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Tuesday, Jun. 07 '16, Sivan 1, 5776
HEADLINES:
1. POLLARD'S LAWYERS CAN'T SEE STATE'S CLAIMS IN PAROLE CASE
2. NETANYAHU VISITS JUDEA-SAMARIA EXPO IN THE KREMLIN
3. CHANNEL 10 SCANDAL: NEW HEAD INSISTS 'THEY FRAMED ME'
4. IDF REJECTS B'TSELEM CLAIMS OF A 'SECOND EXECUTED TERRORIST'
5. WOMEN OF THE WALL DIRECTOR DETAINED BY POLICE
6. RARE JEWISH TREASURE FROM HASMONEAN PERIOD UNEARTHED
7. MUHAMMAD ALI'S FORGOTTEN LEGACY OF ANTI-SEMITISM
8. VIDEO: HASSIDIC SINGER & NACHAL HAREDI SOLDIERS DANCE ON STAGE
1. POLLARD'S LAWYERS CAN'T SEE STATE'S CLAIMS IN PAROLE CASE
by Arutz Sheva Staff
A Federal Judge on Monday ruled that the US government can hand in a classified ex parte submission to the court, not allowing Jonathan Pollard's lawyers to see the state's evidence in arguing for his strict parole limitations.
The case relates to the harsh parole conditions imposed on Pollard, who was released last November after spending half his life - 30 years - in jail on charges of spying by passing information on regional threats to Israel when he served as an intelligence officer.
Those conditions include a curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., as well as complete monitoring and inspection of his computers and those of any employer who might hire him. In addition, Pollard is obligated to wear an electronic bracelet at all times for GPS tracking of his location – and it must be recharged on the Sabbath, when he is forbidden by Jewish Law to activate electricity. He is banned from approaching certain embassies and airports, and must remain in a limited area of New York City in the vicinity of his residence.
In response to the ex parte submission ruling, Pollard's attorneys who were given security clearances by the Department of Justice in order to represent him sharply objected to the secret filing that they would not be allowed to see, reports Hamodia.
New York Southern District Court Judge Katherine Forrest ruled that the government would be able to submit "an ex parte filing addressing the types of classified information at issue alongside their public, unclassified filing."
At the same time, she stipulated that the government must "disclose to Pollard's attorneys the 'gist or substance' of its submission...at a high level of generality that will not disclose classified information. This disclosure may either be contained in the publicly filed opposition to the renewed petition or filed separately under seal in a brief submission to which Pollard's counsel will have access."
Forrest responded to the government's claim that there is "no need" for Pollard's attorneys to have access to the ex parte filing, and said the court would review this claim.
She said the court "will not be a rubber stamp for an agency decision. ...The government must justify the necessity of any ex parte filing by including an ex parte declaration or affidavit from an intelligence community official describing why Pollard's counsel does not need to know the information contained in the filing."
"Something out of communist Russia"
A legal observer who has tracked Pollard's case for years told Hamodia on condition of anonymity that the most "alarming and disconcerting" facet of the new development was a footnote on page six of the 20 page ruling.
That footnote reads: "Although the parties and the Court have at times suggested that the relevant inquiry is what information Pollard 'carries in his head'...the inquiry is more accurately stated as what information he was able to access and therefore may carry in his head."
According to the legal observer the footnote is cause for concern.
"In essence, midway through this legal battle, the judge has now dramatically backtracked from the very logical parameters she originally had laid out in order to accommodate the government. This is a very troublesome development for the Pollard legal team," he said.
The observer added that the claim that Pollard's lawyers don't "need to know" the filings of the government's arguments defending the parole conditions is simply "incredulous."
"It sound is like something out of communist Russia. What the government is saying you have no need to know why we are in effect keeping you under house arrest, and therefore no possibility to try to refute it. Just take our word for it."
Forrest previously gave the government until June 10 to file a response to a request by Pollard's legal team to explain the need for the parole conditions, and she gave Pollard's lawyers until June 30 to submit a rebuttal.
In her new ruling, she said if the government asked for it, she "would likely grant a brief, one-week extension of the briefing schedule."
Pollard's treatment, and in particular his sentence that was exponentially longer than those given to spies of enemy states, has raised outrage, particularly after it was revealed in January that the US infiltrated Israeli intelligence for the past 18 years, hacking into the video broadcasts of Israeli drones conducting sensitive missions in the region.
2. NETANYAHU VISITS JUDEA-SAMARIA EXPO IN THE KREMLIN
by Eliran Aharon
A delegation of the Yesha Council in Judea and Samaria has arrived in Moscow for the first time, in a joint project with the Strategic Affairs Ministry to present produce from the Biblical heartland of Israel to Russian consumers.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who arrived with his wife Sarah Netanyahu in Moscow on Monday night, attended the opening of the "Opening Doors to Israel" project in Moscow, which included produce from Judea and Samaria brought by the delegation.
The Yesha Council delegation included Jordan Valley regional council head David Elhayani, Megilot regional council head Aryeh Cohen, Yesha Council director-general Shilo Adler, and Yesha Council deputy director-general Yigal Dilmoni.
Together with Hannah Hacohen, project director at the Strategic Affairs Ministry, the delegation established a large pavilion with hundreds of products from Judea and Samaria.
The goods included medjool dates from the Jordan Valley, olive oil from Meshek Achiya and the Jordan Valley, products from the Ahava factory on the Dead Sea, honey from the Jordan Valley, contoured maps of Israel, selected wines from Judea and Samaria wineries, and more.
Some of Israel's finest produce was presented in the pavilion under the tag "Made in Israel" to the wider Russian public, the Russian press and decision makers in Moscow.
The pavilion was opened on Monday to the attendance of roughly 3,000 people and dozens of Russian journalists. Thousands of medjool dates were distributed for tasting, and likewise contoured maps and Ahava cosmetics samplers were also handed out.
David Elhayani with Binyamin and Sarah Netanyahu Jordan Valley Council
Yesha Council official Shilo Adler said that "the goal of the fair is to expose the excellent products of the state of Israel, and in particular from Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley, which combines an historic region with an ancient tradition together with the most advanced technology that is producing high-quality products and agriculture."
"Likewise the economic and technological development in Israel contributes to the entire region of the Middle East - farmers from the whole region come to learn from us, and make a living off of the Israeli success," added Adler.
Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) congratulated the Yesh Council over the exhibit.
"Particularly in these days, when the state of Israel is dealing in a campaign against the boycott movement, a great exposure of products from Israel to new markets and audiences strengthens the state and harms the intentions of boycott activists to harm the economy of Israel," said Erdan.
"In just the last year the foreign investments in Israel grew by dozens of percentiles at a time when the boycott organizations tried to cause the oppose trend of pulling investments from Israel."
"We will continue to act in quiet and wisdom against the organizations that try to harm the state of Israel," concluded the minister.
Yesha Council
3. CHANNEL 10 SCANDAL: NEW HEAD INSISTS 'THEY FRAMED ME'
by Hezki Baruch
Rami Sadan, who was appointed as chairperson of the Channel 10 directorate on Monday, responded on Tuesday to quotes attributed to him by Haaretz and cited by numerous politicians calling for his immediate resignation.
Sadan, who is to manage the cash-strapped Channel 10, insisted that he never made the controversial quotes. The TV channel is supervised by the Second Israeli Broadcasting Authority.
Haaretz claimed that Sadan told directorate members that "I, like you in the elite, hate the Shas movement and the thief Aryeh Deri."
"But we, as an elite, need to break through the barriers of the channel, to approach the Shas audience, 'Masuda from Sderot,'" he allegedly said, in a proverbial reference to Mizrahi Jews living in the periphery as opposed to Ashkenazi Jews in Tel Aviv.
According to Sadan, the statements "were never said, you can check that with those who were present at the meeting, that's it. Those words were simply never said."
In an interview with Channel 2, Sadan said his appointment to Channel 10 was purely professional and was not influenced by his friendship with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The news channel has been highly critical of Netanyahu.
"This entire appointment comes on a professional background, and it is in no way connected to the surroundings of the Prime Minister," he said.
"One of the directorate members who wasn't selected (to be chairperson) is trying to thwart the appointment."
"I'll be with Masuda"
The Haaretz report on Sadan's alleged statements caused a backlash among Shas members, who hurriedly demanded from Netanyahu that Sadan be dismissed "due to his racist comments."
Zionist Union MKs and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett joined in the criticism of Sadan.
The Shas party even threatened to break coalition discipline if Sadan isn't dismissed.
"As long as this (dismissal) isn't conducted, the movement's members of Knesset will vote in Knesset plenum sessions as they please," threatened Shas. "The Mizrahi public will be silent no more."
MK Yigal Guetta (Shas) informed the coalition chairperson that until Sadan is fired, he intends not to attend Knesset votes. "I'll be with Masuda in Sderot," Guetta added sarcastically.
"Shas voters constitute hundreds of thousands of Mizrahi Jews who decided to unify and raise their heads so as to eradicate phenomena like Rami Sadan from the world," said Shas head and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri.
"We are here to stay, we are here in order to tell people like this that in Israel of 2016 we won't let statements like that pass. Not in public and not in closed directorate meetings."
Education Minister Bennett joined the criticism based on the Haaretz report, saying, "if those statements were said it is a great disgrace. As we invest in the Biton Committee to bring together (Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews), broadcasting in Israel cannot be managed by someone who encourages dark opinions."
In response to the uproar, the Likud party said in a statement, "the comments attributed to Mr. Sadan need to be clarified as to whether they were indeed said, since he strongly denies (having said them)."
"If it is found that the comments were indeed said then these are very serious statements and the Prime Minister completely rejects them."
4. IDF REJECTS B'TSELEM CLAIMS OF A 'SECOND EXECUTED TERRORIST'
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The Israeli army rejected on Tuesday claims alleging that a second Palestinian terrorist killed in March was shot dead while already wounded, rebuffing allegations by the radical leftist group B'Tselem.
The new B'Tselem claim follows the court case it sparked with footage filmed by one of its Arab activists in March, showing IDF soldier Elor Azariya shooting a wounded Arab terrorist in Hevron. The terrorist moments earlier together with an accomplice stabbed and moderately wounded a soldier.
Azariya - who faces manslaughter charges and was the target of criticism by politicians leading the Attorney General to tell the politicians not to interfere - has argued he shot the 21-year-old terrorist Abdul Fatah al-Sharif over concerns the stabber was moving to detonate a bomb belt.
On Monday, B'Tselem alleged that another Arab terrorist had been shot dead while wounded.
"Prior to the killing incident in Hevron for which the Israeli soldier Elor Azariya is facing charges, Ramzi al-Qasrawi was also executed," it claimed.
The radical group only cited two Arab witnesses, but did not provide any video evidence to back up its claims, instead demanding that the IDF release any video footage it may have of the incident.
The IDF flatly denied the allegations, saying they were "not consistent with the findings of the operational investigation."
"The shooting of the assailant was carried out to remove the threat posed by the assailant when he attacked security forces with a knife," it said.
AFP contributed to this report.
5. WOMEN OF THE WALL DIRECTOR DETAINED BY POLICE
by Orli Baruch
Lesley Sachs, director of the radical feminist group Women of the Wall (WoW), was detained for investigation by Jerusalem district police on Tuesday over suspicions of smuggling a Torah scroll into the women's section of the Kotel (Western Wall) Plaza.
Kotel Chief Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz himself complained to the police and reported that WoW had smuggled in a Torah scroll in breach of the site's regulations - and in breach of WoW's agreements made with the Attorney General.
"As the one responsible for the sanctity of the Western Wall I take upon myself... to fast over the debasement of the Torah scroll," said Rabbi Rabinowitz.
The smuggling on Rosh Chodesh Sivan comes despite the fact that the government recently agreed to build a second Reform prayer space at the Kotel, after previously establishing the Ezrat Yisrael prayer space back in 2013 that was also meant for prayer practices that are not consistent with Jewish tradition and law.
During the negotiations over the establishment of the second Reform prayer space, which experts warn will harm the archaeological finds at the ancient site, it was agreed between WoW and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit that the group would stop smuggling in Torah scrolls and causing provocations at the Kotel Plaza.
WoW has long smuggled Torah scrolls into the site. In January 2014 the group denied they tried to smuggle a Torah scroll into the Kotel Plaza, but in October of the same year they proudly posted pictures online of a miniature Torah scroll they smuggled in, read from and danced with.
Back in March of this year they once against smuggled a Torah scroll into the women's section of the Kotel Plaza, breaking their promises to the Attorney General regarding the new Reform prayer space.
Despite claiming it does not aim to attack or disrupt Orthodox Jewish practices, back in July 2013 WoW head Anat Hoffman wrote an article on the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism website entitled "support our rally to end the chief rabbinate," in which she called "to throw out the whole rabbinate."
The government's recent decision on the new Reform prayer space has raised concerns as it removes an area in the southern part of the Kotel from the authority of the rabbinate, transferring it to the control of the Prime Minister's Office. Such a move is a breach of the status quo, by which the rabbinate maintains authority over holy sites.
6. RARE JEWISH TREASURE FROM HASMONEAN PERIOD UNEARTHED
by Arutz Sheva Staff
The Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) revealed on Tuesday that it unearthed a hoard of silver coins from the Hasmonean period (126 BCE) back in April, during ongoing excavations near Modi'in with the participation of local youth.
[youtube:2015992]
The dig is being held ahead of the construction of a new neighborhood at the initiative of the Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut municipality.
Archaeologists found the ancient coins hidden in a rock crevice, against a wall of an impressive agricultural estate found during the excavation. The estate took part in the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation, and revealed numerous intriguing finds.
"This is a rare cache of silver coins from the Hasmonean period comprised of shekels and half-shekels (tetradrachms and didrachms) that were minted in the city of Tyre and bear the images of the king, Antiochus VII and his brother Demetrius II," explained Avraham Tendler, director of the IAA excavation.
According to the director a Jew buried the coins with the hopes of returning to collect them, but for some reason was unable to do so.
"The cache that we found is compelling evidence that one of the members of the estate who had saved his income for months needed to leave the house for some unknown reason. He buried his money in the hope of coming back and collecting it, but was apparently unfortunate and never returned. It is exciting to think that the coin hoard was waiting here 2,140 years until we exposed it," said Tendler.
Dr. Donald Tzvi Ariel, head of the IAA's Coin Department, indicated the hoard was a coin collection and not merely hidden savings.
"The cache, which consists of 16 coins, contains one or two coins from every year between 135–126 BCE, and a total of nine consecutive years are represented. It seems that some thought went into collecting the coins, and it is possible that the person who buried the cache was a coin collector. He acted in just the same way as stamp and coin collectors manage collections today," said Ariel.
Describing the estate, Tendler said, "the findings from our excavation show that a Jewish family established an agricultural estate on this hill during the Hasmonean period. The family members planted olive trees and vineyards on the neighboring hills and grew grain in valleys."
"An industrial area that includes an olive press and storehouses where the olive oil was kept is currently being uncovered next to the estate. Dozens of rock-hewn winepresses that reflect the importance of viticulture and the wine industry in the area were exposed in the cultivation plots next to the estate. The estate house was built of massive walls in order to provide security from the attacks of marauding bandits."
"Freedom of Zion"
The excavation at the estate also turned up numerous bronze coins minted by the Hasmonean kings, bearing the names of kings including Yehohanan, Judah, Jonathan and Mattathias together with his title as "High Priest and Head of the Council of the Jews."
IAA explains that the find would seem to indicate the estate continued running through the Early Roman period.
The Jewish inhabitants of the estate scrupulously observed Jewish laws of ritual purity, with mikvaot (ritual immersion baths) found at the site together with chalk vessels that cannot become ritually unclean according to Jewish law.
Evidence was found at the site showing that residents also took part in the first revolt against the Roman occupation back in 66 CE. The coins found from this period were stamped with the date "Year Two" of the revolt, and the line: "Freedom of Zion."
Even after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE the estate continued to operate.
"It seems that local residents did not give up hope of gaining their independence from Rome, and they were well-prepared to fight the enemy during the Bar Kokhba uprising," said Tendler. "During the excavation we saw how prior to the uprising the inhabitants of the estate filled the living rooms next to the outer wall of the building with large stones, thus creating a fortified barrier."
"In addition, we discovered hiding refuges that were hewn in the bedrock beneath the floors of the estate house. These refuge complexes were connected by means of tunnels between water cisterns, storage pits and hidden rooms. In one of the adjacent excavation areas a mikveh of impressive beauty was exposed; when we excavated deeper in the bath we discovered an opening inside it that led to an extensive hiding refuge in which numerous artifacts were found that date to the time of the Bar Kokhba uprising."
The unique finds are to be preserved in an archaeological park in the heart of the new neighborhood slated for construction in Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut.
Aerial photo of Hasmonean estate house Griffin Aerial Photography, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority
Cache of silver coins found at the estate Assaf Peretz, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority
IAA archaeologist Shahar Krispin during discovery of coin hoard Assaf Peretz, Israel Antiquities Authority
A coin of Antiochus VII against the background of the rest of the coins that were exposed Clara Amit
IAA archaeologist Jenny Marcus holds a chalk cup from Second Temple period found at estate Avraham Tendler
Excavation director Abraham Tendler in hiding refuge connected to mikveh during Bar Kokhba revolt Assaf Peretz, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority
7. MUHAMMAD ALI'S FORGOTTEN LEGACY OF ANTI-SEMITISM
by David Rosenberg
When three-time heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali passed away last Friday, media outlets were swamped with eulogies for the 74-year-old former boxer, highlighting his cultural impact at the height of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.
Indeed, Ali's legacy goes far beyond the ring. His conversion to Islam in 1964 marked his metamorphosis from mere athlete to cultural icon, becoming a symbol of "Black Power" and radical black identity. Ali famously defied the draft in 1967 at the height of the Vietnam War, using the opportunity to decry "white imperialism."
"No I'm not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over," said Ali. "This is the day when such evils must come to an end."
Mirroring militants like the Black Panthers, Ali embraced an ideology not of racial reconciliation and egalitarianism, but of racial separatism, one which was rife with disparaging views on non-blacks in general – and Jews in particular.
Despite a long history of comments assailing Jews and decrying Zionism, Ali nevertheless won many Jewish admirers, and on the occasion of his death won praise from a slew prominent Jews. Former Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein will represent the State of Israel at Ali's funeral, and the former boxing champ will be eulogized by Jewish actor and comedian Billy Crystal.
Ali's hatred of Israel and support for anti-Jewish terrorism during his decades-long boxing career, many of his Jewish supporters claim, were tempered with age later in life, as they note his Jewish son-in-law and his participation in a Bar Mitzvah ceremony for his grandson.
For much of his life, however, little differentiated Ali's views both on race and the Jewish people from the rhetoric emanating from white supremacist circles. Like his white counterparts, Ali abhorred mixed race couples, saying that blacks engaged in romantic relationships with people of another race deserved to be put to death.
"A black man should be killed if he's messing with a white woman," he said in a Playboy interview. The same fate, he said, should also await any black woman guilty of dating outside of her race. "Then she dies. Kill her too."
"Oust the Zionist invaders"
Like other racial separatists, Ali lambasted Zionism as an omnipresent threat. He repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel and openly supported terrorists aiming to kill Jews.
"In my name and the name of all Muslims in America, I declare support for the Palestinian struggle to liberate their homeland and oust the Zionist invaders," Ali said during a trip to Lebanon.
Ali famously sought the release of 700 terrorists held by Israel, referring to them as "brothers."
Using Zionism as a code-word for Jews, Ali blamed Zionism for a plethora of cultural issues, frequently asserting that "the Zionists" control America – and by extension, the world.
"You know the entire power structure is Zionist," Ali told India Today in 1980. "They control America; they control the world. They are really against the Islam religion. So whenever a Muslim does something wrong, they blame the religion."
"All Jews are devils"
In his professional career, Ali blamed Jews for perceived setbacks, telling the New York Times in 1970 that it was "those Jewish promoters" who tried to prevent him from getting back in the ring with Joe Frazier.
Speaking to David Frost in 1969, Ali bluntly stated that he believed "all Jews" are "devils." Mistakenly interpreting the word gentile to mean non-Jewish whites, Ali stated "all Jews and gentiles are devils."
In 1984, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, an affliction which gradually reduced his involvement in public life.
In his later years, Ali did abandon the kind of harsh rhetoric and stark racial separatism that characterized his boxing career.
While the former heavyweight champion had refused in 1985 to negotiate for the release of Americans held captive in Lebanon during a trip to free Arab terrorists held by Israel, in 1990 he travelled to Iraq to press Saddam Hussein to release Western hostages. In 2002 he publicly pleaded with Daniel Pearl's captors to set him free.
8. VIDEO: HASSIDIC SINGER & NACHAL HAREDI SOLDIERS DANCE ON STAGE
by Yoni Kempinski
[youtube:1127036]
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