RSS
Enough Is Enough: NATO Must Suspend Cooperation With Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressing the congress of the ruling Islamist AKP Party in March 2021. Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas.
JNS.org – I don’t know the word for “chutzpah” in Turkish, but whatever it is, it applies in spades to recent comments from Fatih Ceylan, Turkey’s former Ambassador to NATO.
Speaking to Al-Monitor about the security implications of Turkey’s full-throated support for Hamas, Ceylan poured cold water on the proposition that Israel might carry out targeted killings of Hamas and allied terrorists based there, as it has done with spectacular success in Lebanon and Iran over the last week. After dismissing the likelihood of similar operations on Turkish soil, Ceylan added that were one to happen, “[I]n such a case, Turkey will certainly take this move to NATO.”
When it comes to NATO, Turkey—under the brutally authoritarian rule of its diehard Islamist president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan—has stood out as the alliance’s greatest liability. Indeed, had Turkey not joined NATO in 1952, when it was ruled by a secular, Western-oriented government, there’s no question that it would even be a candidate for membership in the present day. What Erdoğan has done is to leverage Turkey’s membership to undermine the alliance from within, functioning almost as a fifth column.
In Syria, for example, Turkish forces have carried out strikes against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who are, in turn, backed by the United States—Ankara’s ostensible ally and the most powerful of NATO’s 32 members. In October 2023, the situation was so bad that the United States was compelled to shoot down a Turkish drone—one NATO member taking military action against another.
Erdoğan’s relationship with Vladimir Putin’s regime in Russia is just as disturbing. Ankara was booted out of the US F-35 fighter jet program in 2019 after it purchased S-400 missiles from the Russians. In the wake of Putin’s aggression against democratic Ukraine, Turkey has actively participated in busting the international sanctions on Moscow and aided corrupt Russian oligarchs in moving funds through Turkish banks.
Turkey has also been actively hostile to other NATO members, especially Greece. Half of the island of Cyprus has been illegally occupied by the Turks since 1974; earlier this year, Erdoğan showed up there to celebrate the 50th anniversary of that invasion. It has tried to stem NATO’s expansion, holding up Sweden’s application for membership, which was finally approved only last March. As my colleague at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Sinan Ciddi, memorably put it: “Pick your theater of vital security interests for the NATO alliance, and you’ll discover a Turkish connection that actively undermines it.”
So when Ceyhan breezily says that Turkey will raise any Israeli operations on its territory with NATO—hoping, no doubt, that doing so will trigger Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, which enshrines the principle that an attack on one member is an attack on all—one might reasonably expect, given this woeful record, that the other NATO members will proffer a middle finger in Ankara’s direction.
Right now, the Middle East is in the most febrile state arguably since the State of Israel’s creation in 1948. As we sit on the cusp of a regional war that would pose an unmistakable existential threat to Israel, Turkey is doing everything it can to stoke the flames. Erdoğan is already known for his vicious rhetorical attacks on the Jewish state, laced with the crudest antisemitism. Since Hamas’s pogrom of Oct. 7, that has only gotten worse, with Erdoğan claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “worse than Hitler” and depicting Israel as a reincarnation of the Third Reich. Additionally, the Turkish president has taken special delight in feting the rapists of Hamas on his home turf, among them the late, unlamented Ismail Haniyeh, who was eliminated on July 31 with wonderful symbolism in Tehran. Haniyeh’s assassination unleashed another foul Erdoğan tirade, along with an announcement of a national day of mourning over the loss of his “brother.” To cap it all, he even threatened at the end of July to invade Israel, boasting: “Just as we entered Nagorno-Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we can’t do.”
As a result, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz aptly compared Erdoğan to the late Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein as he called on NATO to boot Turkey from its ranks. The problem with that proposal, however, is that there is no procedure within the alliance to expel a member—even when, as in Turkey’s case, said member makes an active mockery of NATO’s commitment to democratic values and the defense of open societies.
For that reason, NATO has to think honestly, bravely and creatively about Turkey’s future status. Honestly, because it is now painfully clear that Turkey’s stance undermines and contradicts NATO’s core purpose, and that needs to be said out loud. Bravely, because one or more states need to summon the guts to publicly question Turkey’s value to the alliance and get the United States on board—something that might be easier to achieve with a Republican, rather than a Democratic, administration. Creatively, because the absence of an expulsion mechanism means that member states need to figure out another way to get Turkey out of NATO.
That could mean refusing to take part in military exercises with Turkey; ending intelligence sharing with Ankara’s security services; shunning meetings with Turkish military officers; and providing usable intelligence to Israel about Turkey’s support for Hamas and Hezbollah. Erdoğan should also be challenged for his hypocrisy in not exiting NATO voluntarily. If he is the great Islamic leader that he claims to be, if he is aligning himself more and more with Iranian interests, if the murderers and marauders in Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank, Yemen, Syria and Iraq are his new best friends, then what on earth is he doing in NATO? Turkish NATO membership doesn’t serve his goals. Neither does it serve ours.
NATO has faced a few external tests since its formation, but Turkey is the biggest internal one since French President Charles de Gaulle withdrew from NATO’s command structure in 1966. It is also more dangerous since de Gaulle’s objections to US domination of NATO didn’t drive France into the hands of the Soviets. To protect themselves and what the alliance stands for, NATO members have only one option: suspend cooperation with Turkey and do all they can to secure Turkey’s departure from an alliance that it only disgraces.
The post Enough Is Enough: NATO Must Suspend Cooperation With Turkey first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
A new style of magazine is coming from The CJN in 2025
When The Canadian Jewish News launched in 1960, it was as a weekly print newspaper. (Sample front-page headline: “Cannot Locate the Organizer of Toronto’s Mysterious ‘Exclusive’ Jewish Golf Club.”) Over the decades, it covered countless community events and developments, shut down and was reborn, moved from weekly to daily, and expanded beyond the written word.
The CJN’s relaunch, in 2021, took place in an entirely different media landscape than in 1960. News was instantaneous and most of it was read on screens or listened to through headphones; The CJN made the most of the immediacy and connection this new world offered: a daily news website and a slate of podcasts ensured that the community was always up-to-date.
That didn’t mean that print had lost its purpose or value, and so editorial staff developed a quarterly magazine to ensure that readers who were looking for deep dives and visual storytelling, who wanted to sit down and take their time with reporting and analysis, would still have a venue for doing just that.
When The CJN approached me about reimagining that magazine, it was still in the throes of mid-pandemic strictures. Our first meetings were held on park benches, and they were to discuss a fascinating challenge: how to make a genuinely contemporary Jewish magazine, one that is steeped in love for our heritage and also clear-eyed about the changing world around us, one that understands tradition and also speaks to younger generations. For a magazine editor — and for someone who grew up with The CJN but hadn’t, in all honesty, looked at it much as an adult — it was a remarkable chance to think through important questions about the function of journalism and about modern life as a Jewish Canadian.
I am thrilled to announce that the next chapter in The CJN’s own story — the culmination of those first park bench conversations and dozens more we’ve had since — will be unveiled this spring. This reimagined magazine is born of two years of reflection and brainstorming, research and design, developed by CJN veterans and newcomers like myself. It is our best effort to create a genuinely honest, open forum for Jewish Canadians of all persuasions, identities, and experiences to come together to learn from and about each other.
We are calling the redesigned magazine Scribe Quarterly — a name that both hearkens to tradition and evokes the journalistic goals we will be pursuing. We’ll be covering everything from politics to religion, education to food culture. We’re envisioning it as a reader’s guide to the contemporary Jewish world, and it will be landing in your mailboxes this spring. You can get a copy delivered to you, for free, by clicking here.
Hamutal Dotan
Editor in Chief
Scribe Quarterly
The post A new style of magazine is coming from The CJN in 2025 appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
RSS
Holocaust Memorial in Poland Dedicated to Warsaw Ghetto Vandalized With Red Spray Paint Condemning Gaza War
The Umschlagplatz monument in Warsaw, Poland. Photo: IMAGO/Schöning via Reuters Connect
A monument in Poland dedicated to the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto was vandalized with a message that compared the extermination of Polish Jews during the Holocaust to Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Vandals spray-painted “Warsaw 1943 = Gaza 2025” onto the Umschlagplatz monument in Warsaw, which commemorates the site where more than 300,000 Jews were deported from the Warsaw Ghetto to Nazi concentration camp during World War II. Polish media reported that a representative from the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews contacted Polish authorities about the vandalism on Friday and police said they were looking for the perpetrators.
Israel’s Ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne called the vandalism “shameful” in a post on X, and urged Polish authorities to find the vandals and hold them accountable for their actions. “Poland has a special responsibility to protect Jewish & Holocaust sites,” he wrote.
Shameful vandalism at Warsaw’s memorial for 300,000 (!) Jews deported to Treblinka. Poland has a special responsibility to protect Jewish & Holocaust sites; hold vandals accountable. pic.twitter.com/4No1PI7ZXd
— Amb. Yacov Livne
(@YacovLivne) January 7, 2025
Other Holocaust memorials in Poland have also been vandalized since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. In December, a 36-foot-tall memorial that honors the Jewish fighters who revolted against the Germans during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943 was also desecrated with red spray paint. Livne as well as Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the vandalism on social media.
“The MFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] strongly condemns the act of vandalism aimed at the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes — a symbol of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust and Jewish resistance against German Nazism,” the ministry wrote on X. “Such acts are an attack on history and the values that unite us as a society.”
The European Jewish Congress also condemned the desecration in a post on X. “The vandalism of the Warsaw Ghetto monument is a disgraceful act that disrespects Holocaust victims. We hope authorities will investigate thoroughly and bring those responsible to justice,” the social media post read. “Acts like this highlight the ongoing need for education and vigilance against hate.”
The post Holocaust Memorial in Poland Dedicated to Warsaw Ghetto Vandalized With Red Spray Paint Condemning Gaza War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Gal Gadot Was Not Allowed to Wear Hostage Pin to Golden Globes, Rep Says
Gal Gadot at the 82nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. Photo: Dan MacMedan-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
Israeli actress Gal Gadot was forbidden from wearing to the 82nd Golden Globes on Sunday night a pin that would draw awareness to the 100 hostages who are still held captive by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip after more than 450 days, a representative for the “Wonder Woman” star told Israeli media this week.
Gadot, 39, presented at the award ceremony in Beverly Hills wearing a custom black silk Giorgio Armani Privé long sleeve gown that featured an asymmetrical cut out and an oversized pearl detail. She styled the gown with earrings from the 2024 Tiffany & Co. Blue Book Céleste Collection, a Tiffany & Co. Archives bracelet, a Jean Schlumberger by Tiffany Two Bees ring, and another yellow sapphire ring.
Many pro-Israel supporters on social media were quick to criticize her for not wearing to the Golden Globes a yellow ribbon pin, which symbolizes solidarity with the hostages abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, and calls for their return home. However, a representative for the actress explained that the mother of four was not allowed to wear such a pin.
“Gal could not wear the hostage pin because she is presenting an award and there are rules,” the representative said, as quoted by Ynet. “She was tormented and therefore published the [Instagram] post calling for the release of the hostages before the ceremony. She thought of a creative solution together with her managers — and wore a yellow ring. It was important to her to abide by the rules and also to remember the hostages.”
The representative referred to an Instagram post that Gadot published before the start of the Golden Globes about 20-year-old Israeli hostage Liri Albag, who was featured in a video that Hamas released on Saturday. Gadot wrote a message to her 108 million Instagram followers about Albag and the other 99 hostages still held captive by the terrorist organization. She shared pictures of the hostages, including a screenshot of Albag from the new Hamas video, and additionally posted an image that featured a yellow ribbon and the message “#BringThemHomeNow.”
“While I prepare for a festival and joyous evening, my heart is heavy, and my soul aches knowing the hostages are still there [in Gaza],” Gadot wrote. “Every day that passes without an agreement puts their lives in greater danger. I can’t stop thinking about the families, waiting for them, counting the hours, the minutes, clinging to hope. They must come home. We all deserve to see them return, alive. Bring them home now.”
Gadot has four daughters with her husband, Jaron Varsano. She recently shared on social media that when she was pregnant with her forth daughter Ori, who was born in 2024, she was diagnosed with a blood clot in the brain and had to to undergo emergency surgery to treat it.
The post Gal Gadot Was Not Allowed to Wear Hostage Pin to Golden Globes, Rep Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.