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Monday, November 05, 2012

Monday administrivia/links

Finally, it looks like my house has Internet back. (And cable will come in handy as we watch the election results tomorrow night!)  Still have a backlog of stuff to do at work so not sure when I'll be back to blogging as often as I used to, but things are getting better.

Meanwhile, some links: from Ian:

Sunni-Shia conflict: Major feature of ME politics By Barry Rubin
The Region: Once upon a time, Arab nationalism ruled the Middle East. We are now in the era of Sunni Arab identity and especially of Sunni Arab Islamism.
“We are not just talking here about theological differences but a battle between individual leaders, organizations, and states for power and primacy. Of course, though, they will compete in proving that they are the true leaders in the anti-Israel struggle. And the same point applies regarding opposition to the United States.”

JPOST Editorial: Peace divide
"The capacity to make peace depends on changing perceptions – including the national narratives we tell ourselves and our peoples. The fallout from Abbas’s Channel 2 interview is yet another dismal indicator that the Palestinian people have yet to be prepared by their leadership for such a change."

A note to a stiff-necked people By David Mamet
"Will you tell your children that a liberal government will increasingly marginalize, dismiss and weaken the support for and the safety of the Jewish state?
Will you tell them that, in a state-run economy, hard work may still be applauded, but that it will no longer be rewarded?"

The Palestinians’ UN ploy is just the latest stalling tactic By Daniel Taub (Israel’s ambassador to Britain)
There is no path to statehood for the Palestinians except through negotiation with Israel

Senior Israeli defense official: Egypt's Morsi won't talk to us
Amos Gilad described Morsi's government as a 'terrible dictatorship,' but stressed that Israel must safeguard the peace treaty with Egypt 'at any cost.'

Israel successfully tests upgraded Iron Dome with longer interception range
New system can stop medium-range missiles held by Syria and Hezbollah; defense minister says whole country will have missile protection within a few years

October saw highest number of Gaza rockets since June
116 rockets and 55 mortar shells caused five casualties, Shin Bet statistics show

U.N. Representative (Richard Falk) Wants To Create A World Capital In Istanbul

Honest Reporting: Vote for the Dishonest Reporter of 2012

PMW PA TV song misrepresents Israeli cities as "Palestine," at festival under auspices of PA PM Fayyad

Israel, Microsoft set to sign cooperative agreement
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz met with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Monday morning in Jerusalem to discuss a strategic cooperation agreement to promote Internet Cloud Technology.

Money will help keep Israeli students tops in tech
Intel’s president came to Israel to announce a $5 million tech education program, while a Canadian philanthropist is giving top tech students $30,000 Canadian in scholarship money

EMC opens EMC Labs in Israel
Data-storage equipment maker EMC Corp said it was opening an EMC Labs in Israel aimed at developing innovative technologies for storage, security and big data.

Refusenik’s Translated Memoir Offers Rare Glimpse Into Soviet Oppression
“Unbroken Spirit, Mendelevich’s memoir, vividly describes the inner workings of Soviet justice and its harsh penal system. The memoir, originally published in 1987 in both Russian and Hebrew, only recently has been translated into English. In a later-added epilogue, the author recalls one westerner’s encouragement to pursue an English speaking audience: “Your story is critical for Jews on this side of the ocean. You can’t imagine the disastrous toll that assimilation is taking on Jewish communities here.”

Re-enactment of WWI Battle of Beersheba
95 years ago, the Ottoman-controlled city of Beersheba fell to troops from Britain, Australian and New Zealand, in a battle that helped bring an end to the Ottoman Empire and the First World War.

Israel Daily Picture: Let's Go to the Videotapes
A Collection of the Earliest Films from the Holy Land




Also:

Turkey puts Israel on trial (Commentary)
For anyone who believes that the Turkish government is more interested in peace than in inciting hatred toward Israel, Turkey’s decision to host a puppet trial of Israeli leaders should put such notions to a rest.

The Saudis are bulldozing Islam's heritage. Why the silence from the Muslim world?

Pig tissue could provide solution for heart damage
Although it doesn’t sound very kosher, scientists at Haifa’s Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have used pig tissue to create a thick “scaffold” for heart muscle that supports human stem cells, preserves the infrastructure of natural blood vessels and are made from extracellular matrix proteins.

Five Things I Learned at my First Anti-Zionist Conference (Heeb)