Monday, March 02, 2015
Why the silence of the left on anti-Semitism?
Moreover, confronting the resurgence of anti-Semitism would mean accepting that the demonisation of Israelis and Jewish diaspora – such as the toxic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign that effectively calls for the destruction of Israel – has in part contributed to the legitimation of violent attacks against the Jews of Europe.Chloe Valdary: To The Students for Justice in Palestine, A Letter from an Angry Black Woman
Instead, we have seen a bizarre reversal of victimhood. The first instinct of many, rather than sympathise with the victims of terror, has been to warn against a potential Islamophobic backlash. According to this warped and infantilising logic, Muslims, as the "new" Jews, are all innocent victims of Western (and Israeli) imperialism and racism.
No one wishes to see the peaceful majority of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims subject to discrimination because of the actions of a minority. We are not, as Roger Cohen has written in these pages, at "war with Islam". However, fear of giving offence or singling out a minority for criticism is scarcely a reason not to oppose anti-Semitism.
What then is to be done? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wrong to call for Europe's 1.4 million Jews to consider a mass aliyah to Israel. This suggestion can only embolden the thugs seeking to hunt the Jewish people off the continent.
Rather the solution is easy and begins with us. We need to talk about the threat of modern anti-Semitism not as some 1930s throwback but as a real and present danger. The next time you are privy to anti-Semitic abuse, speak up. The next time a protest calls for the destruction of Israel, or explains away terrorism with "but Israel", speak up.
Do so as a matter of principle. But we should also not forget the darkest chapter of European history: fascists come for the Jews first and never stop there.
The student organization, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is prominent on many college campuses, preaching a mantra of “Freeing Palestine.” It masquerades as though it were a civil rights group when it is not. It is thus high time to expose its agenda and lay bare some of the fallacies they peddle.Voice of Israel: Melanie Phillips 'Down Under': Australian Attitudes to Israel
- If you seek to promulgate the legacy of Arab colonialistswho raped and pillaged the Middle East, subjugated the indigenous peoples living in the region, and foisted upon them a life of persecution and degradation—you do not get to claim the title of “Freedom Fighter.”
- If you support a racist doctrine of Arab supremacism and wish (as a corollary of that doctrine) to destroy the Jewish State, you do not get to claim that the prejudices you peddle are forms of legitimate “resistance.”
- You do not get to justify the calculated and deliberate bombings, beatings, and lynchings of Jewish men, women, and children by referring to such heinous occurrences as part of a noble “uprising” of the oppressed—that is racism. It is evil.
- You do not get to pretend as though you and Rosa Parks would have been great buddies in the 60s. Rosa Parks was a real Freedom Fighter. Rosa Parks was a Zionist.
Coretta Scott King was a Zionist.
A. Phillip Randolph was a Zionist.
Bayard Rustin was a Zionist.
Count Basie was a Zionist.
Dr. Martin Luther King Sr. was a Zionist.
VOI's Melanie Phillips has been "Down Under," chatting with Australian MP Josh Frydenberg and journalist Miranda Devine about Australian attitudes towards Israel and Islamic extremism. She also meets two women with remarkable stories to tell: novelist Suzy Zail on how she started writing Holocaust fiction for teenagers, and tsunami survivor Rebekah Giles, who made an astonishing discovery about her identity.
Mahmoud Abbas is No Moderate
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently marched with world leaders in Paris in a gesture of unity after Islamic extremists slaughtered 17 people. While much of the Western world agrees that Hamas is a terrorist organization, Abbas has been hailed by many as being a brave and moderate figure who wants peace with Israel. Such characterizations fail to take key facts about Abbas into consideration, making his participation in the anti-terror march absurd.The Global Pogrom Can Be Stopped. Here's How
In 1982, Abbas completed his doctoral thesis, titled “The Secret Connection between the Nazis and the Zionist Movement.” Abbas wrote that the estimated number of Jews killed during the Holocaust, was “less than one million.” He also claimed that the Zionist leadership collaborated with the Nazi regime to “facilitate the wide-spread destruction” of Jews. Abbas’ thesis later took the form of a book, which was printed in 1984 by a publisher based in Amman, Jordan. In the introduction to his book, Abbas asserted again that the number of Jews killed was less than one million. Abbas also claimed that there were doubts regarding the existence of gas chambers.
It is rather ironic that Abbas constructs a supposed Nazi-Zionist conspiracy, considering the very real connection between Adolf Hitler and former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini. Al-Husseini was considered by many to be one of the major founders of Palestinian Arab nationalism. During the Second World War, he collaborated with Nazi Germany and helped recruit Bosnian Muslims for the Waffen-SS, many of whom later fought against the nascent State of Israel during the 1948 War of Independence. Al-Husseini also sought Hitler’s help in extending the Nazis’ genocidal anti-Jewish program from Europe to Arab lands. This happened during a personal meeting between the two that took place in 1941.
Why can’t we wait?After federal court finds that PA and PLO are terrorist groups, Obama must follow suit and cut aid
First, there is the simple fact that the Pogrom has already claimed too many victims. It has steadily escalated from individual acts of violence, such as the murder of Ilan Halimi and the Toulouse massacre, to full-scale mob attacks against Jews and Jewish sites. And like most diseases, if left untreated, it will get worse. As journalist Ben Cohen has noted, the Pogrom has already become a mass movement, and if it is not stopped, it could well result in mayhem and murder on a much larger scale. Again, it is not the Holocaust; but the casualty rate is already unacceptable, and there is no reason to think it will not rise precipitously if action is not taken.
Second, the Jews of Europe and countries such as Turkey are facing what can only be described as a de facto expulsion. Life for them is becoming impossible, and they are acting accordingly. Aliyah rates are already skyrocketing; and many European Jews are seriously considering other options, such as the UK or the United States. This is, of course, an understandable response, and one to which the Jews have unfortunately adapted over the course of centuries. But we should not turn away from what it is: Whether by indifference or design, the expulsion of a people is a crime against humanity. And all people have a moral obligation to prevent such things by whatever means necessary to do so. And if these means are not employed, and employed soon, the wave of emigration may well become impossible to arrest. Five centuries after the expulsion from Spain and 70 years after the Holocaust, the world will, in effect, have consented to another, if less terrible, crime against humanity and the Jewish people.
At a time when Iran, the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism is marching toward nuclear weapons, when Islamic State (IS) is beheading people merely for being Christian, when Boko Haram is kidnapping girls for going to school, the Obama administration needs to take the issue of terrorism as seriously as the jury did on Monday.The “kefiah lobby” influencing Italian politics
Consider the message it would signal if the US government cut funding to the PA – an entity widely and as evidenced by the February 23 ruling, incorrectly – labeled “moderate.” Other “more radical” organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, IS, Boko Haram and others, would be put on notice. And states like Iran and Qatar who fund these entities would receive a clear warning.
Indeed, it would be suspect if the US opts to continue funding the PA given the federal court’s decision. How can we condemn Iran, Qatar and others for sponsoring terrorism if we continue to sponsor an entity that has been deemed a terrorist organization by our own courts? Justice was served on Monday, but there is more to do. The United States must cut aid to the PA, and it must do so expeditiously.
It is a shame, and even a bit pathetic, that pro-Palestinian motions in the Italian Parliament should be voted the very day after a US court ruled that the Palestinian Authority must pay more than 650 million dollars to American citizens for attacks in Israel in the early 2000s. We are speaking of Abu Mazen’s Palestinian Authority, the one that reached an agreement with Hamas for a coalition government, the one that cannot go a day without a message of hatred for the Jews and of praise for the terrorists who it keeps sustaining in prison. It is a shame, because, in contrast with what all the presented and discussed motions say, the vote has been decided not to foster the peace process (which this way, on the contrary, will come to a stall), but because of the zealotry of a whole world of uncontrollable pro-Palestinians who act on slogans endlessly repeated by the powerful propaganda machine of the Palestinian lobby. Millions of people in Italy and Europe are part of it, and they have to be indulged. The pro-Palestinian lobby is actually anti-Israeli. Those who dare to say the word “anti-Semite” have to pay a fine, and I can say I know a thing or two about it.French PM Valls Says Anti-Zionist Jew-Hatred Has ‘All the Components of Antisemitism, the Old Ones’
The lobby has Italian fathers; a source of inspiration for a distorted vision that, as in the times when the world was divided in opposing blocs, makes the Palestinians a people persecuted by the US-Israeli imperialism and Israel a country of apartheid, genocide and so on. A heap of nonsense organized by hundreds of associations that engage in sit-ins, boycotts and voluntary work in Ramallah.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said in a weekend interview with The Wall Street Journal that the anti-Israel and anti-Zionist sentiments spreading in French society have all the necessary elements to be considered antisemitism.Phyllis Chesler: Empowering Jihad: The Deadly Myth of a 'root cause'
The new type of Jew-hatred began in the 1970s, according to Valls, and he described it as having “all the components of antisemitism, the old ones,” including a “plot”-based view of imagined Jewish conspiracies.
“Step by step,” the elites’ anti-Semitism “followed a migration and impacted young people in the poor neighborhoods,” Valls said.
“There will always be a couple of idiots who desecrate Jewish cemeteries—the petit Nazis,” Valls added. “But unfortunately I think that the anti-Semitism that struck French society is much deeper than that. In 2013 or 2014, you have people in the streets of Paris chanting ‘Death to the Jews!’ And in all the attacks in Paris or the attacks in Copenhagen, targeting the Jews is really at the heart of their motivation.”
Which brings us to the way that President Obama and others are part of the problem.Lies Of Jihad John’s British Supporters Exposed
The Western liberal elites who reinforce the belief that Muslims and Arabs have been persecuted, profiled, spied upon, discriminated against, etc. are enhancing the resentiment at the root of radical jihad.
This is just a new version of a long-standing problem on the left.
In "The Tears of the White Man: Compassion as Contempt" and "The Tyranny of Guilt: An Essay on Western Masochism," Pascal Bruckner observed that Western left-wingers turned their romance with totalitarian communism into a dangerous flirtation with Third World struggles.
Delusions of solidarity with and compassion for "the wretched of the earth," he notes, empowered anti-Western, anti-Semitic and anti-colonial hatreds.
Safely situated leftists engaged in "pseudo-revolutionary posturing" and "political playacting," which sacrificed women, infidels, dissidents and apostates.
Western elites view themselves as anti-racists ushering in a better world. Too bad they never think it through: Down with the Evil Western Empire, up with the . . . Even More Evil Islamist Empire?
At the press conference CAGE made a number of claims about the British state and the security services, which they later found hard to backup. CAGE claimed: “Britain has multiplied its military interventions in Muslim countries”, whereas in fact there are no military interventions by the British in Muslim countries today. They also said Muslims are, “in the worst case tortured, rendered or killed, seemingly on the whim of the security services” but they have been unable to come up with the names of anyone who was put in this position.Is Argentina Safe for Jews?
The most shocking fact about CAGE’s claims is the extent to which they are believed, regular polling suggests that huge numbers of Muslims believe them. This has enabled groups like the now banned Al-Muhajiroun to recruit young Muslims to the cause of radical Islam, and then for others to convert this support into terrorism. The process has been so successful that a significant number of terrorists convicted in the UK have links to Al-Muhajiroun.
CAGE itself is run by Asim Qureshi, a public school educated rich kid who lives in a £530,000 property in Surrey. He once conceded that he had been “very fortunate” growing up, having never personally experienced any of the oppression against Muslims that he later became so concerned about.
The death, indeed the likely assassination, of Alberto Nisman may remain as unsolved as the case he died investigating. But one thing is crystal clear: The lives of Nisman, Timerman, and the AMIA victims tell us something about the worth of Jewish lives in Argentina.Argentine president rebukes Israel, says dead prosecutor praised her
Timerman frequently mentions his Jewishness and regards himself as an example of how good things are for Jews in Argentina. In many ways, he’s right about that. He is foreign minister, after all. Axel Kiciloff, the economy minister, is also Jewish. He is believed to be a particular favorite of President Fernández de Kirchner, who appears to believe that Jewish people are possessed of quasi-magical qualities, making it a good idea to have some of them around. In her initial reaction to Nisman’s death, she asked how anyone could believe that Timerman, who “professes the Jewish faith and is Jewish”—to use her bizarre construction—could possibly have done anything illegal during the negotiations with Iran. Timerman too has never been slow to bring up his Jewish origins whenever the government’s relations with Iran have been questioned.
It would be interesting, however, to know what he feels, if anything, when he is referred to in one of Nisman’s phone taps as a “f*cking little Jew” by Jorge Alejandro “Yusuf” Khalil, one of Tehran’s local contacts in Argentina and a key figure in the backchannel negotiations with Tehran.
Nisman was also Jewish, but made no particular fuss about that fact. His enemies, however, never forgot it, and the unceasing flow of death threats he received rarely failed to include a cataract of anti-Semitic abuse. When he went public with grave allegations that the Argentine government had broken the law in order to exculpate the murderers of dozens of its citizens, and had done so through a pact with one of the most anti-Semitic regimes on earth, it didn’t take long for a bullet to end his life.
Kirchner, known for fiery, populist rhetoric, made the comments about the documents at the end of her nearly four-hour speech. When opposition legislators held signs saying “Open the Archives!” on the community center bombing, she launched into a vigorous defense of all she had to bring justice in the case.Pro-Israel MPs fight back in Parliament, attack Hamas’s policies
The bombing had become a “chessboard of national and international politics,” she said.
In particular, she took aim at Israel, saying the country had shown tremendous interest in getting justice for the community center bombing but not in the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, which killed 29.
Nobody has been convicted in either attack.
“Why does the state of Israel demand (justice) for AMIA,” she said, referring to the Spanish acronym of the community center, “and not for the blowing up of their own embassy?”
It wasn’t clear what, if anything, Kirchner was implying. The president often makes vague accusations that other nations are meddling in Argentina’s affairs.
LONDON – Pro-Israel MPs showed that Parliament is not dominated by the Jewish state’s critics, during a debate in the House of Commons’ second chamber, Westminster Hall, initiated by Labor Friends of Israel.Which cola should I boycott?
The LFI vice chairman, Scottish MP Michael McCann, launched a strong attack last week on Hamas and its role destabilizing Gaza in a 90-minute debate that, for once, had more pro-Israel MPs contributing than usual.
He said that, all too often when violence breaks out in Gaza, there is a rush by MPs to condemn Israel matched by a “pedestrian-paced admonishment of the Hamas violence that has started that same trouble.”
McCann laid responsibility for the last three Gaza wars and the problems since last summer squarely with Hamas and he urged that it is important to break the cycle of Hamas not supporting the people of Gaza and continuing its war against Israel.
“I will put on the record that Hamas is preparing for further attacks on Israel as this debate takes place,” he said before calling on the international community to put an end to the threats posed by Hamas and other groups by “halting rearmament and urgently pursuing disarmament in the Gaza Strip.”
A little Internet searching showed a huge amount of similar material attacking the Atlanta giant for Israel connections among other lesser crimes. The BDS movement clearly has it in its sights. Pepsi for some reason is less of a concern.Jewish Communal Fund Provides Millions To New Israel Fund
On a recent visit to the shuk in Jerusalem I drank Coca Cola Zero (must mind the waistline) and on checking the can discovered that it was bottled in Ramallah. In fact, Coke has been produced as a Palestinian product since 1998 and depending on who you reference is either the Authority’s third or fifth largest manufacturer. They also distribute in Gaza and are planning to open up a plant there. Israel approved the plant before its war with Hamas in Gaza this summer. Gaza already has a Pepsi plant.
It should be needles to say that this Palestinian employer depends on Israel for raw materials, packaging and just about everything not locally available.
Once again as they did with Soda Stream, BDS is shooting (itself) in the Palestinians’ collective feet.
Please note the heroic effort I made not to connect the words ZERO & PALESTINE in your collective minds. Oops, I just did.
The Jewish Communal Fund, (JCF) the largest Jewish donor advised fund in the country, manages $1.3 billion in charitable assets for 3,100 funds. An organization for the mega-rich, they facilitate and promote charitable giving to sectarian and nonsectarian organizations through donor-advised funds and provide support to Jewish organizations.BoD weighs in on BBC’s rejection of Willcox complaints
Amongst their very rich donor list – which can be found here – there are a plethora of very wealthy Jewish philanthropists from across the political and religious spectrum. So too, are the charities to which these donors give generously to across the political spectrum – from yeshivas to community centers, settlements to healthcare organizations. They do very important philanthropic work.
Yet, buried in the tax-returns of the JCF, one finds that they funneled millions of dollars to NIF in the last few years. That is not OK. By reviewing the website of NIF, one sees that “NIF will thus not exclude support for organizations that discourage the purchase of goods or use of services from settlements.”
The Jewish Chronicle informs us that the Board of Deputies of British Jews (the main representative body of Jews in Britain) has commented on the BBC Editorial Complaints Unit’s rejection of complaints made by members of the public about statements from Tim Willcox during a report from Paris on January 11th.WillcoxBBC inaccurately promotes Banksy propaganda as a ‘documentary’
“The Board of Deputies has condemned the BBC for not taking action against Tim Willcox after his interview with a Jewish woman about the terrorist attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris sparked anger. […]
Board vice president Jonathan Arkush said: “It’s remarkable that the BBC could have reviewed the evidence and dismissed the complaints against Tim Willcox so airily and it raises very serious questions over the objectivity of the inquiry.
“The BBC is clearly unfit to be the judge and jury in cases when it is also the accused.” “
The Oxford dictionary defines a documentary as:The Guardian Electrifies Israeli Security Barrier
“A film or television or radio programme that provides a factual report on a particular subject.”
The key word in that definition is of course ‘factual': defined as “concerned with what is actually the case”.
So, when the BBC describes something as a documentary, it is in fact telling its audience that the information in that film is true and endorsing its content as fact.
A filmed report which appeared on the BBC News website (as well as on BBC television news programmes) on February 26th was accompanied by a synopsis which opens:
“One of the most famous graffiti artists in the world, Banksy, has turned his attention to the streets and walls of the Gaza Strip for a new documentary.”
The report also makes comparisons with Israel’s security barrier:Twitter battleground for campaigns by — and against — MP Galloway
Kenya is going to build a wall. Not just any wall, but a “separation barrier”, to employ the euphemism coined by Israel to describe the towering, snaking structure that now separates it from Palestine’s West Bank.
Not a huge surprise that The Guardian has unilaterally given a non-existent Palestinian state ownership over the West Bank. However, the report also contains a glaring factual error:
Most famous, however, is Israel’s separation barrier – nearly 500 miles long, it alternates between rows of barbed wire and electrified fencing and eight-metre high concrete walls.
“Electrified fencing” implies that anyone who touches the structure will be electrocuted, perhaps even fatally. The reality, however, is that the barrier is electronic, meaning that anyone who touches or interferes with it will trigger an alert to a central monitor that can send IDF forces to investigate.
A phalanx of lawyers is coming forward on Twitter to offer free legal help after the controversial anti-Israel MP George Galloway threatened to sue upwards of a dozen people over allegations of anti-Semitism. In a letter sent by his lawyers, Galloway has demanded £6,000 ($9280) per person upfront for legal expenses, a threat which one lawyer described as “outrageous.”Giant Swastika Sprayed Outside Polish Nightclub
Galloway’s lawyers, Chambers and Co, in Bradford, where he is MP for Bradford West, have written to people who used the social media site in the wake of his appearance on BBC’s Question Time last month. The program, which was filmed in Finchley in the heart of north-west London’s Jewish community, erupted when a member of the audience accused Galloway of bearing some responsibility for the rise in anti-Semitism in the UK. Galloway strenuously denied the accusation.
But the fallout from Question Time continued on Twitter with many people attacking Galloway. One was the Guardian journalist Hadley Freeman, who deleted her Tweet on February 10 when Galloway threatened to sue her. However, he is apparently proceeding with his lawsuit and she is now being advised by her newspaper’s lawyers.
Matters degenerated for Galloway in the last week when he launched his #AskGalloway hastag, a question and answer forum on Twitter. The social media website exploded with scores of mocking and derisory responses.
Displaying Nazi symbols is a criminal offense in Poland and carries a prison sentence.Swedish town nixes statue of woman hitting neo-Nazi
Marek Pelian, the owner of the Ray disco, denied in interviews with local media that it was an anti-Semitic act, or that the symbol was meant to be perceived as a swastika.
"What swastika? This is just the yellow brick road from the Wizard of Oz," Pelian claimed, explaining that one arm leads to the nightclub's door, while another will lead to an outdoor stage, not yet built.
"This design has four arms, just like the galaxy, and this is astronomical disco," he added. "Just because Hitler used it does not mean it's a sign of totalitarianism."
However, not everyone was convinced.
In 1985 a Polish-Swedish woman, Danuta Danielsson, swatted a neo-Nazi man with her purse and became a sensation.Britain: "Hitler's Walk" Sign Cancelled After Uproar
The Jewish Danielsson, whose mother survived Auschwitz, struck the skinhead during a march in the Swedish town of Växjö, pronounced Vekyur. Photographer Hans Runesson captured the image, titled “A Woman Hitting a Neo-Nazi With Her Handbag.” It appeared in Swedish and international newspapers and won several awards in Sweden.
Though 30 years have passed, the photograph and Danielsson’s actions are still being discussed. In 2014 artist Susanna Arwin expressed her desire to create a statue of Danielsson in Växjö, even releasing photographs of a bronze model.
But the town’s committee officially prohibited her from doing so last week, Radio Sweden reported last week.
A plan to rename a park in Cornwall, Britain "Hitler's Walk" has been scrapped, after the Jewish community raised opposition to the epithet.Dead to be honored at Olympics, but not specifically Israeli victims
The name has nothing to do with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, according to the Daily Mail - rather, the park has been known as "Hitler's" for "decades" after an "over-zealous park warden" for the Mevagissey Parish. The official name is "Cliff's Park."
The signs had been taken down in 2005 following complaints that it was offensive. However, plans to erect new signs were presented in January - just before the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
Cornwall's Jewish community had called on vacationers and locals to boycott the park if the planned signage had gone through. The story also surfaced amid heightened anti-Semitism in Britain and a media frenzy over British Jews noting how unsafe they feel in their home country.
The International Olympic Committee is taking new steps to mourn the dead during the Olympics -- but is stopping short of holding a moment of silence during opening ceremonies to commemorate the 11 Israelis killed at the 1972 Munich Games.With you, Armenia
Under measures that will go into effect at next year's games in Rio de Janeiro, a special area will be set up in the Olympic Village for athletes to mourn the loss of family or friends, and a "moment of reflection" will be observed during the closing ceremony to remember those who have died during any games.
The moves were approved by the IOC executive board after Olympic leaders faced criticism for refusing to hold a moment of silence for the Israeli victims during the opening of the 2012 London Games, and for preventing athletes from wearing black armbands during competition in tribute to deceased friends, relatives or fellow competitors.
"Participants at past Olympic Games have been affected by casualties and incidents back in their home countries," IOC President Thomas Bach said at the close of a three-day board meeting in Rio on Saturday.
"We want to give the athletes the opportunity to express their mourning in a dignified way and environment in the Olympic Village, where representatives of the whole world are living peacefully under the same roof.
"At the closing ceremony, the games come to an end and many people feel that it is a moment to remember people who have died at the Olympic Games."
A special concert will take place on March 5 at the Jerusalem Theatre. The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of internationally acclaimed Estonian violinist cum conductor Andres Mustonen, will perform a program dedicated to the commemoration of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. The JSO, in collaboration with the music festival Perspectives in Yerevan (Armenia), will perform music written by the foremost Armenian composers, as well as Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony.Israeli opera singer wins prestigious Berlin contest
Veteran Armenian composer Stepan Rostomyan, the initiator of the concert, explains that the performance in Jerusalem is the first in a series of international concerts.
In regard to the Armenian Genocide, Rostomyan says that this tragic page in his people’s history is a wound that every Armenian bears in his/her heart.
Mezzo soprano Hagar Sharvit, 26, scooped up her prize with a performance in which she was accompanied on the piano by Ammiel Bushakevitz, who jointly won an award with another pianist for his skills.India’s first travel convention in Israel eases conflict worries
The classical music talent contest, held every two years in the German capital, attracts some of the best young talent in the business.
Sharvit is a graduate of the Buchman-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University, and has performed in several operas including turns as Annina in La Traviata and Sandmännchen in Hänsel and Gretel with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein during the 2013-14 season.
She also performed as Tisbe in Rossini’s Cenerentola with the Opera de Metz in 2013 and won first prize for her vocals in the 19th International Johannes Brahms Competition Pörtschach in 2012.
India and Israel came together this week to talk tourism, with 600 travel agents from the Asian subcontinent arriving in Jerusalem for their annual conference.SodaStream turns to exotic flavors
The destination of each year’s Travel Agents Federation of India conference is influential; some 71 percent of India’s outgoing tourists base their travel decisions on the recommendations of travel agents.
“We see great potential in this conference to position Israel as an attractive tourism destination for the Indian tourist – similar to the way in which Israelis see India as an important tourism destination,” Tourism Minister Uzi Landau said.
The trip has helped ease worries about the conflict, according to participants.
“It is a very important factor in the mind of the travelers from India. Even the travel agents had a different concept of Israel, whether it’s safe to travel or not,” TAFI president Zakkir Ahmed said.
“The only way to clear their mind was to come here and actually see it. Now when we go back, I think they will have a different outlook of Israel. I don’t think they’ll look at it as a place of conflict,” he added.
Is “enhanced water” the new soda? SodaStream hopes so.A phone interface the elderly can relate to
In the hopes of bringing back some positive fizz to its profit line, the Israel-based soda maker company is, according to the New York Times, developing a line of carbonated water flavors to complement its current soda varieties.
Starting in June, SodaStream owners will be able to add exotic flavorings such as pomegranate açaí and yuzu mandarin to their homemade soft drinks.
At first glance, as the Times noted, the reasons for this move seem purely economic. After the fiscal quarter ending last September, SodaStream announced that its overall sales fell 13 percent in 2014.
Sales of the company’s soda machines in the United States dropped dramatically by 60%. And while sugary sodas become more stigmatized for health reasons in mainstream culture, sales of bottled flat water grew 11% last year and unflavored carbonated water grew 20%.
A guiding principles of the smartphone business is that the younger the customer, the more likely to embrace advanced features. For the elderly, feature phones – old-style Nokias and Samsungs that don’t have touchscreens – retain popularity, because some older people lack the dexterity to handle the finger flicks needed to interact with smart devices, and those who are technophobes aren’t interested in those features anyway.Israeli diet ranks among healthiest in world
Amir Alon, CEO of Israeli start-up E2C (Easy to Connect) begs to differ.
“If a smartphone makes it easier for young people to keep in touch – to see photos and get instant messages – it can do the same for the elderly, and our adaptation of smartphone technology opens those doors for the elderly,” he said.
The E2C technology, already on the market in Israel and soon to be introduced in the US, provides an easy and uncomplicated interface that lets anyone, young or old, interact with devices to see photos, get messages, surf the Internet, read news, and anything else that smartphones are used for, said Alon.
Israelis boast among the healthiest diets in the world, according to a new study in The Lancet Global Health Journal. In fact, neighboring Mediterranean countries, which also follow a similar diet, also achieved top scores in the study for healthy eating.
The study — led by Dr Fumiaki Imamura of the University of Cambridge — looked at dietary habits of adults in 187 countries.
The researchers used surveys and UN reports as measurement for their study. According to the study, healthier people eat more grains, beans and legumes, milk, dietary fiber, omega-3 rich fish and fruits.
Israel rated ninth healthiest overall.
African countries scored the highest – and healthiest – ratings, according to the report. The study notes that although many Africans stick to a simple diet, because they do not consume junk fast foods (they can’t afford), they’re actually healthier than most. Chad leads the world in healthiest diet, followed by Sierra Leone, Mali, Gambia, Uganda, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal.
