Friday, October 31, 2014
Alan Dershowitz: A Challenge to Ed Miliband: Would You Protect Great Britain Against Terrorism?
My challenge to Ed Miliband: What would you have done if you were the Prime Minister of a country that faced comparable threats? It is easy to criticize the British Prime Minister for not having opposed Israel’s incursion into Gaza but, as the New York Times reported, (10/23/14) Miliband “did not outline an alternative security response.” Now he must. Would he have waited for dozens of death squads with hundreds of terrorists to enter Israel and wreak havoc on cities, towns and kibbutzim near the Gaza border? Would he have tried to attack the tunnel entrances from the air, despite the fact that many of them were located in mosques, schools, hospitals, private homes and densely populated civilian areas?Melanie Phillips: The academic intifada
The question British voters should ask is: What would Prime Minister Ed Miliband have done? What would he do if Britain were faced with comparable threats? His country, unlike tiny Israel, is an island separated from its traditional enemies by bodies of water. But one can imagine Scottish independent radicals digging tunnels into northeastern England. Or Irish radicals firing rockets into English cities on the West Coast? As opposition leader would Miliband criticize the current prime minister for trying to stop these attacks against British civilians? As Prime Minister would he do nothing and simply call for a cease fire and the resumption of talks, as he did with regard to the Israeli-Hamas conflict?
Miliband also rebuked Cameron for his “silence on the killing of innocent Palestinian civilians caused by Israel’s military action.” But Miliband himself has remained silent on Hamas’ deliberate use of human shields that has been the main cause for why Palestinian civilians were killed. As British military expert Richard Kemp said,
“No army in the world acts with as much discretion and great care as the IDF in order to minimize damage. The U.S. and the UK are careful, but not as much as Israel.”
The supposed crucible of knowledge, reason and enlightenment has turned into an incubator of hatred and bigotry, falsehoods and incitement, intellectual terrorism and physical violence. What we are seeing is an academic intifada. Yet in the face of this monstrous onslaught on Jewish students and perversion of scholarship to poison young minds against Israel, the leadership of Diaspora Jewry has done precious little.
Campaigners like Benjamin or groups such as Stand- WithUs (at whose meeting I spoke in Toronto this week) have been doing invaluable work countering the lies and helping support the beleaguered Jewish students. But they are doing it virtually alone and unaided. Given the nature and scale of what is going on, the silence from the Jewish community as a whole is quite astonishing.
Jewish leaders should be shouting from the rafters about what is happening on campus. They should be naming and shaming these bigoted lecturers for the hatred and lies they are spreading. They should be calling to account the university vice chancellors for failing to protect their Jewish students. They should be taking legal action against them for betraying their duty of care or allowing incitement of hatred, intimidation and discrimination on their watch. They should be jumping up and down over the way states such as Qatar or Saudi Arabia have twisted university curricula into hate-fueled or extremist propaganda outlets by pouring funds into university coffers.
But Jewish leaders aren’t doing any of this. Too timid to rock the boat, or maybe because they themselves don’t know enough to realize just how heinous are the lies being told about Israel, their instinct is instead often to try to marginalize, isolate or shut down some of these heroic folk trying to combat the falsehoods and intimidation on campus. This is shameful. A huge effort is needed to counter this evil with the hardest of home truths. Time our leaders woke up and smelled the coffee.
Israel and the Other PA: Perfidious Albion
The recent vote in Britain’s Parliament to recognize a Palestinian state (passed by 274 to 12) is, we are told, of no real consequence. Prime Minister Cameron’s government has said it signals no change in British policy.Starvation in Gaza? No, Obesity in Gaza.
But the vote was promoted by anti-Israel voices in Parliament that seek to pressure Israel into suicidal concessions; voices that support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, have called for a total European trade embargo against the Jewish state, and have compared Israel to Nazi Germany. It is of a piece with other anti-Israel actions in Britain in recent years.
This summer’s Gaza War was triggered by Hamas – which openly declares its dedication to the murder not only of all Israelis but of all Jews – unleashing an incessant barrage of rockets at Israeli cities and villages. Even the Palestinian Authority’s representative to the United Nations observed of Hamas’s campaign that “each and every missile constitutes a crime against humanity.” But in Britain, beyond Prime Minister Cameron’s assertion of Israel’s right to defend itself, the most visible, most vocal, full-throated and widely echoed contention was that Israel did not have a right to defend itself. Even as Hamas used civilians as human shields, the inevitable civilian deaths were evidence of Israel’s Jews being, in the words of a columnist for The Independent, “a child murdering community.” Such claims became also the message of large public demonstrations, which in turn were accompanied by mob attacks on Israel-associated and Jewish-associated targets and new calls for boycotts and other actions against the Jewish state. (h/t sophie44)
One of the most enduring myths of the struggle in the Middle East is that Israel is starving Gaza, or that "Israel has put Gaza on a diet". This lie is perpetuated by extremist groups like JVP that offer flyers for download on their website accusing Israel of “slowly starving” the people of Gaza.Will the BDS End Campaign Against SodaStream? Don’t Bet on It
It is also perpetuated by individuals such as Norwegian Doctor Mads Gilbert who knowingly promote falsified statistics
The reality is something very different. Its been well documented in peer reviewed medical journals.
There is an avoidable public health crisis in Gaza. Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiac disease are increasing dramatically. This is all associated with Western levels of obesity in the Gaza Strip. Obesity is also at epidemic levels in the West bank
In a statement that first appeared in The Guardian then, BDS spokesperson Rafeef Ziadah indicated that the movement was not impressed by the company new location either:UC Berkeley student group votes to disinvite Bill Maher; college overturns it
"Even if this announced closure goes ahead, SodaStream will remain implicated in the displacement of Palestinians. Its new Lehavim factory is close to Rahat, a planned township in the Naqab [Negev] desert, where Palestinian Bedouins are being forcefully transferred against their will. Sodastream, as a beneficiary of this plan, is complicit with this violation of human rights."
Never mind the fact that the Israeli investment in the Negev means more job opportunities for Bedouins living in the area. And let ignore the lost Palestinian jobs that might result from the West Bank factory’s closure – SodaStream said it was planning to see work permits for its Palestinian workers at the new plant.
The under-reported story here is that BDS has no intention of stopping, even when its demands are met. It is yet more proof that the BDS is a radical movement aiming for Israel’s destruction, not a change to Israel’s policies in the West Bank.
The controversy over having TV host Bill Maher speak at the University of California Berkeley has taken another turn. Well, make that two.Canada won’t let BDS get in its way, says top academic
If you remember, the outspoken comedian was selected as the school's 2014 fall commencement speaker, until students incensed by his anti-religious comments -- particularly his views on Islam -- started a petition to have him removed.
On Tuesday night, the student group that's tasked with selecting commencement speakers met and voted to withdraw Maher's invitation.
That would have been the end of the matter except the very next day, the college said it won't honor the vote.
"This university has not in the past and will not in the future shy away from hosting speakers who some deem provocative," the school said.
And Davidson, president and CEO of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, is not going to allow the BDS movement to prevent his country’s 97 universities and colleges from building beneficial relationships with Israel.Anti-Israel Group Advocates Illegal Disruption Of 'Zionist Normalization' Assemblies
“Boycotts are not a way to solve anything, and we strongly believe in developing and encouraging dialog to solve problems of all kinds. It’s for that reason we are holding a special conference this week to enhance that dialog, and allow institutions in both countries to develop better relationships,” Davidson said.
Davidson was referring to an international gathering of university and research leaders taking place in Ottawa this week to discuss national innovation systems and how they help universities drive the advancements that build prosperity. University presidents and innovation experts from Canada, Israel and Germany gathered for a policy dialogue called “Optimizing Canada’s Innovation system: Perspectives from Abroad.” About 100 academics – mostly university presidents from Canada, Israel, and Germany – took part in the event sponsored by the AUCC, which is an advocacy group that represents Canadian universities in the political and business spheres.
The response by Jewish education and advocacy groups was swift—on October 28, fifteen of these groups wrote to university presidents of more than 100 schools warning them of SJP’s plans and their legal ramifications. In the letter, the students argued, “The document is extremely troubling in that it outlines a clear strategy for targeting, ostracizing, harassing and silencing students. It advocates behavior consistent with ‘anti-Zionist normalization’ campaigns being waged by SJP groups across the country, whose explicit purpose, according to the Anti-Defamation League, is to delegitimize all pro-Israel perspectives and actively suppress their expression on college campuses.”New Israel Fund Under Renewed Scrutiny Over Funding for Israeli NGO Led by Boycott Activist
In one section of the leaked document, SJP prohibits leaders and members from collaborating or cooperating with Jewish and pro-Israel student groups, as well as anyone who has “aided and abetted Zionist student organizations”.
The New Israel Fund, the New York-based non-profit which granted nearly $27 million to left-wing and progressive NGOs in Israel according to its latest financial report, is again under scrutiny following revelations of extreme anti-Israel rhetoric by the Executive Director of the Human Rights Defenders Fund (HRDF,) a body supported financially by the NIF.Father of WTC Victim Blasts Haaretz Over Cartoon Showing Netanyahu as 9/11 Terrorist
A just-released fact sheet from NGO Monitor, an Israeli watchdog that monitors foreign funding for Israeli and Palestinian NGOs, discloses that the Executive Director of the HRDF, Alma Biblash, has described Israel in such inflammatory terms as “racist,” and “murderous.”
Biblash also described Israel as a “temporary Jewish apartheid state.” According to NGO Monitor, “Biblash also supports Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns and promotes the Palestinian ‘right of return,’ meaning the elimination of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.” An article on the “right of return” by Biblash for the anti-Zionist website +972 stated: “Implementing the right of return is the just solution both in terms of historical and present justice for Palestinian refugees. Approximately six million Palestinian refugees live across the world. There will be no justice until Israel recognizes its responsibility for the Nakba (the Palestinian term meaning catastrophe, used to describe Israel’s creation), and allows the dispossessed to return to their homes.”
Roman Gertsberg, whose 25 year-old daughter Marina was inside the World Trade Center complex when Al Qaeda terrorists crashed two planes into the twin towers, told The Algemeiner, “If this cartoon shows that Israel flies the plane into the World Trade Center, then it is the most ridiculous display I’ve ever seen. Nobody in their right mind should associate Israel with flying a plane into the WTC . It it very offensive to 9/11 families to distort the historical events of that tragic day in order to bring attention to one political statement or another.”Haaretz’s 9/11 Truther Gift to Anti-Semites
Gertsberg emphasized: “We know who the perpetrators were – Al Qaeda and all their supporters.”
The cartoon, by resident Haaretz artist Amos Biderman, has drawn an angry response since being posted online this morning. Many critics expressed surprise and dismay that an Israeli newspaper would fuel the myth that Israel had a role in the 9/11 atrocity, a favored theme of the so-called “9/11 Truth” movement.
One commenter on the Haaretz website said: “It’s simply unbelievable that you don’t have any shame in comparing Netanyahu to the mass murderers of 9/11.” Another added: “You’re allowed to incite against the sitting prime minister in a much worse way than there was before the assassination of [prime minister Yitzhak] Rabin.”
This is not a question of, as Biderman says, his not understanding the delicate sensibilities of Americans about 9/11. While we know that Haaretz often reads as if its staff lives in a different Middle East than other more sensible Israelis, Biderman’s cartoon seems to come from a different planet from the rest of us. On Planet Earth, it is well known that one of the cornerstones of contemporary anti-Semitism is the canard that Israel blew up the Twin Towers on 9/11, not al-Qaeda and that Jews didn’t show up to work in their offices in buildings that day. This is an obvious, astonishing lie that seemingly would be believed only by the insane, but the willingness of large numbers of Muslims to buy into it is proof of the strength of Jew-hatred in the Arab world.Indy buries shooting of Yehuda Glick, focuses instead on Temple Mount closing
Haaretz’s decision to give this vicious myth tangible support is more than an astonishing lapse of judgment. It is a sign that the newspaper is so obsessed with its futile crusade against Netanyahu (who looks to be a lock for a third term the next time Israel goes to the polls) that they have lost sight of the fact that even Haaretz-style left-wing Israelis are hated just as much by 9/11 truthers as supporters of the Likud.
The article would suggest that the Israeli response to the attempted murder of Glick, to prevent further violence, is of greater importance than the terrorist attack itself. Indeed, out of 13 total paragraphs in the article, only 3 deal with the shooting.CiF Watch prompts correction to Times of London Palestinian ‘bus ban’ claim
The Independent’s editorial focus in these latest two articles represents yet another example of the British media’s myopic and often obsessive scrutiny of every Israeli act, as well as their failure to take Palestinian extremism and violence seriously.
While the new regulations, if implemented, would require Palestinian laborers entering Israel through the Eyal checkpoint to head home at night through the same checkpoint from which they entered, thus resulting in a serious reduction in the number of Palestinians returning on Israeli bus lines, there’s nothing in the new rules even suggesting that Palestinians would no longer be allowed to ride Israeli lines.A BBC journalist does his job
Shortly after our post, we contacted editors at Times of London to complain about the false characterization of the new regulations, and today they issued the following correction in the online and print editions.
Although comparatively rare, it is always a pleasure to be able to note that a BBC journalist has reported accurately and impartially on a topic connected to Israel.BBC both amplifies and conceals PA incitement in report on Jerusalem attack
In among a long and interesting – but bleak – article titled “Gay community hit hard by Middle East turmoil” published in the Features & Analysis section of the BBC News website’s Middle East page on October 29th, James Longman wrote:
“One refuge in the region for some is Israel, one of the most progressive countries in the world for LGBT rights.
In other words, visitors to the BBC News website who read either of the first two versions of the article were not informed that Temple Mount (known as such not only by Israelis and long before the BBC’s obviously preferred title ‘Al-Aqsa compound’ came into existence) is the holiest site for Jews due to its being the location of the First and Second Temples. The failure to clarify that fact and the BBC’s use of the inaccurate phrase “Jewish claims to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound” obviously misleads readers. Neither were audiences adequately informed why it is that non-Muslims (not just Jews) are currently not allowed to pray at the site or why, for example, a Christian wearing a crucifix would not be permitted to visit.BBC’s Connolly omits context from reports on Gaza reconstruction, promotes Hamas-linked charity
Connolly is obviously less interested in adhering to BBC editorial guidelines on impartiality by informing BBC audiences of the fact that Human Appeal International is one of several British charities which come under the umbrella of the Muslim Brotherhood’s fund-raising network for Hamas – the ‘Union of Good’ – chaired by Qatar-based Yusuf Qaradawi. As such, HAI is banned by Israel, has appeared on the US State Department’s list of charities linked to terrorism since 1996 and was cited by the FBI as a recipient of funds from the convicted Special Designated Terrorist Entity the Holy Land Foundation.Russian Arms Sales to Syria, Iran Add to Middle East Instability
In 2005 Human Appeal International was one of two charities named on the charge sheet against Ahmad Salatna – a Hamas activist from Jenin who headed the Jenin Zakat Society and was convicted of providing some £6.2 million of funds originating in Europe to Hamas cells, suicide bombers and their families.
Putin’s Russia has revived its once flagging global arms sales business and is using those sales to revive its defense industrial base. Second to only the United States with about a 26 percent share of the global arms market—the United States has a 30 percent share—Russian arms sales in 2013 generated some 13 billion dollars for government coffers according to the pro-government Russia Today.UN Confirms Iran Arms Transfers to Lebanon Would Violate Security Council Sanctions
Other sources, such as the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), claim that the annual value of Russian arms sales, which the Russian government cloaks in secrecy, often exceeds that of the United States.
The obvious financial benefits tell but a small part of the value Russia derives from its arms sales abroad. Unlike the United States where large private corporations such as Lockheed and Raytheon compete for arms contracts, since 2007 Russia has relied on the state-controlled consortium Rosoboronexport to monopolize Russian arms sales and to advance Russian foreign policy objectives.
The Iranian arms offer is an apparent effort to counter a Saudi Arabian pledge to provide at least $3 billion of arms to the LAF. But the NOW report noted that an Iranian arms transfer would violate United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 from 2007.CNN Interviews Yazidi Girl Kidnapped and Raped by Islamic State Terrorists
One key argument made by opponents – both domestic and international – of Tehran’s proposal is that it would contravene international law. Article 5 of UN Security Council Resolution 1747, passed in 2007, “[d]ecides that Iran shall not supply, sell or transfer directly or indirectly […] any arms or related materiel, and that all States shall prohibit the procurement of such items from Iran.”
A 19-year old Kurdish Yazidi girl who was kidnapped by the Islamic State recounted a harrowing tale of how IS members systematically enslave and rape young girls captured by the terrorist group.ISIS Tempting Israeli Arabs With Free ‘All-Included’ Recruiting Getaways in Turkey
“They came to the village and said, you have to convert to Islam or we will kill you,” the girl, identifying herself as Jana, said.
Yazidis, who practice a syncretic religion tied to Zoarastrianism and ancient Mesopotamian religions, are considered “devil-worshippers” by IS fundamentalists.
Jana told CNN’s Ivan Watson that hundreds of girls were rounded up by IS members and taken to a three-story house in Mosul, Iraq, where they were offered as sex slaves for IS men.
The Islamic State is nothing if not media and marketing savvy. The international terrorist group is offering Israeli Arabs an all-expenses-paid visit to a resort in Turkey, including airfare and hotel, in order to entice them to join the organization, Israel’s Ch. 2 News reported Thursday.One in seven young Britons has sympathy with Isis cause
Dozens of Israeli Arabs and Bedouins recently took part in the attractive offer, in which they were enticed to undergo military training in Syria. However, after pressure from their families, they repented and returned to Israel – and are apparently not expected to stand trial.
‘M’, a twenty-something Israeli Arab from northern Israel, flew to Turkey with a group of like-minded youth, and stayed there for three nights in a hotel. He was supposed to join one of ISIS’s sectors in northern Syria, in the volatile triangle bordering Iraq and Turkey.
One in seven young British adults has “warm feelings” towards Islamic State, according to a poll.MEMRI: Iran's Pragmatic Camp Calls For Exploiting Obama's Weakness To Attain Comprehensive Nuclear Agreement On Tehran's Terms
Isis is riding a surge of “anti-politics” sentiment among disaffected under-35s who admire the jihadists’ courage, academics warn.
A tenth of Londoners and one in 12 Scots view Islamic State (Isis) favourably, but sympathy for the militant group reaches its highest levels among the under-25s, the Populus survey found.
In the first rigorous poll to test the UK’s feelings about Isis, 2,000 adults were asked to rank several countries and terrorist organisations on a scale of one to ten, according to how “warmly and favourably” they felt about them.
Although an overwhelming majority of the public — 88 per cent — gave Isis a low score, 5.2 per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds gave it a nine or a ten. Overall, 14 per cent of under-25s and 12 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds gave Islamic State a score of between six and ten, implying a degree of sympathy.
The second six-month extension of the talks between Iran and the P5+1, allowed for in the Geneva document of November 2013, will expire on November 24, 2014. As this deadline draws near, the pragmatic camp in Iran, headed by President Hassan Rohani's patron Hashemi Rafsanjani, which is directing the negotiations with the U.S. administration, is pressuring the Obama administration to reach a comprehensive agreement with Iran on the latter's terms. According to the pragmatic camp's view, the Obama administration desperately needs a substantial achievement to show for its term in office, and therefore this is the time to pressure it.West blamed for acid attacks on Iranian women
The pragmatic camp's pressure on the U.S. administration utilizes two strategies: on the one hand, enticing the U.S. administration to accept Iran's position in the negotiations in return for Iranian assistance in resolving other Middle East crises, especially the ISIS problem, and even hinting at a possibility of Iran-U.S. normalization; and on the other hand, threatening that a rejection of Tehran's position will result in Iran's ideological camp – which is hostile to the U.S. and to the detente with it – rising to power in the next elections.
Ali Younesi, Rohani's advisor on religious minorities, said on October 18, 2014 that the ISIS crisis, and Barack Obama's being "the weakest president the U.S. has ever had," provide Iran with a one-time opportunity to bend Washington to its will in the nuclear negotiations.
Moslehi told the government-affiliated news service that “foreign agents” were responsible for the attacks in Isfahan, where at least eight women have been doused with acid by unknown attackers riding motorcycles.Bar anti-Semitic Muslim clergyman from Belgium, watchdog urges
The unprovoked attacks have left victims badly burned, disfigured and blind.
The former minister said that he believed the attacks were orchestrated by foreigners in an attempt to defeat a controversial bill in Iran’s parliament that would legalize the activities of vigilantes who patrol the streets and punish people for un-Islamic behavior.
A Belgian watchdog on anti-Semitism asked the government to block a Kuwaiti preacher who called for Jews to be eradicated from attending an Islamic conference in Brussels.Jewish heritage sites in Arab counties face extinction
Tarek al-Swaidan, a leader of Kuwait’s branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, is expected to attend the Muslim Forum of Brussels on Nov. 7, the Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism, or LBCA, said in a statement Wednesday.
The group motioned the Belgian Foreign Ministry to block his entrance into the country.
“An open anti-Semite, he declared only last July that the State of Israel must be destroyed along with all the Jews,” the LBCA statement said.
This could have been the picture of Jewish tourism in Iraq, the ancient home to many of the Bible's characters. Until the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, it was still possible to dream of a celebration at the grave of Nahum, or of prayer services at the grave of Ezekiel and a visit to the Jewish quarter in Baghdad.The welcome rise of Israel's sun in the east
But those who had dreamed of a better future in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein have had a rude awakening. The new Iraq has treated its own heritage -- the Babylonian, Christian, Muslim and, of course, Jewish -- with sheer brutality, and far worse than the old Iraq ever did. Terrorism on a daily basis, religious fanaticism and a weak and corrupt government -- all these have led to the utter ruin of human life and of important heritage sites all over the country.
As the sound of an explosion rips through the air, another golden dome of an ancient Shiite mosque falls into the building. Another museum is looted by Islamic State terrorists; another ancient Jewish home is consumed by flames. The mosques in the important Shiite city of Najaf were demolished countless times by Sunni terrorists; the Baghdad Museum was looted; and the remnants of American tanks now riddle the ancient city of Babylon.
Israel is also deepening its strategic ties with India. The two were at odds during the Cold War, as India aligned with the Soviet Union. For years, the Congress Party refused to establish diplomatic relations with Israel for fear of alienating India’s Muslim minority at home and India’s diplomatic allies abroad. This policy was criticized by the Hindu nationalist opposition. With the end of the Cold War, India lost its Soviet backer. As the Indo-Pakistani rivalry deteriorated and Islamic terrorism spread, India turned to Israel for its military and technological expertise. The post-Cold War alliance between Israel and India received a new impetus with the electoral victory of the pro-Israel Hindu BJP party in 1998 and, more recently, in 2014. Today, India is Israel’s largest military market (accounting for nearly half of its worldwide military exports), and Israel’s second largest Asian trade partner after China. The new Indian government just announced that it would purchase $13.1 billion worth of Israeli military equipment and technology, rejecting a competing US offer.Unpaid envoys champion Israel in places official diplomacy can’t reach
The same goes for Japan, a country that had to downgrade its relations with Israel following the 1973 oil embargo imposed by the Arab members of OPEC. But with its chronic economic stagnation, Japan now understands that its growth depends less on Arab oil than on Israeli technology. Last week, Toyota ITC (Info Technology Center) held its first hackathon in Israel. Japan is purchasing Israeli technology for cyber-security, mobile apps, and robotics.
Israel’s deepening diplomatic, military and economic ties with Asia’s major powers constitute a welcome development. International relations are about power. The fact that the world’s emerging powers, who used to shun the Jewish state, now value their ties with Israel is a clear indication that Israel has reached an unprecedented level of economic and technological might. Never before in its history has Israel enjoyed such global clout.
Israel’s diplomatic corps has a Minor League. Besides the state’s 82 ambassadors and 21 consuls-general, there are also 77 accredited honorary consuls. Mostly prominent jurists and entrepreneurs, they were recruited to represent the Jewish state in far-flung parts of the globe — places where Israel’s professional diplomats rarely reach.Startup Funding for Q3 in Israel Tops $701 Million Despite Summer War
They include the former prime minister of Kazakhstan, Sergey Tereshchenko, who is based in Almaty, and Jewish and non-Jewish volunteer diplomats from Aruba to Yerevan, from Porto to Osaka.
“An honorary consul is a respected citizen of a country (which may or may not have a permanent Israeli mission) who represents Israel in that country,” according to the Foreign Ministry. Benny Gilbert, for example, is based in Bridgetown, Barbados, and Leliana Firisua on the Solomon Islands. In both states Israel has neither embassy nor consulate.
The Israeli tech website Geektime reported yesterday that despite Hamas’ rocket war against Israel this past summer, funding for Israeli startups remains strong. Geektime interviewed Koby Simana, CEO of IVC Research Center, to provide some perspective on the meaning of the numbers.Israel develops a maritime ‘Iron Dome’
“We have been asked repeatedly about the effect of Operation Protective Edge on the local high-tech industry and on capital raising in particular,” says Simana. “Examining the data now, we are pleased to note that the Gaza conflict barely impacted high-tech capital raising. Traditionally, the third quarter tends to be the weakest for capital raising in any given year, but Q3/2014 ranked as the third best quarter ever, and one of the top three quarters in the past decade.”
Israel’s “Iron Dome” is heading to the seas, the maker of the rocket-blocking defense system says.Could an Israeli-created innovation end world hunger?
State-owned defense contractor Rafael wants to leverage the system’s much-vaunted success in protecting Israeli civilians in this summer’s Gaza war, hoping to draw navies as buyers for a new maritime version seen as especially useful in protecting national economic resources at sea like oil and gas platforms.
At this week’s Euronaval conference near Paris, Rafael unveiled “C-Dome,” which endeavors to help combat vessels counteract any threats from the air, including missiles, helicopters and tiny unmanned drone aircraft, which could increasingly become tools of combat and reconnaissance at sea just as they have on land in recent years.
Between a third and half of the food grown today never makes it to market. Produce of all kinds is “lost” to spoilage and disease, due mostly to transportation, storage, and other logistics issues. As a result, hundreds of millions of people still go hungry – but they don’t have to, thanks to an invention by Israel’s Pimi Agro. By applying a formula based on hydrogen peroxide — “with a few key additions,” said Nimrod Ben-Yehuda, CTO and co-founder of Pimi – fruits and vegetables remain fresh and viable for up to 10 weeks, significantly cutting losses due to rot and deterioration during the transportation process.
Technology like this, he believes, could make a major dent in world hunger. In the coming months, Pimi plans to introduce these inventions to the United Nations and other international institutions. “For places like India, China, and Africa, this is huge, especially because the transportation systems in those areas are slow and refrigeration is hard to come by,” said Ben-Yehuda. “You could walk from one end of India to the other over a period of 10 weeks, and the vegetables and fruit you carry will still be fresh for the entire time.”
