Thursday Links Part 2

From Ian:

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The UN is objective, the Pope is Jewish and pigs can fly

The official tour of the UN building was highly revealing regarding the UN policy of “balance” and fair play. The UN guide led me through the General Assembly room, complete with its “Palestine” “country sign,” during a session. I was then led to a floor with a display of the results of violence. Some of the highlights included exhibits on landmines, nuclear conflict, and a small display on the Holocaust. The official UN guide did not mention the Holocaust exhibition, but did stop at the display titled “Palestine.” I asked her why she did not talk about the Holocaust exhibition, and she answered that it was “too controversial.” This did not stop her, and every other guide stopping and explaining the “Palestine” exhibition. This large display, on a bright orange background was full of half-truths and misconceptions. It was nothing less than crude Palestinian propaganda, which was lent a veneer of legitimacy by being part of the official UN tour.

Film on Egyptian Jews Cleared For Screening

A documentary on Egyptian Jews that had been blocked by the country's security service will screen in theaters at the end of the month, the film's director said on Wednesday.
"Jews of Egypt on the 27th of March in movie theaters. We won the war against National Security. We got the permit," wrote the director, Amir Ramses, on his Twitter and Facebook accounts.

French philosopher barred from Libya for being a Jew

Bernard-Henri Levy was to join former French president Sarkozy; Tripoli says he could have raised risk of Islamist attacks

Gazan Woman Killed In Suspected Honor Crime

Hiyam, a 23-year-old Palestinian woman, was killed at the hands of her father and brother at dawn on March 8 under the pretext of a so-called honor killing. Her mother Souad, 44, spoke with Al-Monitor at the family's home in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the heart of the Gaza Strip. Looking gray with fatigue, and so worn out she could not even stand, Souad said, “They wronged my daughter Hiyam. She was my eldest daughter and the sweetest of them all. May god avenge her father and brother.”

Tough To Be Female Terrorist Ex-Con in Gaza

PA Arab women terrorists who serve time in Israeli prisons and then attempt to return to Arab society don't have it easy.
The women released from Israeli jails face difficulties in their families and within their villages once reinstated into society and returned to “normal life,” reported Ma’an, a PA news agency based in Bethlehem.
In many cases, the female ex-prisoners either become divorced or, if single, remain that way for the rest of their lives.
According to one, Wafa’a al-Bis, the women face marginalization, exclusion and degrading treatment in return for their so-called sacrifice for holy cause of jihad promoted to them since their youth.

Turkish PM doubles down on Zionism comments

Erdogan says he doesn't take back remarks that Zionism is crime against humanity, but calls uproar a "misunderstanding."
However, Prof. Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies, told The Jerusalem Post that the Turkish leader’s comments to the paper were little more than damage control.
“Erdogan’s reaction is part of a concerted effort to minimize the damage of his ‘Zionism equals crime against humanity’ statement that attracted a lot of international criticism,” he said. “He simply tries to tone down his anti-Semitism when it harms his and Turkey’s standing in the world community.”

Why is President Morsi helping Israel, not Hamas?

Washington Watch: Hamas expected Morsi to end Mubarak’s cooperation with Israel’s blockade of Gaza, but if anything the noose has tightened.
“The message Morsi sends to Hamas is ‘if you expected because I am a Muslim Brother I will share in your irresponsibility and I will bring relations with Egypt and Israel to the brink of eruption, I will not play your game,” Schueftan said. “And this message to a large [degree] is responsible for the relative tranquility we have now surrounding Gaza since the fighting.”

Jewish Delegation Receives Special Nod At Pope Francis Installation

Pope Francis opened his speech by saying he was speaking “with the permission of the diplomatic corps, the Jews who are with us and all the rest,” the Jerusalem Post reported.
Many in the Jewish community hope Pope Francis will continue the strong legacy of his predecessors, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, in strengthening Catholic-Jewish relations.

Book by pope and rabbi to be translated to English

A book on topics important to Judaism and Catholicism co-written by Pope Francis and a rabbi from Argentina will be translated into English.
“On Heaven and Earth: Pope Francis on Faith, Family and the Church in the 21st Century,” will be available in the United States and Canada on May 7, according to its publisher, Image Books, Reuters reported.

Bar Refaeli ad aired over army protests

Days after a high-profile row with the IDF over Bar Refaeli’s army service, the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday released a pro-Israel ad starring the international supermodel.
On Sunday, news of Refaeli’s participation in the planned PR campaign spurred IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai to write a letter urging the Foreign Ministry to consider “the negative message sent out to Israeli society by the inclusion of Bar Refaeli, who did not complete national service, as Israel’s representative in a public relations campaign.”

Making water better, molecule by molecule
Israel’s BGU will collaborate with UChicago to solve the world’s water problems using nanotechnology

Israel’s got one of the most advanced water desalination programs in the world and dozens of successful water conservation and reclamation projects. Now, cutting-edge Israeli research on water technology will make its way to American academia, as the University of Chicago and Ben-Gurion University have signed a partnership agreement to create new water production and purification technologies for deployment in regions of the globe where freshwater resources are scarce — based on nanotechnology.

A lollipop that helps you lose weight
Say goodbye to pills and hello to fortified confectionery. An Israeli company has developed candies with health benefits.

Carmit Candy Industries recently unveiled its original line of fortified confectionery products at the Natural Products Expo West industry event in the United States. The innovative lollipops, wafers and toffees are formulated to help shed pounds, boost the immune system and promote bone health.
“Healthier food, and the importance that diet has on health, is a major consumer trend for many years,” says CEO Steve Grun.

Celebrating Passover with 50,000 dominos
Pyramids came tumbling down in Israel’s record-breaking domino chain, set up in Beersheva.

The Passover story has been told in a myriad of media. Two young Israelis recently gave the holiday narrative a new rendition in the form of a 50,000-strong domino chain.
It took Ben-Gurion University of the Negev mathematics student Yogev Levy and his friend Nissim Lopaz, a manager at a Jerusalem bike shop, 72 hours to set up the enormous Passover tableau in the lobby of the Samuel and Milada Ayrton University Center in Beersheva.