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Thursday, July 04, 2013

7/04 Links Part 2: Israeli Arab Christian Soldiers, Mandela and the Jews, Sabra dips into the NFL

From Ian:

Arab Christians: Israel only state worth fighting for
Arab Christian residents of Nazareth who proudly serve in the Israeli army and encourage their children to do the same are coming under increasing attack, and Israel is starting to take notice and come to their aid.
For a number of years now, a group of Nazareth Christians who are officers in the Israeli army have been actively recruiting young local Arabs to follow in their footsteps and serve the Jewish state. (h/t Zvi)
Mandela and the Jews
Jewish lawyers were prominently involved in defending Mandela in the various political trials in which he was involved, among them Isie Maisels (later a member of the governing body of the Jewish Agency), Arthur Chaskalson, Joel Joffe and Sidney Kentridge. He also worked closely with the journalist Benjamin Pogrund, who later made aliya and in addition to promoting Israeli- Palestinian dialogue has been a staunch defender of Israel in the propaganda war against it.
After Mandela’s release from prison in 1990, he and the mainstream Jewish leadership forged a cordial relationship and many leading Jewish businessmen were brought on board to assist in addressing the legacy of poverty and inequality left by the apartheid system.
IDF chief visits UK for first time in a decade
Following Israel’s assassination of Palestinian arch-terrorist Salah Shehadeh in 2002, pro-Palestinian groups spurred efforts to have Israeli military and political figures arrested in Britain for alleged war crimes committed abroad, exploiting a loophole in British law enabling universal jurisdiction.
In 2011, however, the law was amended so that Britain’s director of Public Prosecutions would be required to give his consent if a group calls for an arrest warrant to be issued on the grounds of universal jurisdiction, effectively closing the loophole. Livni eventually visited Britain in 2011 to meet with British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
ADL Raises Alert for White Supremacist ‘Freedompalooza 2013'
The event, “Freedompalooza 2013" is a gathering of white supremacists, anti-Semites, anti-government extremists and conspiracy theorists, according to the ADL.
Scheduled for the July 4-6 weekend, it is being organized by Paul Topete, an extremist lead singer of the band “Pokerface,” and sponsored by the “American Free Press,” published by Willis Carto.
The list of invited speakers includes two former members of Congress, both of whom have a history of hatred against Israel. Cynthia McKinney has long promoted anti-Israel rhetoric, and accused the pro-Israel lobby of sabotaging her political career.
‘Christian Century’ Under Fire for Ties With Editor From Magazine Accused of Anti-Semitism
The Christian Century, a mainline Christian magazine based in Chicago, has come under fire from the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) for its ties to James M. Wall, an associate editor at the controversial Veterans News Now (VNN),who appears on The Christian Century’s masthead.
According to CAMERA, VNN is a magazine that “traffics in ugly anti-Semitic tropes and imagery,” including several recent pieces that highlighted “Jesus’ Aryan identity” and a pro-Iran piece titled “Abraham is Not My Father.” On the front page ofVNN on July 3, an article titled “Earth’s alpha predator: Zionist Mafia” argues that the American public has been “brainwashed by lies” from the Zionists.
Dumb and Dumber About Antisemitism in Germany
Really, what could be antisemitic about picturing Israel as an ugly greedy monster with horns? Why on earth would anybody take offense to see Israel caricatured like this as illustration for an article recommending two books highly critical of the Jewish state in one of Germany’s most influential newspapers?
Egypt’s ‘biting’ wrestler suspended
Wrestling’s governing body says it suspended an Egyptian athlete who allegedly bit her Israeli opponent during a bout.
Enas Moustafa Youssef Khourshid also reportedly disrespected wrestling protocol by refusing to shake the hand of Ilana Kartysh of Israel before or after their semifinal match at a Grand Prix event last month in Sassari, Italy.
Remembering Howard Grief
On 2 July, the stone-setting for Howard Grief took place in Jerusalem, and I should like to pay tribute to this extraordinary man, and the unique legacy he left to the Jewish people in his book, “The Foundation and Borders of Israel under International Law“, published in 2008 —– the product of more than 20 years of research.
It is a work of profound scholarship, yet the documentation of the Jewish legal rights to the land set in a historical narrative, make it a compelling read. Each titled chapter within it is a stand-alone, with the first being the most important.
StandWithUs Launches New Pro-Israel Campaign
Pro-Israel advocacy and education group StandWithUs has launched an advertising campaign for the month of July on San Francisco’s Muni bus system to counter the latest round of anti-Israel ads.
“Anti-Israel groups attempt to misinform the public in order to undermine American support for Israel. Their ads typically demonize Israel and blame it for the lack of peace. They ignore context including the continued deadly actions and ideology of Palestinian terrorist groups like Hamas,” Roz Rothstein, CEO of StandWithUs, said in a statement reported by the JNS news service.
Satire: Yet another modest proposal for a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign
In a move widely expected to spark considerable controversy, one of the UK’s leading university unions, the National Union of Teachers, Trainers and Education Research Staff (known cheekily by some rebels within the union as ‘NUTTERS’) will announce a proposal that Britain’s university teachers and researchers take the unusual step of boycotting themselves.
A spokesperson for the union told CiF Watch the following:
“We realise this may seem drastic, but the gravity of the crimes being committed in the name of UK universities leaves us no choice. We have reliable information that several UK universities have collaboration programmes with educational facilities in such anti-democratic, misogynistic and apartheid states such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar. We also know of several other British institutions which have received substantial donations from such puppet organisations as the Qatari Foundation and the King Faisal Institute.
Sabra Hummus is the Official Dip of the NFL
Rejoice, hummus lovers (and football fans), because Monday Night Football will never be the same. That’s because hummus is now the official dip of the National Football League—Sabra hummus, that is, from the PepsiCo-owned Sabra Dipping Co.—and soon the entirety of this great country will finally know what you’ve known all along: that hummus is delicious.
Bloomberg reports that the sponsorship comes at the same time that the company approved its first U.S. television commercials, presumably part of a wider campaign to make the Middle Eastern spread more palatable to the American masses:
Pictet attracted by Israel's 8,500 millionaire families
In November 2012, Pictet & Cie executives prepared the gala opening of the Swiss bank's Israeli branch. These were the early days of Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza, and for a moment, Tel Aviv was a city under missile attack. Rebuffing instructions from the Swiss Embassy, Pictet Wealth Management Israel manager Karen Schwok, went ahead with the event. "We opened under conditions of uncertainty, just when missiles began to fall here. All of the bank's eight partners and senior executives came to Israel for three days. We held meetings and events, and every time we all ran to the stairwell," she told "Globes" in an interview. (h/t Zvi)
Hebrew U, Singapore U Create Joint PhD Program
The National University of Singapore (NUS) and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem are launching a Joint Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree program in biomedical science beginning in August 2013.
Prof. Tan Eng Chye, Deputy President (Academic Affairs) and Provost at National University of Singapore, and Prof. Menahem Ben-Sasson, President of the Hebrew University, signed the joint degree agreement at NUS, in the presence of Ambassador of Israel to Singapore Her Excellency Amira Arnon and 30 invited guests.
Intel Considering $10 Billion Investment in Israel
Intel, the world’s top computer chip manufacturer, is in talks with the Israeli government about a $10-billion (U.S.) investment in Israel, a senior government official told the Hebrew-language Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Tuesday.