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Saturday, September 13, 2014

09/13 Links: Erdoğan Aligned Newspaper: Tax Turkish Jews to Pay for Rebuilding Gaza

From Ian:

Columnist at Erdoğan Aligned Newspaper Calls for Taxing Jews to Pay for Rebuilding Gaza
A Turkish pundit writing for Yeni Akit, a major publication aligned with President Erdoğan, called for the country’s Jews to be taxed to pay for reconstructing buildings damaged in Gaza during Israel’s recent Operation Protective Edge.
Faruk Köse said that the “Gaza Fund Contribution Tax” should apply to Turkish Jews as well as foreign Jews doing business in Turkey and any Turkish nationals with commercial ties to the Jewish state.
The columnist even said the tax should apply to any company or business that maintains a partnership with a Turkish Jew.
“The reconstruction of Gaza will be paid for by Jewish businessmen,” he said.
The penalty for failing to pay the tax should be the revocation of the Jew’s business licence and the seizure of his property, Köse said.
Köse also sparked controversy in July when he penned an open letter to Turkey’s chief rabbi, calling on Erdoğan to demand that the Jewish community apologize for Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Jewish Voice for Peace: A Tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury. Signifying nothing
In speech, volume is often inversely proportional to thoughtfulness. Jewish Voice for Peace is living proof. Rumor has it that JVP is planning on disrupting the San Francisco Christians United for Israel gathering on Sunday. If their past behavior is any indication, they are planning on standing up at random intervals and shrieking like banshees. Perhaps they still believe that filming themselves shrieking mindlessly at public gatherings is a sure-fire way to help the Palestinian people. More likely, they simply cannot abide not being the center of attention. The shrill attention seeking behavior of groups such as Code Pink and Jewish Voice for Peace often moves beyond politics into the realm of abnormal pathology.
For those who are tempted to call Jewish Voice for Peace “self-hating Jews”, I beg to differ. If you’ve ever had an encounter with a JVP member, you’ll know that they are some of the most narcissistic people on the planet.
Qanta Ahmed: My beautiful faith is being overtaken by the beheaders I’ve studied
In recent days, I have watched in stunned horror as America struggled to come to terms with the brutal decapitation of journalist James Foley, followed just two weeks later with that of Steven Sotloff. But unlike most Americans, I am all too aware of the fact that such barbaric punishment is far from unusual. In a recent conversation, Horowitz summed up the situation with these bleak words: “Decapitations are now mainstream.”
As a devout Muslim, the tragedies of recent days have packed an added blow. Along with the senseless loss of two promising young lives, I have been forced to confront the fact that the beautiful religion that continues to sustain me — that supports me in my life-giving work as a physician — is increasingly the domain of those who would use it to destroy everything I hold dear.
Recent events have left me able to draw only one conclusion: Islamism — the radical imposter form of my religion — has declared war on Islam.



UNRWA at War: Reactions to the Gaza Operation
As UNRWA statements and actions are reviewed, certain factors become readily evident:
UNRWA, which has a mandate to function as a humanitarian relief organization, consistently and inappropriately politicizes its positions.
That politicization is expressed via a virulently anti-Israel stance.
UNRWA is controlled by or allows itself to be used by Hamas. Its representatives studiously avoid mention of Hamas behavior that is egregiously destructive to the civilians of Gaza.
UNRWA statements are frequently tendentious. They include distortions of fact, and blatant misrepresentations.
Court remands Brussels Jewish museum suspect for 3 months
Nemmouche, 29, of Algerian origin and who spent more than a year fighting with Islamic extremists in Syria, has been charged with “murder in a terrorist context” after an Israeli couple, a French woman and a Belgian were shot dead at the museum in central Brussels.
The hearing took place in a closed session and officials said the remand period could be extended again, after Nemmouche was first ordered held for a month following his extradition from France at the end of July.
The court buildings in Brussels were under heavy security for the hearing, highlighting the sensitivity of the case which shocked the country and dismayed its Jewish community.
Jewish Groups Rush to Defend Senator Ted Cruz After Shout-Down at Dinner
Major Jewish human rights group the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) said it was “appalled” by the incident.
In a statement, SWC Dean and Founder Rabbi Marvin Hier, and Associate Dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper said, ”While we will continue to speak out against those who suffer ethnic cleansing and violence because of their religious faiths, we will never make common cause with bigots who do not show basic respect for the Jewish people and the State of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, the only nation in that region where religious rights of all are guaranteed, and the only Middle East society where the population of Christians is rising.”
The SWC also praised Senator Cruz for voicing support for Israel at the event, saying it “applauds Senator Cruz for his integrity and courage in telling 17 Christian Patriarchs and their supporters the truth.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said it was disappointed that the focus of the conference shifted from the persecution of Christians to attacking Israel.
“We express deep appreciation to Senator Cruz for his brave and unflinching defense of Israel and the Jewish people,” said ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman. “At the same time, we are dismayed that an event designed to draw the world’s attention to the serious problem of the persecution of Christians in the region was turned, by a vocal portion of the audience, into yet another opportunity to bash Israel, the only country in the Middle East where the practice of Christianity is protected by law and where the Christian population is growing.”
Foxman said, “Apparently for some in the room, hatred of Israel trumps even their concern for fellow Christians.”
On the Gaza border, Soroka treated hundreds of wounded soldiers and moved its entire NICU to a shelter during OPE.
Soroka Medical Center is the closest, most advanced hospital near the Gaza border, and also has the largest OB department in Israel: what an awesome responsibility.
Imagine running a hospital that is minutes from a war zone, and has the largest delivery room of all Israel’s hospitals. We’re talking about war, stitching bodies together and delivering babies under extraordinary circumstances: that’s Israel, and that’s Soroka Medical Center.
Dr. Ehud Davidson has been the director-general of Soroka Medical Center since 2013. He’s visiting the States this week because, after the war, he and his staff realized there are needs which must be met before the inevitable next outbreak of hostilities, and he’s hoping to find people who want to help.
Israeli official: Israel will fight IS if group reaches Jordan
Israel may play a frontline role in the international coalition forming against Islamic State – the jihadi group sweeping through Iraq and Syria in a bid to reinstate a new caliphate in the Middle East.
As world powers unite around a US-led plan for military action to topple the militant group, Jerusalem is signaling that if Islamic State expands to Jordan – Israel will not hesitate to act.
"We will use any means necessary," a senior Israeli official told Channel 2 television. "Let me make this clear: If Islamic State reaches Jordan we will take action."
Thousands of Israeli-Arabs rally against Islamic State
Thousands of Israeli Arabs convened in Umm el-Fahm Friday for a rally organized by the Islamic Movement in Israel's northern branch in opposition to the radical Islamic State group.
Israel Radio cited the leader of the Islamic Movement's hardline northern branch, Sheikh Raed Salah, as stating that his position was set against the extremist Islamist group that has conquered parts of Syria and Iraq and aims to remap the Middle East.
However, Salah noted that he also opposed the coalition led by US President Barack Obama pledging to take military action against Islamic State fighters, saying the initiative threatened the Arab world.
Also speaking at the march held under the banner "Al-Aqsa is in Danger," a senior Israeli Arab official blamed the US and Israel as the creators of Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
Mortar from Syria explodes in Golan Heights
A mortar fired from Syria crossed the border with Israel and landed in the Golan Heights on Friday night in the latest apparent incident of fallout from the Syrian civil war.
Alert sirens were sounded in the area around 10 p.m. Friday warning of the incoming projectile. No injuries or damage were reported.
The IDF had not responded to the incident as of late Friday, a military spokeswoman said.
The Syrian army said earlier on Friday that terrorists were killed and wounded in the volatile Quneitra border crossing near the Golan Heights, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
The Syrian military said it struck scores of terrorists hiding out throughout the country, destroying vehicles, weapons and equipment, and "inflicting heavy losses upon them [both] in personnel and equipment."
Syrian rebels said to control most of the border with Israel
According to the report quoted by Israel’s Channel 10, rebel forces on Friday gained control of two additional villages near Quneitra, the war-torn nation’s solitary border crossing with Israel, leaving only one village in the Syrian army’s hands
The report added that the towns of Rawadi and Hamidiyah were taken after heavy fighting between the rebels and the army, loyal to President Bashar Assad.
“The regime is on the retreat before the advancing rebels,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. “The regime has now lost control of about 80 percent of towns and villages in Quneitra province.”
Steven Salaita and the racist ghost of Edward Said
Despite the contradictions and the scurrilous methodology, Said’s claim resonated with the guilt felt by Europeans over colonialism and by Americans over Jim Crow and slavery—a guilt that would have been more valuable had it emerged when these evils were still practiced rather than after the fact. This elevated him to iconic status. As Salaita put it in a eulogy: “those who are concerned with the fate of humanity must believe that Said was correct, because if he wasn’t, then there is nothing [worthwhile] for humans to aspire to.”
The result has been a generation of Said epigones dominating American and European universities, exemplified by Professor Warrior and by Steven Salaita, whose turbid writings are not so much sprinkled with the word “racism” as flooded with it. He knows that racism is endemic, that Israel is racist, and that because of this anti-Semitism is “honorable.” With such deep knowledge as this, is he not qualified to teach in almost any discipline?
Hillel wants Ohio U to apologize for arrest of pro-Israel students
We covered the incident the other night where the anti-Israel Student Senate President Megan Marzec at Ohio University had campus police arrest four pro-Israel students who were protesting the “blood bucket challenge” performed by the Marzec.
Marzec came under heavy criticism, including from the Student Senate itself, for her hijacking of the charity fundraising effort for research into an incurable disease, in order to attack Israel.
Is there anything the anti-Israel crowd will not make a political battleground?
One of the students, Rebecca Sebo, was arrested while reading a Legal Insurrection blog post that collected university president statements against the academic boycott of Israel.
IDF was in own ‘Twitterverse’ during war, computer analysis finds
The Israel Defense Forces fought its best Twitter war to date during Operation Protective Edge, but did not actively engage the “Twitterverse,” according to an Israeli computer analysis.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit tweeted early and often, using slick infographics and near-real-time battlefield images to promote its version of events, said Tomer Simon, a doctoral student at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, who carried out the analysis of tweets during the war. But he found that the IDF barely used hashtags, retweets, or replies to interact with other Twitter users.
“The IDF used Twitter as another channel to transmit data,” said Simon, who created the software behind the analysis, called TwitterMate, as part of his doctoral research in emergency management. “While they provided narrative and information at a really amazing pace, you don’t open social media to have uni-directional communication. It’s about bi-directional communication — a conversation.”
The IDF, for its part, said it made a strategic decision not to play the “hashtag game” during the war, and instead chose to focus on producing “clean” content to serve journalists and other opinion makers.
New York Times Reporter Wonders Whether Hamas Kidnapped Those Three Teenagers
The question of who did or did not order the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers this summer has become one of the more contentious issues of the recent round of violence between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. From the beginning, Israel blamed Hamas, and began arresting Hamas operatives in the West Bank—where they told Mahmoud Abbas that his rival was planning a coup. Hamas responded by raining dozens of rockets per day on the South of Israel. Israel responded with air strikes on Gaza. You know the rest of the grim story. The kidnapping and murder of the three teenagers was the match that lit the fire. But who lit the match?
Because this was not one of those terrorist acts whose authors claimed immediate and proud responsibility, its origin won’t ever have the absolute, perfect clarity that such admissions, in their twisted way, provide. Nevertheless, a clear preponderance of the evidence that has emerged since—including statements by the terrorists and their controllers—supports the Israeli government’s assigning of responsibility to Hamas. Anyone interested in the opposite view would do well to read Isabel Kershner’s piece in The New York Times last Friday. It appears to be a good-faith effort to make sense of recently released court documents, but I think that her conclusions are simply not warranted. Let me explain why.
A casual reader of Kershner’s piece would think that she has shown the Israelis to be liars. Reviewing court documents related to the investigation of the Palestinian suspected of spearheading the kidnapping and killing, Kershner claims that they “provide no evidence that the top leaders of Hamas directed or had prior knowledge of the plot to abduct the three Israeli youths.” This flat claim appears in the story’s second paragraph, and is repeated in various iterations throughout the piece, unmistakably framing it as a story that calls the official Israeli narrative into question.
World Yawns as Hamas Admits War Crimes
These admissions prove again, as if much more proof was needed, that what Hamas did during this war was a double war crime. They were intent on slaughtering as many Jews as possible with their rockets and tunnels and also hopeful of causing Palestinian deaths as well to increase international sympathy for their cause.
Giving Hamas a pass because they fired near civilians but not on top of them is to grade them on a curve whose purpose is to justify their war on Israel. While individual Israeli strikes might have been made in error as always happens in the fog of war, Palestinian casualties were completely the responsibility of the group that launched this war for no good reason, kept it going when cease fires would have ended it before more were killed and did everything in their power to maximize the pain to their own people.
We can expect human rights groups, the United Nations to pay little attention to these admissions as they continue to seek to bash Israel for having the temerity to defend itself. But if anyone wants the truth, Hamas has just laid it out for the world to see. Too bad, much of the press and those participating in anti-Israel demonstrations where anti-Semitism is rampant, aren’t interested in it.
Abbas: PA, Israel reach economic agreement in West Bank, Gaza
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that an agreement has been reached with Israel in which the Palestinian Authority will be able to export and import goods and services to and from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
“Anything the [Palestinian] Authority wants, it will get, and we will also be able to [work] in the Gaza Strip. This will alleviate the situation for the residents there,” he was quoted by Channel 10 as saying.
According to the Palestinian news agnecy Ma’an, the agreement was reached with the help of United Nations representatives.
There was no immediate official announcement or response from the Israeli government.
In a Sign of Disarray, Hamas Fails to Replace Leaders Killed in Gaza War
Avi Issacharoff reported yesterday that, despite Israel’s strikes against top military leaders of Hamas during Operation Protective Edge, the terrorist organization has not yet appointed replacements.
While Hamas has claimed that military chief Mohammad Deif was injured, not killed, the group has apparently appointed a replacement for Deif.
"The sources said that Hamas commander Marwan Issa continues to fill in as head of the terror group’s military wing, and that replacements had yet to be appointed for Raed Al-Attar, commander of the Rafah area, and Muhammad Abu Shamala, the head of the Hamas southern command, who were assassinated by Israel on August 21."
Haniyeh Urges Abbas to Take Action Against Israel at ICC
Senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh on Friday urged the Palestinian Authority’s leadership to sign the Rome Statute and hold Israel accountable for its “crimes in Gaza” at the International Criminal Court.
Haniyeh said in a statement quoted by the Ma’an news agency that "signing the Rome Statute is the right for every victim and stalling is neglecting their rights and an offense to the image of Palestinians."
The Palestinian Arab leadership must not "neglect" the rights of the victims of “Israel's military assault on Gaza”, Haniyeh said, urging PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to sign the Rome Statute.
Haniyeh: Hamas will never give up weapons
Hamas will never give up its weapons or agree to Gaza’s demilitarization, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said Saturday.
“Israel is attempting to tie the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip with various things, such as the weapons of Hamas or impairing its capabilities,” Haniyeh said at an event commemorating journalists killed during the 50-day conflict with Israel. “I would like to make something clear: The weapons of the resistance cannot be tied to the reconstruction of Gaza or to any other issue to do with Gaza.”
Haniyeh said Hamas’s military capabilities were legitimate and would remain so until Palestine was freed from Israel.
“Reconstruction is an obligation placed upon us, and we must rebuild Gaza after the destruction sown by Israel,” he said. “But the weapons of the resistance and its capabilities are a red line that cannot be crossed, and which no one can touch.”
Family of UK hostage urges Islamic State: Talk to us
The family of a British humanitarian aid worker captured by the Islamic State who is in danger of being its next Western beheading victim has pleaded with the terror group to make contact with them.
“We are the family of David Haines,” a statement relayed by the British Foreign Office said Saturday. “We have sent messages to you to which we have not received a reply. We are asking those holding David to make contact with us.”
David Cawthorne Haines, 44, was kidnapped by IS militants in March of last year while working with refugees in northern Syria. The extremist organization, which has taken over large parts of Iraq and Syria, recently beheaded two American journalists — James Foley and Steven Sotloff — in retaliation for US airstrikes on its forces. Videos of the men’s gruesome killings were distributed to the media and have caused global outrage.
Los Angeles memorial for Steven Sotloff marked by his grieving father
Around 60 people attended a small, but intimate memorial in Beverly Hills on Thursday night to honor slain Israeli-American journalist Steven Sotloff. The Orthodox synagogue of Young Israel of North Beverly Hills hastily pulled the event together to coincide with the 13th anniversary of 9/11.
In honoring the 31-year-old who was recently beheaded by ISIS following 13 months of captivity, the evening’s memorial initially followed a predictable pattern with a handful of sorrowful performances by a chazzan and his choir, speeches from local dignitaries, and the lighting of memorial candles.
However, it was the presence of Sotloff’s father, Art, speaking live via Skype hookup from his home in Miami, FL, that took center stage.
Both riveting and harrowing, Art Sotloff seemed initially prepared to participate in the live conversation hosted by Felice Friedson of The Media Line, a frequent publisher of Sotloff's work.
Egypt says global action needed to counter Islamic State
Egypt's foreign minister said on Saturday ties existed between Islamic State, the group holding large parts of Iraq and Syria, and other militants in the region and that global action was needed to counter the threat.
Sameh Shukri, speaking at a Cairo news conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry, said regional militant groups shared the same ideology and must be dealt with.
Egypt's call for international action could bolster Kerry's bid to gather support for President Barack Obama's plan to strike both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi frontier to defeat Islamic State Sunni fighters.
Iran accuses US of violating sovereignty in anti-IS fight
The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council accused the United States on Saturday of violating the sovereignty of nations on the “pretext of fighting terrorism” in Iraq and Syria.
“On the pretext of fighting terrorism, the United States want to pursue their unilateral policies and violate the sovereignty of states,” Ali Shamkhani said, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.
He said Washington was “trying to divert the eyes of the world from its pivotal role in supporting and equipping the terrorists in Syria in a bid to topple the legitimate regime.”
Qatar expels prominent Muslim Brotherhood figures
Leaders of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood group and allied clerics said on Saturday that they are departing Qatar, where they had sought refuge following the ouster of Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and the crackdown on his supporters.
Their presence in Qatar had severely strained Doha’s relations with Egypt as well as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, all of which view the more than 85-year-old Islamist movement as a threat. The expulsion threatens to further isolate the group, which rose to power in Egypt through a string of post-Arab Spring elections but suffered a dramatic fall from grace during Morsi’s divisive year in office.
Former minister Amr Darrag, who was also the top foreign affairs official in the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, and fiery cleric Wagdi Ghoneim said they are leaving Qatar following a request to do so by the Gulf monarchy.
Administration Official Says Saudi Arabia Borders Syria
A senior Obama administration official is cited in a White House press release as saying “Saudi Arabia has an extensive border with Syria,” while speaking with a group of journalists and National Security Council Spokesperson Caitlin Hayden.
The conference call, which was meant to provide background information on President Obama’s Wednesday night address to the nation, involved Hayden and another unnamed Obama administration official who made the following statement:
For Many Iranians, the ‘Evidence’ Is Clear: ISIS Is an American Invention
Iranians are as obsessed as Americans these days with the black-clad gangs roaming Iraq and Syria and killing Shiites and other “infidels” in the name of Sunni Islam. At the supermarket, in a shared taxi or at a family gathering, conversations often turn to the mysterious group, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and how it came to be.
And for most Iranians, the answer is obvious: the United States.
“Come on, you know who has created ISIS,” said the supermarket owner, winking his right eye. “Admit it,” demanded the taxi driver, hitting his steering wheel to make his point. “It is so obvious!” concluded the talkative uncle at the birthday party.
ISIS, Iranian leaders have been saying for a long time, is made-in-the-U.S.A., a tool of terror intended by the world’s superpower to divide and conquer the energy-rich Middle East and to counter the growing influence of Iran in the region.
Iranian Deputy FM: American Sanctions Violate Geneva Deal
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi said Monday that there would be no deal between the P5+1 and Iran if the latter’s “demands are not met,” and that recent sanctions targeting the Islamic republic “violate the Geneva interim deal.”
Iran’s official PressTV news agency reports:
On August 29, the US government announced the imposition of the new round of sanctions on over 25 individuals and companies, including shipping firms, oil companies, airlines and six banks despite the fact that Iran and the six world powers are in the process of talks with the intention of resolving the West’s nuclear standoff with Iran.
He added that it will only be possible to reach a nuclear agreement by the November deadline if everyone remains committed to the objective of the negotiations.
Turkish government co-operated with al-Qaeda in Syria, says former US ambassador
Turkey has directly supported al-Qaeda's wing in Syria in defiance of the United States, the former American ambassador to Ankara has said.
The Turkish authorities thought they could work with extremist Islamist groups in the Syrian civil war and at the same time push them to become more moderate, Francis Ricciardone, who was until late June the US ambassador to Ankara, told journalists in a briefing.
That led them to work with Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda's branch, as well as hardline Salafi Islamist groups like Ahrar al-Sham. Mr Ricciardone said that he tried to persuade the Turkish government to close its borders to the groups, but to no avail.
"We ultimately had no choice but to agree to disagree," he said. "The Turks frankly worked with groups for a period, including al Nusra, whom we finally designated as we're not willing to work with."
Forty-Four Million Zionists in Turkey!
Last month, Georgia and Jak Karako, a prominent, affluent Jewish couple, were found stabbed to death in their apartment in Istanbul's upscale Ortakoy neighbourhood, amid President-elect Recep Tayyip Erdogan's thundering speeches that, "Israel was worse than Hitler," and regular attacks on Israel's diplomatic missions in Ankara and Istanbul, including rocks thrown at -- and hundreds of angry Turks trying to break into -- the diplomatic compounds. The mayor of Ankara, Melih Gokcek, was quoted as saying: "We will conquer the consulate of the despicable murderers."
Unfortunately, the Jewish couple had already been slain. But fortunately, this was not a crime motivated by anti-Semitism. The police quickly caught the suspects, an Uzbek couple who worked for the Karakos. They confessed to the killing. It was a simple criminal act like hundreds of others committed in Turkey everyday.
All the same, the poor couple's funeral service at the Ulus Askenazi Jewish cemetery was revealing. In fear of an attack, tight security scanned every guest. If you are a Jew in Turkey, not even funeral is peaceful. All synagogues in Turkey -- as well as Jewish (and some other non-Muslim) schools -- are heavily protected.
Security for Jewish buildings is justified, not a sign of paranoia.
Turkish President Erdogan's Expansive Ambitions
Erdoğan is apparently determined to impose a new political system on Turkey, replacing the parliamentary order with a state under a powerful president.
The constitution authorizes the president to call a cabinet meeting under certain circumstances. Otherwise, the president has no executive authority.
"[T]housands of children whose parents preferred secular institutions have been allocated places at Islamic schools." — Daniel Dombey, Financial Times.
Abuses of power will likely continue in Erdoğan's Turkey.
Dutch Jew Plans Shabbat ‘Kippah Walk’ to Protest Growing Muslim Anti-Semitism (VIDEO)
After enduring years of growing anti-Semitic hostility and harassment in his neighborhood, one Dutch Jew tells The Algemeiner that he’s had enough, and is planning a peaceful mass walk in protest, this weekend. “Something unique is happening here,” Fabrice Schomberg, 36, who lives in the Schilderswijk area of The Hague, said in a telephone interview on Thursday.
“There’s a lot of Muslims, Christians and Jews who are going to be walking with a kippah [Jewish skullcap] in my neighborhood in solidarity,” he said of the event, scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
While city officials have forbidden demonstrations after two pro-ISIS demonstrations on July 4th, and 24th, “the police are okay with the kippah walk; it is not a demonstration, so I don’t think there will be problems.”
Philadelphia Kosher Butchery Spray Painted With Swastikas
Owners of a Philadelphia kosher butchery arrived at their shop on Thursday morning to find it tagged with several large red swastikas, NBC News reported.
The anti-Semitic graffiti was scrawled across the storefront, back door and walls of Simon’s Glatt Kosher Meats Products in the city’s Oxford Circle. The vandals did not do any other damage to the property, according to police.
The shop has been owned by Simon and Ella Rachsmtut for 24 years. Their family fled Ukraine ahead of the Nazis in 1941, according to ABC News.
Germany To Fund Anti-Semitism Education for Muslim Youth
Germany is ready to allocate funds to tailor education about anti-Semitism for its Muslim citizens, its Jewish outreach official said.
Felix Klein, Germany’s special representative for relations with Jewish organizations, is in Washington this week to meet with Jewish groups and with Obama administration officials because of American concerns about a spike in anti-Semitism in Germany during the recent Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Many of the offenders were Muslims, and many of those were members of Germany’s substantial Turkish minority.
Hey, Monsters! Lady Gaga has arrived in Tel Aviv!
Lady Gaga has landed in Tel Aviv. And yes, thats another A list BDS fail.
Lady Gaza writes, via Twitter : " We are here Israel. I simply cannot wait to perform in Tel Aviv" Favorited 4,700 times. Retweeted 3,400 times.
Enough said.
Jewish couple weds in Berlin square to protest anti-Semitism
A Jewish couple held a public wedding at one of Berlin’s central squares to protest the growing number of anti-Semitic incidents there.
The ceremony, held last week under a chuppah at Potsdamer Platz, follows a an increase over the summer in anti-Semitic incidents in Berlin and elsewhere, most of them linked to tensions in the Middle East.
Rabbi Yehudah Teichtal, the director of the Chabad Lubavitch Jewish Educational Center in Berlin, identified the couple as Igor and Elina, immigrants from the former Soviet Union. He did not give the newlyweds’ surnames.
One hundred guests were invited to the an open-air wedding ceremony at this main traffic and pedestrian junction, and countless passersby took note. An estimated 70,000 people cross the plaza on a daily basis.
Teichtal said he convinced the couple not to have the ceremony at a hotel or in the enclosed Jewish center but on the street in the heart of Berlin, as a “demonstration” against recent anti-Semitic incidents.