Democratic Jewish Group Silent on UN Resolution, Kerry’s Israel Speech

Jewish and non-Jewish voices from across the U.S. political spectrum – and around the world – have weighed in on last Friday’s U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel and Secretary of State John Kerry’s controversial speech on Wednesday. Read

15,479 Syrian Refugees Have Been Admitted This Year – 606% More Than 2015; 98.8% Are Muslims

In its last full month in office, the Obama administration has admitted 1,307 more Syrian refugees – pushing the 2016 calendar year total to 15,479, a 606.1 percent increase from the numbers resettled in the U.S. in 2015. Read

Netanyahu’s Response to Kerry: ‘Israelis Do Not Need to be Lectured About the Importance of Peace by Foreign Leaders’

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday slammed Secretary of State John Kerry for a speech he described as “almost as unbalanced” as last Friday’s U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel, which passed after the Obama administration chose to abstain rather than veto the measure. Read

Kerry’s Speech References to 1947 UN Partition Resolution Omit Decades of Palestinian Rejectionism

In his keynote Mideast speech Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry said that both Israelis and Palestinians had “incorporated into” their respective “foundational documents” a 1947 U.N. General Assembly resolution that divided the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River into a Jewish state and an Arab one. Read

UN Approves Funding for First Anti-Israeli ‘Settlement’ Blacklist

On the same day as the U.N. Security Council passed a controversial resolution condemning Israel, the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on Friday approved a budget that includes $138,700 to fund the compilation of a first-ever U.N. blacklist of private companies doing business in territories disputed between Israel and the Palestinians. Read

Israel Doubles Down on Criticism of Obama Administration: ‘Ben Rhodes is an Expert at Fiction’

Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. on Monday contemptuously dismissed White House deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes’ denials that the Obama administration played a key behind-the-scenes role in getting a resolution condemning Israel through the U.N. Security Council, describing him as an “expert at fiction.” Read

Schumer: Obama Administration's 'Actions Will Move Us Further from Peace in Middle East'

Republican lawmakers unsurprisingly slammed a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel and the Obama administration’s decision to allow it to pass, but almost one-third of the Democratic caucus in the U.S. Senate – 15 of the 46 senators – have also come out publicly since Friday against the move. Read

‘The Western Wall is Not Occupied,’ Netanyahu Says of UN Resolution. ‘We Were Here Much Earlier’

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday night put the U.N. Security Council resolution – which effectively declares Israel’s presence in the Old City of Jerusalem to be illegal – into historical context, pointing to the longstanding Jewish heritage there. Read

Islamic Bloc Wants Media to Stop Promoting ‘Terrorism’ – But What Is It?

Information ministers from the bloc of Islamic nations meeting in Jeddah this week urged media in Muslim countries to counter efforts to associate Islam – “a religion of compassion and peace” – with terrorism. Read

Egypt Delays UNSC Vote on Contentious Israel Resolution After Trump Voices Opposition

In an unusual turn of events, Egypt on Thursday abruptly delayed its plan to call for a vote on a U.N. Security Council resolution critical of Israel, after President-elect Donald Trump tweeted his opposition to the measure. Read

State Dept.: US Ties With Russia Not Frozen; We’re Not Sidelined in Syria Diplomacy

The State Department on Wednesday rejected the notion that ties with Russia were virtually “frozen” – as claimed by the Kremlin – and also denied that the Obama administration in its final weeks has been sidelined in diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the Syrian conflict. Read

Obama Has Last Chance to Veto ‘Anti-Israel’ Resolution at UN Thursday, But Will He?

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took to social media to urge the Obama administration to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution slamming Israel in a vote expected to be held on Thursday. Read

UN Holds a Third Minute of Silence for Fidel Castro

The United Nations on Tuesday once again paid tribute to the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, at a “special commemorative event” presided over by the president of the U.N. General Assembly. Read

Trump Condemns Ankara, Berlin ‘Terror Attacks’; State Dep’t Warns Against ‘Jumping to Conclusions’

A State Department spokesman on Monday chose his words carefully in condemning the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey and the killing of 12 people run down by a truck at a Christmas market in Germany. Read

UN Chief: Abandoning Paris Climate Deal Will ‘Condemn Future Generations to Untold Suffering’

Citing the Paris climate accord as his greatest accomplishment in office, outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that abandoning or damaging it would "condemn future generations to untold suffering." Read

Pakistanis, Saudis May Face Sterner US Action for Religious Freedom Violations Under New Law

Legislation signed into law on Friday aims to compel the executive branch to identify and penalize all foreign governments that violate religious freedom – including several U.S. allies and friends, which the current and previous administrations have treated leniently. Read

Gates: Obama’s Mideast Actions ‘Sent a Signal That the US Was in Retreat’

Russian President Vladimir Putin may have taken advantage of a perception of U.S. weakness resulting from President Obama’s actions in the Middle East not matching his sometimes “pretty tough” rhetoric, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Sunday. Read

Trump's OMB Must Report on Billions of U.S. Taxpayer Dollars for the U.N.

For the first time since fiscal year 2010, American taxpayers will soon be able to see, in one place, the full extent of annual U.S. contributions to the United Nations system – a far larger amount of money than that requested by the State Department each year for the regular U.N. budget. Read

Trump’s Pick for Ambassador to Israel Looks Forward to Serving in Jerusalem, Not Tel Aviv

David Friedman, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee as U.S. ambassador to Israel, said Thursday he looked forward to carrying out his duties “from the U.S. embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.” Read

U.S. Diplomat Tells Taiwan’s President: ‘I Wish I Could Have Shaken Hands With the First Woman President in My Country’

Former senior Obama administration diplomat Wendy Sherman met with Taiwan’s first woman president Thursday and sounded wistful about the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. She also cautioned President-elect Donald Trump against changing policy in the Taiwan Strait. Read

Jakarta’s Christian Governor, on Trial for Blasphemy, Is Accused of ‘Blaspheming’ Again

The Christian governor of Jakarta, on trial for “blasphemy,” is now being accused of further offending Muslims’ sensibilities after saying in court that his opponents were using a verse from the Qur’an in a bid to divide people. Read

Ayatollah:Palestinians and Muslims Can End Israel Within 25 Years

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday accused the United States – the “great Satan” – and its “little demons” in the region of creating crises like those in Syria and Iraq, to divert attention away from the issue of “Palestine.” Read

Russian Foreign Minister: Trump and Tillerson Are ‘Pragmatic People’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the Russian official likely to work most closely with the next U.S. secretary of state, on Tuesday described both President-elect Donald Trump and his pick for the post, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, as “pragmatic.” Read

WH: Iran’s Nuclear-Powered Vessel Announcement Doesn’t Violate Nuclear Deal

A declaration by Iran of plans to develop nuclear-powered vessels – in response to legislation extending U.S. sanctions – is not a violation of the nuclear deal, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday. Read

Aleppo On the Brink: ‘It’s Hell’

Syria’s once-largest city was on the verge of falling to regime forces on Tuesday; or, in the words of state media, it was on the verge of being “liberated from terrorists.” Read

Beijing Responds to Trump: 'The One-China Policy Is Not for Selling'

Chinese officials and state media reacted with anger – and a patronizing tone – to President-elect Donald Trump’s comments questioning U.S. adherence to the “one-China” policy, shocked that he would dare challenge what has long been a sacred cow in U.S.-China relations. Read

Cairo Church Bombing Comes Amid Growing Coptic Disenchantment With Gov’t

A church bombing in Cairo Sunday killed at least 25 people, most of them women, deepening concerns among Egyptian Christians that despite its promises the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has done little to improve the situation for the embattled minority. Read

Ayatollah, on the Day Boeing Signs Deal With Iran Air: ‘Do Not Trust Americans At All’

On the day his country’s national carrier signed a deal to buy 80 passenger aircraft worth $16.6 billion from U.S. manufacturer Boeing, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged visiting Shi’a clerics from Iraq, “Do not trust Americans at all.” Read

Ex-Sen. Lieberman ‘Hopeful’ About Administration Change ‘When it Comes to Iran’

Former Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman may have supported Hillary Clinton for president, but he told an Iranian-American audience Thursday that he viewed the shift from the Obama to Trump administrations as “hopeful” with regard to U.S. policy on Iran. Read

British Foreign Secretary on Saudis, Iran: ‘Twisting and Abusing Religion … Puppeteering and Playing Proxy Wars’

A day after British Prime Minister Theresa May delighted Gulf leaders with a speech pledging to work with them to “push back against Iran’s aggressive regional actions,” Downing Street was forced Thursday to distance itself from critical comments about the Saudis by her own foreign minister. Read

UN Human Rights Officials Mum on Whether Minute’s Silence for Fidel Castro Was Appropriate

The United Nations human rights apparatus has yet to explain why it permitted a minute’s silence for Fidel Castro at the start of a meeting of the Human Rights Council early this week. Read

French Senate Passes Bill Targeting Pro-Life Websites; Critic Says Catholic Catechism Could be Punishable

A French law which critics fear will target online pro-life advocacy moved closer to reality on Wednesday, when the country’s Senate passed it with minor amendments, following a heated discussion over freedom of expression. Read

Ambassador Power Calls Armenian Mass Killings ‘Genocide’; As President, Obama Has Not

In 2008, Samantha Power urged Armenian Americans to vote for a junior senator from Illinois running for the White House, highlighting Barack Obama’s campaign pledge to recognize early 20th century atrocities against Armenians as “genocide.” Read

Kerry on Trump: ‘I Understand the Anxiety But Let’s Not Get All Churned Up’

Secretary of State John Kerry advised Tuesday against worry over about how President-elect Donald Trump may conduct foreign policy, saying it was too soon to say how things would unfold, but that he was confident “facts and science and common sense and mutual interests” would prevail. Read

‘Despicable’: UN’s Top Human Rights Body Holds Minute’s Silence For Fidel Castro

Delegates of the U.N. Human Rights Council opened a meeting in Geneva on Monday by standing silently with heads bowed, after the delegation of Venezuela’s leftist government requested a minute’s silence to “honor” the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Read

Kerry Declines to Comment on Chances Trump Could Spark ‘Int’l Crisis’ Before Inauguration

As China continues to bristle over a phone conversation between President-elect Donald Trump and the president of Taiwan, Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday declined to comment when asked whether he was concerned Trump could spark an “international crisis” before even taking office. Read

Kerry: Decision Not to Enforce Syria Red Line ‘Cost Us Significantly in the Region’

Not enforcing President Obama’s “red line” on chemical weapons use in Syria carried a “cost” for the United States in the Middle East, Secretary of State John Kerry conceded Sunday, although he insisted that it was a cost based on a misperception. Read

Muslims Rally in Jakarta, Demanding Christian Governor Be Punished for Blasphemy

The capital of the world’s biggest Islamic country was the scene Friday of the latest in a series of mass demonstrations by Muslims demanding that the Christian governor of Jakarta be punished for “blasphemy.” Read

Senate Votes 99-0 to Send Iran Sanctions Bill to Obama’s Desk

Despite Iranian complaints and administration arguments that the move is unnecessary, the U.S. Senate on Thursday approved legislation extending the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) for another ten years – by a vote of 99-0. Read

14,172 Syrian Refugees Admitted in 2016 Through November; 98.9% Muslim

With one month of 2016 to go, the Obama administration has admitted a total of 14,172 Syrian refugees into the United States so far this calendar year, an increase of 625 percent over the same 11-month period in 2015. Read

France Debates Bill to Criminalize Online Pro-Life Advocacy

French lawmakers on Thursday will debate and vote on a Socialist government-backed draft law that could criminalize online pro-life advocacy. The legislation would extend the ambit of already-illegal “interference” in abortion to cover digital media. Read