Monday, February 03, 2014
JCPA: Erekat Is Wrong. The Jewish Presence in the Land Dates Back for Millennia
In effect, Erekat was promoting the well-known Palestinian narrative that they are the native population, while the Jews are latecomers who only arrived in the last hundred years. Since the Muslim Arab conquest of Palestine occurred only in 634CE, the credibility of this Palestinian claim is questionable, to say the least.Sharansky’s guide to the region’s human rights dilemmas
At the same time, there is documented proof of a Jewish presence in the land dating back millennia. In Jericho itself, the Shalom al Yisrael (Peace unto Israel) synagogue with its magnificent mosaic was discovered in the 1930s and dates back to the Byzantine period. Not far away is the Wadi Kelt synagogue which dates back to 75 BCE, from the time of the Hasmonean monarchy, making it the oldest synagogue to have been discovered. (h/t Bob Knot)
I thought Natan Sharansky — the former Soviet dissident and icon of the Soviet Jewish emigration movement, briefly Israeli journalist, later party leader and government minister, and today Jewish Agency chairman — might have some insights into the innumerable human rights dilemmas facing Israel and this stormy region. And so it proved, in an interview Wednesday at Sharansky’s office in the Jewish Agency building.Scarlett Johansson split with Oxfam 'may deter celebrity charity work'
We talked about Israel’s obligations regarding African asylum-seekers (limited), the government’s obligations to Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Arab citizens in the Galilee triangle (profound, in both cases), President Barack Obama’s obligations regarding the ayatollah-dominated people of Iran (dismally unfulfilled), and a great deal more besides. (He preferred not to discuss the soon-to-be-vacant spot of state president.)
Responding to the split between the Hollywood actress and the charity, for which she has worked for almost a decade, Mr Neilson told The Independent on Sunday: "Now, the celebrities, actors, athletes, people who are the focus of our celebrity-obsessed culture, will be less likely to become philanthropic."
He added: "The biggest asset that Scarlett Johansson has is her fame, and if people like her are scared of using their fame to make the world a better place, no one wins."
Oxfam said Johansson's promotion of SodaStream was "incompatible" with her being its ambassador.
Mr Nielson thinks the charity could now struggle to recruit celebrities, saying that it is "unrealistic" for any charity to expect celebrity supporters to agree with it on everything. "It's not as if Johansson was working with Oxfam on the West Bank issue; she was working with them on extreme poverty. Do you have to agree with an NGO on all issues in the world in order to work with it on one issue?" he added.
Algemeiner Editor Dovid Efune: In Quitting Oxfam, Scarlett Johansson Has Exposed Two Lies (VIDEO)
“One thing that has come to light today is that she [Johansson] is a warrior for truth, she has exposed [...] two lies for everybody to see. The first of which is that you have an international aid organization that is taking sides in a conflict where it is supposed to be impartial and is backing the Palestinian position,” Efune said. “And the second lie that she has exposed is that there is something inherently wrong with Jews living in the area known as Judea and Samaria [...].”
Shock and Horror as Israeli Embassy Supports… Israel!
Just imagine – the Israeli embassy taking sides in the SodaStream / Scarlett Johansson saga and choosing… Israel.Daily Mail distorts Scarlett Johansson quote to impute greed to SodaStream role
Is The Guardian’s loathing towards Israel at the stage where Israelis defending their case is so outrageous? Whatever next? If Israel can’t even fight its case on Twitter in the eyes of The Guardian, then it’s not much of a surprise that defending Israeli civilians against Palestinian terror is treated with such disdain by the newspaper.
Far from “hankering” for wealth, the quotes released by the Daily Mail appear to suggest something closer to the opposite – that the Jewish actress is generous, and not too concerned with accumulating money.Facebook Users Attack Roger Waters After Post Calling Out Scarlett Johansson
The Daily Mail’s narrative on the alleged monetary reasons for Johansson’s decision is of course further undermined by the series of events leading to her resignation. She only stepped down as ambassador to Oxfam after the group condemned her association with SodaStream. Based on most reports, it seems that she would have preferred to remain affiliated with the NGO, but simply refused to be bullied by BDS activists into ending her position with SodaStream.
Of the top 10 comments on Waters’s Saturday post, which has been “liked” over 3,000 times, the vast majority were defending Johansson and Israel.Danish government not party to Israel bank boycott
The top post, with 1,057 “likes,” was from an Israeli radio station which wrote: ”Music is supposed to act as a bridge between people and cultures and not create a gap between them. Your attitude doesn’t help to break the wall, it only makes it higher.”
While Denmark’s largest bank, Danske Bank, may be planning to boycott Israeli financial institutions that operate in the West Bank, the Danish embassy is a loyal customer of Israel’s largest bank and plans to remain so, according to Denmark’s ambassador to Israel.Denmark’s Boycott Bank Linked to North Korea-Iran Ballistic Missiles Sales
“Indeed, the embassy has an account at Bank Hapoalim, and we have no plans at this stage to change that,” Ambassador Jesper Vahr was quoted by Hebrew news site Walla as saying. “It is a private decision of the bank, and the government of Denmark has no connection to it. The bank makes these decisions independently.”
When JewishPress.com reported on Denmark’s Danske Bank’s “boycott” of Israel’s Bank HaPoalim, we pointed out the curious fact that Danske Bank actually doesn’t do any business at all with any Israeli bank, leading one to wonder about the motivations for their announced boycott.Anti-Israel academic boycotters in panic over NY anti-boycott legislation
You may now stop wondering.
David Goldman of Pajamas Media uncovered a 2009 Wikileaks cable in which it exposes that Danske Bank provided financial services to Tanchon, a North Korean company that sold ballistic missiles to Iran.
Already a threat of a constitutional challenge was made in a January 30, 2014 letter to the legislature from the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has a working group devoted to supporting the anti-Israel BDS movement. The letter is embedded at the bottom of this post.Jewish leader says German museums turn blind eye to Nazi-looted art
The gist of the letter is that this is an unlawful attempt to silence unpopular speech. The letter also misrepresents that the ASA boycott only targets institutions. That is false, as I described in my IRS challenge. ASA adopted the full scope of the BDS boycott, but issued non-binding guidelines that purport to scale it back. Even so, the boycott is directed at Israelis based on national origin, which already is unlawful under the NY State Human Rights law.
German museums are wilfully ignoring their duty to come clean about works they hold that were looted from Jews by the Nazis, the head of the World Jewish Congress said on Thursday, and the government must do more to force them to act.Home Office Bans Comic Dieudonne From UK
Germany has faced heavy criticism over its handling of the discovery of 1,407 Nazi-plundered works in the flat of Cornelius Gurlitt, an elderly recluse whose father took orders from Hitler to buy and sell so-called 'degenerate art' to fund Nazi activities.
Controversial French comedian Dieudonne has been banned from entering the UK by the Home Office as a result of the anti-Semitism row.Anti-Semitic Comedian 'A Victim of His Own Fascism'
Dieudonne M'bala M'bala previously announced he would visit London to support his footballer friend Nicolas Anelka, who faces a ban from the pitch for performing the comic's 'quenelle' salute.
Many people believe the salute is an anti-Semitic gesture as it has loose similarities to the Nazi salute. (h/t Bob Knot)
Anti-Semitic comic Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala and his followers may consider himself a victim of "the system", but he is in fact simply a victim "of his own fascist convictions", according to a prominent European Jewish leader.Senior Air France union members use ‘quenelle’ salute
Secretary General of the European Jewish Congress, Serge Cwajgenbaum, told Arutz Sheva that French authorities eventually were forced to crack down on Dieudonne - after long being accused of ineffectiveness against rising anti-Semitism - as his actions became "an embarrassment to France".
Dieudonne's performances, which often feature Holocaust denial, anti-Jewish stereotypes and other forms of anti-Semitism, have been banned by authorities, and the hatemonger now faces criminal charges connected to past breaches of race-hate laws.
Three senior Air France employees were spotted making the controversial “quenelle” salute at a union rally in support of a Swissport strike, according to the French daily Libération.French Jews Hold Massive Pro-Israel Rally in Paris
In a picture taken on November 8, and publicized by the newspaper Thursday, David Ricatte, secretary and spokesman of CGT-Air France, Pascal Belrose, one of the division secretaries, and Laurent Dahyot, member of the executive board of the union are shown joyfully using the gesture reminiscent of the Nazi salute, popularized by comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala.
As anti-Semitism rises in France, the country’s Jewish community held a major rally in central Paris on Sunday. The Jewish National Fund (JNF); the Israeli Foreign, Defense, Tourism, Agriculture and Immigrant Absorption ministries; and other donors funded the event.Jewish Activists Chase Away Anti-Semites in Paris
Titled “Israel Today and Tomorrow,” the rally was the brainchild of the JNF’s chief emissary in France, Reuven Naamat, and was expected to gather 15,000 demonstrators, among them Jewish community leaders from across France, Israeli government ministers, and JNF Chairman Efi Stenzler, according to Israel Hayom.
The event received unprecedented security: central streets were cordoned off, and police snipers were placed on rooftops.FISH key to Israeli firm’s lung cancer detection tech
Ultranationalists gathered with the intent of marching on the event, but were blocked by police – both uniformed and undercover – a long distance away. The extremists managed to send a smaller group closer to the event but this group was spotted and chased away by pro-Israel activists. This clash brought the police into action, and the extremists were chased down and arrested.
What’s needed is a better and more effective way to detect lung cancer in early stages, say doctors – and an Israeli bio-tech start-up, called BioView, has a technique it says is more reliable and less invasive than biopsies for early-stage cancer sufferers. It’s reliable enough that Kindstar Global, a huge Chinese diagnostic testing firm which has contracts with over 3,300 hospitals in China, has partnered with BioView for an exclusive license to implement BioView’s Lung Cancer FISH test in China, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The first round of tests has been completed and according to the scientists who carried out the testing, BioView’s system had a better record than traditional biopsies in detecting lung cancer.Israel’s Hermes 900 Unmanned Drone Purchased by Several Foreign Armies
Israeli defense electronics company Elbit Systems Ltd.’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Hermes 900, has been purchased by four different militaries in Europe and Latin America, Israeli daily Walla reported on Thursday. Two of these armies have already put the Israeli drone into service, Walla said.Israel, Malta issue joint postage stamp
The Israel Defense Force also has plans for the homegrown UAV, with several systems having been purchased by the Israeli military for a variety of missions including marine monitoring missions.
Israel and Malta have issued a joint postage stamp to mark 50 years of diplomatic ties between the countries and recall the shared history of the Order of the Knights Hospitallers that began in Jerusalem in the Middle Ages.‘Book of Books’ exhibits 2,000 years of Bible texts
The stamp, valued at NIS 3.90 ($1.10) and designed by Ronen Goldberg, features a view of the Hospitallers’ refectory in the Israeli port city of Acre alongside a similar depiction of a hall in the Hospitallers Hospital in Valletta, Malta, as well as the flags of both countries.
For the first time ever, nearly 200 of the rarest biblical manuscripts and texts are displayed at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem, through October 2014.Ex-US soldier, 96, reunites prisoners he helped free
“The Book of Books” exhibition includes original fragments from the Septuagint, the Vulgate, the Gutenberg Bible and the Cairo genizah, along with medieval illuminated manuscripts, Torah scrolls and other biblical relics. At the end is a working replica of the 15th century Gutenberg printing press that revolutionized the availability of the Scriptures.
Now Towers is determined to find the approximately 700 former prisoners he estimates could still be alive today from the 2,500 liberated by his unit. He says he has located 235. He’s had help from a woman in Israel who has located scores of survivors in Hungary — her father, a Budapest native, was among the saved.
About a decade ago, Towers established a website, www.30thinfantry.org, for the benefit of his cohort, and posted an appeal for the train survivors to contact him. A woman in Australia responded first, and “the whole thing snowballed” from there, he said.
On May 18, 2011, a reunion in Rehovot, Israel, drew 50 of the train’s passengers and more than 400 of their descendants. The survivors also flew in Towers and his son, Frank Jr., for the event.
“To be able to thank him for his service and what he did for our country and the world was so important to me,” said Col. Todd Cyril, a Pentagon official who as defense attache at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv addressed the reunion attendees. “The train vignette is itself a great story, and what Frank has done to bring these people together is an even greater story.”
