Thursday, June 04, 2015
Turkey's Flotilla: What Was It Really About?
One day, perhaps, the Palestinians will understand that their "cause" is, for their Turkish brothers, merely an ideological feel-good motive and an instrument in the quest of many Turks to consolidate power both at home and in the Arab world.Exploding for decades: UNRWA needs more, more, more
Ironically, about a week before the Mavi Marmara commemoration, hysteria gripped Turkey: a World Bank report revealed that the Turkish government had failed to deliver a large portion of the aid it had pledged for the reconstruction of Gaza during an international donors' conference last year.
The report said that Turkey has so far delivered only 0.26% of the aid it had pledged at the donors' conference in Cairo last October. Turkey, which pledged $200 million, has provided only $520,000 the report said.
Turkey's unofficial aid for Gaza did not reflect the Palestinian-fetish visible across the country, either. All that 77 million Turks could collect to donate to Gaza stood at $32 million, or about 40 cents per person. In other words, the Turkish generosity for "our Palestinian brothers" was a mere 0.004% of the country's national income.
"This is a clear picture showing the AK Party's true colors. They turn Gaza into a political pawn and exploit it, then fail to honor the pledge ... It's tragic. How could you not honor your promise to Gaza?" asked Mehmet Gunal, an opposition member of parliament.
Turks love to play the generous benefactor of the Palestinians and the custodians of the Palestinian cause. Underneath, its "pro- Palestinian" mindset, Turkish solidarity with the Palestinians is less related to the Palestinian cause and more to the Islamists' devotion to the dream of "conquest."
As sixty-five year olds go, UNRWA shows no real signs of slowing down. That's noteworthy when we remind ourselves that its supposed purpose in life, as expressed in UN Resolution A/RES/302 (IV) of December 8, 1949, isOne million to mark anniversary of three teens’ killing as Unity Day
relief of the Palestine refugees... to prevent conditions of starvation and distress among them and to further conditions of peace and stability, and that constructive measures should be undertaken at an early date with a view to the termination of international assistance for relief...
Termination is, 65 years later, nowhere in sight. UNRWA today is the UN's single largest agency. It employs a staff of more than 30,000, of whom 99% are locally recruited Palestinians [Wikipedia].
It's not the United Nations' only refugee agency, as most people know. By far the more significant one is the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, a body which merely deals with all the world's refugees. By contrast, UNRWA supports one class of refugees only:
Palestine refugees... defined as “persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict
Amazing really. If you had lived there for two years, you were entitled to UNRWA support, and so are your children, and their great-great-great grandchildren. The UN defined Palestine refugee status to be something you inherited... forever. And that's just one of a long list of criticisms that
But our focus in this post is money.
The first anniversary of the deaths of Naftali Fraenkel, Gil-ad Shaer and Eyal Yifrach, the Israeli teenagers kidnapped and killed by Palestinian terrorists last summer, is being marked on Wednesday with a Unity Day.
A million individuals throughout Israel and in Jewish communities in 20 different countries are expected to participate in unity-themed gatherings and educational programs. A conference on issues that emerged from the events of the summer of 2014 will take place in Jerusalem, and the first annual Jerusale`m Unity Prize will be awarded to individuals and organizations identified as leaders in promoting Jewish unity in Israel or in strengthening Israel-Diaspora ties.
A year ago, Jews in Israel and around the world came together in solidarity as they hoped and prayed that Fraenkel, Shaer and Yifrach would be found alive. In the end, the boys — murdered almost immediately by their abductors — did not come home.
The sense of unity, however, did not end. The bereaved families were comforted by people from all walks of life, from different religious outlooks, and from all over the political spectrum.
That togetherness, the putting aside of differences, did not go unnoticed by the teens’ parents. They decided that Jewish unity would be their sons’ legacy, and that they would dedicate themselves to raising awareness of the importance of unity every day, and not only during times of crisis and conflict with the nation’s enemies.
President awards Unity Prize in honor of 3 slain teens
President Reuven Rivlin and his wife Nechama hosted the inaugural Jerusalem Unity Prize award ceremony on Wednesday at the President's Residence in honor of kidnapped and murdered teens Gil-ad Shaer, Eyal Yifrach, and Naftali Fraenkel.Southern man who lost legs in mortar attack elected mayor
The prize is the joint initiative of the boys' families, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and Gesher, an organization dedicated to bridging the gaps between different segments of Israeli society. Its purpose is to recognize individuals and organizations who contribute to unity among Jewish communities and Israeli society.
It was distributed on the newly declared Unity Day, also created in memory of the slain teenaged boys.
The Unity Prize is awarded in three categories: Israel-Diaspora, Social Initiative and Individual. The Chabad House in Bangkok, Thailand under the leadership of Rabbi Nechemya Wilhelm won in the first category; "Nifgashim Beshvil Israel" ("Meeting for Israel -- on the Israel Trail"), an annual hike of the Israel National Trail initiated by Raya and Yossi Epner in memory of their son Avi, who died in the 1997 military helicopter tragedy, won in the second category; and Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Ram Shmueli and Rabbi Hacham David Menachem won in the third category.
"Different as we may be, we have a bright future here together," said Rachelle Fraenkel, Naftali's mother, at the ceremony.
Rivlin added that "thanks to the prize winners, we are reminded that mutual responsibility, unity and solidarity are important challenges during difficult times and even during mundane times."
On August 27, 2014, with just an hour left before a ceasefire with Hamas was set to take effect ending the war in Gaza, the mortar shell struck. Gadi Yarkoni was repairing damaged electrical wires with the security team at his kibbutz in the Eshkol region.UN Watch: Farce: Saudi Arabia Hosting UN Human Rights Conference on Religious Freedom
The attack killed Kibbutz Nirim’s security coordinator Ze’ev Etzion and his deputy, Shahar Melamed. Yarkoni lost his legs.
On Tuesday, less than a year after the injury and just out of rehabilitation, Yarkoni beat out two challengers to win 51 percent of the vote in the mayoral election for the Eshkol Regional Council.
“I’ve completed a three-month journey since deciding to run for the council,” Yarkoni said after hearing the results. “I am happy that I’ve also successfully completed this mission and can begin a true journey, leading the Eshkol Regional Council resolutely forward, with love and devotion for all its residents.
“They deserve all the support possible for their steadfastness on the periphery of Israel, in their devotion to the agricultural industry, and from attacks,” he said.
Despite its reputation as one the world’s worst violators of religious freedom, Saudi Arabia is now hosting in Jeddah a UN human rights conference on combating intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief, attended by the president of the UN Human Rights Council and other top international representatives.The Growing Cognitive War Against Israel: A Q&A With Dr. Phyllis Chesler
“It’s time for the politics of oil to stop trumping the basic principles of human rights,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based UN Watch, a non-governmental human rights group.
“It’s bad enough that the oppressive and fundamentalist Saudi monarchy was elected to sit on the UN Human Rights Council. But for top UN human rights officials to now visit Jeddah and smile while human rights activist Raif Badawi languishes in prison for the crime of religious dissent, still under threat of further flogging, is to pour salt in the wounds. It’s astonishing.”
UN Watch expressed alarm that the participation of Ambassador Joachim Ruecker, president of the UN Human Rights Council, would grant “false international legitimacy to a regime that beheads people in the town square, systematically oppresses women, Christians, and gays, and jails innocent bloggers like Raif Badawi for the crime of challenging the rulers’ radical brand of Wahabbist Islam.”
In her new book, Living History: On the Front Lines for Israel and the Jews 2003-2015, best-selling author, lecturer, columnist and retired psychotherapist Dr. Phyllis Chesler explores the growth of the anti-Israel campus movement and the alliance of leftist academic intellectuals with leaders of anti-Semitic Islamist movements in the East.NGO demands UN put Israel, Hamas on child rights violators list
Speaking to Breitbart News via email, Chesler expands on the “cognitive war” being waged against Israel and the West, the startling growth of leftist pro-Palestinian movements on campus, and the nature and appeal of the anti-Israel “death cult” that has taken advantage of young college students looking to empathize with the oppressed.
Q: The book is a series of essays from the past twelve years that gives the reader a wide breadth of how expansive the propaganda war, as you call it in the book, against the state of Israel is. It covers everything from your first experiences with the anti-Israel movement on campus to events as recent as Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on the Iranian nuclear talks earlier this year. My first question to you is a simple one: why this compilation of essays now?
A: I wanted to preserve these representative and strengthened essays as a legacy and for widespread use on campuses and at organizations and conferences. This is a reliable and accessible way of both remembering and teaching the coming generations about what has been happening globally in terms of the Orwellian defamation of Jewish Israel and of Western civilizational values.
Human Rights Watch on Thursday urged UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to add Israel to an annual “List of Shame” of children’s rights violators, after more than 500 children were killed in the war in Gaza last year.B'tselem's Lies are Simply Getting Old
The US-based rights group called on Ban to resist pressure from Israel and the United States to keep the Israel Defense Forces off the list, which is due to be released next week.
“Secretary General Ban can strengthen child protection in war by compiling his list based on facts, not political pressure,” said Philippe Bolopion, crisis advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.
Human Rights Watch is also calling for the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas to be included, as well as armed groups in Pakistan, Thailand and India for serious violations including attacks on schools and the recruitment of child soldiers.
One wonders what precisely the doyen of the “human rights brigade”, Hagai El-Ad, the CEO of B'tselem, sought to achieve with his recent oped (“Israel’s charade of Democracy” June 1st 2015, New York Times). Was it to lament that Israel triumphed in the Six Day War of 1967? When hacking through the turgid prose, one hopes to be rewarded with an original thought or innovation, but El-ad only seemed capable of rehashing the same tired and clapped-out arguments regarding surrendering Judea and Samaria.BDS on the March? Don't Panic - Really
Perhaps the laziest concoction was his sweeping denigration of all “settlers” as the sole obstacle to “true democracy” in Israel. It takes a special blend of narrow-mindedness and indifference to history to tar an incredibly diverse cross-section of the population as war criminals and obstacles to peace.
Indeed, the entire suggestion that peace would break out and democracy would ensue in the event of retreating from Judea and Samaria has been shown to be entirely fallacious.
It would seem that El-Ad “forgot” about Operation Protective Edge, which was a direct consequence of the 2005 Disengagement, and consisted of forcibly removing every Israeli civilian and soldier from Gaza in the misplaced hope that the Gazan population was more interested in governing themselves than in attacking Israel.
The only existential danger the BDS movement and its fellow travelers pose to Israel is as a stick in the hands of the "enemy within" - namely, those elements on the Left who use it as leverage to pressure Israel into retreat.PreOccupied Territory: FIFA: Israelis Forced To Continue Playing, Watching Football (satire)
It is up to the rest of us - and specifically the Israeli government - to retain our perspective and not be cowed into concessions by a paper tiger, no matter how loudly it roars. Apart from the fact that even a retreat from all of Judea and Samaria will not satisfy the boycotters but merely embolden them, as they regularly make clear themselves, simply look upon the deadly results of withdrawals from Gaza, from south Lebanon, and from parts of Judea and Samaria (under the Oslo Accords), and the prospects of more humus boycotts - and, yes, even threats of ejection from that international beacon of morality that is FIFA - will rightly seem laughable in comparison.
Again, that is not to say we should not be pushing back against the hate, lies and incitement. We most certainly should. But to do so requires less hysteria, less "reaction," and more focus on creating our own counter-narrative.
The precise shape that fightback should take is a topic for another time - although it clearly must involve less bikinis, hi-tech and talk of the Holocaust, and more focus on forging a robust counter-narrative based on our very real historic and legal rights to the land of Israel, including Judea and Samaria. (Clearly, Bibi smashing the foreign ministry into several disparate, often competing, shards is hardly helpful.)
Nevertheless, this is a battle we can and should win.
Just remember: Israel will survive regardless, just as long as we stand firm and don't blink first.
Israeli society was heard to groan this morning at the prospect of again listening to detailed commentary concerning the manner in which players functioning as garishly attired walking advertisements outmaneuver one another to send a polyurethane- or PVC-covered inflated rubber bladder into an upright net. Worse, say analysts, Israelis will continue to be subjected to fans referring to their favorite team as “we,” invoking the laughable implication that the speaker has made even the most minute discernible contribution to whatever achievement is under discussion.Fight boycotts through funding
“Diplomatically and politically Israel got some breathing room, though it appears the resolution as originally worded wouldn’t have garnered enough votes to be adopted,” said M. Bezzler. who writes about FIFA. “But that tactical achievement – I hesitate to call it a victory – comes at a tremendous emotional and psychological cost. I don’t just mean the crushing frustration of watching a club with which one identifies perpetually underachieve, or fail to maintain consistent success – or just plain suck, both on the pitch and in the stands, in the case of Beitar Jerusalem.”
“I’m also talking about walking around with the knowledge that countless fellow citizens voluntarily and repeatedly pay good money to watch, even physically attend, games,” he continued, “and that a hefty percentage of those citizens even buy apparel and other merchandise specifically to display loyalty to what is, essentially, an uncaring corporation that uses their emotions and sense of belonging as a tool to soak them for money.”
Indeed, in bars and pubs across the country Thursday evening, Israelis could be seen attempting to cope with continued exposure to soccer by dulling their senses with alcoholic beverages. “Everyone who comes in here when a game is on buys at least two beers,” noted the bartender at Bentzi’s, a sports bar in Holon. “While I appreciate the business, it would be better for everyone if as a society we didn’t have to deal with this crap.”
The first step in this fight means confronting European governments that supply such groups with most of their funding, and demanding they practice full, democratic transparency.NGO Monitor: What They Don’t Tell You: Answers to Questions about Breaking the Silence and the NIF
Israeli and European representatives can outline guidelines for the funding awarded to political groups in a way that would prevent those that promote double standards, discriminate against Israel, urge the prosecution of Israeli officials, and reject the Jewish people's right to sovereignty from receiving grants.
There is no difference between the Right and the Left in this fight. The Israeli leadership must demand full transparency be applied to the process of funding any organization involved in the BDS campaign under the guise of "human rights."
Our elected officials would be wise to hold regular discussions on the foreign funding granted to such groups, and have the ambassadors of donor countries explain their actions to the relevant Knesset committees, and MKs representing Israel in various international frameworks could move to include these issues on the agenda.
The conversation should be constructive and diplomatic. The information is readily available. All that has to be done is use it.
Members of the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence (BtS) are in the midst of another international tour of Europe and the United States, this time promoting allegations of Israeli war crimes during the summer 2014 Gaza conflict.The Insidious Marketing of the BDS Campaign
In the United States, the BtS tour is being touted by one of its major donors, the New Israel Fund (NIF), which is also hosting a number of programs. From 2008 to 2013, NIF authorized grants worth $560,428 to BtS (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013).
In an attempt to defend this fringe controversial and discredited group, NIF has been circulating a 2-page FAQ about BtS, which largely consists of apologetics and justifications.
However, the NIF is not providing a full picture. Here is what NIF is not telling you about Breaking the Silence.
The boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement promotes itself as a non-violent “civil society” human rights organization trying to bring peace to a victimized people and the world. It is not. BDS is, in fact, the marketing arm of the same Arab-Muslim people and organizations that have unsuccessfully tried to destroy Israel since its establishment. This includes the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Fatah, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League, and Iran. BDS leaders also have direct connections with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.Gabriel Schivone: "As A Jew"
These entities are less known for their humanity than their brutal and long history of terrorism, extreme violence, murders, and human rights atrocities (against their own people and others).
Pushing peaceful propaganda while secretly promoting violence and human rights violations is nothing new. Look no further than the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, and many of the revolutionary countries of South America.
However, unlike in the past when Arab-Muslims singularly waged conventional and terrorist wars against Israel, BDS brilliantly recruits legions of “well doers” (including Jews) who, either because of ignorance or agenda, help disseminate BDS’ lies, hatred, and anti-Semitism.
Mr. Gabriel Matthew Schivone is one of the very few people in human history whose very name appears destined to become a description of a phenomenon, in this case the Schivone Jew. Previous examples of persons who have given their names to phenomena include Vidkun Quisling, the Earl of Sandwich, and only very few others.Why has Minnesota Congressional representative Betty McCollum forgotten the Israeli victims of terror?
He's even got his own entry on Urban Dictionary.
Gabriel Schivone is the coordinator of Arizona's chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, and was recently profiled by the controversial site Canary Mission, who wrote:
On the official 2011 Gaza flotilla website, Schivone is described as "a Chicano-Jewish American and undergraduate student who was born in Tucson, Arizona."
Schivone is not Jewish. He has however, since 2011, consistently purported to be, and many - including himself - have suggested as to why this is.
He first "revealed" his cultural heritage in an article that he wrote for Ha'aretz explaining why he - as a Jew - was taking part in the anti-Israel flotilla bound for Israel in 2011.
He was immediately admonished by a former classmate,Valerie Saturen. In a letter to the editor, Saturen explained, "Gabriel is not Jewish, whether in terms of ethnic ancestry, religious belief, or cultural identity. He has never identified as a Jew until it became useful in advancing his political agenda."
Gabriel Schivone was interviewed in a Jerusalem Post article, Why do non-Jews bashing Israel claim to be Jewish? and was specifically asked if he had converted to Judaism or if his parents or grandparents were Jewish. He did not answer affirmatively to either.
Once again Israeli children in the south are sleeping in bomb shelters as Gaza terrorists fire rockets at towns in Southern Israel. Yet Minnesota Congressional representative Betty McCollum says nothing about the rights of Israeli children to live free from fear in her letter to Secretary of State John Kerry.Left-wing Israeli groups received $27M from Europe over 3 years
Betty McCollum ignores a very real obstacle to peace – the demonization and incitement against Israel in the Palestinian educational system.
Just days ago, the Shehab News Agency posted photos of a Palestinian kindergarten graduation. These are not children being taught that peace is possible, or even that peace is desirable.
McCollum’s letter to John Kerry absolves the Palestinians of any responsibility for the role their state run media plays in glorifying violence and terror.
Some 24 Israeli non-governmental political advocacy organizations dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict reported a total of nearly 105 million shekels ($27 million) in direct and indirect funding from foreign governments, especially in the European Union, from 2012 to 2014, according to an NGO Monitor report from earlier this year.A Grim Prospect For South Africa's Jews
The organizations are required by Israel's NGO Transparency Law to disclose funding from foreign governmental bodies. NGO Monitor collected and analyzed the data provided about donations given directly by foreign governments and those given via governmental conduits.
According to the Foreign Ministry, many of these organizations focus on Israel's activities in Judea and Samaria, often encouraging pro-Palestinian activists and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
Some of the organizations to receive foreign government funding were B'Tselem, Gisha, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Breaking the Silence.
The President of the Student Representative Council at Wits University, Johannesburg, Mcebo Dlamini, recently declared that he “loves Adolf Hitler”. After all, he said, there are some white people who still admire Cecil Rhodes today so why should he not admire Hitler? “Hitler was a great leader even if he had faults. I love him for his charisma, his strong leadership, his organising ability. Whites are making out that the Jewish Holocaust was worse than the black holocaust in South Africa, which shows that every white has an element of Hitler in him. But Hitler was no worse than other great villains of history such as Napoleon, Tony Blair and George W. Bush.”Israel pressing Holland to revise wording of 'insulting' West Bank travel advisory
Simultaneously, the SRC President at the Durban University of Technology, Mqondisi Duma, demanded the expulsion from the university of all Jews who do not publicly declare their loyalty to the Palestinian cause. Duma doubtless knew that although many Jews are willing to criticise the Netanyahu government, only a rather freakish fringe are willing to side publicly against their confreres in Israel so that in effect he was demanding that the campus be cleared of nine Jews out of every ten.
Yet not many years ago Nelson Mandela happily accepted an honorary doctorate from Ben Gurion University at Beersheva and dwelt admiringly on the fact that BGU is a world leader in combating desertification, in water purification and in assisting agriculture in harsh conditions — and that it was making all this expertise available to South Africa. Moreover, Mandela never tired of praising South African Jews for having sided against apartheid and provided so many members of the Progressive, Liberal and Communist parties. Yet Israel now lists South Africa as a country where the Jewish community is under major threat and strongly recommends that the entire community here leave for Israel as soon as possible. So how has it come to this?
Israel is asking the Dutch government to change the wording of an “insulting” travel advisory to the West Bank that besmirches an entire community by warning of sometimes violent “colonists,” a Foreign Ministry spoken said this week.Don’t believe the Guardian. BDS is neither progressive nor non-violent
The advisory, appearing on the website of the Dutch central government regarding the the Palestinian Territories, reads, “There are security risks for traveling all over the West Bank including east Jerusalem.
“Be alert when traveling there. Demonstrations and violent incidents occur regularly. Jewish colonists live in illegal West Bank settlements and organize demonstrations regularly around and on the road. These colonists are sometimes violent. At times, these colonists throw stones at Palestinians and international vehicles, so be alert when traveling around settlements of Jewish colonists, especially in the hills around Nablus and Hebron.”
In referencing violence by Palestinians, the text states: “Palestinians demonstrate regularly against occupation in various places,” adding that “these demonstrations sometimes involve violence. There are always Israeli soldiers present during demonstrations. Avoid demonstrations. Recently, there have been violent incidents in the border area between east and west Jerusalem. They are aimed at Israelis. Be alert in those areas and avoid public transportation.”
So, quite clearly, Barghouti does NOT oppose violence and stands firmly against any solution to the conflict other than the complete end of Jewish sovereignty in their ancestral homeland.L A Times Lets Saree Makdisi Incriminate Himself, Again
Additionally, what so many far-left journalists like Beaumont don’t tell their readers is that Jews, who fully understand the painful lessons learned by thousands of years of statelessness, powerlessness and victimhood would ferociously resist efforts to strip them of their hard-fought national rights.
Any attempt to impose a one-state solution on Israel, where Jews would become a minority in an Arab majority state, is, in reality, a recipe for war and unimaginable violence.
Don’t believe the Guardian. BDS, at its core, is not a Palestinian “human rights campaign” in the traditional sense of the term. It is a politically regressive, ideologically extreme movement which seeks a violent final solution to the Jewish problem in the Middle East.
The Los Angeles Times has done it again, handing U.C.L.A. Prof. Saree Makdisi space on its commentary pages for another virtually fact-free, anti-Israel column. The third this year (and at least tenth in The Times since 2004), Makdisi's “Wrongfully treating academic debates as anti-semitism” (May 26) relies on semantic and factual inversion to hide the goal of the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement and the company it keeps.BBC WS’s ‘Business Matters’ misrepresents the status of Area C in report on PA economy
The professor, an advocate of the elimination of Israel as a Jewish state, cloaks his objective with appeals to academic freedom. He claims critics of boycotting Israel engage in “an immediate descent into shrill accusations of ‘demonization' and ‘delegitimization' followed, inevitably, by character assassination.' ”
Unfortunately for Makdisi, any character assassination regarding BDS advocates is self-committed. On this we have the recent observations of Pope Francis and President Obama.
The pontiff reportedly told Portuguese-Israeli journalist Henrique Cymerman late last month that “anyone who does not recognize the Jewish people and the State of Israel — and their right to exist — is guilty of anti-Semitism.”
A few days earlier, speaking to The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, Obama—reflecting on contemporary antisemitism and Israel—said he thought of the entwined issues this way: “Do you think that Israel has a right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people, and are you aware of the particular circumstances of Jewish history that might prompt that need and desire?
Those familiar with the reports frequently produced by the World Bank will not have been in the least surprised by Jorgensen’s misrepresentation of the standing of Area C and his failure to note the fact that its status has yet to be determined and is currently pending the results of negotiations. In October 2013, just as Jorgensen took on his position, the World Bank published a paper titled “Area C and the Future of the Palestinian Economy” which – like many of the World Bank’s other reports – is based to no small extent on material provided by a plethora of political NGOs including Yesh Din, Gisha, ARIJ, B’Tselem, Bimkom and the Land Research Centre.Westport, Connecticut: "This did not feel like political protest. This felt like terrorism."
Unfortunately, Roger Hearing failed to correct the inaccurate impression given by his interviewee regarding the legal status of Area C just as he failed to relieve them of the misleading impression that terrorism is caused by unemployment. Moreover, whilst attributing the state of the economy in Palestinian Authority controlled areas to Israeli “restrictions”, Hearing made no attempt to accurately inform listeners what the phrase “major security fears” actually means.
Bearing in mind that BBC audiences suffer from consistent under-reporting on the subject of Palestinian terrorism and that stories such as the rise of Hamas in PA administered areas or the seizure of 5 million shekels worth of money intended to fund terrorism in 2014 alone are rarely covered by the BBC, it is imperative for any accurate and impartial report on the Palestinian economy to include such essential background information. This BBC World Service report failed to deliver, instead sticking to a well-trodden but misleading political narrative in which Palestinians are portrayed as passive victims devoid of all responsibility for their choices.
The rest of this programme will be discussed in a future post.
The bucolic town of Westport Connecticut experienced a shock last month, when a synagogue event was stormed by 2 anti-Israel activists, prompting a congregant to cry "This felt like terrorism". Several schools, including Coleytown Middle School, Coleytown Elementary School, the pre-school at the Unitarian Church and the Temple Israel Nursery were placed under lockdown while the situation unfolded.French Town to Honor Yasser Arafat with Street
From Stephanie Bass, reported in the Police Report On Temple Israel Confrontation:
In the middle of speeches, there was a loud disturbance. I couldn't tell how many people, but they were banging on the door to the room, yelling either "Justice for the Palestinians" or "Freedom for the Palestinians." There were 80 women in the room. People started screaming "Get down!" and "Call 911!" Women ran to the back of the room, or ran out a back door.
The "Palestinian" ranting went on. I was waiting for the machine gun fire. First I thought, I could die today; then I thought if many people die today, I don't want to be one of them.
I'd been in Israel during the '73 war. I thought of Newtown and that movie theater in Colorado. I dove under the table. After a few minutes, the Israeli Brigadier General grabbed my hand. She said it was okay to come out; personnel at the temple had subdued the men.
A French municipal council has approved a proposal to name a newly built street after Palestinian Liberation Organization leader and arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat, the Nice Matin newspaper reported Tuesday.Woman arrested in Spain for posting ‘kill the Jews’ videos
The proposal was adopted by a large majority of elected representatives of of the south-western town La Seyne-sur-Mer.
According to Mayor Marc Vuillemot, the proposal was brought forward by the town's residents and only a handful of representatives voted against it.
Those who opposed the measure were reportedly unhappy with honoring a "controversial figure" or, as others described Arafat, a "terrorist."
"There is also a Yitzhak Rabin-street in the district. To my knowledge, the two men received the Nobel Peace Prize together," the Socialist Party Mayor said in response to the critics.
With La Seyne-sur-Mer's adoption of the proposal, France will see the country's first ever street to be named after Arafat, who died in a French hospital in 2004.
Amid fears of resurgent anti-Semitism across Europe, Spanish officials have arrested an unnamed woman for online incitement to kill Jews.Sobibor memorial plans suspended following protests
The woman, 28, a foreign national residing in Ribaforada, Spain, uploaded a number of videos calling for the maiming and “extermination” of Jews and Zionists, according to Spanish media.
Officials issued an arrest warrant for the woman due to the “brutality of the content” she created, for which she is expected to be tried on several counts of inciting hatred and violence through audiovisual material on various social networks.
A number of her videos garnered thousands of views, the Spanish Ministry of the Interior said in a statement.
Polish authorities suspended the planned construction of a controversial memorial monument at the former Sobibor Nazi death camp, activists against the plan said.‘Personalized’ Facebook ad tech pays off big for Israel’s Bidalgo
The suspension of the plan followed talks last month between the Polish ministry of culture and Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem, over concerns that the proposed construction would destroy archaeological findings and disturb human remains, JTA has learned.
“In the end, it was decided to suspend and rethink the planned construction,” confirmed Yoram Haimi, an Israeli archaeologist whose team in September discovered the foundations of the gas chambers at Sobibor, which were thought to have been destroyed by the Nazis.
Haimi added that he did not know what would come instead of the proposed $5 million monument or where it would be built.
“We are waiting for new plans to be drawn up and brought for approval in Warsaw. Maybe the monument will remain unchanged, but for its construction outside the camp instead of on it,” added Haimi.
For those who wonder how a free service like Facebook can make billions a year ($12.47 billion in 2014, to be precise), Israeli ad-tech start-up Bidalgo supplies a partial answer. Bidalgo is a large supplier of automated segmented advertising on Facebook, selling hundreds of millions dollars a year worth of ads for apps and products on the social network.Israel, Kazakhstan Launch Joint Irrigation Project in Almaty Region
That work has paid off handsomely for Bidalgo, said Niv Yemini, Bidalgo co-founder and CTO. As one of the few official Facebook Marketing Partners in Israel, the company expects as much as $100 million in revenues in 2015.
“There are hundreds of thousands of groups on Facebook,” said Yemini. “They all have a specific emphasis, and need to be reached in a specific way. Different groups require different approaches and messages.
“Over the past five years, we have perfected a system of figuring out what those messages are, targeting each segment for advertisers to ensure maximum return on investment,” said Yemini. “Regarding how good the system is, I think the company’s results speak for themselves.”
Though the anti-Israel boycott movement seems to be spreading at an alarming rate, it appears Kazakhstan has little interest in such politics, as the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced a joint initiative to develop the Central Asian nation’s irrigation systems.In new Egyptian Ramadan drama, Jews are the good guys
Recently, Israeli and Kazakh dignitaries together cut the ribbon at the Israel-Kazakhstan Irrigation Demonstration Center in the Almaty region.
The project is being implemented through cooperation between the Israeli Foreign and Agricultural ministries, as well as the Israeli embassy in Kazakhstan, the Kazakh Agriculture Ministry and the “KazAgroInnovation” group.
The official inauguration of the project took place on May 19, and was attended by the deputy head of MASHAV, Ilan Fluss and the Israeli ambassador to Kazakhstan, Eliyahu Tasman, among others.
Israel and majority Muslim Kazakhstan established diplomatic relations in 1992, and the countries have formed strong ties since.
Israel purchases 25% of its oil resources from Kazakhstan and the two countries also maintain close defense and intelligence contacts.
Kazakhstan has a very small Jewish population a little over 3,000 today.
Egyptian soap operas, produced annually to entertain millions of Muslims breaking their fast during the holy month of Ramadan, have often been platforms for antisemitic and anti-Israeli vitriol.Will Alibaba open R&D center in Israel?
The 2012 series “Naji Atallah’s Team,” starring veteran actor Adel Imam, depicted an Egyptian group’s attempt to rob a bank in deeply racist Israel. The 2002 historic show “Knight Without a Horse,” located in 1932 Egypt and based on the antisemitic canard “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” almost caused Israel to withdraw its ambassador from Cairo and sparked condemnation also from the US State Department.
But a new drama about the Jews of Egypt scheduled to air this Ramadan, come June 18, promises to be significantly different.
The plot of “Haret al-Yahood,” or The Jewish Quarter, unfolds in Cairo between two landmark events in 20th century Egyptian history: the 1952 Revolution — which replaced the ruling monarchy with the militaristic Free Officers Movement led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser — and the 1956 Suez Crisis, known in Israel as the Kadesh Operation and in Egypt as the Tripartite Aggression.
It depicts a love story between Ali, an Egyptian army officer played by Iyad Nassar, and Laila, a young Jewish woman, played by Mona Shalabi. As one might expect, the romance is marred by the rising wave of Egyptian nationalism and the social tensions brought about by the creation of Israel.
Chinese investment in Israeli technology is breaking all records. And news that Alibaba, the world’s biggest e-commerce company, may be opening a research-and-development center here has the local business world excited for the future.‘Late, Late Show’ Host Hilariously Takes Shift at LA’s Western Kosher Market (VIDEO)
The value of financing rounds involving Chinese investors is projected to grow 54 percent this year, according to a new IVC Research Center report.
At the beginning of 2015, local venture capitalists, business developers and high-tech experts forecast a bumper year for Israel in terms of investment, acquisitions and seed money from Asia.
Not even halfway through the year, and the IVC report shows that financing rounds involving at least one Chinese investor already stand at $117 million in 2015. If early-year trends continue, investment rounds with Chinese participation will top $467 million by the year’s end – way higher than last year’s $302 million financing.
“There’s no question that there’s been an increase in Chinese interest in Israel. In terms of investment, it’s not just the fact that Israeli tech is exciting to the Chinese investor but Chinese investors have also noticed there’s another market for them to invest in,” Ryan Dritz, director of business development at the Asian Institute, tells ISRAEL21c.
“There are huge amounts of VC money floating around China at the moment and they’re continuously looking for new markets, and Israel has just exploded.”
Late, Late Show host James Corden covered an employee’s shift at a kosher butcher in Los Angeles in the latest installment of his show’s segment “Take a Break.”
The talk show host filled various roles when he took over for a worker at the L.A.-based butcher Western Kosher on a Friday afternoon. While wearing a blue yarmulke, he ringed up customers, butchered meat and drove a forklift. He also made use of Yiddish words like “kvelling,” and wished people a “good Shabbos.”
“I’m not Jewish, but all my friends are so I’m practically kvelling at the thought of being there,” he told one customer who invited him over for a Shabbat dinner.
At one point in the segment Corden starts a Jewish-inspired song and dance with his supervisor at Western Kosher. He later takes the same employee for a spin on the forklift as the worker holds on for his life.
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