are attacked France is attacked, the conscience of humanity is attacked. Let us never forget it.” Valls words were uplifting. But it is hard to see how they change the basic reality that the Jews of France face. When all is said & done, it is their necks on the line while humanity’s conscience is merely troubled. Ilan Halimi’s case is more or less a textbook case of the impossible reality French Jewry faces. And, as Valls noted, the situation has only gotten worse in the intervening nine years. Much worse. But back when things were much better, Ilan Halimi was kidnapped, tortured for 24 days & murdered.
As Tablet online magazine’s Marc Weitzmann reported last September in an in-depth summary of ordeal, the gang that perpetrated the atrocity had been hunting for Jewish victims for several weeks before Arbabzadeh set her trap for Halimi. All their previous attempts had failed. Their previous marks included Jewish doctors, lawyers, television directors & human rights activists, as well as Jews of no particular distinction aside from the fact that they were Jews. The anti-Jewish nature of the gang was clear from its chosen victims. The anti-Semitic nature of their atrocious crime against Halimi was obvious from the first time they contacted his mother, Ruth Halimi, demanding ransom for his release. They made anti-Jewish slurs in all their communications with her. And as she heard her sons tortured cries in the background, Ruth was subjected to his torturers’ recitation of Koranic verses. And yet, throughout the period of his captivity, French authorities refused to consider the anti-Jewish nature of the crime, & as a result, refused to treat the case as life threatening or urgent. The same attitude continued well after Halimi was found. As Weitzmann noted, the investigative magistrate insisted “There isn’t a single element to allow one to attach this murder to an anti-Semitic purpose or an anti-Semitic act.” The denial went on through the 2009 trials of the 29 kidnappers & their accomplices. Anti-Semitism was listed as an aggravating circumstance of the crime – & as such, a cause for harsher sentencing – only for the gang leader Fofana. & in the end, even for him, the judges did not take it into account at sentencing. As for those 29 kidnappers & accomplices, as Weitzmann notes, each one of them had a circle of friends & family.
As a consequence, by a one reporters’ conservative estimate, at least 50 people were aware of the crime & where Halimi was being held, while he was being held. & not one of them called the police. Not one of them felt moved to make a call that could save the life of a Jew. After the fact, the media in France were happy to publish articles by the torturers’ defense lawyers insisting, “Only people motivated by ‘political reasons’ would try to sell the opinion that anti-Semitism is eating away at French society.” When the Halimi family lawyer boasted of close ties to the government & announced he would appeal the sentences of the perpetrators if he didn’t think their punishments were sufficient, the French media eagerly shifted the conversation from the torture & murder of a Parisian who just happened to be a Jew by a band of sadists who just happened to be Muslims, to the more comfortable narrative of the Jewish lobby & Jewish power. So, too, when Halimi, & six years later when the three children & the rabbi massacred at Otzar Hatorah Jewish day school in Toulouse, were brought to Israel for burial, the media reported their decision in a negative way hinting that it was evidence of the basic disloyalty, or otherness of the Jews of France. In other words, what Halimi’s murder exposed is that anti-Semitism in France is systemic. Muslims are the main perpetrators of violence. & they operate in social environments that are at a minimum indifferent to Jewish suffering & victimization. This violence & indifference is abetted by non-Islamic elites. French authorities minimize the unique threat Jews face. & the media are happy to ignore the issue, or when given the slightest opportunity, to claim that the Jews are responsible for their own victimization. Indeed, in live reports from the scene of the hostage taking at the kosher supermarket in Paris last week, Weitzmann noted that in the early hours of the attack, French media failed to mention that the hostages were Jews. Under these circumstances, where the entire French system is stacked against them, what can be done for French Jewry? What can they do for themselves? It is far from clear that France is capable of correcting its downward trajectory. Demography is moving France in a different direction. According to Israeli political scientist Guy Bechor, Marseilles will be the first Western European city with a Muslim majority. The ruling Socialists owe their victory to the Muslim vote.
It is hard to see French President François Hollande & his comrades taking actions that could anger that constituency which votes as a bloc. Moreover, anti-Semitism in all its forms is manifested throughout French society. For instance, the prosecutor in the Halimi murder trial is the son of a French Nazi collaborator & according to Weitzmann, spent an inordinate amount of the trial trying to understand the perpetrators. Then there is the Israel issue. Valls has distinguished himself from his colleagues for his willingness to acknowledge that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. But his is a voice in the wilderness. The overwhelming sentiment of the French elites is hostility toward Israel. This sentiment was manifested in Hollande’s treatment of Israel, & through it of the French Jewish community, in the aftermath of the supermarket massacre last Friday. Hollande told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attend the anti-terror march in Paris on Sunday, claiming that Netanyahu’s presence would detract from the message of unity against terrorism that he hoped the march would communicate. The underlying assumption of Hollande’s message is deeply disturbing.
That assumption is that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism & is not, as a result, evil. The subtext is that the murder of Jews by Islamic terrorists who seek Israel’s destruction is similarly not a crime deserving of the same condemnation as the jihadist murder of French journalists. Netanyahu rightly ignored Hollande’s request that he not attend. & for this move he was subjected to harsh criticism by the French media which accused him of crashing the party & pushing himself onto center stage against the wishes of his unwilling hosts. Their criticism was then parroted by the Israeli media that studiously ignored the endemic anti-Israel hostility of the French media & the anti-Israel policies of the Hollande government. The Hebrew media, together with Hatnua leader Tzipi Livni, also ferociously attacked Netanyahu as well as Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman & Economy Minister Naftali Bennett for upsetting French sensibilities by calling on French Jewry to make Aliya. But Aliya is the key for contending with the increasing danger that the Jews of France face from the systemic nature of French anti-Semitism. This is true first of all because as France makes it clear that it is not a warm home for its Jews, Israel is a better option. Israel exists so that Jews always will have a better option than suffering at the hands of hostile non-Jews. Speaking of Aliya is also essential because so far the only thing that has caused French authorities to speak directly against anti-Semitism & take action to defend French Jewry has been the prospect of a mass exodus of their Jews.
The year 2014 saw a 50 percent increase in French Aliya. & the Jewish Agency anticipates that that number will double to 15,000 in 2015, with 50,000 more not far behind. After Ilan Halimi was murdered, out of fear of upsetting the French, no Israeli leader, including then-foreign minister Livni, uttered a word of condemnation against the atrocity. No Israeli representative attended his memorial ceremony. No one urged French Jews to make Aliya. And the number of anti-Semitic attacks increased massively each year. French governmental hostility toward Israel similarly escalated with each passing year.
There is unfortunately every reason to believe that the massacre at the kosher supermarket in Paris last Friday will not be the last one. But it is also clear that the best way to avert more suffering is to speak often & forcefully about the option of moving to Israel. Israel must also take active steps to prepare the country for the arrival of our French brothers & sisters. Hollande will certainly express his annoyance as he continues to condemn Israel at every turn for imaginary misdeeds. But the French Jews will be strengthened. While the conscience of humanity may be uselessly miffed by the victimization of Jews, the Jews of France will know that there is one place on earth that exists to prevent that victimization, & that they are welcome here whenever they choose to come. caroline@carolineglick.com
7. After the Paris Killings — French Jews & Israel by Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld French duplicity as far as Israel is concerned, is always manifest, as is anti-Semitism, & there is resistance to accepting the idea that Israel’s battle with terror is the same as the West’s. Arutz Sheva IsraelNationalNews.com Published: Monday, January 19, 2015 11:35 AM
The impact of the Paris killings on French society will lead to various political & social developments. Most of these will only gradually become apparent. Many will be of importance to French Jews and/or Israel.
One of these developments concerns a recent declaration in parliament, by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, that France is at war with terrorism. He added, “France is at war with jihadism & radical Islamism. France is not at war with Islam & Muslims.” In his speech, Valls also addressed the French Muslim community & assured it of the government’s protection.[1]
Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld The writer has been a long-term adviser on strategy issues to the boards of several major multinational corporations in Europe & North America. He is board member & former chairman of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs & recipient of the LIfetime Achievement Award (2012) of the Journal for the Study of Anti-Semitism.
Yet such a clean separation between radical Islamism & Islam is far more difficult to make than Valls’ words might convey. In several French schools, Muslim pupils, who are not jihadists themselves, consider that the murder of the cartoonists should not be condemned, & some think that such murders should even be lauded.[2]
In the meantime, the faction of Al Qaeda based in the Arab peninsula has threatened France with more attacks.[3] The situation could further deteriorate if France succeeds in mobilizing allies for a military campaign in Libya, which has become an important hub for jihadists.[4]
The French government has announced that it will take various measures to get a better grip on domestic terrorism. A number of terrorism apologists have already been given jail sentences, & others are being brought to court.[5] Outside of France, however, jihadists keep calling on French Muslims to carry out attacks against the country.
What has not been particularly stressed is that the battle against Muslim terrorism will require an increase in phone & internet surveillance. In a country which lists freedom as one of its highest priorities, the French government will not emphasize this issue. The fact is that such bugging is often abused. Charlie Hebdo embodies one aspect of French freedom – the right to provoke & insult. Upholding one right, & at the same time, limiting another one — that of one’s right to privacy – is one of the realities of our time. The Americans have taken the lead with their well-established surveillance of communications in many places, including those of their allies’ leaders.[6]
The Spanish-born Valls, who has a Jewish wife, has raised yet another issue. On a separate occasion, he said that France without the Jews would mean that the Republic has failed.[7] He hasn’t clarified what he means by that comment. One might consider this to be Valls’ way of reacting to the many discussions on the emigration of French Jews to Israel, partly fueled by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Valls also stated, “When the Jews of France are attacked, France is attacked, the conscience of humanity is attacked. Let us never forget it.”[8]
However, French duplicity as far as Israel is concerned, is always manifest. Indeed, French leaders at the highest level of government, & in particular Valls, have done their best to say the right words to the Jewish community. At lower levels of French government, however, different attitudes are expressed. In the city of Aubervilliers, Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti has been awarded honorary citizenship.[9] In Valenton, both a street & square have been named after him.[10] By glorifying Barghouti, the municipalities of these towns are indirect supporters of Palestinian terrorism.
France is not the Soviet Union. There is a level of comfort in France which French Jews would miss. Information was leaked about another type of duplicity: Hollande preferred that Netanyahu not participate in the huge Paris solidarity march.[11] This even though the purpose of the march was in part to denounce the killings of Jews for whom they were. & when Netanyahu voiced his intentions to do so, Hollande then invited Mahmoud Abbas, the glorifier of many Palestinian terrorist killers of Israeli civilians, to march along as well.[12]
An incoherent debate has developed around the recent murders concerning the emigration of Jews from France. To assume that within a few years, the majority of the half-a-million Jews will leave France for Israel is completely unrealistic. There are many reasons for which such a mass exodus will not happen. One reason is that many French Jews see themselves exclusively as French citizens, with little affinity toward Israel or even toward the Jewish people. If the situation for Jews in France were to become unsustainable, they would probably consider immigrating to countries other than Israel. There are already substantial numbers of French Jewish immigrants in London, Montreal, Miami & New York.[13]
Even for those Jews who would like to leave, there are many constraints. Many French Jews only speak French & do not necessarily learn new languages too easily. If one is a middle-aged, mid-level French government official, what employment could one possibly gain in Israel? Beyond such considerations, there are also family constraints.
However significant the aliyah would be, France is not the Soviet Union. There is a level of comfort in France which French Jews would miss. Those French Jews who do immigrate to Israel will probably be from the more active parts of the Jewish community & that will further weaken that community disproportionately.[14]
Israelis may ask themselves whether the French will now realize that both France & Israel’s battles against Muslim terrorism are, broadly speaking, one & the same. This is what Netanyahu keeps repeating, but without substantial & organized support from a — currently non-existing — Israeli anti-propaganda structure, the idea will not gain much momentum.[15] This is the case, even if a few more individual Frenchmen may now agree to the similarity in the battle against terrorism.
The lack of such recognition, however, is not only a matter of ignorance. There is major political resistance in French & European politics to concede this truth. Admitting such a semblance would mean that their carefully constructed political house of cards, with its many lies & fallacies, would collapse. Agreeing that Israel’s battle against Palestinian terrorism & the West’s fight against Muslim terrorism are one & the same would mean that European politicians would have to admit that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is far from being the central issue in the world, that Israeli settlement building should not be the singular action within the Middle East which should most regularly be condemned, & that Palestinian violence is not only economically determined but has a huge religious/ideological component.
It would also mean admitting that the Palestinians are not victims of Israel, but rather that the Palestinians are one among many Arab societies who are, in part, permeated with crime & who hold little respect for human life. This would furthermore include mention of the fact that the largest Palestinian party, Hamas, has an Islamo-Nazi character.
It would also mean the need for Europe to abandon the practice of judging Israel by double standards. Many other elements of the European false construct about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict could be added to this list.
Sources:
[1] Manuel Valls : “Oui, la France est en guerre contre le terrorisme,” Le Monde, 13 January 2015. [2] “Dans les collèges et lycées, le soutien à ‘Charlie Hebdo’ loin de faire l’unanimité,”Le Monde, 14 January 2015. [French]
[3] “Attentats de Paris: Al-Qaïda au Yémen menace la France de nouvelles attaques,” L’Express, 10 January 2015. [French] [4] “Jean-Yves Le Drian, Sur Le Pied de Guerre en Libye,” Paris Match, 10 January 2015. [French] [5] “Plus de 70 procédures ouvertes pour apologie et menaces d’actions terrorists,” Le Monde, 14 January 2015. [French] [6] James Ball, “NSA monitored calls of 35 world leaders after US official handed over contacts, The Guardian, 25 October 2013. [7] Jeffrey Goldberg, “French Prime Minister: If Jews Flee, the Republic Will Be a Failure, The Atlantic, 10 January 2015. [8] www.gouvernement.fr/ partage/3118-seance-speciale- d-hommage-aux-victimes-des- attentats-allocution-de- manuel-valls-premier-ministre [French] [9] “Marwan Barghouti nommé Citoyen d’honneur de la ville d’Aubervilliers,” l’Humanité, 22 December 2014. [French] [10] “Valenton Inauguration d’une rue Marwan-Barghouti, une première dans le monde,” l’Humanité, 18 September 2014. [French] [11] ”Hollande asked Netanyahu not to attend unity march,” JTA, 12 January 2015. [12] Itamar Marcus & Nan Jacques Zilberdik, “Abbas Hypocrisy: Participated in the Anti-Terror march in France, while PA glorifies terrorists who kill Israelis”, Palestinian Media Watch, 11 January 2015. [13] Uriel Heilman, “For embattled French Jews, mixed feelings about call to move to Israel,” JTA, 12 January 2015. [14] Cnaan Liphshiz, “After attack, spike in emigration could deplete France’s Jewish community,” JTA, 13 January 2015. [15] Herb Keinon, “Netanyahu at site of Paris attack: I expect world leaders to fight terrorism alongside
After the Paris Killings — French Jews & Israel
by Dr, Manfred Gerstenfeld
8. No economic contraction from Gaza war, updated statistics show Israel’s economy actually grew by an annualized .2% in the third quarter of 2014.
An Israeli tank drives as it returns to Israel from the Gaza Strip August 3, 2014. (photo credit: REUTERS)
By NIV ELIS 01/18/2015 14:22
A third revision of Israel’s national accounts statistics has found that the economy did not contract in the third quarter of 2014, despite the 50-day war with Hamas. Updated data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday showed that Israel’s economy actually grew by an annualized 0.2% in the third quarter of 2014. The initial estimate in November found that the economy had contracted by an annualized 0.4%, & the second estimate at the end of December revised that number to a 0.1% contraction. The upward revision reflected increased activity in private & public consumption. The figure made headlines at the time, because it was the first quarterly economic contraction Israel had experienced in five years, since the global financial crisis roiled world markets. Still, the war with Gaza had its effects on economic activity in Israel; 0.2% growth was still below the already moderate 1.9% in the second quarter & 2.8% in the first quarter. The GDP in the business sector still shrank 0.5% in the third quarter, after rising 2.5% in the previous quarter & 2.3% in the quarter before that. While the war was originally expected to shave 0.6% off the country’s annual economic growth, in December the Bank of Israel estimated that it cost the economy only 0.3%.
No economic contraction from Gaza war, updated statistics show
Israel’s economy actually grew by an annualized .2% in the third quarter of 2014
9. Hamas blasted the EU’s decision as immoral to keep it on the EU’s official terrorist organization blacklist.
As Hamas slams the EU for appealing its terror blacklist status, Israel welcomes the ‘unsurprising’ news with ‘happiness.’ Hamas blasted the European Union’s decision Monday to appeal to keep it on the EU’s official terrorist organization blacklist. By Cynthia Blank Arutz Sheva IsraelNationalNews.com First Publish: 1/19/2015, 6:05 PM
Hamas terrorists Emad Nassar/Flash 90
“The European Union’s insistence on keeping Hamas on the list of terrorist organizations is an immoral step, & reflects the EU’s total bias in favor of the Israeli occupation,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP.
“It provides it [Israel] with the cover for its crimes against the Palestinian people,” he added.
Foreign ministers from the 28 EU member states made the decision to appeal the European Court of Justice’s December 17 ruling, the EU’s foreign policy Chief Federica Mogherini said Monday. Mogherini stated “this ruling was clearly based on procedural grounds & did not imply any assessment by the court of the merits of designating the Hamas as a terrorist organization.”
Hamas was blacklisted in 2003 following a push by Israel & the United States to have the radical terror group – whose platform includes pledges to destroy Israel & calls for a genocide against the Jewish people – recognized as such in Europe.
The decision to remove Hamas from the list was said to have been the result of a “technicality,” with it being claimed that the group’s inclusion in the list was against EU procedures & without sufficient evidence.
The court ruled that blacklisting Hamas was not based on sound legal judgments but conclusions derived from the media.
Hamas, for its part, has been appealing against its inclusion on the blacklist for years.
The US responded with condemnation to the initial ruling, urging the EU to continue its sanctions on Hamas, & noting that the US position “had not changed” & that Hamas remains a “designated foreign terrorist organization.”
Israel, who also slammed the December ruling, said Monday they were not surprised by the EU’s latest move.
“It’s not a surprise, we’re happy. We expected them to do this in the first place,” a foreign ministry official said.
“We do expect that they will correct this procedural error that was identified,” he added.
The EU ministers made the decision at a meeting in Brussels, where they were discussing ways to boost cooperation in the face of growing Islamist terrorism.
Hamas Blasts EU’s Decision as ‘Immoral’
10.STEVEN SHAMRAK www.shamrak.com
I am not Charlie! by Bat Zion Susskind-Sacks
Like many other viewers, I am presently watching the “Say no to Terror” demonstration, this dog & pony show. Unfortunately, it will NOT solve the problem. Had the world REALLY wanted to avoid the present reality, they should have listened to Israeli leaders earlier. They should have organized such demonstrations when the early terror attacks by similar ideological principles took place. What is this attack different than any of the previous ones? They were ALL aimed at depriving freedoms, mainly Freedom to live! Is Charlie’s Freedom more important than theirs?
NO, I am NOT Charlie! I am the four Jews who died in the hostage situation in Paris o Friday; I am the four praying Rabbis who were slaughtered in their Synagogue in Har Nof in Yerushalayim last November; I am the little baby who was killed at the stop of the Light rail, when a terrorist drove his car directly & purposely into the crowd waiting for the tram to arrive; I am the 3 Yeshiva students who were kidnapped & slaughtered in cold blood by Hamas Islamist Jihadists in JUDEA last Summer… & I am the millions of other Jews who died, just like them, through history, for no reason other than the crime of being Jewish… I am proudly standing with the Jewish people against these horror attacks. I am proudly holding hands with the Children of Israel with all my heart& With all my life. Am Yisrael Chai!!!
Note: Since Islamic terror attack on offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, Western leadership, including the Pope & US President Obama, have spent more time worrying about backlash again Muslims than condemning Islamic terrorism! Our political & religious leaders have failed admit that deeply ingrained hate of Muslims toward all infidels is main reason & life-line for Islamic terror war against the West. This war moved its attention from Israel to the West, but met with a fake “War on Terror” only, which encourage more terror!
They Deliberately Tried to Offend Jews Too!
The largest university press in the world has warned its authors not to mention pigs or pork in their books to avoid offending Muslims & Jews. (For almost two thousand years the Church proclaims that it follows & respects the G-d given traditions that are written in Jewish Torah. In practice, Christianity deliberately negates most of the Torah rules, to distance itself from Jewish practice, including idol worship & especially dietary practice. Pork eating became an everyday norm of the Christian diet & Christian celebrations are marked with consumption of non-kosher sea food. All this time, by trying to offend Jews, Christians offend the G-d, they claim so dearly love!)
The move was revealed during a discussion on free speech on BBC Radio following terror attacks in Paris.
The move was condemned even by Muslim Labour MP Khalid Mahmood, who said “That’s ludicrous. That’s absolute, utter nonsense & when people go too far that actually brings the whole discussion into disrepute.”
At the same time, British Sky News refused to show Charlie Hebdo’s latest cover that features Mohammed.
Bigots are not Welcomed in Israel – At Last!
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom cancelled her trip to Israel after she was notified that she would have to bring her own security personnel & that her trip would not be considered an official state visit.
Food for Thought by Steven Shamrak
How to spot an anti-Semites? – They usually ask “Why are so many rich Jews?” They never ask “Why are over 22% recipients of Nobel Prize Jews?” (Note: there are 14 million Jews, less than 0.02% of the world population) So, why are Jews so disproportionably successful in business, science, agriculture, military, medicine, computer technology & communication, & other vocations? & this is in spite of chronic discriminatory treatment by most countries & international organizations! Instead of Jew-bashing it could be more beneficial to learn from us – South Koreans are doing it!
Western Governments Must Learn to Say Truth Plainly!
The Muslim mayor of Rotterdam, who was born in Morocco & immigrated to the Netherlands in 1976, made a statement after the terror attack at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo “It is incomprehensible that you can turn against freedom. But If you do not like it here because some humorists you don’t like are making a newspaper, may I then say you can f*** off.”
The ‘Moderate’ Islamic Terrorist Concern
The leader of the Shi’ite Muslim terrorist organization Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said that Islamist terrorists had done more harm to Islam than any cartoon or book, a reference to the attack by suspected Islamist militants on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. (His main worry is that Sunni terrorists from Al Qaida are gaining popularity among the Muslim population!)
CNN: Islamic “Activists” Attacked Paris
Christiane Amanpour, infamous CNN correspondent in the Middle East, referred to the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attackers as “activists”: “On this day, these activists found their targets, & their targets were journalists. This was a clear attack on the freedom of expression, on the press, & on satire,” she said. (To defeat the Islamist enemies we need correct terminology!)
Islamist Disrespectful to Their Own History
The Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, the al-Nusra Front, has destroyed a 13th century tomb of a revered Islamic scholar in southern Syria. The al-Qaeda affiliate & its rival ISIL regard the reverence of tombs as tantamount to idolatry & have demolished shrines.
‘Ugly Nothing’ is doing it Again!
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has confirmed the Palestinians will formally become a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on April 1 & the court’s registrar said that jurisdiction would date back to June 13, 2014. This means the court’s prosecutor could investigate the 50-day war between Israel & Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip in July & August 2014. (The UN is bending over to an illegitimate state of bogus people. Even the beginning of its membership will be back-dated to allow conduct an anti-Israel mockery of an ‘investigation’ – another smear campaign. Will ‘Ugly Nazi’ investigate & condemn violation of international laws by Hamas first? After all, Israel responded to thousands of rockets Hamas fired indiscriminately at Israel)
Jewish Contributions to the World
Danny Lewin – The guy who saved Internet was 9/11’s first victim! He was a tech entrepreneur who had developed algorithms to ensure the World Wide Web wouldn’t crash from high traffic. He was killed by Al Qaida hijackers on board of a plane, trying to stop them from flying into the World Trade Center towers.
That How You Fight Enemies!
Hezbollah operatives operating on the Golan Heights are killed, including senior commander Jihad Mughniyeh: (1) Just a week before Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah threatened to wage a war against Israel that would include opening new fronts against the Jewish state & overrunning Israeli population centers. (2) Mughniyeh was the senior Hezbollah commander in charge of the potential attack. It is suspected that Mughniyeh was planning serious attacks against Israel, including rocket attacks, infiltrations, & using explosives & anti-tank missiles.
Obama Protector of Iran?
US President Barack Obama reiterated once again that he will veto proposed bipartisan legislation to impose new sanctions on Iran. “I will veto a bill that comes to my desk… There is no good argument for us to undercut, undermine the negotiations until they play out,” Obama said. (After long & fruitless negotiation, Iran is planning to build two more nuclear reactors – “There is no good argument” at all?)
Quote of the Week:
“Everyone should be living in his homeland. It is something different to travel & discover other cultures than to live in one’s homeland & work for its prosperity. I think that those people should live & practice their religion in their homelands & shouldn’t try disturbing common life in countries have a different culture… I would tell them: Unless you can accept rules laid down by your host country – while killing journalists certainly is not accepting them – go back home, to your homeland.” – Czech President Milo Zeeman – A fake Political Correctness has not yet corrupted leaders of emerging East European democracies!
In Time of Grief France is still anti-Semitic
There was some ugly international wrangling behind the scenes of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s changing plans for attending the rally in Paris on Sunday.
Netanyahu’s bureau said that the prime minister would not be attending the anti-terror rally, citing security considerations. A short time later, however, it turned out that he would indeed be going.
According to the report, Jerusalem & Paris exchanged diplomatic blows over the matter. Netanyahu contacted a “senior French official” & asked to attend the rally, but France said it did not want him there, because his presence would create “difficulty in arranging the rally.”
Netanyahu agreed & said he would not fly, but changed his mind when he learned that ministers Naftali Bennett & Avigdor Liberman intend to attend the rally. He informed the French of the decision, & in response the French said that if Netanyahu attends, they would invite Mahmoud Abbas as well.
It was reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had offended French President Francois Hollande by attending the rally despite the request. Netanyahu’s move angered French officials, who responded by inviting PA President Mahmoud Abbas & placed him in the front line of official demonstration (There were at least four Jews killed in two attacks in Paris, but, somehow inviting a renowned terrorist & a killer of the Jews, Abbas who walks with a wide smile in the middle of the front row the second from Angela Merkel, is not offensive for victims of Islamic terror!)
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman participated in the solidarity march reported his experience: “I saw here complete solidarity with the Charlie Hebdo newspaper victims, but what stood out is that solidarity with the victims of the Hyper Cacher attack was almost not felt.” (Acts of anti-Semitism, instigated by Muslims, have been steadily on rise in Europe & in France particularly! There was no big outcry, no big rallies, when Jews were killed, such as the rabbi & his children in Toulouse not long ago.)
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http://www.jewishpress.com/ news/breaking-news/hotovely- wins-realistic-likud-spot-but- dichter-not-giving-up/2015/01/ 19/
Arutz Sheva IsraelNationalNews.com Published: January 19th, 2015
Likud Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely. Photo Credit: Flash 90
The Likud election committee has ruled in favor of Knesset Member Tzipi Hotovely after a recount of votes in the party primaries elections & decided she won the 20th spot on the Likud list of candidates.
The decision means that former Likud MK & Cabinet minister Avi Dichter is bumped back to the 26th place because the spots in between are reserved for sectorial candidates.
Dichter is not expected to surrender so quickly & probably will appeal to the District Court if the Likud does not re-consider & decide in his favor. He claimed that there are strong suspicions of foul play in the counting of the votes.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu still has the option of choosing Dichter to fill one of the reserved places farther up in the list, a move that would prevent another recount & possibly an even more embarrassing situation.
Hotovely said after the Likud elections committee decision, “I congratulate the committee to do justice for the voters & correct the mishaps that occurred during the election process. I have no doubt that most of the defects in the counting of the votes were a result of human error….“During my appeal, I emphasized that there is no personal quarrel between me & Dichter, & I am sure he also will be a part of the next Knesset.”
Her victory is likely to boost the Liquid’s appeal among right-wing Likud supporters who are drifting towards the Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) party.
12. Argentine Prosecutor Found Dead Ahead of Hearing on Bombing Alberto Nisman accused Argentine president & senior officials of covering up lethal attack on Jewish center to improve Iran ties. By Arutz Sheva Staff IsraelNationalNews.com 1/19/2015, 10:47 AM
Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman Reuters
An Argentine prosecutor who accused President Cristina Kirchner of obstructing a probe into the 1994 bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) reportedly died just hours before he was due at a Congressional hearing Monday.
According to several Argentine television stations citing judicial sources, Alberto Nisman was found dead overnight in his apartment in the trendy Puerto Madero neighborhood of the capital. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Chillingly, Nisman only a few days ago was interviewed & said the investigation against Kirchner was “likely to kill me.” In the interview he added “from today my life has changed. I told my daughter she is likely to hear awful things about her father.”
The July 18, 1994 van bombing of the building of the Jewish community center left 85 people dead & 300 others injured in the worst attack of its kind in the South American country.
Nisman had last week asked for an investigation into possible obstruction by Kirchner & was due to speak at a Congressional hearing Monday.
The prosecutor, who had led the bombing investigation since 2004, accused Iran of being behind the attack & said Kirchner hampered the inquiry to curry favor with the Islamic republic.
Nisman had also accused former president Carlos Menem (1989-99) of helping obstruct an investigation into the bombing. The bombing came two years after an attack against the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires.
Argentina & Iran reached an agreement in 2013 to investigate the bombing, with Iran denying any involvement in the attack.
Nisman accused Fernandez & other senior Argentine officials, including Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, of agreeing not to punish at least two former Iranian officials in the case.
“The president & her foreign minister took the criminal decision to fabricate Iran’s innocence to sate Argentina’s commercial, political & geopolitical interests,” Nisman said.
He added that “the impunity of the Iranians was ordered by the president & instrumented by Timerman” with the goal of scoring closer geopolitical ties with Iran, trading oil & even selling weapons.
Mohsen Rabbani, Iran’s former cultural attaché in Buenos Aires, & the Islamic Republic’s former intelligence minister, Ali Fallahian, are among the suspects in the July 18, 1994, attack.
Israel,” The Jerusalem Post, 12 January 2015. Sunday, January 18, 2015
13. 2015 Hasby Award – Best Commentator Exclusive to Israel/Middle East goes to: CAROLINE GLICK
The nominees for Best Pro-Israel Commentator (Exclusive to Israel/Middle East) are:
Caroline Glick – Martin Kramer – Daniel Gordis – Evelyn Gordon – Khaled Abu Toameh – Mudar Zahran
Once again, a very hard category. & the 2015 Hasby Award for Best Pro-Israel Commentator (Exclusive to Israel/Middle East) goes to: Caroline Glick
Another very hard category. Caroline Glick gets the edge this year because of her passion & her intelligence. Her writing is always excellent & thought provoking. Add to that she published a provocative book, participated in a viral video & seems to have gotten a TV deal for the excellent Latma satirical show, & it becomes clear that Caroline richly deserves this honor. Mazel Tov, Caroline! Posted by Elder of Ziyon at 5:00 PM
13.2015 Hasby Award for Best Pro-Israel Commentator (Exclusive to Israel/Middle East) goes to: Caroline Glick