Six Are Killed as Clashes Erupt in Standoff Over Mosque in Jerusalem
July 22, 2017 by admin
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“Israel is committed to preserving the status quo at the Temple Mount and the freedom of access to the holy places,” Israeli officials said in a statement after the cabinet meeting, adding, “The cabinet has authorized the Israel police to take any decision to ensure the freedom of access to the holy sites, while maintaining security and public order.”
Critics said that the government was evading responsibility for keeping the metal detectors in place by leaving the ultimate decision up to the police. The police issued a statement in the morning clarifying that entry to the site through metal detectors was “according to the decision of the highest political echelon,” and that the police would decide how strict the security checks would be based on assessments of the situation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has come under pressure from right-wing members of his coalition, who urged him not to “cave in” to Palestinian protest and who said that removing the metal detectors would send a message of weakness and lack of resolve regarding Israeli control of the area.
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“The decision to leave the metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount is the right decision,” Tzipi Hotovely, a deputy foreign minister from Mr. Netanyahu’s conservative Likud Party, wrote on Twitter on Friday. “The Prime Minister defended the national interest.” She also praised the Likud minister of public security, Gilad Erdan, for standing up to the Shin Bet on the issue.
Israel captured East Jerusalem, along with its holy sites, from Jordan in the 1967 war and then annexed the area in a move that was never internationally recognized. Aware of the potentially explosive religious and political sensitivities, Israel allowed the Waqf to remain in charge of day-to-day affairs inside the mosque compound under the aegis of Jordan. Jordan’s special role in administering the site was reaffirmed in its 1994 peace treaty with Israel.
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Disputes over the holy site have set off several waves of deadly violence in the past.
International efforts have been underway this week to resolve the metal detector crisis. The White House issued a statement on Wednesday saying the United States was “very concerned about tensions” surrounding the holy site and called on Israel and Jordan to make “a good-faith effort” to calm the atmosphere.
Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official, described the placement of metal detectors, as well as security cameras, at the entrances to the Aqsa Mosque compound as “a flagrant violation of the rights and freedoms of Palestinian Muslim worshipers.” “Such intrusive and dehumanizing practices,” she said in a statement, “aim to provide Israel with carte blanche to exercise security control over the holy sites of Jerusalem.”
According to Israeli radio reports, protest marches were also held on Friday in Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia and Turkey.
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Senators who have felt McCain’s wrath talk of their respect for him
July 22, 2017 by admin
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News of Sen. John McCain
John McCainSen. Flake’s GOP challenger: McCain should resign The Hill’s 12:30 Report Armed Services leaders appoint strategy panel members MORE’s (R-Ariz.) brain cancer elicited expressions of sympathy across the government, even from fellow senators and public officials who have been the targets of his famous temper.
One of the most heartfelt expressions of sympathy on Wednesday night, when news broke of his diagnosis of brain cancer, came from Sen. Ted Cruz
Ted CruzEx-CBO directors defend against GOP attacks on ObamaCare analysis Cruz: GOP will ‘look like fools’ if ObamaCare isn’t repealed The GOP Wonder Women who saved healthcare for 22 million MORE (R-Texas).
Cruz has been one of McCain’s chief antagonists in recent years. McCain famously called Cruz a “wacko bird” in March of 2013 and clashed fiercely with him over Cruz’s demand that a government funding bill be blocked to stop the implementation of ObamaCare.
McCain scolded Cruz on the Senate floor for comparing Republicans who were unwilling to risk a government shutdown to former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who appeased Adolf Hitler at the 1938 Munich Conference in an effort to avert war.McCain thundered on the Senate floor at the time that Cruz’s comparison did “a great disservice” to Americans who stood up against Hitler because he implied U.S. politicians lack backbone.
Two years ago, McCain mocked Cruz for claiming that he pressed McCain, who had recently become chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on the issue of allowing people to carry concealed firearms on military bases.
McCain insisted that nothing of the sort happened.
“Maybe it was through some medium that I’m not familiar with,” McCain joked. “Maybe bouncing it off the ozone layer, for all I know.”
Yet Cruz praised McCain after the Texas senator stepped out of a healthcare meeting Wednesday night at which lawmakers first learned of his diagnosis.
“Our prayers tonight are very much with John McCain. He is a friend, he is a patriot, he is a man who fought and bled and served our nation,” Cruz said.
Cruz reminded reporters that McCain had a chance to win early release from captivity while serving as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam because his father served at the time as commander of U.S. naval forces in the Pacific. McCain refused to leap ahead of his fellow American prisoners.
“It’s an extraordinary privilege for 99 of us to serve with an American hero like John McCain,” Cruz said.
McCain is known to lash out at both colleagues and reporters in moments of frustration.
In 2007, during the immigration reform debate, McCain butted heads with Sen. John Cornyn
John CornynSenators who have felt McCain’s wrath talk of their respect for him Senate heads to new healthcare vote with no clear plan McCain absence adds to GOP agenda’s uncertainty MORE (R-Texas) after the latter criticized McCain for parachuting into the negotiation while he was also campaigning for president ahead of the 2008 election.
“F— you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room,” McCain shouted at Cornyn, according to a Washington Post report at the time.
Yet Cornyn was one of the first to express his affection Wednesday evening, tweeting, “John McCain has been a fighter all his life and this is just his latest challenge. We are praying for his speedy recovery.”
Despite his frequent dust-ups, McCain remains one of the most loved and respected members of the Senate.
“I worked on immigration reform with him for months,” Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin
Dick DurbinSenators who have felt McCain’s wrath talk of their respect for him Graham and Kushner met to discuss immigration differences: report Trump’s FBI nominee passes committee, heads to full Senate MORE (Ill.) said. “One day he would explode like Mount Vesuvius and the next day smother you with kindness. So it’s just typical John, and once you get used to that style, he’s great to work with.”
Colleagues and even former adversaries appreciate McCain’s dedication to public service, as well as his willingness to stand against his own party and public opinion.
They also admire a work ethic that has remained consistent after 30 years in the upper chamber.
“He’s earned the right to be contrary, and he’s only contrary when he really believes in something. Sometimes he gets very excited about his causes and he engages and sometimes he says things that he wishes he hadn’t said,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham
Lindsey GrahamBusiness pressure ramps up against Trump’s Ex-Im nominee Senators who have felt McCain’s wrath talk of their respect for him McCain absence adds to GOP agenda’s uncertainty MORE (R-S.C.), McCain’s closest friend in the Senate.
“People understand that the motivation of Sen. McCain is to do what’s best for the country as he sees it and it’s hard to hold a grudge against a guy you think is really trying his best,” Graham added.
Colleagues also appreciate his keen sense of humor, often deployed at his own expense.
The 80-year-old senator frequently jokes about his age, calling himself “older than dirt.” He is known to joke about his friendship with Graham, sometimes dubbing him his “illegitimate son.”
One of McCain’s favorite gallows-humor quips is to proclaim during moments of intense political strife: “Remember the words of Chairman Mao: It’s always darkest before it’s totally black.”
McCain’s fondness for the joke persists even though there’s no evidence that Mao Zedong, the founder of modern-day China, ever uttered those words.
McCain’s home-state colleague, Sen. Jeff Flake
Jeff FlakeSen. Flake’s GOP challenger: McCain should resign Senators who have felt McCain’s wrath talk of their respect for him Arizona senator: McCain still focused on healthcare legislation MORE (R-Ariz.), said McCain has served as a “kind” partner and “mentor” since Flake was first elected to the upper chamber in 2012.
Flake knew when he served in the House from 2001 to the end of 2012 that McCain occasionally clashed with other members of the Arizona delegation. He was careful to stay out of the senator’s line of fire.
That ended after Flake won election to the Senate, when they split for the first time over a vote — a disagreement that McCain did not let pass without comment.
“He was really letting me have it on the Senate floor and the other senators were sitting there and nodding and saying, ‘Now you’ve gotten it over with,’” Flake recalled.
For many newly elected Republican senators, earning McCain’s fury serves as a sort of hazing or baptism by fire.
But it makes them feel closer to McCain in the end.
“I’m proud to be Arizona’s other senator,” Flake said.
Former conservative Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who fought frequently with McCain over social policy while serving in the chamber, said he recently had one of his warmest interactions with McCain after running into him on the Hill.
“That’s a beautiful thing because John and I have not gotten along well over the years, in many respects,” he said. “I give John credit. He was always able to look past those things.
“In spite of the tough moments we had, we had the best conversation we ever had,” Santorum recalled. “He just came up and we were talking about healthcare — he knew I was working on it. He engaged me on it and asked a lot of questions and thanked me for being engaged.”
Santorum said a bystander would have never known they didn’t have “the best history” and once had “several disagreements on Armed Services that got heated.”
The camaraderie McCain has developed even with his bitterest rivals makes him a unique figure in Washington.
On Thursday, former President George W. Bush, McCain’s rival in the 2000 Republican presidential primary, also showed his affection for the senator.
The 2000 race left a bitter taste with McCain after Bush won South Carolina thanks in part to a push poll that spread the false rumor that McCain had fathered an illegitimate black child.
McCain emerged as one of Bush’s chief Republican antagonists after the election. He was one of only two GOP senators who voted against Bush’s signature 2001 tax cut, and one of only three Republicans who voted against Bush’s follow-up 2003 tax package.
His relationship with the president grew to be so adversarial that former Sen. John Kerry
John KerrySenators who have felt McCain’s wrath talk of their respect for him Dems see huge field emerging to take on Trump Budowsky: Dems need council of war MORE (D-Mass.) asked McCain to serve as his running mate after he won the Democratic nomination to challenge Bush’s reelection.
Yet even Bush feels a strong bond to McCain years later.
He wasted no time in calling his former rival to express his sympathy and support.
He was surprised when McCain wound up encouraging the former president, who has kept out of the public eye since leaving office with a low approval rating.
“I was impressed by his spirit and determination,” Bush said after the call.