05/14 Links Pt2: My First Trip to Israel, a Light to Indigenous People; Israelis Create ‘Electronic Guide Dog’

From Ian:

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My First Trip to Israel, a Light to Indigenous People

I had been asked to come to Israel by an organisation named Stand with Us and I was excited to see the land I have studied for so many years of my life.
Some of you have read my articles, you know that I am an indigenous rights activist from Canada who believes strongly in the rights of all indigenous peoples. What you may not know is that I am also pretty well versed in middle eastern history and geo politics. At least I thought I was.
I have always supported Israel's right to its ancestral lands, but after visiting Judeah, Samaria and Gush Etzion, I have become much more firm in my belief that these lands are sacrosanct and cannot be given up. These are the lands of the forefathers of your people, something that cannot be denied. I stood on the hills at Shiloh, I walked to the Lone tree at Gush Etzion, I walked the walls of Old Jerusalem, these are places that hold sacred spots in the hearts of many, both Christian and Jew, but they are Jewish to the core. If we do not support Jewish presence in the jewish ancestral lands why are you here? You would have been better off in Uganda.

The Spiritual Origins of Jew-Hatred

Far be it for me to suggest that the BDS movement has that distinctive Nazi like stench but forgive us for noticing that the “Final Solution” started off with a series of boycotts as well. Forgive me also for saying that once again you have it all backwards -what you believe to be ugly is in truth beautiful and perhaps worse, what you believe to be beautiful is actually evil.
I have news that you may not like to hear – we are not going anywhere and we are not going to just shut up and die. We’ve been at this for more than three millennium. Do you think that you’re stronger or more clever than Egyptians or the Romans or the Third Reich? No, we and our message are here to stay. In fact, we’ve been promised: “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, throughout the generations, an eternal covenant to be your God, and the God of your descendants after you.” (Genesis 17:7)‎
Mark Twain also wondered about this dynamic and wrote:
“The Egyptian, the Babylonian, the Persian, rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dreamstuff and passed away. The Greek and the Roman followed, made a vast noise and they are gone. Other peoples have sprung up, held their torch high for a time, but it burned out and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal, but the Jew. All other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”

Stand With Us: What's Behind the 'Boycott Israel' Movement?

Simply put, BDS calls for the dissolution of the Jewish state. Consider one of its three demands: that Palestinian refugees of the 1948 War and all their descendants—who live in Jordan, the West Bank, Gaza, Syria and Lebanon now numbering close to 5 million—have the “right to return” to Israel--not to the proposed new state of Palestine within agreed-upon borders, but to today’s Israel.
The result? Jews would become a minority in their own state.
Since 1948, the demand for "right of return" has been a euphemism for destroying the Jewish state. President Obama has said that the right of return “…would extinguish Israel as a Jewish state, and that is not an option.”
The people who advocate BDS are abetting a dangerous movement that opposes peaceful coexistence, masks the century-old Arab war against the Jewish state with new rhetoric, and promotes the destruction of the state of Israel in the name of social justice and human rights, values which BDS activists pervert beyond recognition.

The Blaze: Just Wait Until You Hear What UCLA Student Government Candidates Are Being Asked to Sign

Candidates running to serve as officers in the undergraduate student government at UCLA are being asked to sign a pledge that they will not go on certain free or sponsored trip to Israel, a prerequisite that one pro-Israel group is calling “bigoted” and “absurd.” According to the UCLA newspaper the Daily Bruin, the majority of candidates have signed the pledge.
The Joint Statement on Undergraduate Students Association Council Ethics to which the candidates have signed was drafted by the pro-Palestinian groups Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Armenian Students’ Association, the Bruin reported on Tuesday.
The Muslim Students Association has also expressed support for the initiative.

Bullied Jewish Student Wins UCLA Student Election

UCLA Jewish student Avinoam Baral, who was targeted by the UCLA Muslim Newsmag Al-Talib, won his election on Friday afternoon. Baral was targeted in a BDS led effort to disqualify him from student office due to his ties to the pro-Israel Hasbara Fellowships. Anti-Israel activists also encourage student candidates to sign an "ethics statement” against participating in Israel-related trips from AIPAC, the ADL, and Hasbara Fellowships.
While the majority of candidates signed the anti-Israel statement, Baral and his fellow candidates on the “Bruins United” slate refused to do so. Baral will serve the UCLA student body as Internal Vice President.

SJP-backed UCLA Student President-elect took sponsored trip to Israel, yet won by 31 votes slamming such trips

Legal Insurrection has learned that Students for Justice in Palestine-backed UCLA student president-elect Devin Murphy, whose supporters accused his anti-divestment opponent of corruption and conflict of interest for taking a sponsored trip to Israel from a pro-Israel organization, took a sponsored trip to Israel from a pro-Israel group in January 2013.
Murphy, who defeated anti-BDS candidate Sunny Singh by a mere 31 votes in an election with 8,200 cast, went to Israel on a California Student Leaders trip sponsored by the American Jewish Committee’s Project Interchange.

Jewish Daily Forward Runs Hit Piece on Pro-Israel Jewish Fraternity

When J Street is feeling sad, the Jewish Daily Forward is there. The paper, which has served as J Street’s virtual therapy session after the group’s rejection from the Conference of Presidents, ran yet another article attempting to paint the vote as “right wing” and attack groups that said "no" to J Street. AEPi was the latest victim of the paper's bullying on Tuesday morning.
In an article titled “Jewish Fraternity With Right Wing Ties Helped Block J Street Bid,” Josh Nathan-Kazis asked, “Why is AEPi in the Presidents Conference Anyway?” and elevated irrelevant information regarding the fraternity in an attempt to frame the organization as unworthy and irresponsible.

Economist Editor Threatens CAMERA Writer With Libel For Correcting Misleading Article

Economist writer Nicolas Pelham wrote an article for Ha'aretz “Christians in Israel and Palestine" in which he accused Israel’s lobbyists of lying to the world about the Jewish State's treatment of Christians. CAMERA’s, Tamar Sternthal published a response to the piece and promoted it via a tweet which said in part the Ha'aretz article written by the The Economist's Pelham was misleading. Ms Sternthal's tweet prompted a warning from the Economist's community editor Ananyo Bhattacharya warning that she might have violated Britain's libel laws.
In the Ha'aretz article Pelham, who is a correspondent for The Economist on Middle East affairs, cited Proverbs, "Deceive not with thy lips," as he accused the "Israel lobbyists" of not being truthful about the treatment of Christians. In her article, "Economist's Nicolas Pelham Deceives About Christians" Ms Sternthal, who is the director of the Israeli office of CAMERA (Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) picked apart every deception in the Pelham piece and at the end of each correction she repeated the verse used by the Economist writer, Deceive not with thy lips,"

Isi Leibler: Beware of those promoting fake interfaith relations

In the midst of the political rapids confronting Israel, it is bizarre to hear an “Orthodox” rabbi blessing the head of the Palestinian Authority for his dubious statement regarding the Holocaust, and castigating our prime minister for finding “difficulty [in responding to him] with positive statements.”
Schneier enjoyed photo opportunities and extraordinary media exposure, providing legitimacy and respectability to groups hostile to Israel which granted additional clout to their anti-Israel lobbying. By patronizing or honoring extremist bodies, he also undermines the remaining beleaguered genuine moderate Muslim elements.
For example, among others Schneier associates with the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the principal umbrella Islamic body in North America, whose founders were exposed by the FBI as having had ties with the Muslim Brotherhood-Hamas network.
Four years ago, Schneier endorsed an “interfaith” gathering headed by Louis Farrakhan, the most notorious African- American anti-Semite, who describes Judaism as “a gutter religion” and praises Hitler as “a great man.”

What the UK media won’t report: Poll reveals Palestinians are most antisemitic people in the world

Remarkably, Palestinians are not only dramatically more antisemitic than the citizens in every Western country surveyed (for instance only 8% of UK citizens, and 9% of Americans, are antisemitic) but are even more antisemitic than citizens in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan and Iran.
Here are some highlights:
88% of Palestinians believe Jews have too much control over global affairs.
89% believe Jews have too much power over international financial markets
88% of Palestinians believe that Jews have too much control over the global media
78% of Palestinians believe that Jews are responsible for most of the world’s wars.
87% of Palestinians believe that people hate Jews because of the way Jews behave.

Israel and the Reality of Anti-Semitism

Many Jews will look at these numbers and, no doubt, wonder how they can change the minds of the haters or adopt behaviors that will undercut the stereotypes. But whatever else it tells us, the survey is a reminder that anti-Semitism is about the minds of the anti-Semites and their desire to seek out a small group for hostility, not what the Jews do. Those who will seek to blame Israel or Jewish power for these numbers are deceiving both themselves and others. Anti-Semitism is an ancient belief system that can adapt itself to any set of circumstances or locale.
While the ADL and others will continue their work of seeking to educate the world against hate, until that seemingly futile task succeeds, Jews would do well to redouble their support for the Jewish state and to stand ready to defend it. There was no ADL survey in 1933 to tell us what we already knew about anti-Semitism as there is today. But all these years after the Holocaust and the subsequent rebirth of anti-Semitism in the guise of anti-Zionism, the necessity of the existence of Israel—a place where Jews can defend themselves against the haters and shelter those in need—is no less an imperative for being the obvious verdict of history. (h/t Norman F)

Former UK Chief Rabbi Identifies Major Threats Facing World Jews

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, the recently retired Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth in the United Kingdom, gave the “State of the Jewish World Address” at the American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum on Tuesday, identifying three major threats to the Jewish people: the growth of anti-Semitism, the campaign to delegitimize Israel, and Iran.
The effort to deny the right of Israel to exist has become a new kind of anti-Semitism, targeting the Jewish state instead of the Jewish religion or race, said Sacks. Iran remains a threat because of its support of terrorist groups, its controversial nuclear program, and its open hostility toward Israel, he said.
“The victim cannot stop the crime by himself,”Sacks said, adding that Jews are not the only victims of extremist Islamist terrorist groups—in the Middle East, the Christian population has declined from 20 percent to 4 percent of the region’s total inhabitants.

The UK media and the Nigerian kidknappings: Muslims are the real victims

The UK media's cover-up of the Islamist anti-Christian aspect of the Nigerian kidnapping has been more or less total. The fact that the girls were Christians was barely mentioned - instead we were treated to staged scenes of Muslims 'praying' for their safe return so that the clear implication was that, although Boko Haram was clearly an 'Islamist group', it was Muslims who were the real victims here. When the images of the girls dressed in hijabs were released yesterday, instead of focusing on the real story in that (the forced conversions) the media simply presented the images without that context at all and left viewers/readers to conclude that these were indeed all Muslim victims. Just look, for example, at how Yasmin Alibhai Brown, presents the story in the Independent. There are two 24-hour news stations in the UK - BBC News and Sky News. Both of these channels are spinning the same lie.

Ignorance and Confusion in Aspen

While Andersen notes the glaring economic differences between Israel and the Palestinian areas, he then claims that “there is inequality for Palestinians in Israel.” Is Andersen referring to Arab citizens of Israel or to Palestinians living under the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank? He doesn’t seem able to tell the difference.
As for a description of Palestinian refugee camps that conjures images of Nazi concentration camps, Andersen is evidently relying on his own imagination rather than facts. For the refugee camps (which are more accurately akin to towns rather than “camps”) are not “fenced” or “gated” and are not guarded by Israeli troops. Nor are they subject to curfews. Where refugee camps are located in Palestinian cities such as Jenin or Nablus, Israel withdrew its forces from these areas many years ago under the Oslo Accords.

LA Times: Terrorists Conspired With Those Hamas 'Militants'

Major media outlets all too often mislabel Hamas as "a militant organization," despite the fact that the United States, the European Union and Israel, among others, have all designated it as a terrorist organization, given its countless suicide bombings, rocket attacks, and shootings of Israeli civilians.
A case this week in The Los Angeles Times is particularly striking. On Sunday, a news brief reported:
"Egypt's chief prosecutor charged 200 people with carrying out more than 50 terrorist attacks, killing 40 policemen and 15 civilians and conspiring with the Palestinian militant group Hamas."

Antisemitism at its finest!

I thought I’d share this tasty tit-bit, which I received last week, with everyone. I suppose it’s part and parcel of not moderating the web site.
I must say it threw me somewhat. I was rather taken aback, never before having been faced with something like this and it’s not as if I am not aware of the fact that such people exist.
Being well known for my investigative skills, I decided to seek this guy Bob –surname withheld, out.
The Internet is amazing, you can almost find out what people had for breakfast from it.
I have his IP address, which checked out that he lives in Tamworth.
He has his own small business and I have his ABN details, business address and landline and mobile phone numbers.

‘Zionists’ root of UK’s woes

If you were wondering who is responsible for an assortment of Britain’s woes, the British National Party’s youth wing has the answers. In BNP Youth’s new video, “Fight Back,” posted to YouTube this week, a motley group of earnest teens decries the bankers, capitalists, Marxists, and of course, Zionists, who are to blame for the sad state of British society wherein racist crimes against whites are overlooked while immigrants take over.
In the video, the viewer is told by a half-dozen white teenagers — all sitting in the far right of the frame — that among other culprits, the current economic downturn in Britain is due to “the heartless Zionists, whose interests are foreign interests, who send our soldiers to die for private profit of greedy politicians.”

Romania’s First Holocaust Center to Open in Elie Wiesel’s Childhood Home

Romania’s first Holocaust education center is set to open in the childhood home of Nobel Laureate and human rights activist Elie Wiesel.
The “Holocaust Cellar” will become a new feature of the Holocaust museum in the pre-war childhood home of Wiesel, in the courtyard of the old Jewish Ghetto of Sighet, and will serve as a learning center dedicated to the 13,000 local Holocaust victims.

Israelis Create ‘Electronic Guide Dog’ for the Blind (VIDEO)

Three students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at Israel’s Technion Institute of Technology have created an electronic device that could help blind people navigate without the assistance of a seeing eye cane or guide dog, tech blog No Camels recently reported.
The product deciphers images captured by a Kinect camera – also developed in Israel – and gives the user audio feedback by way of a mobile application. The device warns the person of obstacles and even recognizes certain previously-programmed objects.

Apple has Siri, Intel has Ginger

Apple may have Siri but Intel has Ginger. According to reports, the chipmaker giant paid up to $30 million for Israeli-based Ginger Software’s personal assistant technology Ginger to boost its advanced computing and artificial intelligence holdings.
Intel has not acquired all of Ginger Software rather the company will continue to operate as an independent business focusing on its intelligent grammar and spell checking software.

'Homeland' co-creator wants Israel to be prime spot for US TV shows

The Israeli co-creator of hit spy thriller television series "Homeland" believes his native country should become a prime location for U.S. television shows about the Middle East and is working hard to make this happen.
Writer-director Gideon Raff is at the helm of Fox drama "Tyrant" and NBCUniversal archeological mystery "The Dig," two U.S. productions under way simultaneously in Israel -- a first for the country's small but active entertainment industry.
Until a decade ago, Israel was shunned by foreign studios for fear of suicide bombings during the Second Intifada. But with the violence now abated and many neighboring Arab states riven by strife, Israeli facilities are enjoying a new appeal.

BMW, Audi, and Mercedes Open Their Doors to Israeli Companies and Technologies

“Touring the assembly lines at Audi, BMW, and Mercedes manufacturer Daimler and meeting the heads of the most prestigious automotive companies in the world, was a unique experience and opened up great opportunities for us.” So says City Transformer CEO Dr. Asaf Formoza. City Transformer, an Israeli company working on a foldable electric vehicle meant to close the gap between cars and two-wheelers, was one of 12 Israeli companies taking part in a whirlwind roadshow of Germany’s automotive industry at the end of April.Germany delegation
We spoke with Hemdat Sagi, Commercial Attaché in Berlin, who told us about the event: “Germany has set a goal of manufacturing a million electric cars by 2020, and is investing extensive efforts to meet this ambitious goal. Moreover, the German automotive industry has identified the potential in Israeli innovation, especially in the arena of sustainable transportation. Israeli companies have a number of relevant, potentially breakthrough, technologies to offer in this arena. Our mission is to bring the two sides together.” (h/t Yoel)

The beauty of Ottoman Palestine, lovingly explored and documented

In the basement of a house on the Mount of Olives is a collection of 100-year-old photographs of Ottoman Palestine — published here for the first time — that document the people, sites and lifestyle of Palestine in the twilight years of Turkish rule.
The photos were taken by the first director of the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology (DEIAHL), Gustaf Dalman, an eclectic early-20th century polymath who fell in love with the Holy Land and set out to catalog its inhabitants, plants, animals, sounds and way of life. The DEIAHL was founded in 1900 by the German Protestant church at the behest of Kaiser Wilhelm II following his historic visit to Jerusalem two years earlier, with the stated aim of promoting “the exploration of the Holy Land and its diverse past, cultures and religions.”