Tuesday, May 05, 2015
“Mondoweiss” is a hate site
Mondweiss is basically one-stop shopping for anti-Israel news. Anything bad that goes on in Israel will be publicized and exaggerated at Mondoweiss. If you want to know the far-left anti-Israel party line on any recent event, Mondoweiss is the place to go.Bernard-Henri Lévy: In Praise of Blasphemy
So in a sense it’s understandable that people with an interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict read Mondoweiss, especially if they share the blog’s anti-Israel politics. I keep up sporadically with Mondoweiss largely because its posts sometimes find their way into my Facebook feed from some of my more left-wing friends.
I hope my Facebook friends and others recognize, however, that whatever Mondoweiss’ value as a news aggregator, it is also a hate site.
Mondoweiss tries to preserve a fine line between hostility to Jews and hostility to Israel, but every once in a while, Weiss reminds us that the blog’s entire existence owes to the fact that he can’t maintain that separation.
The most dramatic example I’ve seen arrived in my Facebook feed last week via a Jewish journalist who passed it along with the comment, “Who thinks like this?”
In the course of a typical (for Weiss) rambling, somewhat incoherent post, titled, “Forgving the Anti-Semites,” Weiss makes the following claims, all of which are either unrelated to Israel or are only tangentially related to Israel–unless you believe that whatever Israel’s sins, they are not the “normal” sins of a nation-state, but somehow inextricably tied to the shortcomings of Jews.
American friends, especially PEN Club writers, please read, right now, Caroline Fourest's new book, Eloge du blasphème (In Praise of Blasphemy, Grasset 2015), if you wish to understand:Latma: We'll be the Judge, episode 11
1. why Charlie Hebdo was and is more respectful to Muslims than the idiots who think they are honoring Islam by killing;
2. that the real provocateurs were not the cartoonists themselves but those who waved the cartoons under the noses of Muslims who otherwise would not have seen them, thereby stirring up demonstrations that served, here, to draw attention from their own infamy; there, to appropriate the mantle of true defender of the prophet; or, on other occasions, to apply pressure in one or another international negotiation (for example, on nuclear power);
3. that the cover Charlie Hebdo ran after the killing, the cover depicting the prophet with a tear in his eye and the caption "All is forgiven," was the most peaceful, elegant, and conciliatory message conceivable and that those who asserted otherwise were inflammatory cynics; (h/t Alexi)
The eleventh episode of the Israeli satire program "We'll be the Judge," from the creators of Latma's Tribal Update, Israel Channel 1, April 30, 2015.
So what does the Jewish Nakba mean to you?
Zochrot have produced a short video clip to promote their mission: “So wait a moment, what is the Nakba?” Unsuspecting Israelis strolling on the Tel Aviv tayelet are quizzed on what the Nakba means to them.Time to shame Europe
I don’t know what is more worrying. The appalling ignorance of the Israeli public in this video — or the fact that Zochrot are asking the question in the first place.
In an altercation on Facebook with Eitan Bronstein Aparicio, one of the Zochrot leaders, I pointed out that the Palestinian Arabs were victims of their own leadership. Had the Arabs won the 1948 war, members of Zochrot, along with all the Jews of Israel, would surely have ended up at the bottom of the Mediterranean sea. And what did Zochrot think about the Jewish Nakba, I asked — the 870,000 Jewish refugees driven and dispossessed from Arab countries? Why were Zochrot exercised by one injustice, but coolly indifferent to another?
On April 25, a Haifa theater staged a play that could be construed as a show of solidarity with a terrorist who kidnapped and murdered Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984. One of the organizers of the play was the group Coalition of Women for Peace. This group supports boycotts against Israel and is funded by the European Union, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.Attack on Jewish Bookstore in Barcelona Thwarted
On Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism last month, while Israelis attended ceremonies honoring Israel's fallen, the organizations Combatants for Peace (funded by Spain, Germany and the Netherlands) and the Parents Circle Families Forum (funded by the U.S., the European Union and Switzerland) held an "alternative" ceremony, to which families of terrorists were invited.
On Independence Day, the organization Zochrot (funded by Germany, Belgium, Finland, the U.K., Switzerland and the Netherlands), which seeks the dissolution of the State of Israel and the return of Palestinian refugees, was especially active.
Despite the understandable public protest over the activities of these groups, one of the cornerstones of an independent and sovereign nation is the right to debate, to argue and to influence. It is the only way for the people to decide their own future. And indeed, as heated as it may get, the democratic debate among the Israeli public is one of the state's greatest strengths. But the problem begins when outsiders, who represent foreign political interests, interfere in our inner dialogue in a way that is not at all proportional.
Last month, Spanish police arrested 11 Islamist extremists who were operating at 17 locations across the country’s northeastern region of Catalonia. After a year-long investigation, police detained ten men and one woman, aged 17 to 45, who were all “assumed to be implicated in diverse crimes related to jihadist terrorism, especially linked to Islamic State,” Reuters reported. Today, The Wall Street Journal confirmed those suspicions by reporting that the extremists, called the Islamic Fraternity for the Preaching of Jihad, had planned to destroy a Jewish bookstore in Barcelona:Graphic Novel Legends Neil Gaiman, Art Spiegelman Step Up to Honor Charlie Hebdo at PEN Gala
The cell, which featured prominent roles for converts to Islam, tried to recruit fighters to join Islamic State in Syria and developed plans to bomb a Jewish bookstore in Barcelona and snatch and behead a captive, according to police and prosecutors in court documents.
These arrests bring the total number of persons detained in Spain so far in 2015 for suspected ties to terrorism to 42, according to Spain’s Foreign Ministry. Last year, 46 such arrests were made.
Last week, six writers serving as table hosts for the PEN American Center gala withdrew to protest the Freedom of Expression Courage Award given to Charlie Hebdo magazine. Now six new writers, including graphic novel legends Neil Gaiman and Art Spiegelman, have stepped forward to take their places. Their gesture is more important and appreciated than ever, in light of the anti-free speech attack in Texas on Sunday night.PC Thought-Bots Embarrass Themselves With PEN Boycott
In addition to Gaiman and Spiegelman, the Associated Press reports Alison Bechdel, George Packer, Azar Mafisi, and Alain Mabanckou will be table hosts, replacing Michael Ondaatje, Francine Prose, Peter Carey, Rachel Kushner, Teju Cole, and Taiye Selasi. Their withdrawal came less than two weeks before the scheduled event, leaving little time for replacements to come forward.
The replacement hosts seem to understand that the governments of civilized nations have an even more potent moral obligation to protect their citizens from murder at the hands of fascist gunmen. “The Charlie Hebdo PEN award is for courage. The courage to work after the 2011 firebombing of the offices, the courage to put out their magazine in the face of murder,” Gaiman told the New York Times. “If we cannot applaud that, then we might as well go home… I’ll be proud to host a table on Tuesday night.”
Gaiman further told the AP he could not understand why “several otherwise well-meaning writers have failed to grasp that you do not have to like what is said to support people’s right to say it.”
PEN, the organization of writers, decided to give a Toni and James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage award to Charlie Hebdo—that is, to those of its staff who were not massacred by the Islamist Kouachi brothers on Jan. 7. So, of course hell broke loose.Hasbara…Hasbara Everywhere
In its own words, PEN wished to “honor Charlie Hebdo for their refusal to retreat when confronted with threats of violence … coupled with their magnanimity in the face of tragedy.” In a longer statement, the organization declared:
It is the role of the satirists in any free society to challenge the powerful and the sacred, pushing boundaries in ways that make expression freer and more robust for us all. In paying the ultimate price for the exercise of their freedom, and then soldiering on amid devastating loss, Charlie Hebdo deserves to be recognized for its dauntlessness in the face of one of the most noxious assaults on expression in recent memory.
On the face of it, the Goodale Award would seem the ideal honor for Charlie Hebdo.
Last week Israel took criticism for sending a contingent of doctors and search and rescue specialists to Nepal to participate in the earthquake relief efforts. Read that again. There is no “not” in between “for” and “sending.” The Israel Defense Forces sent 260 doctors, nurses, and personnel trained in finding disaster victims to Katmandu after the major (7.8 on the Richter scale) earthquake…and it was quickly dismissed as propaganda to deflect attention from Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and the humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip. The Israelis have a lot to answer for when it comes to the Palestinians, from continued expropriation of Palestinian land in the West Bank to death and destruction in Gaza, but what do those issues have to do with earthquake relief in Nepal? Apparently everything the Israelis do is hasbara.The rabbi of Nepal
The criticism for the IDF’s Nepal mission from some well-known anti-Israel activists is to be expected even if it is bizarre, but for those genuinely interested in human rights it seemed rather odd to call the Israelis out for sending relief. Here I am thinking of a Tweet from Human Rights Watch’s Ken Roth: “Easier to address a far-away humanitarian disaster than the nearby one of Israel’s making in Gaza. End the blockade!” Never mind the fact that Roth seems to be implying that the Israelis are disqualified from sending relief to Nepal because of Gaza; he seems so blithely unaware of just how difficult it actually is to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Had I seen the Tweet in real-time, I would have responded with all seriousness, “Yes, it is much easier.” Let’s review why it is easier for the Israelis to provide relief in Nepal than in Gaza:
1) Since 2005, about 15,000 rockets have been fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip, though not all of them landed in Israel.
2) The Nepalese have not fired a single rocket at Israel.
3) There is no solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
4) There is no conflict between Israelis and Nepalese.
Unlike other NGOs around the world, Tevel b’Tzedek didn’t need to send a rescue team to Nepal following the devastating earthquake that has killed and wounded thousands. That’s because Tevel bTzedek was already there. For the last eight years, Tevel b’Tzedek (the name is taken from Psalms, and means “the world with justice”) has been connecting young Israelis with Nepal, one of the world’s poorest countries.Body of Israeli killed in Nepal quake to arrive in Israel
Tevel’s goal is to help Nepali villagers enter the modern world without losing their sense of community and traditions. The highest level of charity, according to Maimonides, is to help someone become self-sufficient, and that’s how Tevel works. Tevel’s local Nepali staff of nearly 50 people, headed by a Nepali with a PhD in agronomy from Ben-Gurion University, teach farmers how to create irrigation systems and market their produce, and empower women to become village leaders. Israeli and Jewish volunteers work together with the local staff. One Tevel volunteer, working with his Nepali counterpart, adopted the model of an Israeli youth movement and created a Nepali equivalent, with a thousand members.
“We want to help villagers feed themselves and more,” says Micha. “That way people won’t move to the Kathmandu slums, where they lose their sense of community and the little they have. And with much of the country now devastated by the earthquake, that’s even more important. If people leave the villages, then less food will be grown. Our work was already a matter of life and death for the villages; now that’s true for the rest of the country as well.”
The body of 22-year-old Or Asraf was expected to arrive in Israel for burial on Tuesday, following a strenuous search and rescue effort in the Langtang Nature Park in Nepal led by his comrades from the elite Egoz reconnaissance unit.IDF Blog: The Last Journey: the Story of Or Assraf
Asraf was the last Israeli unaccounted for following the quake on April 25. His body was found on Sunday, eight days after the quake, and was later flown to Kathmandu in a helicopter provided by the Isralife Foundation, one of the groups assisting in Nepal. He was apparently killed in a massive rock slide.
Asraf's girlfriend, Amit Greenberg, shared on Facebook a text exchange they had before the earthquake struck. He sent her a photo in which he is pictured smiling on a snowy mountaintop.
"This is the best place for me," he wrote. "Up in the mountains?" Greenberg responded. "That too, in Nepal in general ... I'm in love with this country," he answered.
Or Assraf z”l fought in Operation Protective Edge, was injured in battle, recovered and set out on a trip to the Far East. When a disastrous earthquake struck Nepal during his trip, Or’s family, friends and former comrades followed him across the world in an attempt to locate him and bring him home. Or was found, but tragically did not complete his journey. This is his brave, moving story.CAMERA Prompts Corrections on Aid to Nepal
Or was the son of Patrick and Orit and a brother to Ella. He lived with his family in Lehavim, Israel. His many friends described him as sweet, talented, big hearted, patriotic and compassionate. He drafted into the IDF in October 2011 as a soldier in the special unit “Shaldag”, and later in his service was transferred to the special unit “Egoz.”
During Operation Protective Edge Or participated in the difficult battle in the neighbourhood of Shu’jaya in Gaza. On July 21, 2014 he lost two of his comrades and friends- Tal Yefrach z”l and Yuval Dagan z”l. During the battle, Or was charged with clearing a house in which terrorists were hiding. He was moderately injured and was later hospitalized and treated. “I thought about the worst possible scenario. Death was something that went through my mind, moving a centimeter to the right or the left made all the difference between life and death. I know that I have to move on, and my heart is with the families of my friends who fell. One has to know how to lift one’s head and move on with one’s life. That’s what they [my friends] wanted us to do,” said Or two months after Operation Protective Edge.
Or’s Solitary and Brave Journey
After the operation, Or recovered from his injuries and was released from the army. He decided to realize his life-long dream, to travel, and he set out on a long trip that was due to end in July of 2015. While on his trip, Or kept in touch with the mothers of his friends who fell. He took pictures of himself holding his friends’ photo, so that their spirit could live on with him.
The last recording of him is a voice message he sent three days before the earthquake to Aviva Yefrach, Tal’s mother. In the recording he can be heard saying: “Hello Aviva. I’m here in Nepal, volunteering in an ecological village. Soon I will go to the local school to teach children English and then I will travel to Kathmandu, where Chabad is holding a memorial service in honor of IDF soldiers who fell in battle. I will tell them stories about Tal and Yuvi. Know that I love you. You are like a mother to me. I wish I could be there with you for Memorial Day, I really do miss you and when I get back I will be with you. Stay strong.”
Based on an incomplete and misleading CNN graphic, several English-language Israeli and Jewish media outlets erroneously reported that the Israeli rescue mission to Nepal was the largest of any country's delegation in manpower. In fact, India's delegation was the largest. Following communication from CAMERA's Israel office, Times of Israel, The Algemeiner and i24news have commendably corrected their articles.Phyllis Chesler: The Jihad Against Free Speech Comes to Texas
In an apparent oversight, the CNN graphic did not include the country which contributed the most manpower to the relief effort: India. According to the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, India's delegation was comprised of over 450 personnel. According to an April 27 article from the Himalayan News Service ("India sends largest rescue contingent"), " . . . India sent 348-member search and rescue team [sic], including three sniffer dogs to Nepal, the largest rescue team as far as foreign rescue team are concerned."
It is true, though, relative to the countries' respective populations, Israel's delegation of 260 is proportionally the largest (as well as second in absolute figures.)
We are living in infamous times. Reality outpaces fiction, and the worst case scenarios keep unfolding in our daily headlines.Islamic State claims Texas attack, its first on US soil
Critics of torturers and mass murderers are demonized as "extremists" and "provocateurs." Israel is accused of human rights atrocities it has never committed by those very entities who themselves actually commit such atrocities; anyone who points this out is deemed an "extreme conservative" and a "racist." Anti-infidel hate speech—as long as it is directed against America and Israel—is seen as protected by the First Amendment and by the doctrine of Free Speech; exposing the diabolical Big Lies is considered politically incorrect "racist" hate speech which has no place in the Western media, on campus, at the UN, or in any international human rights organization.
Either the West fights back or it surrenders to these Orwellian rules. Many Western intellectuals prefer scapegoating Israel and surrendering quietly to these diabolical Islamist rules rather than risk their reputations and their lives.
The Islamic State jihadist group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for its first attack on US soil, a shooting at an event in Texas showcasing cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed that left the gunmen dead.CAIR Advised Muslims to ‘Use Caution’ Speaking to FBI About ‘Draw Muhammad’ Event Shooter in 2010
“Two of the soldiers of the caliphate executed an attack on an art exhibit in Garland, Texas, and this exhibit was portraying negative pictures of the Prophet Mohammed,” the jihadist group said.
“We tell America that what is coming will be even bigger and more bitter, and that you will see the soldiers of the Islamic State do terrible things,” the group announced.
The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), an American Muslim advocacy group with deep ties to the global Muslim Brotherhood, advised Muslims to “use caution” when talking to the FBI about its 2010 investigation into Elton Simpson, who on Sunday carried out a jihadist attack on a “Draw Muhammad” free-speech event in Garland, Texas.2010 Arizona Muslim Publication: Texas Shooter 'Well-Liked,' 'Kids Adore Him'
According to a 2010 article in the Arizona Muslim Voice, which describes Simpson as “humble, pious, [and] well liked in the community,” CAIR “sent out media alerts to advise our community to use caution when speaking with the FBI.” The author of the piece, Kawthar Ijai, said at the time that CAIR’s advice “is for our own protection.”
CAIR was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism financing trial in United States history. The American Muslim group was accused of raising money for the Holy Land Foundation, a charity that had solicited millions of dollars for Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. The United Arab Emirates recently listed CAIR independently as a terrorist organization.
Simpson and an accomplice, reportedly armed with AK-47 assault rifles, attempted to carry out an attack on a “Draw Muhammad” free-speech event hosted by Pamela Geller, president of the anti-jihad group American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI). Both jihadists were shot dead by police before they could inflict damage upon the event’s attendees.Lauryn Hill cancels Israel show
In a 2010 profile of Simpson, after he had been arrested following an FBI terrorism investigation, author Kawthar Ijai wrote that he had adopted the Muslim name Ibrahim. Simpson was described as “the kind of person who always has a positive word for everyone and has a bright outlook, especially when you start talking about his favorite topic – Islam.”
“Kids adore him. He is always talking to the kids on their level, throwing a ball around with them and playing games with them,” said the author. “They actually come home from their classes with some knowledge about the character of the Prophet Muhammad,” she added.
US songstress Lauryn Hill announced Monday that she was canceling her scheduled performance in Israel on Thursday, citing a “challenge” in setting up a show in Ramallah for Palestinian fans as well.The misleading of Ms. Lauryn Hill
Hill said that when she agreed to play in Israel, her intention was to set up a performance in the Palestinian territories “to be a presence supporting justice and peace.”
“It is very important to me that my presence or message not be misconstrued, or a source of alienation to either my Israeli or my Palestinian fans. For this reason, we have decided to cancel the upcoming performance in Israel, and seek a different strategy to bring my music to ALL of my fans in the region,” she wrote in a message on Facebook on Monday.
The R&B, soul and hip hop artist, whose 1998 album “The miseducation of Lauryn Hill” won five Grammy Awards including Album of the Year, did not mention what the difficulty in setting up a show in the West Bank stemmed from.
Sorry, Ms. Lauryn Hill but your statement doesn’t cut it. People are interpreting your cancellation as you boycotting the world’s only Jewish country.California Community colleges reject BDS
Is that true? In which case – you need to own it.
Did you get bullied by the vicious rhetoric of the anti-Israel mob on social media? Say so.
Are we to understand that you will only play to one country or set of people if you can also simultaneously play to anyone they are in conflict with? Good luck finding a venue like that in this world!
In the end, your cancellation is being seen by those who are both racist and anti-peace as a victory. It’s being seen as a victory for those who would suppress your performance and see that in some way as good. Your cancellation demonizes one set of people and demoralizes those who really, truly want peace in the region. And whatever the case, don’t judge – see things for yourself.
The largest educational system in the United States -the California Community College System- has said no to BDS.Danish group vows to expand ads against Israeli settlements
During their semi-annual meeting on May 3rd, the General Assembly of the Student Senate of California Community Colleges (GASSCCC) voted against divestment with a final vote of 25 in favor, 44 opposed, and six abstentions.
Over 2.1 million students are represented by the General Assembly of the Student Senate of California Community Colleges.
The California Community colleges join the University of Toledo, the University of Texas at Austin, University of Michigan, UC Santa Barbara, Princeton and the University of New Mexico- all of whom have defeated anti-Israel resolutions in the past few weeks.
A Danish group on Monday vowed to expand an advertising campaign urging people to boycott products from Israeli settlements after the ads were dropped from Copenhagen buses.UCLA party that disputed Jewish candidate’s fitness loses election
“It’s a clear attempt to deny us our freedom of speech,” Fathi El-Abed, chairman of the Danish Palestinian Friendship Association, told AFP after bus operator Movia last week pulled the campaign.
“There is nothing whatsoever about this campaign that is harmful, discriminatory or hateful in any way,” he added.
The advertisements on 35 buses in the Copenhagen area pictured two women beside the quote: “Our conscience is clean! We neither buy products from the Israeli settlements nor invest in the settlement industry.”
Lets Act! (LA), the far-left student political party at UCLA, was dramatically swept from power, in election results released Friday, May 1, 2015.Daphne Anson: In Britain, Leftwing Hypocrites Betray Gender Equality In Pursuit Of Muslim Votes
LA, a coalition of mostly identity-based groups (e.g. Afrikan Student Union, MEChA, Queer Alliance, etc.) was defeated 8 seats to 3 (with 3 independents) by their rival, Bruins United (BU), a coalition of most everyone else (led by the Jewish community, fraternities, and sororities).
LA and its constituent groups constituted the bulk of left-wing identity politics efforts at UCLA.
LA was responsible for slew of anti-Israel actions: Two BDS resolutions at UCLA; objecting to the Judicial Board appointment to Rachel Beyda because she is Jewish; and attempts to disqualify candidates who took trips to Israel.
The election likely was influenced by the release by an anonymous Whistleblower of years of alleged internal documents posted online. As reported by The Daily Bruin, LA allegedly funded their campaigns by dealing drugs and misappropriating student government funds. (LA denies the charges.)
At a secular political meeting in Birmingham addressed by Labour Party heavies including Jack Dromey, husband of ex-Cabinet Minister Harriet Harman who is an ultra-feminist if ever there was one, women are seated on the left of their menfolk, who by contrast are seated on the right, befitting their superior status.South African Student President Axed: 'I Love Adolf Hitler'
Yes, this is an audience of Muslims, and, even though the occasion is a civic one, not a religious one, they've insisted on gender apartheid.
When such a thing happened some years ago at the insistence of a Muslim mayor in the East End of London, there was much indignation, and at least one Muslim councillor of the inferior sex was among those doing the grumbling.
Hey, but there's a General Election on, and the speakers from the Labour Party, Jack Dromey and the rest of the gang, show that when it comes to catching votes they're fully prepared to sell modern British values down the river.
Until Monday, Dlamini was president and a member of the Students' Representative Council of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. According to a release by the school's vice chancellor Adam Habib, Dlamini was asked to step down from his post immediately and his membership in the organization has been revoked. Habib insists that Dlamini's comments in no way influenced the university's decision, but did say they could not be ignored. "I have referred the matter to the Legal Office for investigation," Habib wrote. "This matter will take its due course."Rasmea Odeh Prosecutor gets Arab-American Justice Award
Speaking to the university's paper Wits Vuvuzela prior to the school's announcement, Dlamini doubled down, saying, “What I love about Hitler is his charisma and his capabilities to organise people. We need more leaders of such cailbre. I love Adolf Hitler." [sic]
Dlamini also told WV that he wasn't using the social media platform to "nurse Jewish people's feelings" and said Facebook is "an academic space" where debates should take place. "Truth hurts… face it murderers," he wrote on his page.
When Dlamini was under review by the vice chancellor, he wrote a commentary for WV stating that the university is "an anti-black space" and one that "privileges white bodies." He accused Habib of failing to punish a white student who allegedly screamed to another student, "I will f***in' kill you, you black bitch!" He also leveled accusations that black workers at the university go unpaid and are banned from using some of the school's facilities.
We reported last week that supporters of convicted terrorist and immigration fraudster Rasmea Odeh were protesting a Justice Award to U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, Rasmea Odeh Prosecutor to get Justice Award.Honest Reporting: Radio: The BBC’s Guerin Defense and Jimmy Carter’s Praise for Hamas
The Justice Award was given by the Michigan-based Arab-American Civil Rights League (ACRL) among other groups, including the local NAACP chapter.
Rasmea’s supporters were furious, demanding that the Justice Award be revoked. They launched a social media campaign encouraging people to dall the ACRL, and issued veiled threats of retaliation.
Many of the tweets were what we have come to expect in the case, a complete distortion of the reality of Rasmea’s guilt:
HonestReporting’s Yarden Frankl joins VOI’s Josh Hasten to discuss this week’s media coverage of Israel including the BBC’s response to complaints about Orla Guerin’s Gaza conflict dispatch and coverage of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s praise for Hamas.Czech anti-Semitism spiked in 2014, report shows
The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the Czech Republic rose by more than 200 percent last year, according to an annual report on anti-Semitism.Polish ex-minister who saved Jews during WWII buried
Prague’s Jewish community released the report on Monday.
In 2014, 46 such incidents were registered across the country, compared to 13 incidents the previous year. An escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, notably Israel’s military operation in Gaza last July and August, was seen as the main factor fueling the surge.
“It is clear that the Czech Republic’s Jewish community becomes a target of anti-Semitism in relation to the situation in the Middle East,” the chair of the Jewish community of Prague, Jan Munk, said in a statement.
“Czech Jews are perceived by some groups as envoys of the state of Israel and are blamed for its political decisions.”
European Council president Donald Tusk and German President Joachim Gauck attended the state funeral ceremonies on Monday for Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, Poland’s former foreign minister and a former Auschwitz prisoner who helped save Jews from the Holocaust.Abbott pays tribute to Jewish diggers
Bartoszewski, a historian, writer and politician, died suddenly on April 24 at the age of 93. He was Poland’s deputy minister for dialogue with Germany and Israel.
A member of underground World War II resistance, Bartoszewski helped save Jews and was honored by Israel with the title of the Righteous Among Nations. He was later persecuted under communism for his democratic views. He served twice as democratic Poland’s foreign minister.
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein marked Bartoszewski’s death on Monday, calling it “a huge loss, not only to Poland and the State of Israel, but to humanity, which lost a moral voice that didn’t hesitate to speak out, even at a heavy personal cost.”
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has paid tribute to Australia's 'Jewish warrior citizens' at an Anzac commemoration service in Sydney.Israeli firm to bring election results direct to UK living rooms
More than one in 10 Australian Jews - some 2500 - volunteered for World War I a century ago, 300 of whom never returned.
'Jewish people made a more than proportionate contribution to the war effort,' Mr Abbott said at the service at The Great Synagogue in Sydney's CBD on Sunday.
He paid special tribute to General Sir John Monash, whose tactical nous helped break the trench warfare stalemate on the Western Front.
'His name should be as familiar in the future as it has been in the past,' Mr Abbott told the packed temple.
He also used the occasion to defend Australia's ongoing military presence in the Middle East.
'We seek no dominion, we seek no changes of borders or changes of faith,' he said.
'We simply work with all men and women of goodwill to preserve and advance the universal decencies of mankind.'
The UK’s most exciting election in recent years deserves its most exciting election coverage ever, said John Ryley, director of Sky News. To ensure that its coverage is exciting, the broadcaster will be employing technology made by Israel’s LiveU, by now a veteran of many an election contest, as well as the go-to firm for broadcasters of top international sporting events, like the Olympics, the World Cup, and many more.10 must-have experiences in Israel
As the returns come in from all corners of the United Kingdom on May 7, Sky News will be posting staff at over 270 locations across England, Scotland, and Wales. Instead of dispatching 270 plus professional camera crews with terrestrial and satellite broadcast equipment – a very expensive proposition – Sky will use LiveU’s small form-factor solutions, which use cell networks to beam broadcast-quality images across the world.
Israel may be no larger than New Jersey, but the staggering amount of places to see and experience can be quite overwhelming for first-time and even repeat visitors.Oldest complete copy of Ten Commandments goes on display in Israel
Israel has the most museums per capita in the world and some of the most significant archeological and heritage sites anywhere. Add to that Mediterranean beaches, world-class cuisine, colorful outdoor markets, child-friendly attractions, extreme sports and globally renowned nightlife, and the big question becomes: Where do we even begin?
ISRAEL21c recommends these experiences to put at the top of your to-do list in Israel. If you have additional can’t-miss suggestions, please share them in the comments section.
1. Walk the ramparts of the Old City of Jerusalem
The world’s oldest complete copy of the Ten Commandments is going on rare display at Israel’s leading museum in an exhibit tracing civilization’s most pivotal moments.
The 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scroll, from a collection of the world’s most ancient biblical manuscripts discovered near the Dead Sea east of Jerusalem, has never before been publicly displayed in Israel and has only been shown in brief exhibits abroad, said Pnina Shor of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The manuscript is so brittle that it will only be on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem for two weeks before it is returned to a secure, pitch-black, climate-controlled storage facility at the museum.
It is one of 14 ancient objects displayed in “A Brief History of Humankind,” an exhibit of historical objects spanning hundreds of thousands of years.
