From Ian:
Would Jerusalem Embassy Spark Unrest?
Kerry told CBS News, that should Trump move the embassy, “You’d have an explosion – an absolute explosion in the region, not just in the West Bank and perhaps even in Israel itself, but throughout the region. The Arab world has enormous interest in the Haram al-Sharif, as it is called; the Temple Mount, the Dome [of the Rock], and it is a holy site for the Arab world.”
Let’s put aside that no one is suggesting moving the embassy to disputed portions of Jerusalem, but rather to West Jerusalem which is an undisputed part of Israel proper. And also forget for the moment that the peace process has hardly advanced since Palestinian chairman Mahmoud Abbas turned down Israel’s 2008 peace offer. Could Kerry be correct? And should the Arab diplomats warning behind-the-scenes of dire consequences be believed?
Here, history should inform. Prior to both 1991 Operation Desert Storm, and then again ahead of the 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom, many diplomats and analysts—including some quoted in the most recent articles—suggested that U.S. forces entering the Arab world would spark protests and riots. But, in both cases, demonstrations largely fizzled. Those that did occur were often state-sponsored. What brought Arabs into the streets was not questions of war and peace in Israel but largely local issues—a vendor’s self-immolation in Tunisia and a blogger’s death under torture in Egypt.
Simply put, the threat that moving the embassy to Jerusalem will spark chaos in Jordan and Egypt is overblown, an excuse more manufactured than real.
Germany’s split personality: Courts favor antisemites, BDS takes hits
A regional court’s affirmation this month of a decision asserting that the arson at a synagogue in the city of Wuppertal in July 2014 was not motivated by antisemitism but was merely a plea by three Palestinians to criticize Israel catapulted the deficiencies of Germany’s judicial system into the spotlight.
While some mainstream political parties, such as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, have classified the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement as antisemitic, and German banks have pulled the plug on BDS accounts, judges in the Federal Republic have moved in a radically different direction.
A series of recent court cases has raised the profoundly disturbing impression that German justice is stacked in favor of alleged antisemites. Commenting on the Wuppertal case, the Israeli Embassy in Berlin told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday: “One of the facades of antisemitism is being anti-Israel. We recommend not to fall into this trap. Any attempt to link a sovereign state that wants to defend itself with religion is a double-edged sword that can become quickly dangerous as well for other groups of society.”
The Wuppertal lower court decision defended the reasoning of the three men – Muhammad E., 31, Ismail A., 26, and Muhammad A., 20 – who, according to the judiciary’s opinion, sought, via torching a synagogue, “to clearly draw attention to the blazing conflict between Israel and Palestinians” during Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
CIA documents reveal immediate lead-up to Yom Kippur War
The morning of the coordinated attack on Israel, US assessments flipped from presuming war was not on the horizon to frantic attempts to prevent Syria and Egypt from attacking the Jewish state, which was warned off any preemptive strike.
Amongst the tens of thousands of CIA documents put online, one can find the American intelligence assessment regarding the possibility of a war between Israel and its neighbors in 1973 and how the then-US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger acted when he received the information that Egypt and Syria were intending to begin the Yom Kippur War.
In the daily intelligence briefing submitted to the then-US President, Richard Nixon, on the day that the war broke out, it was reported, "Both the Israelis and the Arabs are becoming increasingly concerned about their adversaries' military activities, but neither side seems bent on starting hostilities."
A CIA document from October 6, the day the war broke out, reported that six Soviet military planes "flew to Damascus yesterday. In addition a Soviet jet transport normally used for VIPs made two round-trip flights to Cairo. The air-lift continues today. (h/t Elder of Lobby)
Pro-Israel Hoaxer Hits DC
Did an anti-Zionist filmmaker from Oxford masquerade as his political opposite to get internships at lobbying outfits?
Last summer, a spritely presence enlivened the small and often dull circles of Washington’s Israel-advocacy community. A young man named Antoine Kleinfeld arrived from Oxford, where he was a student. He spoke with a tony North London accent and dressed crisply. He was fluent in six languages, including Yiddish and Hebrew, and regaled his new friends with stories about his hobby, international hitchhiking, which had taken him, he said, to 80 countries the world over.
It was precisely the sort of pastime, costly and eccentric, for which the British upper classes are known, and Kleinfeld, true to form, seemed the perfect gentleman, throwing parties in his lavish apartment and ingratiating himself by sending thoughtful notes and text messages to everyone he met. Over several months, between June of 2016 and January of this year, he cultivated a relationship with several pro-Israel organizations in D.C., becoming one of the town’s best-liked Zionist activists.
There was only one problem: Antoine Kleinfeld isn’t a Zionist. He isn’t even Antoine Kleinfeld. His name, several sources have told Tablet, is James Anthony Kleinfeld, a pro-Palestinian filmmaker who, it seems, embedded himself with the Washington pro-Israel crowd, surreptitiously filming his new associates there in the hope, presumably, of producing a movie—or at least viral clips—that would publicly embarrass them. He has now disappeared. (h/t Yenta Press)
Another Betrayal of Israel and the Jews
Recent events in the Middle East have proven conclusively the irrelevance of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to the misery that mires the Middle East. Continuing inter-tribal bloodshed, hundreds of thousands of dead, wounded, and homeless refugees, destruction of infrastructure and the unfolding implosion of the entire Middle Eastern society has nothing to do with the territorial dispute between the Israelis and the Palestinian Arabs.
More than that, the standard cant of gatherings such as last weekend’s summit runs contrary to the interests of the Palestinian people, blinded by hate propaganda and shunned by their own Arab brethren. Palestinians have long been betrayed by their leaders, who have found it expedient to maintain a state of war, lest their greed and incompetence become clear for all to see. This trivial real estate dispute was never about the settlements, about a separate state for the Palestinians or Arab refugees. Nor does it hang on ‘occupation’. Not at all. It has always been, since 1948, about the very existence of Israel as a Jewish State.
The obsessive insistence of Western democratic governments on the Jewish settlements being the reason for the war’s existence is a fantasy that contributes to the ongoing tragedy, diverting attention from the real reason for this endless and fruitless war: Arab refusal to accept Israel’s existence.
The 2017 Paris conference was a parting ‘gift’ to Israel by Barack Obama. This conference continued the shameful tradition of people claiming to be ‘friends of Jews’ who betray Jews in their time of need. This conference was never going to foster peace. On the contrary, further escalated mutual hostilities.
However, there is a fundamental difference between the Evian and Paris conferences. This time, the Jews will not go quietly. Never again.
Classroom Jihad: Western Complicity in State Sponsored Terrorism
The evolution of UNRWA’s policy on the right of return to fanaticism is clear cut. For over 60 years, there has been no ‘return’ to Israel, and the status quo of the perpetual Palestinian refugee has remained intact. In fact, since the 1950s, Arabs have actually been relocating to UNWRA run camps to capitalize on free services and ‘education’, contrary the organization’s alleged goal. Other ‘refugees’ living in the Shu’fat camp hold Jerusalem IDs, yet actively choose to live in the camps while paradoxically teaching their children to chant “We will return to Jerusalem”. The right of return to Palestinian refugees is clearly predicated on the notion that relocation is contingent on Jewish expulsion by means of jihad, in other words a second holocaust.
A new generation of Palestinian children are being taught to understand that their situation is solely Israel’s fault, resulting in a radicalised population determined to vent their frustrations by violent means against the Jewish State. Over the last 60 years, UNWRA has propagated the myth of the eternal Palestinian refugee, functioning as a primary mechanism for the recruitment of future jihadists. If current trends of classroom incitement within UN run schools persist, and donor nations continue to ignore the dire situation, these students will go on to become the next generation of jihadists in the Middle East.
UNWRA needs to be held accountable for the 1.2bn in Western funding they receive each year. Donor countries, including Australia urgently need to review their continuation of aid to this UN sponsored organization. Future funding should be conditional on educational reform, beginning with the dismissal of employees associated with Hamas and the abolition of textbooks inciting jihad. Palestinian children deserve a future built around hope, not one centered around illusions.
Dr. Mordechai Kedar: The BDS movement is in trouble
For the last decade Israel has had to deal with the BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) Movement, whose sanctions included the pulling out of investments from the Jewish state. The movement calls for academic, cultural and economic bodies to cut off relations with Israel.
The supposed goal of the BDS Movement is to force Israel to leave the "Palestinian territories" and to establish a Palestinian state, but the basic real motivation behind the movement's activities is hatred of Israel and of Jews, and the openly expressed desire to rid the Middle East of Israel.
For years the movement seemed relegated to the sidelines and had little influence . However during the last two years, mainly after Operation Protective Edge in Gaza and the negative publicity it engendered, the movement increased its activities, its donations grew significantly and so did the number of its volunteers. The organization's success on North American, Canadian and European academic campuses was especially pronounced, due to the large number of Muslims and Arabs enrolled on campus and the current fashion of putting everything in the context of human rights (as long as we are not talking about Jews, that is), in addition to traditional anti-Semitism and the presenting of Israel as an illegitimate state, scofflaw and a danger to world peace.
The state of Israel, Jews and pro-Israel people the world over realized what the real goal of BDS is and decided to fight it. Israel's government even established official frameworks and allocated funds for this struggle. The anti-BDS activities are on different levels and in various arenas, and Israel has garnered significant successes fighting them. For example: Fifteen states in the USA have passed laws against firms that boycott Israel, in Canada similar laws were passed and in Europe there have been not a few successes in this regard. The question is who will make sure these laws are kept and how will it be done?
As Trump takes office, Netanyahu reaches out to Iranian people
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached out to the Iranian people on Saturday evening, slamming the regime that he said oppresses them and vowing that aggression by Tehran would top his list of priorities during his first contacts with US President Donald Trump.
In a clip posted on Facebook minutes after Shabbat ended, the prime minister stresses that Israel does not consider the Iranian people to be the enemy, but only the regime that rules them. While stopping short of calling on the Iranians to revolt, he describes a brutal dictatorship preventing them from living the Western lives they ostensibly seek.
“I plan to speak soon with President Trump about how to counter the threat of the Iranian regime, which calls for Israel’s destruction,” Netanyahu says in the video, speaking in English with Persian subtitles.
“But it struck me recently that I’ve spoken a lot about the Iranian regime and not enough about the Iranian people, or for that matter, to the Iranian people. So I hope this message reaches every Iranian — young and old, religious and secular, man and woman.”
The Iranian people prefer to live without fear, enjoying Western freedom and liberties, the prime minister says. “I know you’d want to be able to speak freely, to love who you want without the fear of being tortured or hung from a crane.”
President Trump puts fight against ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ at heart of inauguration speech
In a forceful, uncompromising inauguration address, US President Donald Trump placed the battle against Islamic extremism at the heart of his foreign policy as he took office on Friday, vowing to work with allies to destroy the jihadist threat.
“We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones, and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth,” he declared, referring to the Islamist terror threat in language that his predecessor always preferred not to use.
That focus conformed strongly with the mindset of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who tweeted his congratulations “to my friend President Trump” even before the 45th president had been sworn in.
Trump’s predecessors George W. Bush — who invaded Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban regime — and Barack Obama — who ordered the raid that killed Osama bin Laden — also fought extremism. But Trump has gone further than both in his use of language, suggesting that he sees the fight as a civilizational battle between America and a threat springing from the Islamic faith itself.
In prayer at Trump’s inaugural, Marvin Hier tellingly cites Psalm remembering Jerusalem
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, offered a prayer at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration on Friday, citing a Psalm remembering Zion and Jerusalem.
In his 2-minute prayer, Hier blessed “President Donald J Trump and America, a great nation, “and all of America’s our allies around the world who share our beliefs.”
“By the rivers of Babylon, we wept as we remembered Zion… If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. The do-er of all these shall never falter,” Hier said, citing Psalm 137.
The reference came less than a month after the US abstained in a UN Security Council vote, and chose not to use its veto, allowing through a resolution that slammed Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where Judaism’s holiest sites are located, and designated all territory captured there in the 1967 war as being unlawfully occupied by Israel from the Palestinians.
Israel Inaugurates Office at NATO Headquarters, Highlighting Closer International Ties
Israel opened its new office at NATO headquarters on Thursday, a move meant to strengthen ties between Jerusalem and Brussels, Ynet reported.
Roni Leshno Yaar presented his credentials to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, becoming the first Israeli representative to NATO since the Jewish state became a partner of the organization.
“Here in NATO, we understand that Israel shares our values, and is an active and beneficial partner for Mediterranean dialogue,” NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Goettemoeller said.
IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Golan arrived in Belgium for the official opening of the Israeli office, and got together with senior NATO officials during his stay. Golan notably met with the head of the Turkish Armed Forces, Gen. Hulusi Akar, on the sidelines of NATO’s conference for defense chiefs in Brussels. It is believed to be the highest level meeting between Israeli and Turkish military officials since the two countries reestablished relations last year.
Several high-ranking Arab officials were also at the conference, including from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco, and Tunisia, and some also spoke with Golan on the sidelines.
Anti-Trump protests hijacked by Israel- haters. Could have seen that coming.
First the Palestinians hijacked airplanes. Now they hijack agendas.
Its happening again.
We saw this with first with the local anti-war movement. We saw it with Occupy and with Black Lives Matter. And we are seeing it with the anti-Trump protests, as the San Francisco Israeli consulate is targeted in this afternoon’s protest.
IDF Blog: IDF Annual Update: Everything you need to know about Israel’s security challenges from the source
The Middle East is a volatile, constantly shifting region. Israel shares borders with Syria, Gaza, Judea and Samaria, Lebanon, and the Sinai; all of these operational sectors present their own challenges. This update can get you up to speed on the situations, threats, and changes on our borders.
Syria border
Because of the war in Syria, our border is, in a word, unpredictable. In the Syrian Golan, Assad forces, rebels, Hezbollah, and Islamic State factions violently clash on a daily basis. Sometimes the violence spills over the border, threatening the Golan Heights. The IDF is prepared for violence to turn towards us, as it did on November 28, when an ISIS cell attacked Israeli soldiers in the Golan Heights. We maintain a policy of non-involvement in the fighting in Syria, but when our soldiers and civilians are threatened, we will respond accordingly.
Gaza border
Hamas has been building – not schools, hospitals, and homes – but their cross-border tunnel network. They’ve been taking advantage of the relative calm to keep expanding their underground terror infrastructure. Two cross-border tunnels have been found and destroyed by IDF forces in 2016. Over the past year, international aid to Gaza has increased significantly – but that doesn’t mean that Gazan citizens are benefiting from it. Twice in 2016, Hamas has been caught using international aid funds and donations meant for improving the quality of life of Gaza’s civilians and diverting them to terror.
Judea and Samaria
The “lone wolf” attacks of the past year pose an enormous challenge: they’re hard to predict and track. They’re spurred on by incitement, often by established terror groups like Hamas and ISIS, religious occasions, social media, and inspiration from past attacks can cause upticks.
From October 2015 through the end of 2016, Palestinians from Judea and Samaria have carried out 278 shooting, stabbing, car ramming, and bombing attacks against Israelis. Identifying hotbeds of terror and keeping illegal weapons out of the hands of potential terrorists can help prevent these attacks. Israeli forces have seized 445 weapons and 43 weapons manufacturing machines in 2016.
Lebanon border
Our border with Lebanon may seem quiet, but Hezbollah, the Shiite terror group that controls Lebanon’s south, is continuing to prepare for attacks against Israel. Unlike other terror groups, Hezbollah’s size and arsenal rivals that of a conventional army. Their 45,000 soldiers and over 100,000 missiles are embedded in civilian population centers. They regularly violate Resolution 1701, which bars them from possessing arms and from acting as an armed organization separate from the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Sinai border
The Islamic State’s Sinai branch (Wilayat Sinai) threatens us regularly through their publications. They clash violently with Egyptian forces, and have carried out attacks against Israel in the past. In the past five years, they’ve fired rockets into southern Israel, targeted Israeli civilians, and carried out attacks against Israeli forces.
With a knowledge of this deadly threat, the IDF is always training for a potential cross-border attack by the Islamic State. Units like the Caracal Battalion are permanently stationed on the border, and reserve units like Lotar Eilat counter-terror unit are ready at a moment’s notice to defend the local civilian populations.
Hamas MP says Jews recruit prostitutes, AIDS-infected women, to lure Arabs
In a recent Friday sermon in the Gaza Strip, Hamas MP Marwan Abu Ras accused Jews of recruiting prostitutes into the army “in order to lure Arabs into their traps,” and further added that Jewish leaders send “AIDS-infected girls to fornicate with Muslim youths.”
During the sermon, which was delivered on January 6 and was broadcast on Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV, Abu Ras also claimed that the Jewish state allowed drugs and tobacco to be smuggled through tunnels into Gaza, while purposefully preventing the entry of essential goods.
“Do you know what commodity enters Gaza in large quantities, with the blessings of the enemy? It is drugs,” said Abu Ras. “Drugs only. The second commodity is tobacco. Those who want to smuggle drugs or tobacco into Gaza can do so freely, but to smuggle a useful commodity into Gaza? That is forbidden.”
According to a translation provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the Hamas MP went on to attack Jews at large for spreading “filthy pornographic movies and websites.”
Hamas-Affiliated Palestinian Scholar: 'Allah Turned Jews into Apes and Pigs'
Hamas-Affiliated Palestinian Scholar Bassam Jarrar: The Jews Played a Role in the Economic Collapses of Germany in the 1920s and America in 2008; Allah Turned Them into Apes and Pigs
A virulently antisemitic lecture by pro-Hamas Palestinian scholar Bassam Jarrar was recently posted on a YouTube channel dedicated to his lectures.
In the lecture, titled:
"Why Hitler Burned the Jews and How They Will Come to Their End in 2022," Jarrar finds justifications for the Holocaust, and describes the transformation of the Jews into apes and pigs, according to Islamic tradition.
Jarrar says that in the years leading up to Hitler’s rise to power, the “schemes” of the Jews had led to the bankruptcy of German banks.
He draws a parallel to the "foul play you saw in America in 2008." He further says that Allah “apparently transformed [the Jews] into chimpanzees, because they are the closest creatures” to humans in their DNA, and that those who were upset about this punishment were then transformed into pigs.
“You don't like becoming apes?! We'll turn you into pigs!” he mocked. The video was posted on December 20.
Egyptian Scholar: Jews' Suffering in Hands of Nazis Shows Tolerance of the Islamic East
Egyptian scholar Dr. Yahya Mohammad Abdallah Ismail said in a recent TV interview that there was a dichotomy between "the Islamic East, which was very tolerant, and the European West, which, for its own reasons, abhorred the Jews."
Saying that "the Jews were treated [by Nazism] the same as other nations," Dr. Abdallah, former Dean of Hebrew Language and Literature at Mansoura University, added that although in many European regions, the Jews suffered greatly, "this makes us Muslims confident that we are tolerant and do not infringe upon the rights of others." Dr. Abdallah was speaking on Egypt's Channel 2 on December 2, 2016.
Pro Houthi Rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Women Brandish Weapons, Chant: Death to America!
In a mass parade and military display held in Sanaa in support of the Houthi movement, women brandished weapons and vowed to fight the infidels. Within the framework of a campaign called "Forceful against the Infidels", the Niqab-clad women, dressed in black, chanted: "Death to America! Death to Israel! A curse upon the Jews!" The parade was broadcast on the Yemeni Al-Masirah TV channel on January 17.
“Pioneer” from Judea and Samaria on how to fight the boycott against Israeli products
You may recall late last year when the UN passed the very controversial resolution that condemned Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria as illegal, breaking the longstanding US tradition of defending their best friend Israel’s right to exist and have communities in Judea and Samaria.
Beyond the recent actions of the Obama administration and the UN, there has been an active campaign amongst the regressive anti-semitic left in the western world known as BDS, or Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.
BDS affects entrepreneurship, business investment and the economic outlook of many Israelis and Israeli businesses, and in Judea and Samaria in particular, the boycott can have a significant impact.
Nati is fighting back, not only by speaking around the world but by starting his own company called Lev Haolam or the "Heart of the World."
It allows anyone supportive of Israel around the world to buy items made and produced by Israeli’s in Judea and Samaria every month and know they are directly fighting back against BDS.
“Pioneer” from Judea and Samaria on how to fight BDS
New York Times Rewrites Paris Conference Communiqué, Invents Trump Vow
A front-page story in The New York Times this week reported on a recent international meeting about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The story correctly noted that the Paris meeting culminated with a joint declaration reaffirming international support for a two-state solution to the conflict. But when describing the content of that communiqué, reporters falsely claimed that the document called for a "return to the 1967 boundaries between the Israelis and Palestinians" and "the removal of settlements from the West Bank."
These fabrications come only weeks after the newspaper told readers that the Palestinian Authority accepts the principle of two states for two peoples, when in fact Palestinian leaders say they will "never" accept such a solution.
The Jan. 16 article about the meeting of world leaders got off to an unpromising start when, in the first paragraph, it claimed that Donald Trump has "vowed to support Israel no matter what."
A New York Times advertisement on Twitter promises "fact-based journalism."
When asked about the provenance of this claim, the newspaper told CAMERA it had no specific vow in mind, but rather was referring to Trump's "collective positions." These include his position about a recent UN resolution critical of Israel, his criticism of the Obama administration's Israel policies, and his comments while campaigning, the newspaper indicated.
PreOccupiedTerritory: Iran Hoping To Take Britain’s Place In EU
Officials in Tehran followed British Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech Tuesday with interest, noting that if, as she declared, the UK will remove itself from the European Union, the Islamic Republic of Iran will be more than happy to offset the kingdom’s departure by joining.
May gave an address Tuesday afternoon in which she announced her government’s intention to complete the country’s exit from the Continental union, following last year’s referendum that called for such a move. The Brexit, as it was dubbed, has left other countries in the European Union uncertain as to the future of the arrangement itself, and the government of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has begun to reassure the leaders of Germany and France that Iran will step into the breach created by Brexit.
Already, economic ties between Continental enterprises and Iran have tightened, enabled by last year’s nuclear deal that removed myriad economic sanctions on commercial dealings with Tehran and the businesses under its rule. European aviation giant Airbus has signed a lucrative contract for delivery of passenger and cargo aircraft, and the energy sector promises further development, in addition to the automotive and other consumer industries hungry for new markets. While British contributions to the Union outweigh Iran’s potential by a considerable margin, Tehran’s military and political clout in the Middle East may prove advantageous to an EU looking to expand its commercial relationships into that part of the developing world.
‘Alt-right’ leader punched in face during DC protest
Prominent white supremacist and self-declared leader of the so-called alt-right movement Richard Spencer was sucker-punched in Washington while giving an interview to journalists, near the parade in honor of newly sworn-in President Donald Trump.
“No serious damage,” Spencer said on Twitter, “I can take a punch.”
He later tweeted that if police can’t protect him and others from such attacks, “we will begin protecting ourselves.”
Spencer seemed to be giving his interview in the midst of a protest, one of several, against Trump in Washington on Friday.
Swedish Jews boycott Holocaust memorial co-organized by nationalist party
Dozens of Swedish Jews said they would skip a Holocaust commemoration event in the southern city of Gothernburg due to the involvement of a nationalist party in organizing it.
The Göteborgs-Posten daily on Wednesday published a full-page ad by some 40 Jews, of which only two were identified by name, about the involvement of the local branch of the Sweden Democrats party in the event scheduled for Jan. 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“That the Sweden Democrats, with their ties to both old and new Nazism and xenophobia, are invited to co-organize the memorial ceremony is more than an affront. It is extremely offensive to us as Jews and our history,” wrote co-signatories Lisa Granér, Erik Nilsson and others whose names were not published, citing security fears.
The Sweden Democrats party, which has participated in organizing the Holocaust commemoration in Gothenburg since 2010, is among several Swedish parties that have sanctioned members for making offensive statements about Jews and consistently denied allegations that it condones such behavior.
Male circumcision helps prevent all HIV, say researchers
An international research team studying the HIV virus in Africa concluded that male circumcision significantly curbs the spread of all its variants.
The six researchers of a study titled “Male Circumcision and the Epidemic Emergence of HIV-2 in West Africa” published their findings last month in the scientific journal PLOS, the IPS news agency reported Monday.
Whereas “male circumcision is known to correlate negatively with HIV-1 prevalence in Africa,” they wrote of the most common variant of the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS, studies examining this issue for HIV-2, the rarer variant found predominantly in Africa, “are lacking.”
The researchers, working with state funding from Belgium, compiled results from surveys on the prevalence of HIV-2 in 30 cities of all West African countries, and cross-checked those with males circumcision rates of 218 West African ethnic groups.
This study revealed that HIV-2 only formed early substantial focuses in cities with “substantial uncircumcised populations.” Lack of male circumcision in rural areas exposed to bushmeat – meat of wild animals, including primates, that are hunted rather than farmed — “may have had a role in successful HIV-2 emergence,” the researchers also wrote.
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