Saturday, February 23, 2013
UK’s Chief Rabbi: New Anti-Semitism is Number One Threat (VIDEO)
As part of his farewell tour, the chief rabbi of the UK, Lord Jonathan Sacks, visited Israel recently. During his visit he gave a lecture at Tel Hai College, titled “The 21st Century Challenge for Jews and Israel,” that touched on anti-Semitism, the top challenge facing Jews, in his opinion. “Today we are living through a new anti-Semitism,” he said. He expounded by saying that Anti-Semitism is anti-Zionism; it’s epicenter is in the Middle East rather than Europe and it has gained an increasing amount of legitimization. He also pointed to the senselessness of the world’s imbalanced diplomatic assault on the Jewish state.
London Metropolitan University suspends researcher with car bomb conviction
A university researcher has been suspended after it emerged he has a conviction over a car bombing at the Israeli Embassy in London.
Botmeh, who was released from prison in 2008, was found guilty of involvement in two car bombs set off in July 1994, one of which went off outside the embassy in Kensington Palace Gardens. Nobody was killed.
He and the woman were convicted on the basis they were part of a UK-based terrorist cell which planned to sabotage the Middle East peace process.
PMW: PA TV continues to honor terrorists in music videos
A new Palestinian Authority TV music video honors three terrorist prisoners serving a combined total of 40 life sentences. They are responsible for several terror attacks against Israeli civilians, including at least two suicide bombings that killed 35 and wounded 100.
The music video shows footage of the three arch terrorists while a song with the following words is heard:
"As long as it may last, the prison's doors will not stay shut [forever]... the clouds will disappear, and our honor will be restored."
Palestinians refuse to team up with Israel against soccer greats
Palestinian football officials on Friday said their players won’t team up with Israelis in a match against FC Barcelona that was designed to promote peace.
Palestinian Football Association president Jibril Rajoub met with Barcelona president Sandro Rosell and said “there are lots of obstacles.”
Rosell launched the initiative Thursday with Israeli President Shimon Peres. Barcelona FC is the most beloved foreign soccer club in Israel and in the Palestinian territories, Rosell told reporters, praising Peres as a man who “has done much for peace.”
Alicia Keys, Depeche Mode Urged to Cancel Concerts in Israel
The US singer, one of the most popular and successful of the last decade, is due to perform in Tel Aviv in July for the first time in her career.
On Wednesday she released a statement saying, “I’m excited to go to new places on this tour, among them Tel Aviv. I plan on bringing with me a show full of emotion and inspiration.”
Depeche Mode, one of the most successful rock groups in history, is also being called upon to cancel their show in Israel. The band is planning to launch it’s world tour there in May. The band last played in Israel in 2009.
Berlin Film Festival Prize Winner Denies Israel's Right to Exist
Danish-Palestinian film director provoked controversy after publicly questioning Israel's legitimacy and right to exist.
Danish-Palestinian film director Mahdi Fleifel, who was awarded the Berlin International Film Festival’s annual Peace Prize, provoked controversy after publicly questioning Israel's legitimacy and right to exist.
Spain arrests 3 suspected of spying for Iran
Interior ministry says men allegedly infiltrated local NGO to gain information on defectors
MADRID (AP) — The Interior Ministry says Spanish police have arrested three men on suspicion of spying on Iranian dissidents and reporting back to the ruling regime.
The suspects had allegedly infiltrated a Spanish NGO that helps asylum seekers and communicated to Iran’s secret services the identities of Iranians who fled the country for ideological reasons, a statement said.
Hundreds Hold Anti-Morsi Protest in Egypt's Port Said
Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Port Said on Friday to demand justice for protesters killed by Egyptian police, as a strike in the Suez Canal city entered its sixth day.
Protesters chanted against Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood, while slamming the interior ministry it accuses of having killed at least 40 people in clashes with police last month.
Morsi to the moon
President’s former April 6 allies want to send him to space as protest
An Egyptian opposition group is using a novel way to protest against President Mohammed Morsi: Sign him up for a chance to win a trip to space.
The April 6 Youth Movement said on its official Facebook page on Thursday that it had entered the Islamist leader’s name in the online contest because it wanted to be rid of him. It called on supporters to vote for the president so he’d have a chance to win the trip into space.
Neo-Nazi Had Hit List of Jewish Leaders in Detroit
Richard Schmidt the owner of a sporting goods store in Bowling Green, Ohio, was originally reported to have been arrested by the FBI for trafficking counterfeit goods. But the case has become more worrying and bizarre since it was revealed that the former felon, who spent 13 years in Ohio state prison for a homicide after being convicted of killing a man and wounding two others in a shooting during a traffic stop, had a small arsenal at his disposal and a hit-list of Jewish and African-American targets in the Motor City.
Hungarian Jews ask government not to honor Nazi ally
Request follows growing list of public tributes to Holocaust-era ruler Miklos Horthy
BUDAPEST, Hungary (JTA) — Hungary’s main Jewish organization urged the government and parliament to prevent the honoring of Miklos Horthy, the country’s Holocaust-era ruler.
Horthy had “direct responsibility for the killing and destruction of several hundred thousand Hungarian Jews,” the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities, or Mazsihisz, said in a statement Wednesday.
Polish Jewish cemetery, Russian center vandalized
"Kalisz without Jews" spray-painted on Jewish cemetery in Kalisz, according to news site; Holocaust memorial in Russia smashed.
A Jewish cemetery in western Poland and a Holocaust memorial site in Russia were defaced in suspected anti-Semitic attacks.
In Kalisz, near Wroclaw, a Star of David on a gallows and the inscription "Kalisz without Jews" (Kalisz bez Żydów) were spray-painted on a Jewish cemetery and discovered on Feb. 20, according to naszemiasto.pl, a news site.
4 Israeli apps nominated for Global Mobile Awards
Israel’s Waze, MyCheck, uTest and recently sold Intucell are front-runners in the prestigious competition.
Waze, MyCheck, uTest and the recently sold Intucell are four Israeli startups nominated in the Global Mobile Awards competition, set to take place at next week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The mobile navigation and traffic community app Waze, which recently announced to have reached 36 million drivers in 2012, is nominated in the main category, Judges Choice – Best Overall Mobile App. Waze faces tough competition against the world’s most famous applications: Dropbox file hosting service, Flipboard technology news application, Sky Sports F1 software and Square electronic payment service.
