US accuses Iran of violating nuclear sanctions
(JNS.org) The US informed a United Nations committee last month that Iran has been illicitly seeking to acquire components for its heavy-water reactor at Arak, Foreign Policy magazine reported Monday. According to the report, a US delegation told the U.N. Security Council panel of experts monitoring sanctions on Iran that Iranian agents have in recent months been upping their efforts to obtain equipment for the IR-40 research reactor. The U.S. has not publicly commented on the allegation. The U.S. and Israel suspect that the Arak heavy-water reactor is designed to develop a nuclear weapon via a plutonium path, parallel to Iran’s effort to develop a nuclear weapon via a uranium path.
US not giving up on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
(JNS.org) America will not give up on the prospect of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations during the final two years of President Barack Obama’s term, US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said during a speech at Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies on Tuesday. “The main reason we remain committed to achieving a two-state solution is that we see no alternative that would achieve Israelis’ and Palestinians’ legitimate goals,” Shapiro said.
Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem hills vandalized
(JNS.org) A memorial to Holocaust victims located in the Jerusalem hills between Kibbutz Tzora and Moshav Eshtaol has been vandalized, and its metal plates bearing an inscription have been stolen. Guides from the Shaar Hagai Field School hiking in the area discovered the vandalism. The memorial, titled the Scroll of Fire, is made of bronze. It stands 26 feet high and is sculpted in the shape of two scrolls that symbolize the Jewish people as the People of the Book. One scroll describes the Holocaust and the other the founding of the State of Israel. The memorial was unveiled in 1972 after many years of work by artist Nathan Rapoport. Shaar Hagai Field School director Moriah Ezra-Rosenzweig said, “The theft of part of the memorial is a blow to the values of the nation.”
Palestinians granted observer status at International Criminal Court
(JNS.org) The International Criminal Court (ICC) upgraded the Palestinians’ status to “non-state observer” at its summit meeting in New York on Monday. While largely symbolic, the move gives the Palestinians the right to ratify the Rome Statue, the founding treaty of the ICC. So far, the Palestinians have not indicated that they will join the 122-member body. Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour told the Ma’an News Agency that the new status at the ICC is “another victory for Palestinians at the international level, bringing them closer to restoring their rights, and opening the door wide to drag leaders of the Israeli occupation to the dock of this court, so the souls of the victims can finally rest in peace.”
Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood smuggling weapons
to Palestinians
(JNS.org) A Muslim Brotherhood cell in Jordan is smuggling weapons to Palestinians in the West Bank to be used to launch an intifada (uprising), Israeli intelligence officials have told their Jordanian counterparts. Jordanian sources told London’s Arabic daily newspaper al-Hayat that the information sharing led to the arrest of 31 people, mostly Palestinians from Hebron who were studying in Jordan. The revelation comes as Jordanian forces have arrested and charged top Muslim Brotherhood leader Zaki Bani Rushaid, deputy leader of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, for “souring ties with a foreign country” after criticizing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for its recent designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group.
