BOSTON: A Jewish advocacy group is calling on Iceland’s government to take action against a pro-Palestine website seeking to “dismantle” various Boston-area Jewish institutions that’s being hosted by an Icelandic Internet company.
The website is hosted by Reykjavík-based 1984 Hosting Co.
The Anti-Defamation League, in a letter Wednesday to Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, said it has already voiced its concerns about the “Mapping Project” to Iceland’s ambassador to the US and its national police but hasn’t received a “substantive response.”
The website features an interactive map of Massachusetts listing nearly 500 institutions — many of them Jewish — and accusing those institutions of complicity in a range of “harms,” including ethnic cleansing, colonialism and Zionism.
“We deeply regret the apparent lackadaisical attitude of Icelandic officials toward this threat to the Jewish community and ask that your government take expeditious measures to prevent this website from being hosted in your country,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL’s CEO wrote in the letter.
Icelandic authorities will cooperate with US officials if a request for mutual legal assistance is received, but the government doesn’t have jurisdiction to investigate crimes by subjects located in other countries, Sveinn Guðmarsson, a spokesperson for the Iceland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, said in a statement Thursday.
The FBI’s Boston office and the US Attorney for Massachusetts’ office, which have both said they’re looking into the site, declined to comment Thursday.
The 1984 Hosting Co., which didn’t respond to a request for comment, has previously said it doesn’t “host those who advocate violence, terror, suppression or hatred” but declined to address the Jewish community’s concerns.
Jewish group asks Iceland to act on pro-Palestine website
https://arab.news/pw2h7
Jewish group asks Iceland to act on pro-Palestine website
- The Anti-Defamation League said it has already voiced its concerns about the “Mapping Project” to Iceland’s ambassador to the US
Syrian government foils Daesh plot to attack churches and New Year celebrations
- Bomber kills soldier in Aleppo, detonates explosives injuring 2 others
ALEPPO, DAMASCUS: The Syrian Interior Ministry announced on Thursday that it had thwarted a Daesh plot to carry out suicide attacks targeting New Year celebrations and churches, particularly in Aleppo.
The ministry said in a statement that, as part of ongoing counterterrorism efforts and careful monitoring of Daesh cells in cooperation with partner agencies, it had received intelligence indicating plans for suicide attacks targeting New Year celebrations in several provinces, particularly Aleppo, with a focus on churches and civilian gathering areas.
The ministry added that it took preemptive measures, including reinforcing security around churches, deploying mobile and fixed patrols, and setting up checkpoints across the city.
During operations at a checkpoint in Aleppo’s Bab Al-Faraj district, security forces intercepted a suspected Daesh member who opened fire. One internal security soldier was killed, and the attacker detonated explosives, injuring two others.
Daesh recently increased its attacks in Syria, and was blamed for an attack last month in Palmyra that killed three Americans.
On Dec. 13, two US soldiers and an American civilian were killed in an attack Washington blamed on a lone Daesh gunman in Palmyra.
In retaliation, American forces struck scores of Daesh targets in Syria.
Syrian authorities have also carried out several operations against Daesh since then, saying on Dec. 25 they had killed a senior leader of the group.
