09/12 Links Pt2: Where is the Jewish Pro-Israel Left?; Turning Hamas Rockets into Fruit Trees

From Ian:

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Michael Lumish: Where is the Jewish Pro-Israel Left?

If the great majority of Jews are liberal-progressive and if the vast majority of progressive-left Jews believe in Israel as the national homeland for the Jewish people, just where is their media presence?
I do not see it. Do you?
Given the fact that most Jews are progressive and given the fact that most progressive Jews are Zionists, one would think that there would be a significant media presence to support the progressive Zionist viewpoint, but there is not.
Why is it that almost all the pro-Israel magazines, newspapers, and blogs are considered "conservative"? Ha'aretz, of course, is not, but pretty much everything else is. The Jerusalem Post features Martin Sherman and Caroline Glick and would definitely be considered a conservative news outlet. The almost brand-spanking new Times of Israel is moderate, under editor David Horovitz, as is the venerable Jewish Daily Forward.
And among the blogs, fuggedabout it. The pro-Israel / pro-Jewish blogs are considered conservative almost entirely across the board. Israel Thrives is non-partisan and we welcome voices from across the political spectrum with the obvious exception of anti-Semitic anti-Zionists.

Irwin Cotler: The fatal flaws of the Schabas Inquiry

Firstly, the resolution giving birth to the inquiry presupposes Israeli guilt, condemning “in the strongest possible terms the widespread, systematic and gross violations of international human rights and fundamental freedoms arising from the Israeli military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory.” Thus the empowering resolution displays an Alice-in-Wonderland violation of judicial logic because the conviction is pronounced before the inquiry begins.
Secondly, and astonishingly, the biased commission mandate not only presupposes Israeli criminality – referenced 18 times in the resolution – but makes no reference at all to Hamas’s spectrum of war crimes and crimes against humanity, let alone its ongoing terrorist war of attrition during which it has launched 10,000 rockets targeting Israeli civilians since 2007, the proximate cause of the latest iteration of the conflict.
Third, and astonishingly again, the resolution refers to Israeli perpetration of “hate crimes,” but makes no reference to the Hamas Charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews wherever they may be – the toxic convergence of the advocacy of the most horrific of crimes, namely genocide, embedded in the oldest and most enduring of hatreds, namely anti-Semitism – and the perpetration of terrorist acts in furtherance of this genocidal antisemitism, which is the root cause of the conflict as a whole.

UN Watch: When William Schabas was convicted in 1974, he tried to disqualify the judges for bias

William Schabas has mocked calls by eminent jurists for him to step down from the UN’s Gaza inquiry on account of bias, and is refusing to provide any legal response, instead telling an Arab newspaper that “even if Spider-Man were appointed to head the commission they would attack him.”
Yet when Schabas himself was in the dock, he charged all three of his judges with bias.
In 1974, when Schabas was a Ph.D. student in history at the University of Toronto, and a leader in the radical SDS group, he was charged and convicted with violating human rights and freedoms by physically obstructing a visiting lecturer from speaking on campus.
Schabas was found guilty on four charges and suspended from the university for four years, later reduced to two.
It is a curious bit of history that, according to a decision of the Ontario Divisional Court (Re Schabas et al. and Caput of the University of Toronto et al.), Schabas tried to disqualify the entire panel hearing his case by arguing that they were biased.
The court rejected Schabas’ claims, finding “no evidence whatsoever to support a reasonable apprehension” of bias.

Chloe Valdary: The Intifada – The Ultimate Distraction

The Intifada is merely the distraction. The ‘Resistance’ is the distraction. It is the equivalent of the hunger games, where young adults are encouraged to fight each other so as to not focus on the regime’s corruption. Hamas + Fatah are the regimes. They encourage and have encouraged their people to fight the Jews, claiming that the Jews have enslaved them. The people don’t even realize that this very claim is done in fact to perpetuate their own enslavement by their own people. The Intifada is merely the distraction. “Rise up against them [the Jews] so as to not focus on what we [Fatah + Hamas] are doing.” This explain why they fight against a blockade [Israel] and not an imprisonment of a woman because she had children out of wedlock [Hamas.] This explains why they fight against a checkpoint [Israel] and not a political prisoner being tortured in a prison run by Fatah. All the while, they are told that this resistance defines their identity. Identity is sacred. Therefore the “struggle” will be perpetual. Because this implicitly means that without the need to resist, they will cease to exist as a people. And that cannot happen.
Read and Understand: The Resistance is merely the smokescreen. A deliberate action by regimes who are whipping up the people into a frenzy so as to distract them from their own crimes.
Herein is the tragic irony: The more they resist instead of overthrowing their own regimes, the more they undermine the cause of their own freedom.

Palestinians’ Oppression Comes from within the Family

Palestinians are being systematically disadvantaged in both law and practice. But the actual oppressor may surprise you.
Last week, Al Jazeera reported on the systematic disadvantages that Palestinians suffer in Lebanon. Under Lebanese law, Palestinian refugees are banned from working in over 30 professions in Lebanon, including medicine and law. Even more, Palestinians are currently banned from owning property, attending public schools, utilizing public health services, and making an enforceable will. They pay taxes to the National Social Security Fund, yet do not receive any of the benefits.
When lawful oppression like this exists, it is often accompanied by more day-to-day discrimination, and such is the case in Lebanon. Al Jazeera further reports: “Lebanon’s Palestinians also face informal discrimination by potential employers, who often seek to exploit them by offering lower wages and no job security.” As of 2012, only two percent of Palestinians have been granted a government work permit.
With over ten percent of Lebanon’s population being Palestinian, one would expect that improving the Palestinian condition would be first on the Lebanese agenda. But not so—since the crisis in Syria, “the current government has continually used the Syrian crisis to block improvements to the conditions of Palestinians,” says Sari Hanafi, a Lebanese academic with expertise in the political economic plight of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

Bill Maher Crushes Charlie Rose for 'Naive and Plain Wrong' View of Islam

Bill Maher, host of HBO's "Real Time" and outspoken atheist, took PBS' Charlie Rose to task Tuesday for his "naive and just plain wrong" view of Islam and attempts to draw a moral equivalency between it and other religions, repeatedly calling Rose's claims "untrue" and arguing that "vast numbers" of Muslims hold extreme views.
Despite Rose's attempts to push the conversation toward political correctness, Maher argued that there's a "connecting tissue" between radical Islam and mainstream Islam. The "connecting tissue," he said are "illiberal beliefs" and the teachings of the Koran, which Rose attempted to defend, saying, "What we see with ISIS is not representative of the Islamic religion. I don't think the Koran teach them to do these kinds of things."
Maher told Rose that he's "absolutely wrong about that," adding, "The Koran absolutely has, on every page, stuff that's horrible about how the infidels should be treated."

Bill Maher Battles Charlie Rose on Why Islam is More Dangerous than Other Religions


More details on tax scheme by anti-Israel attorney Stanley Cohen

We previously reported last April that Stanley Cohen, an anti-Israel, pro-Hamas attorney — sometimes called “Hamas’ Lawyer”, pleaded guilty in the Northern District of NY federal court to one count of obstructing the administration of the tax laws by failing to keep necessary tax records. Part of that plea deal was that Cohen would plead guilty to a separate case in the Southern District of NY for failing to file tax returns for several years.
Cohen and his supporters portray the prosecutions as persecution because of Cohen’s anti-Israel, anti-US government politics. Cohen attempted to rally supporters to petition the Judge to avoid jail time, but the petition drive failed to gain any momentum.
We now have obtained the transcript of his plea in court (full embed at bottom of post), and it clear why the Feds took and interest in Cohen. In fact, it is surprising he wasn’t more aggressively charged.
Cohen’s scheme to evade tax reporting was pervasive, including operating in a cash economy and storing cash in a safe deposit box. Expenses also were paid in cash. All of this was done in an apparent attempt to evade federal bank reporting requirements, in increments just under $10,000 and through money orders and cash deliveries.

Will The New European Commission Be Less Biased Against Israel?

Catherine Ashton was the Commissioner responsible for foreign affairs under Barroso This British baroness never concealed her anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish bias. In September 2011, Ashton praised Palestinian leaders Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad in a speech in the European Parliament, saying: "They are people who believe in the values we hold." In March 2012, she publicly displayed her anti-Semitism by comparing Mohammed Merah's attack on a Jewish school in Toulouse, France, in which three Jewish children and a rabbi were murdered, with "what is happening in Gaza." And last January, she issued a short statement on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, in which she managed to avoid the words Jews and anti-Semitism.
Ashton will be replaced by Frederica Mogherini as the EU's next High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Like Ashton, Mogherini during the Cold War was active in movements that advocated Western disarmament. That seems to have become a prerequisite for acquiring the top EU foreign policy position.
Mogherini was a member of the Italian Communist Party until its dissolution in 1996. Before becoming Italy's Foreign Minister only six months ago, she was active in leftist NGOs. Barely two years ago, in 2012, she showed her pro-Palestinian sympathies by posting on her blog a picture of her visit to Yasser Arafat in 2002. The picture has meanwhile been removed from the blog, but can still be found on the internet.
In July, however, Mogherini made a good impression on the Israeli political establishment when she visited the Israeli border town of Ashdod, which is under frequent Hamas rocket-fire from Gaza. While stating that she was "very much concerned" about the civilian casualties from the Israeli bombardments in Gaza, she also expressed her sympathy with the people of Ashdod. "As a mother I understand very well the pressure and the tension in Ashdod," she said.
Israel expects Mogherini to be an improvement to Ashton. The latter was so biased against Israel that it is hardly imaginable that her successor could be worse.

Israeli Firefighters and U.S. Marines Commemorate 9/11 in Jerusalem Hills

Jerusalem district firefighters and rescue volunteers, alongside U.S. Marines and families of 9/11 victims, marked the 13th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks at a special ceremony held in the Jerusalem Hills.
“It’s a very sad day – as firefighters, we can fully empathize with the families of the 343 New York City firemen who were killed on September 11,” Kobi Erez, the spokesman for the Jerusalem Fire and Rescue Services told Tazpit News Agency. “We are here to show solidarity with the firemen and everyone else impacted by this terrible event – those who entered into danger and fire to save lives and were killed doing so.”
Organized by the Keren Kayemeth L’Yisrael-Jewish National Fund, the memorial ceremony was held at the 9/11 Living Memorial Plaza in the Arazim Valley of the Ramot neighborhood in Jerusalem. The memorial plaza, which was inaugurated back in 2009 by the JNF, features the only monument outside of the United States that lists the names of the 2,977 victims of the 9/11 attacks, including five Israelis who were killed.

Netanyahu: Israel Mourned on 9/11; Palestinians Celebrated

Speaking on the 13th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 combined terror strikes on the United States, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel mourns those who were killed in the attacks, alongside the US.
"On 9/11,” he reminded his audience at the annual International Institute for Counter-Terrorism conference in Herzliya, “the people in the Gaza Strip celebrated on the roofs and handed out sweets. We mourned, and that is the moral difference between us.”
"Israel fully supports Obama's call for a united action against ISIS," he said, and added that Islamic State, Hamas, al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and Nigeria's Boko Haram are all "branches of the same poisonous tree."

Obama Meets With Hezbollah-Supporting Cleric on 9/11

President Barack Obama and White House national security adviser Susan Rice met with a delegation of Christian Middle Eastern leaders in Washington, D.C., on Thursday that included at least one Hezbollah-supporting Lebanese cleric.
The meeting came one day after Sen. Ted Cruz was booed off the stage for defending Israel while giving a keynote address at a conference for the same delegation of Christian leaders.
The In Defense of Christians summit, which was aimed at raising awareness of persecution against Arab Christiansa, featured speeches by several Hezbollah supporters and some of Bashar al-Assad’s most vocal Christian allies.
One of the clerics who met with Obama was Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, the Daily Star reported on Thursday.
The Washington Free Beacon reported on Wednesday that Rai has called Israel an “enemy state that is occupying Lebanese territory” and defended Hezbollah’s right to attack the country.

Pro-Christian Conference Descends Into Anti-Israel Bigotry

Prior to Cruz’s talk, journalist Lee Smith tweeted that Cruz’s appearance at the IDC conference would only serve to legitimize the Iranian, Hezbollah and Assad Axis in the Middle East. After Cruz was booed off stage, Smith remarked how the “creepy” pro-Hezbollah crowd at the IDC conference was routed by the senator’s defense of Western values.
The lack of hospitality shown to Cruz by the attendees confirms that there was in fact a problem with the conference from the beginning. On Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014, The Algemeiner published my article detailing concerns raised by the Middle Eastern Christian Committee about IDC or MECHRIC, a consortium of pro-Christian activists in the United States. People involved in the conference seemed reluctant to address the mistreatment of Christians in Iran, and the role Assad and Hezbollah played in the oppression of Christians in Lebanon.

PreOccupied Territory: Jew Told To Stay Home On 9/11 Still Waiting For Mossad To OK Leaving House (Satire)

Like all the Jews who worked in and around the World Trade Center in September 2001, Morris Zaitchik received a phone call the night of September 10 that year warning him to stay at home. The call spared him the fate that claimed the lives of thousands of others, all thanks to the efforts of the Zionist Conspiracy to which all Jews belong. But Zaitchik also expected to receive a call alerting him that it was now safe to leave his house, a call that never came. He has not set foot outside in 13 years.
Israel’s vaunted intelligence service maintains close contact with every Jew in the world, and was able to save the lives of thousands of coreligionists that September morning, though its efforts and foreknowledge of the attacks that killed almost three thousand people remain known only the zealous researchers of the Storm Front website and nine out of ten Muslims.

BDS. Failing since 1945

Throwback Thursday, and a reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
This article, from the Dec.4 1945 New York Times is a reminder that
1) The boycott of Jewish, er, Zionist, goods has been going on for a very long time.
2.) In 1945, the Palestinians were Jewish .
3) When reminded that a boycott might cause local Arabs to lose their jobs, organizers simply didn't care.

Bizarre George Galloway gamble backfires for unionists

I was expecting Galloway to produce some old school Stalinist stuff about nationalism being a diversion from the ‘real struggle’ etc – instead he decided to outflank the Tory from the right. He taunted the ‘Yes’ campaign by saying that if Scotland voted yes the bankers would flee Scotland, attacked their ‘fantasy economics’ without any indication there was some progressive solution in Westminster and suggested that even having a referendum was already damaging to the Scottish economy because of the stock market fluctuations.
The audience didn’t appear impressed but the show ended in utter embarrassment as Galloway inexplicably chose to attack the ‘Yes campaign’ by drifting into WW2 patriotism, declaring that if it wasn’t for the union “we’d be having this debate in German” now. The audience of teenagers (whose contributions were far above the standard of the average Question Time crowd) had finally had enough and the debate ended with Galloway being roundly jeered and booed.
All good fun for those who like to see Galloway get the treatment he deserves but what on earth were Better Together thinking of choosing Galloway? What on earth were Scottish Labour thinking of? Thanks to their choice the debate was between a progressive left-wing Green and a progressive left-of-centre SNP leader on one side and a Tory and a Stalinist nutcase on the other.
It was such a bad move for the unionists that looking at this image below, you would almost be tempted for thinking that it was an act of sabotage…..

Vancouver Block the Boat Fail. The Free Palestine Movement Lies, and issues a hasty retraction.

After issuing this obviously false statement declaring a "tremendous victory", the Free Palestine movement retreated, tail between its legs and issued a retraction, of sorts. The next day they issued another email, readily admitting there was "no picket line or blockade", but still attempted to take credit for the delay, claiming "it seems probable" it was on the basis of a union decision.
Their current email states:
"We apologize for erroneous information in the item below. Although the sequence of the boat actions is correct, there was no picket line or blockade. Instead, the organizers provided information to the union, ILWU Local 502, and its members, including flyers distributed at the Deltaport facility. Beyond that, we have no information on how and why the ship was turned away, but it seems probable that it was on the basis of a union decision.
Currently, after trying to dock at Port Angeles, the ship has returned to a stationary position off the coast of British Columbia, and is listing a destination of Vancouver but an ETA that has already passed."
Please accept our regrets for the false information.
To the lying, scheming (just until they are caught in the act) Free Palestine Movement, I have just this to say about your alleged "victory" at the Port of Vancouver.

Israel-Bashing Illinois Professor Won’t be Re-Hired, Trustees Vote

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) trustees voted on Thursday not to reissue a position to Steven Salaita, a former Virginia Tech professor of English who had been offered a position at the Illinois school. His job offer was rescinded after he posted anti-Israel tweets that critics also deemed anti-Semitic.
Salaita tweeted Aug. 2, “When will the attack on #Gaza end? What is left for #Israel to prove? Who is left for Israel to kill? This is the logic of genocide.”
“#Israel is rounding up people and murdering them at point-blank range. The word ‘genocide’ is more germane the more news we hear,” he also tweeted.
Due to concern over the tweets, University of Illinois Chancellor Phyllis Wise informed Salaita that his appointment to teach in the university’s Native American Studies Program would not be submitted to the school’s board of directors for approval.
The decision not to reissue the offer of employment was passed in an 8-1 vote by trustees, the Associated Press reported.

The Economist Misappropriates Terms to Describe Israel's Land Declaration

Subtle but pervasive bias would be an apt characterization of the Economist's frequent articles on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In "Another thousand acres" this bias was again evident in the misappropriation of terminology to describe Israel's declaration that it had classified a 1.46 square mile parcel of land in Judea (the lower West Bank) as "state land" available for development by abutting Gush Etzion communities.
The Economist article describes the declaration by Israel's Civil Administration as an "appropriation" of the land. Others have used even more pointed words, "expropriation", "seizure" and "land-grab."
Professor Eugene Kontorovich of the Northwestern University School of Law, an expert on international law, addresses the use of the word "appropriation" in an article published by Commentary Magazine. Kontorovich argues that the word "appropriation" is incorrectly applied because Israel has not taken possession of land already owned by someone else.

Qatari firm stops Fox Sports from putting Israel on map

First Fox Sports – Middle East wiped Israel off the map, then – following complaints – it got rid of the map altogether.
The sports network broadcasts in Israel, and a weekly schedule can be found online, especially important for American football fans interested in knowing what games will be broadcast on any given Sunday.
Up until Thursday morning, the website had a “select your country” button that accessed a drop-down list of 23 countries in the Middle East, from Algeria, through KSA (the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), all the way down to Qatar and Yemen.
Israel did not appear, though “Palestine” did.
Following a Jerusalem Post inquiry to the Fox Broadcasting Network, the website was changed on Thursday. However, instead of adding Israel, the list disappeared altogether, and now the games are listed according to Greenwich Mean Time.
Scott Grogin, the Fox Networks Group’s senior vice president for communications, said from Los Angeles that “Fox is not a political entity, we provide entertainment and sports programming.

Jewish Groups to Rally in New York Against Anti-Semitic Opera

Several Jewish groups will be holding a rally at the Lincoln Center in New York later this month in protest of the presentation of “The Death of Klinghoffer” opera.
The Coalition Against the Met Terror Opera (CATO) announced plans for the massive protest to be held at Lincoln Center on Monday evening, September 22, from 4:30-6 P.M., at Broadway and 65th Street in Manhattan, the night of the gala opening of the Metropolitan opera season.
Thousands of protestors will be on hand to raise their voices against the performances of the opera promoting terrorism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Zionism.

Hitler, Nazi Motifs Common in Anti-Semitism During Gaza Op

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) tracked anti-Semitic activities around the globe during the operation, and cited examples from fourteen different countries, from Argentina to the UK.
Many of the incidents cited, from pickets at protests to newspaper comics, included a plethora of Nazi-related statements, including such turns of phrase as "Jews to the gas," “Gaza. Open air museum of the Palestinian Holocaust,” and "Death to the Jews!".
Jews were also portrayed as snakes, the Star of David was juxtaposed with swastikas, and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as Hitler in media in multiple countries.
The report also included a number of colorful conspiracy theories as to Israel's role in the war, including the "coordinated Zionist takeover" of Israel and the "Zionist ruling of the media."
Recent statistics prove that hate crimes against Jews have risen 383% worldwide since 2013.

Anti-Semitic Attacks up 400% in UK, Double in France

Anti-Semitic attacks nearly doubled in France in the first seven months of 2014, the country's main Jewish group said Thursday.
A total of 529 anti-Semitic actions or threats were registered up to the end of July, against 276 for the same period last year, the Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) said, citing figures gleaned from the French Interior Ministry.
The acts included violence against individuals, arson and vandalism, and "exacerbate the growing unease that oppresses Jews in France each day and overshadows their future", CRIF said in a statement.
Yet more worrying, the group added, is the appearance of new forms of violence against Jews - including attacks by organized gangs and the targeting of synagogues, as well as acts of vandalism against Jewish businesses and planned terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile in the UK, the Community Security Trust (CST) anti-Semitism watchdog group reports 302 anti-Semitic incidents in July alone, making a whopping 400% increase over the same month last year.

Slovak PM apologizes for WWII Jewish persecution

Slovakia Prime Minister Robert Fico apologized for his country’s persecution of the Jews during World War II, including the implementation of anti-Jewish laws and mass deportations to the concentration camps, the Prague Post reported.
At a commemoration Tuesday marking 73 years from the initial adoption of restrictions on the country’s Jewish residents, Fico said: “I am not able to tell you anything stronger or anything more personal, but that I express a sincere apology for all those who were such a failure. Only the descendants of those who suffered and died may forgive them.
“The Holocaust that victimized so many people in the name of the mad ideals of fascism brings an everlasting shame on those who participated in them. At the same time, it is a strong warning against it ever being repeated,” Fico said.

Brazilian school ‘sorry’ for exam comparing Israelis to Nazis

A school in Rio de Janeiro published a public apology for an exam question that compared Israelis to Nazis.
The geography exam for eighth-graders at Colégio Andrews included a question that said Jews were once chased by Hitler and today another people is victimized by the Israelis, who compel them to live under their rule after invading, seizing land and killing.
The question was illustrated by a Nazi soldier wearing a swastika oppressing a Jewish boy, and an Israeli soldier with a Star of David oppressing an Arab boy.
“Who is worse: Nazis or Jews?” the question asked.

6th-graders asked to compare Bush, Hitler

A Washington, DC public school teacher who instructed a sixth-grade class to fill in a Venn diagram comparing former US president George W. Bush with genocidal Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, apologized Wednesday for “poor judgement and short-sightedness.”
The homework sheet distributed to the students was based on two readings — “Fighting Hitler – A Holocaust Story” and “Bush: Iraq War Justified Despite no WMD” — and was part of a “war and peace” learning unit at McKinley Middle School.
“Now that we have read about two men of power who abused their power in various ways, we will compare and contrast them and their actions,” the instructions on the worksheet read.

Conspiracy theories thrive in Swiss politician’s nude selfie scandal

The photos, which have not been published but were seen by Swiss journalists, reportedly included a shot of the mayor’s penis along with an invitation to “make use” of it. He also wrote N.W.: “At the office. I am already excited. Wearing only a T-shirt.”
The scandal, dubbed Gerigate, has generated enormous media attention in Switzerland not only because of its salacious elements, but also because leading figures in the Swiss Jewish community were in contact with N.W. prior to the scandal’s revelation.
According to media reports, Baden Jewish community President Josef Bollag and his childhood friend, public relations professional Sacha Wigdorovits, were behind the exposure of Muller’s affair with N.W., supposedly to discredit Muller as payback for his embrace of Hamas. Bollag and Wigdorovits have acknowledged being in contact with N.W. and referring her to third parties, but deny taking any further action.

Investors love Israeli MBAs, report shows

The study, culled from PitchBook’s prodigious database on tech deals and the people behind them, places four Israeli universities as among the best institutions to attend outside the US and Europe for MBAs seeking to persuade VCs to invest. The number one school outside the US and Europe for budding entrepreneurs is Tel Aviv University. According to PitchBook data, TAU’s MBA programs produced 50 graduates who went on to establish 56 start-ups, raising initial VC investments of $833 million altogether. Taking Europe into account, Tel Aviv is the number two non-US school for MBA entrepreneurs seeking to get funded, bested only by Europe’s INSEAD MBA graduate school.
When US schools are added to the mix, Tel Aviv shows up as number 11, behind UC Berkeley and UCLA but ahead of NYU and the University of London. The top five are Harvard, Stanford, U. of Pennsylvania, MIT, and Northwestern. Also doing Israel proud are Bar-Ilan University (the number three school for MBA fundraising outside the US/Europe), Technion (number six), and Hebrew University of Jerusalem (number seven). All three, like TAU, are in the top 50 of the PitchBook worldwide rankings.
“To close observers of the global VC industry, it shouldn’t be surprising to see an Israeli school crack the top 10, as Israel has emerged as a technology epicenter and hub for VC investment over the past several years,” PitchBook said in its report.

What Makes Nigeria Israel's Strongest Ally in Africa?

Nigeria is the most heavily populated country in Africa and has the largest economy on the continent with an annual growth rate of 7.4 per cent. It is hardly surprising that Israel increasingly sees Nigeria as a viable economic and strategic partner. In 2006 the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of both countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which formalised the bilateral consultations on political issues between the two countries.
Today the two countries enjoy fruitful relations, with free flowing trade, commerce and collaboration in a number of areas. The relationship has further blossomed since President Goodluck Jonathan took office in 2010 and today Nigeria is in the top 20 destinations for Israeli exports. Between 2012 and 2013, Nigeria’s exports to Israel rose from $165m to $276m. There has also been reciprocal visits by high-level government officials and exchanges of technical and professional knowledge through MASHAV, the Israeli Centre for International Cooperation. The expectation is that the Bi-lateral Air Services Agreement, signed by the two countries last October, will make it easier for Israelis to invest in Nigeria, with travel time significantly reduced between the two countries as a result of direct flights. It is also hoped that the agreement will make it easier for Nigerians to travel to Israel, and Israelis the other way. A flight to Israel from Nigeria can cost up to $2,800 but Nigerian tourists still flock to Israel in impressive numbers. According to the Israeli Embassy in Nigeria, 31,570 Nigerians visited Israel in 2010, 50,620 in 2011 and 30,000 in 2012.

Belarus town honors Eliezer Ben Yehuda, father of modern Hebrew

Born in Luzhki in 1858, Ben Yehuda was exposed to secular studies while undertaking Jewish studies in Glubokoe. He immigrated to Ottoman-ruled Palestine in 1881, where he devoted himself to modernizing and reviving Hebrew by inventing hundreds of words that were then missing from the language, including the nouns for handgun, sock, immigration, police and newspaper.
“In our family, we rate cities by the size of the street honoring Eliezer,” Hovav said after the ceremony. “Jerusalem and Tel Aviv rank high, Haifa not so much. Your town scores pretty high, though.”
The ceremony featured a municipal all-female marching band and choir.
Hovav also unveiled a plaque in memory of Ben Yehuda in his birthplace of Luzhki.

Turning Hamas Rockets into Fruit Trees

In the wake of Operation Protective Edge, a new project has been launched to "turn death into life," by planting 100,000 new fruit trees in the exact areas where over 1,000 Hamas terror missiles fell.
Many of the new fruit trees will be planted in the actual holes left by the impact of the rockets, notes Zo Artzeinu, the organizers of the new initiative.
"This is a positive response to hate and destruction! Fruit trees mean new life, sustenance, food, drink and blessings," added the organization in a statement.

Israeli Neurosurgery Helps World-Renowned Violinist Regain Ability to Play (VIDEO)

Israeli neurosurgeons at Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center helped former world-renowned violinist Naomi Elishuv overcome hand tremors to regain the ability to perform, in a remarkable surgery that had Elishuv playing Mozart while they operated on her brain.
“This is the first time ever that I have performed brain surgery on a person who played the violin during the operation,” said Professor Itzhak Fried, Sourasky’s director of functional neurosurgery.
According to Fried, the surgeons implanted a brain pacemaker with electrodes in the area of Elishuv’s brain that was the source of the hand tremors which prevented her from playing, and the electrodes emitted impulses to suppress the tremors.

15,000 attend memorial for fallen Druze soldiers

Thousands of people attended a memorial service Friday to commemorate the Druze soldiers killed in action while serving in the Israel Defense Force.
Over 15,000 took part in bike rides and races between the northern Druze villages of Daliyat al-Karmel and Isfiya, in honor of the fallen soldiers. President Reuven Rivlin, Minister of Defense Moshe Ya’alon, and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz were set to take part in the ceremony following the event, which was organized by the Beshvil Habanim (“For the sons”) association and was initiated by the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and Galilee.
“I can’t recall any event that has brought such excitement and pride to the entire community,” Amal Assa’ad, one of the organizers of the event said in a press statement.
“These events reveal the dimensions of identification that all ethnic sectors have with the Druze community in general, and with the bereaved families in particular.”