Pages

Friday, April 19, 2013

Friday Links Part 2

From Ian:

LATMA: Obama's advisor on his post-American foreign policy and suicide bomber go on strike



Terror Never Left America’s Shores
Terror did not return to America at the Boston Marathon, because terror never left.
There have been more anti-US attacks and abortive attacks (not including Iraq and Afghanistan) in the last four years than in the previous seven years after 9-11.
This is not a statistic that is widely cited at government briefings, in the main news media nor on most college campuses, because our government, media and educational elites would like to pretend that the terror problem ended with Osama Bin-Laden.
National Tragedy Perverted to Promote Jewish Conspiracy Theories
“It is disturbing that once again extremists are taking advantage of a national tragedy to promote conspiracy theories rather than letting the hard and detailed work of the investigators take its course,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “America should come together in the aftermath of terrorism. We should not allow the extremists and bigots to divide us.”
Just minutes after the attack, anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists took to the Internet and blamed Jews and Israel for the bombing, according to information compiled by ADL’s Center on Extremism.
King David Era Find ‘Buried’ by Authorities for Political Reasons
Soon the area will be handed over to the PA.
According to Makor Rishon, Antiquities’ director-general Shuka Dorfman and former chief of the central front Gen. Avi Mizrahi were called in to look at the find, a year and a half ago and decided together to silence the discovery.
The question is, based on their track record, how respectful would the future owners of the area, the PA, of a site that could prove beyond doubt that it used to belong to a Jewish empire – the very empire the PA officially says never existed.
How UNRWA Steals Money from Those Who Need It Most
But an even more basic reason for abolishing UNRWA is the harm it does to the world’s most vulnerable people–real refugees like the Syrians. Were the Palestinians handled by UNHCR like all other refugees are, UNHCR would have the budgetary flexibility to temporarily divert aid from the Palestinians, who need it far less, to people who need it more, like the Syrians today. Instead, it is forced to watch helplessly as Syrian refugees go roofless and hungry while $1 billion in aid is squandered on Palestinians with homes, jobs, and all the comforts of settled life.
Bad, Deceptive, Stupid
Grasping the true nature of BDS claims and countering them with well formed arguments is a lengthy process. BDS uses false premises to mischaracterize Israel in order to justify calling for sanctions against it, while ignoring that Israel is the Middle East’s only democracy that enshrines in law and enforces fully equal rights for its 1.6 million Arab citizens who form 20 percent of the population. Israel’s open and self-critical society, with its hundreds of human rights groups, attempts to uphold the highest international standards of conduct. Furthermore, Israel has sought peace with all its neighbors, particularly with the Palestinians. In 2000 and 2008, Israel made concrete proposals for a Palestinian state that would exist alongside it in security and mutual recognition. The Palestinians rejected those offers. BDS advocates intentionally ignore these historical facts.
UC Berkeley Votes in Favor of BDS
The Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) voted 11-9 to divest from companies affiliated with the IDF on Thursday, the Daily Californian reported.
Sydney University student council votes for BDS
Sydney University’s Andrew Potter said: “The vice-chancellor and the university welcome student debate and opinion but disagree with the SRC on this issue.”
Meanwhile, plans to open a Max Brenner chocolate shop at the University of New South Wales, also in Sydney, have been attacked by Students for Palestine, which launched a campaign this week against the Israeli-owned chain, The Australian newspaper reported
Irish official: Israel boycott passed without debate
Boycott was reportedly adopted without any debate or discussion. Only proposer, seconder discussed item on agenda before vote.
Nokia-Siemens puts all its new tech eggs in one basket
If you’ve ever thrown your smartphone down in frustration at how slow it is, hang in there. Nokia Siemens Networks understands where you’re coming from, and is working on ways to fix slow networks once and for all. The solutions it is implementing for its new effort — its Liquid Network architecture — are all going to be Israeli-developed.
Ghana Builds Preschools With an Israeli Touch
The MCI designation provides a framework, advice and connections but does not provide financial assistance—that is where Israel came into the picture. The head of MCI in West Africa, Abenaa Aboateng, met with MASHAV and came to the Golda Meir Training Center at Israel’s Mt. Carmel. After reviewing the program and visiting Israeli kindergartens, Aboateng invited MASHAV to partner in developing in the Kumasi Early Childhood Education project. The State of Israel agreed to participate and fund the training programs.
IDF’s Arizona Girl Receives ‘President’s Excellence Award’
Nira Lee grew up in Tempe, Arizona as a Zionist but firmly planted in the USA, until she saw the destruction following the Second Lebanon War during a visit to Israel. Now she is Lieutenant in the IDF.
After she received the President’s Citation of Excellence on Israel’s 65th Independence Day, she said, “It’s a huge honor for me to receive this award. Being a new immigrant, there are certainly times you feel you do not fit in, but the army is the epitome of how this country unites people.”