Thursday, June 27, 2013
Amona and the Lie of ‘Private Land’
Until the liberation of Judea and Samaria in the 1967 Six-Day War, the Jordanian king had fictitiously registered most of the land in the Benjamin region. It is easy to differentiate between authentic Arab ownership of land in Judea and Samaria, which is registered in the Turkish-era registry, and the registration that took place after the Jordanian conquest. For some reason, the state of Israel decided to ignore the authentic deed. It has chosen to ignore the Balfour Declaration and the League of Nations’ decision that earmarked the territory for the Jews and to recognize the foreign Jordanian conquest and the way it allocated the spoils of the land of the Jews. This has created the situation in which Amona, like many other towns in the Benjamin region, is sitting on “private” land.Leading critic of French al-Dura coverage convicted
A French media analyst was convicted Wednesday of defamation for accusing a state television network of staging a video that depicted a young boy being killed in a firefight between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli soldiers.What Karsenty’s conviction doesn’t prove
To prove that Israel was not responsible may have been enough. Israel is held up to higher and sometimes impossibly high standards by the rest of the world. The burden of proof is always greater when Israel is forced to address falsehoods and libels thrown its way.Philippe Karsenty on Al-Dura Verdict: ‘A Dark Day for French Democracy and a Dark Day for the Truth’ (INTERVIEW)
So to prove that not only was the IDF not responsible for al-Dura’s death but also that the boy had not even died during that incident was perhaps a step too far. That’s not to say that this possibility was not worth investigating.
Shortly after a French court found him guilty of defamation over his work to expose the now infamous al-Dura hoax, Phillipe Karsenty spoke to The Algemeiner and shared his reaction to the verdict.Richard Millett: History lecturer: “Britain should apologise for Balfour Declaration.”
A little known history lecturer is quickly becoming the new poster boy of the anti-Israel movement. Last night at SOAS James Renton detailed why he thinks the British government should apologise for the Balfour Declaration. He was invited to speak by Jews for Justice for Palestinians.BDS Momentum Quashed at UC Santa Barbara
The thrust of Renton’s argument is that there should be such an apology because the Balfour Declaration lacked clarity on the meaning of “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, which, he said, unleashed an expectation of statehood amongst Jews that was never intended. He blames the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on this “misconceived, ill thought through policy of the British government”.
The anti-Israel, boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement has infiltrated numerous state universities in California and has spread untruthful propaganda about the State of Israel. Unfortunately, the anti-Israel movement’s scare tactics have worked by persuading student government associations at UC Davis, UC Berkeley, and UC Irvine to boycott Israeli products and to divest from Israeli companies. Many thought that other California state schools such as UC Santa Barbara would adopt nearly identical BDS policies, however they haven’t fallen into the trap, yet.Jewish leader blasts EU’s ‘discriminatory’ policies
European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor told European Union leaders that moves to label goods from the West Bank without labeling Hezbollah a terrorist group is “discriminatory.”McDonald's roasted over Ariel boycott
In a letter sent to the leaders of EU member states, Kantor said the EU “appears to be singling out one disputed territory of the world for special treatment, whereas the European Union has no similar policies for the other tens of territories that are the subject of international disputes.”
The Big McInsultRevelation: King George VI Blocked Escape of German Jews
The refusal of Israel's McDonald's franchise owner to open a branch at the new mall in Ariel just because it is located across the Green Line is an unfortunate decision that discriminates against residents of the city and the surrounding area, both Jews and Palestinians.
According to the Guardian:When Helen Keller Confronted the Nazis
"Some documents from the period have already entered the public domain, giving an indication of the royal couple’s views. In the spring of 1939 George VI instructed his private secretary to write to Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax. Having learnt that ‘a number of Jewish refugees from different countries were surreptitiously getting into Palestine,’ the King was ‘glad to think that steps are being taken to prevent these people leaving their country of origin.’ Halifax’s office telegraphed Britain’s ambassador in Berlin asking him to encourage the German government ‘to check the unauthorized emigration’ of Jews."
The outcry around the world included this moving letter from Keller, addressed to “the Student Body of Germany.”New Yad Vashem exhibit honors Holocaust heroes
“History has taught you nothing if you think you can kill ideas,” Keller wrote. “Tyrants have tried to do that often before, and the ideas have risen up in their might and destroyed them. You can burn my books and the books of the best minds in Europe, but the ideas in them have seeped through a million channels, and will continue to quicken other minds. I gave all the royalties of my books to the soldiers blinded in the World War with no thought in my
heart but love and compassion for the German people.”
The exhibition, “I Am My Brother’s Keeper,” features five 8-minute-long, animated video presentations of rescue stories projected in a dark, cavernous hall.Ukraine’s President: Anti-Semitism Will Not be Tolerated
Yad Vashem broke down the rescuers into five different categories:
“In the cellars, pits and attics” describes those who offered shelter and cared for those they hid. “Under the benefaction of the cross” pays tribute to rescuers who were members of the Christian clergy. “Paying the ultimate price” is dedicated to those who were killed as a result of their actions. “The courage to defy” honors those who refused their bureaucratic orders to help Jews. And finally, “Parting once again” tells the stories of those hidden children, like Heller, who lost their identities.
Much has been made of the Svoboda (“Freedom”) political party, whose overtly anti-Semitic platform reached a crescendo earlier this year when one party official verbally attacked Ukrainian-born actress Mila Kunis. In the Ukraine’s 2012 Presidential election, Svoboda won a surprising 10.44 percent of the national vote and 38 out of 450 parliamentary seats.UN holds Israel-led panel on entrepreneurship
But Yanukovych stressed the warm relations between the country and its Jewish population, which numbers more than 70,000.
The conference — which is the result of the passing last year of an Israeli resolution calling on member states to promote entrepreneurship — is part of an effort by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to steer away from conflict-oriented issues and brand itself as a world-leader in using innovation as a means of battling poverty, creating jobs, and increasing growth.The Future of High-Tech Warfare and Israel’s Role Within It
“Israel is a young, dynamic, and creative state. We have decided to go public, not on Wall Street, but at the UN Headquarters on 1st Avenue,” said Israeli envoy to the UN Ambassador Ron Prosor. “This initial public offering has 141 signatories. It is important that the whole world can enjoy Israel’s knowledge, technology, and innovation.”
Cohen predicted that in the future, Israel would be able to neutralize enemy weapons systems and units with “a single keystroke.” Unit 8200, besides serving as the Israeli equivalent to America’s NSA, is also considered one of the breeding grounds for the talent behind Israel’s “start-up nation” society of innovators and entrepreneurs, which most recently made headlines with Google’s $1.3 billion acquisition of the Israeli navigation start-up Waze.Inspiration, via the ‘blue and white’ moonshot
People have looked to the skies for inspiration from time immemorial – and in a start-up nation twist on that notion, the heads of SpaceIL, an Israeli group that is actively planning a “blue and white” moonshot, delivered a shot of inspiration to a group of Jerusalem entrepreneurs about the challenges they face and how they overcome them.This is the Land (A collection of fantastic photos of Israel)
On her first visit to Israel recently, Dr. Qanta Ahmed saw the country ‘as God sees it.’ The Muslim physician and daughter of Pakistani immigrants was smitten by the natural beauty, history and modern achievements that came into vivid focus.
