Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Khaled Abu Toameh: BDS threats thwart Israeli-Palestinian normalization meeting in Bethlehem
A meeting between Israelis and Palestinians that was supposed to take place in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, on Thursday has been relocated, after the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement threatened to thwart the gathering.British Business Secretary Says Israel-UK Trade Ushering in ‘Golden Era’
The meeting was meant to be the founding congress of the Two States One Homeland Initiative, which advocates the establishment of two sovereign states on one open homeland.
The Israeli-Palestinian group believes in equality for both people living with open borders.
The Israeli side is represented by former Haaretz journalist Meron Rapoport, while the Palestinian side is represented by Awni al-Mashni, a senior Fatah official from the West Bank.
“Because of difficulties on the Palestinian street, we have decided, in agreement with our Palestinian partners, to postpone the Founding Congress of Two States One Homeland Initiative in Beit Jala on Thursday to a more calm period,” the group said in a statement on Tuesday.
The organizers decided to hold the meeting on the same day but in Jerusalem.
Palestinian sources said that BDS activists in Bethlehem threatened to wage protests against the meeting if it were held in Beit Jala. (h/t Yenta Press)
The British business and innovation secretary declared on Monday that the U.K. and Israel had entered a “golden era” for trade.The Judean People's Front: Calling BS on BDS - BDS Handbook: Forward
“The past few years have been a golden era for Anglo-Israeli business,” said British Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Sajid Javid, during the annual British Israel Business Awards event.
“Over the past 67 years, Israel has made business bloom in the barren desert,” said Javid. “What really excites me are the possibilities for the years that lie ahead.”
The MP, self-described as a “proud British-born Muslim,” and keynote speaker at Monday’s event said he held Israel in high regard, and expected bilateral trade and services– currently valued at about $6.9 billion, according to Javid — to continue to grow.
Javid told the audience of about 250 people that he has traveled to Israel extensively, “both for business and with family.”
“Over the years I’ve taken a great interest in [Israel’s] affairs. Because the values that have made Israel such a success are values that matter a great deal to me. I share Israel’s love for freedom and democracy. I admire its tenacious determination when the odds are stacked against it,” he said.
“And, like millions of Israelis, I have a mother who’s still waiting for me to get a proper job!” he quipped.
Javid said the British National Union of Student’s decision to adopt boycott measures against Israel, while rejecting a motion to do the same against the Islamic State, “speaks volumes.”
He said he “had no time for a boycott campaign. Because for me, freedom is an absolute concept.”
This is the first post in our new series Calling BS on BDS. In this series the JPF will not only debunk the major theories driving the BDS movement, but also go through the BDS Divestment Handbook used by anti-Israel "activists" all over the world and show how to counter their lies.
The forward of the BDS handbook sets the stage with two important points that must be properly understood:
The use of an anti-apartheid framework can be instrumental for student BDS activists, because some schools already have policies prohibiting investment in apartheid. (page 4)
Here they are admitting that their use of the "anti-apartheid framework" is tactical rather than substantive! BDS supporters are attempting to hijack a cause that is not their own in order to manipulate the system for their own benefit. The article this quote is referencing attempts to make the charge fit and is very effective if the reader knows nothing about the conflict, which is precisely why this debunking is so important
Showing reverence for the concept of self-determination is key when struggling in solidarity, and this call should be the basis for international BDS campaigns to challenge Israel’s occupation and apartheid. (page 5)
Anyone hearing a BDSer make this charge should immediately ask, "What about Jewish self-determination?! Why should the Jews be the only people denied the right to self-determination? If BDS cares so much about the right of self-determination, why are they trying to take this right away from one of the most persecuted groups in history?" Most supporters of Israel are not against the idea of Palestinian self-determination, but they do not support the idea of establishing a Palestinian state without it making peace with Israel.
No Truth in Advertising: Max Blumenthal’s New Book on Gaza
With his last book Goliath published in fall 2013, Max Blumenthal hoped to popularize the antisemitic comparison between Israel and Nazi Germany. But he and his fans evidently feel somewhat frustrated: anticipating the publication of a new book by Blumenthal that accuses Israel of war crimes and wanton cruelty in Gaza, they now complain that Goliath “was virtually blacked out by American mainstream media” and demand in particular that the “NYT needs to end blackout on Blumenthal.” Blumenthal himself seems to feel strongly on this point and has repeatedly re-tweeted this specific demand.The Biggest Mistakes Pro-Israel Advocates Make #8: How to Socially Engineer a Debate like a Boss
Apparently, Blumenthal is not embarrassed that this demand comes from a website that has been described as a “hate site,” and which promotes anti-Semitic material. But for a writer who has built a reputation as a “gonzo journalist” and has fans on neo-Nazi forums and many other outlets that attract Jew-haters, it’s perhaps best not to be too picky about where the cheers come from.
Despite his well-earned notoriety, Blumenthal has managed to get his new book endorsed by Reza Aslan, who is a professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside and describes himself as “an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions.” While Aslan is no stranger to controversy, his endorsement of Blumenthal’s new book is not only noteworthy for the disreputable company he joins so willingly, but also for the rather preposterous claim that Blumenthal is among “the most vital voices in journalism today, always speaking truth to power with fearlessness and integrity.”
I first came across Aslan’s praise of Blumenthal – together with proof (if any was needed) of how ridiculous this praise is – when Blumenthal retweeted the advertisement for a talk to market his new book. Even if Blumenthal may not have provided the text for the announcement himself, his supposed journalistic “integrity” justifies the assumption that he at least checked it. In any case, the gushing announcement includes the false claim that “Max Blumenthal was in Gaza throughout this catastrophe” (i.e. the 2014 Gaza war). At Amazon, the announcement is a bit more ambiguous, but still misleading with the claim that “Max Blumenthal was in Gaza and throughout Israel–Palestine during what he argues was an entirely avoidable catastrophe.” The book description, again misleadingly, claims that “Max Blumenthal was on the ground during what he argues was an entirely avoidable catastrophe.”
Mistake #8: Not acknowledging the points you do agree onThe Islamization of World Soccer?
This mistake can be very difficult to avoid, because 1) the first impulse most people have when they hear something they disagree with is to immediately fire an opposing counterargument right back at them and 2) more often than not, debating becomes more about winning and less about finding the truth.
As I said above, in order to get someone to listen to you, you have to make them feel like you’re on their team, that you’re supportive, and share the same interests and goals. As someone who would call yourself a liberal or a progressive (in other words, prizing Western values), that’s actually not as hard as it sounds, especially since it’s not difficult to prove that the Palestinian side is only pretending to share those values, when in fact they revile them.
Even when you’re not dealing with a Western-minded person, it’s not impossible to make them think you’re on their team. After all, I don’t think I’ve ever met a person I disagree with on absolutely everything. A lot of people want the same things – peace, justice, human rights, freedom, dignity, etc. – but have a different idea of what they mean and how to achieve them.
The first thing you must do at all times is acknowledge the humanity of the other side in order for them to acknowledge the humanity in you. I know that sounds esoteric, but what it really means is to see them as a person rather than a monolithic “enemy,” and treat them as such. This doesn’t mean you have to actually change sides, this means that you have to listen to what they have to say so that they reciprocate the cues and listen to you. Listening also helps you formulate a better counter-argument, taking more of their talking points into account. Discussions are ineffective if they are one-way streets. As I discussed in Installment 4, if you zone out or heckle them, you appear very closed-minded, and they will thus reciprocate by also being closed-minded, or more so than usual.
I can promise you that even if you’re debating the most virulent antisemites, that there’s something you can agree upon. For example: Palestinians deserve human rights. Who wouldn’t agree with that? They’re human! An important rule of psychology, as I discussed earlier, is that if you appear to be “on their team,” they are more likely to take your ideas seriously. As such, in any debate, it’s important to first outline what you do agree with as opposed to starting off with what you don’t agree with (the latter being a defining characteristic of “Knee-Jerk-Zionism”). Starting off the debate with a foundation of compromise, respect, and conciliatory behavior, even if the opposition is someone you have no respect for at all like Gideon Levy, a man who feeds off the admiration of our enemies for going against his people, is the key to having them take the rest of your ideas seriously.
The measures taken by the Palestinian Football Association to expel Israel from the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) are only the tip of the iceberg of a much more dangerous endeavor originated by Qatar. Qatar’s involvement in Palestinian and Israeli soccer is only one facet of its deep involvement in FIFA in general.Amazing UN Watch ‘typo’ regarding Saudi Arabia ‘has to be on purpose’
Behind the subversive efforts within Israel is an Israeli Arab, Azmi Bishara, a former member of Knesset who fled Israel because of suspicions that he had spied for Syria.
Since the accession of the new Qatari emir, Sheikh Tamim, he has drawn close to Bishara and Hamas’ Khaled Mashal and enabled them to use the wealthy emirate for their anti-Israel activity.
Qatari funds have been transferred to social institutions and associations that operate in Israel’s Arab sector. The name of the soccer stadium in the Arab Israeli town Sakhnin is “Doha,” named after the capital of Qatar. The most recent financial transfer was received by the Ahi Nazareth soccer association.
Qatar backs Palestinian Football Association head Jibril Rajoub’s candidacy for Palestinian Authority president once Mahmoud Abbas steps down.
Rajoub’s activity reveals another dangerous aspect of Qatar’s policy – Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood’s penetration into the West Bank, Israel, and Europe by means of soccer.
UN Watch describes itself on its website as “a non-governmental organization based in Geneva whose mandate is to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own charter,” and a large part of that yardstick is promoting human rights. A press release distributed by the group today seemed to contain an embarrassing typo in the headline.Pew: Feared 'Islamophobic' Backlash in France Never Happened
"Saudis Lose Bid to Behead of the UN Human Rights Council"
Certainly that should read, “…Drop Bid to Be Head of UN Rights Council,” right? UN Watch doesn’t seem to be rushing to issue a correction, though.
Curiously, the same “typo” appears on UN Watch’s website as well, above a photo of a man wielding a scimitar.
According to a recent study by Pew, that "Islamophobic" backlash that people feared would take place in France after the Islamic terror attack on Charlie Hebdo never manifested. In fact, French public opinion of Muslims is better now after the attacks than before--similar to the increase in support for Muslims in America after 9/11.Orange CEO Apologizes to Hotovely for Boycott 'Misunderstanding'
Pew reports that despite the Charlie Hebdo attack being "the most devastating terrorist incident in France since the Algerian War more than five decades ago" and the "considerable debate" about Islamic radicalization in the country since, there has be "no backlash" against Muslims, public opinion in fact improving by 4 points:
In the aftermath, there has been considerable debate in France about the extent of radicalization among the country’s nearly 5 million Muslims, and more broadly about the role of Islam in a country famous for its secularism. However, there has been no backlash against Muslims in French public opinion. In fact, attitudes toward Muslims have become slightly more positive over the past year.
A new Pew Research Center survey finds that 76% in France say they have a favorable view of Muslims living in their country, similar to the 72% registered in 2014. Meanwhile, the percentage with a veryfavorable opinion of Muslims has increased significantly, rising from 14% last year to 25% today. Attitudes toward Muslims tend to be more positive on the political left in France, but ratings improved across the ideological spectrum.
In a letter to Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), Orange CEO Stephane Richard again proclaimed his “affection” for Israel, and said that he had been “badly hurt by the firestorm that was created, and by the many aggressive comments” made by Israelis on the matter. “These comments were based on something I didn't even say. I am a friend of Israel, I visit here a great deal. This is dynamic and creative country.”Minister Shaked Tasks Israeli Justice Ministry With Forming Plan to Take Legal Actions Against International BDS
Richard was responding to a demand by Hotovely that Richard retract remarks made in Cairo last week, in which he said that his company would, if it could, “tomorrow” cut off a licensing deal with Israel's Partner Communications. In a letter to Richard, Hotovely demanded that Richard “refrain from taking part in the industry of lies directed against Israel. I am sure that these reports do not reflect the intentions of your company, and call on you to clarify the issue as soon as possible.”
According to reports, Richard said in a Cairo speech last week that he “did not want” a business relationship with Israel. The only reason Orange has not terminated its franchise contract with Partner – from which, Richard said, “we make very little money” - was to avoid litigation in Israeli courts.
Israel’s justice minister said she has instructed the ministry’s international department to prepare a list of legal actions for combating boycott, divestment and sanctions measures worldwide.State Dept Doesn’t Take Position on Potential EU Labeling of Israeli Settlement Products
“I have instructed the Justice Ministry’s international desk to prepare a course of legal actions against the BDS movement,” said Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked on Monday, according to Israel’s Army Radio.
“We’re going from being on the defense, to being on the attack. We will counter all boycott measures with an offensive line,” she said.
Shaked’s announcement underlines the new Israeli government’s shift in focus to the issue of BDS.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Likud’s no. 2 lawmaker, Gilad Erdan, to the public diplomacy and strategic affairs portfolio, largely to tackle the issue of BDS.
The State Department does not take a position on the potential European Union (EU) label rule for Israeli settlement products.State Dept doesn't take position on potential EU labeling of Israeli settlement products
The European Union is prepared to release a new regulation that would require Israel to label all products that are made in West Bank settlements and exported to any country in the European Union.
Associated Press reporter Matt Lee asked State Department spokesperson Jeff Rathke what the position of the United States was on the EU’s proposed label rule.
“Well, it’s my understanding this is something that is still under discussion, so I would refer you to the EU and the European Commission for any details,” Rathke said. “Since it remains an internal matter for the European Union, I’m not going to speculate about that while it remains under discussion internally.”
“I’m not quite sure I understand that,” said Lee. “So you don’t have any position on whether goods and products made/produced in settlements in the West Bank should labeled or should not be labeled as coming from there.”
Chief Rabbi Urges UN Head: Fight the Israel Boycott
Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, speaking as the representative of the state of Israel, on Wednesday addressed the boycott movement facing the Jewish state while speaking at the World Congress of Religious Leaders held in Kazakhstan.Websurfer Exposes Staged Photo of ‘Israeli Soldier’ Pointing Gun at ‘Palestinian Youth’
"Recently we have seen before our eyes how words can kill: as leaders we must express disgust at all types of boycott," Rabbi Yosef said, at the event which was attended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.
The rabbi spoke with Ban on the sidelines of the Congress, and called on him to actively fight the boycott - his call comes amid reports that the European Union (EU) is preparing sanctions against Israel at the UN along with "settlement" product labeling demands to further the boycott.
"It isn't enough to not cooperate with the phenomenon (of boycotts), one must fight them," said Rabbi Yosef. "Those acting with boycotts are not interested in true peace; the way of boycotting brings the opposite effect."
A photo circulating on Facebook that purports to show an IDF soldier aiming his rifle at the neck of a Palestinian youth is apparently staged, Israeli Channel 2 news reported on Sunday.Anti-IDF ‘Breaking the Silence’ to Speak in Swiss Parliament
According to the report, both the “Israeli soldier” and the “Palestinian youth” in the image are actors, and a follow up-picture, discovered by websurfer Roi Rahmani shows the pair standing together for a selfie shortly after the initial photo.
Rahmani, who posted the photo and its explanation on Facebook explained that it “was taken by actors, and their goal was to present the soldiers of the IDF in a negative light.”
He added that, “if you… do a little bit more effort, you’ll find the photo posted below that proves what I’m saying, that these two are actors, and as proof: the ‘threatened’ child and the ‘threatening’ soldier are taking an incriminating selfie [together].”
Rahmani’s exposé was shared thousands of times on Facebook.
The leftist Green Part in Switzerland has invited Yehuda Shaul, leader of the anti-IDF Breaking the Silence group, to speak in the parliament a week after the government funded his exhibit that charges the military with human rights violations.Put your (Palestinian) dreams away for another day
The Israeli Foreign Ministry last week failed to cancel the Breaking the Silence exhibition, which it said has the ” sole purpose to tarnish the image of Israel’s …and Israel’s image.”
The Swiss Foreign Ministry shelled out $25,000 to help Breaking the Silence stage the exhibit and justified its action as a “commitment to increasing dialogue about human rights.”
Sigmund Freud once wrote that artists' creations were imaginary gratification of unconscious wishes, just as dreams are. He would not have been puzzled by the disturbing dream in Nablus that troubled Rev. Giles Fraser, the 50 year old Church of England priest at St. Mary’s, Newington in South London.BBC WS radio promotes Avi Shlaim’s historical misrepresentations – part one
We know from writers as diverse as W. B. Yeats and Delmore Schwartz that in dreams begin responsibilities and end in the shock of the recognition of reality. Unfortunately for many pro-Palestinian advocates dreams do not have that outcome.
For those who persist in illusions of fantasy there is a helpful tool: the comprehensive, 947-page Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed. 2013.
This work defines and classifies mental disorders in order to improve diagnoses, treatment, and research. It may prove of some value in understanding and correcting some of the pathological processes in the dreams, and in the mind, of some critics of the State of Israel.
Giles Fraser had a Jewish father (nee Friedburg) who was a British Wing Commander coming from a prosperous London Jewish family, and a Christian mother.
Fraser insists that Christianity is his “theology,” though, in an interview on January 15, 2009, he was aware that Christianity has been involved in false conversions and pogroms, and oppression with regard to Jews.
Following that, listeners hear Avi Shlaim telling them that there will be no peace or stability in the Middle East until Jews lose their right to self-determination.The Irish Times: Multiple Lies and Distortions in Three Parts
“To answer your regional question, I don’t think that Israel-Palestine is a separate discrete conflict. It’s part of the whole Middle East set-up and it’s the most fundamental and lasting and enduring conflict in the region and there can be no peace, no stability and no security in the Middle East until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved. How can it be resolved? I used to be a great supporter of the two state solution but […] it is no longer viable. Why is it not viable? Because Israel, under right-wing governments, has systematically destroyed the basis for a two state solution. And therefore today I support and advocate a one state solution: one state which is for all its citizens with equal rights for all its citizens be they Arab or Israeli, Muslim, Christian or Jewish.”
No attempt is made by the programme’s host to inform listeners of the significance and consequences of the ‘solution’ to all the Middle East’s troubles as put forward by Shlaim and likewise no effort is made to relieve them of the ridiculous notion that ISIS jihadists are slaughtering Yezidis, Kurds and Christians (among others) and Bashar al Assad is killing his own people because the Arab-Israeli conflict has yet to be resolved.
Amazingly, this is what passes for objective, impartial, factual and accurate analysis of the Middle East as far as the BBC World Service is concerned, but Avi Shlaim’s historical misrepresentations had not finished there – as we shall see in part two of this post.
The Irish Times has published a series of three stories ostensibly taking a Palestinian perspective on current issues. Biased and skewed reporting is clearly evident as is the norm for the Irish Times.After 70 years, Luxembourg apologizes for Holocaust
In the first article, “Palestinians must use politics to end ‘apartheid regime’,” journalist Michael Jansen conducts an interview with “Israeli peace activist Jeff Halper” who is also described as “a veteran critic of Israeli police.”
What Jansen fails to reveal is that Halper is anything but a “peace activist.” Indeed Halper’s criticism of Israel goes far beyond that of its police force. Halper is a radical anti-Israel activist and the director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICHAD).
As NGO Monitor notes:
ICAHD’s rhetoric includes accusations of “ethnic cleansing,” “genocide,” “collective punishment,” and “apartheid.”
Active in promoting the BDS (boycotts, divestments and sanctions) campaign against Israel.
Explicitly advocates for the end of the state of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, stating that “the only option for resolving the conflict [is] a one-state solution.”
Luxembourg apologized to the Jewish community Tuesday for its “suffering” during the Nazi occupation in World War II, in the first such gesture since the conflict ended 70 years ago.Miami Beach: Swastikas, ‘F-Jews’ drawn on Jewish family car
The government of the tiny duchy, which is nestled between France, Belgium and Germany acknowledged that “certain representatives” of the Luxembourg authorities had been complicit.
Out of 3,700 Jews living in Luxembourg before the war, 1,200 were killed from May 1940 until September 1944, the period of Nazi occupation, according to the Luxembourg government website.
“The government presents its apologies to the Jewish community for the suffering that was inflicted on it and the injustices that were committed against it, and recognizes the responsibility of some public officials in the unforgivable events committed,” said a declaration signed by Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and a group of ministers.
Sixty Luxembourg MPs also adopted on Tuesday a resolution recognizing the “suffering inflicted on the Jewish population, to its Luxembourgish and foreign members, during the Nazi occupation of Luxembourg.”
Swastikas and a hate message were drawn on the cars of a Jewish family in Miami Beach, Florida.Hungarian Official Fired After Remarks Surface Calling Jews ‘Nefarious, Dirty Folk’ (VIDEO)
The words “F— Jews” and a swastika were discovered on Sunday morning, according to local reports.
“It’s scary that you live in such a world where you’re kind of like scared to be Jewish, that any moment this person can come back,” Daniella Fields, who first noticed the messages, told the local Channel 10.
“My family all perished in the Holocaust. My grandma’s entire family, she was the only survivor of everybody,” said her mother Esther Fields. “To wake up with a swastika on my car … it’s very concerning.”
Former Hungarian Member of Parliament Imre Sisák was fired from his position as department head at the Nógrád county government bureau after a video surfaced of him calling Jews a “nefarious, dirty folk,” Hungary Today reported on Tuesday.‘Holocaust’ drink doesn’t go down easy
The offending video, posted on YouTube in late April, is believed to have been recorded between 2006 and 2010 when Sisák was mayor of Pásztó in northern Hungary. According to the report, his comments are thought to have been made in reference to László Krämer, a late member of the town council for the Hungarian Socialist Party.
Sisák’s dismissal went into immediate effect upon orders from the Prime Minister’s Office, Hungary Today said. Sisák had served as a department head at the Nógrád county government bureau since a failed 2014 bid to be reelected as mayor of Pásztó.
Human rights activists in Belarus complained about a pub owner’s decision to name one of his signature cocktails after the Holocaust.Byzantine-era church uncovered in Jerusalem highway expansion
The controversy about the Holocaust cocktail was reported last week by Radio Racyja, which displayed on its website a picture of the menu at the Red Pub in Gomel, Belarus’ second-largest city, located 190 miles southeast of the capital, Minsk.
Andrei Strizhak, founder of the Belarus Freedom Movement, a non-governmental organization working to improve human rights in the country known as Europe’s last dictatorship, told the radio station that the incident reflects “ignorance, but not necessarily anti-Semitism.”
Strizhak, who has participated in Holocaust commemoration ceremonies and activities in Belarus, called on the Red Pub’s owners to apologize to the local Jewish community and remove the item, calling it “something that is difficult to swallow.” He also said that “the next step is to name a cocktail after Khatyn,” a reference to the site of a village in what is today Belarus, where German occupation forces in 1943 massacred thousands of civilians.
Road workers expanding the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway found the ruins of a Byzantine-era way station and church near the entrance to a town just west of the capital, Antiquities Authority officials said on Wednesday.Spain set for final vote that will shape repatriation law for Sephardi Jews
The way station and church, which were found together with a still older Roman-era road, are located near a spring called Ein Naqa’a, which apparently served as their water source.
A statement from the IAA said the find, uncovered outside the town of Abu Ghosh, was thought to be about 1,500 years old. The site would be preserved in consultation with the highway company, the IAA said.
The 16-meter-long (52 feet) church building has a side chapel 6.5 meters long and 3.5 meters wide, with a floor tiled in white mosaic.
A baptismal font shaped like a four-leaf clover, symbolizing the cross, is located in the northeastern corner.
A bill granting automatic citizenship to the descendants of exiled Sephardic Jews is expected to pass the Spanish Congress on Thursday, a senior community leader told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.Israel to invest $500 million in Druze, Circassian communities
David Hatchwell, the President of the Jewish community of Madrid and Vice President of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain, called the bill, which has been under discussion for three years, a “very positive step in the Jewish-Spanish relationship.”
“For the Spanish kingdom it was basically a gesture of reparations and trying to close a circle,” he said.
According to the bill, similar to one passed by the Portuguese parliament earlier this year, Sephardic Jews descended from those exiled from Spain in 1492 would be eligible to obtain automatic citizenship.
Under the plan, the Israeli government will invest significant resources in the Druze and Circassian communities in education, social welfare, employment, tourism, transportation and planning budgets.NYC taxis to be a little safer, thanks to Mobileye
“You represent an entire public that fights and sacrifices for the State of Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “I think that this is not only a duty but a privilege to allocate government resources in order to help this public, especially the young people, so that they might have a better future in their communities and in the country.
“In my visits to the villages, in the meeting that we had there last year with community leaders, I was struck by the gap that had been created and which we need to close.”
About 140,000 Druze and Circassians live in Israel. Sixteen villages are included in the plan.
Just how safe are New York City taxicabs? The answer is either “very” or “not too,” depending on how you look at the statistics. Either way, the city is determined to lower the number of accidents taxis are involved in – and is turning to Israeli road safety tech firm Mobileye to accomplish that.Netanyahu hails Israel hi-tech innovation during meeting with Google chief
Last week, the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) Commissioner, Meera Joshi, along with other officials, announced the launch of the TLC’s Vehicle Safety Technology (VST) Pilot Program. Central to that program is the installation of Mobileye systems in cabs, with drivers getting alerts if they get too close to vehicles in front of them, veer out of their lane without signaling, tailgate, etc.
Mobileye is one of Israel’s greatest tech success stories. The technology, developed at Hebrew University by Professor Amnon Shashua based on machine vision, has gone on to become one of the world’s most important road safety systems. Mobileye is now standard on models from nearly all car makers in the US, Japan, and Europe, and the company last year produced Israel’s largest IPO ever.
According to analysts, the $890 million raised by Mobileeye in its August IPO gave the company a valuation of over $7.5 billion. By the end of 2016, the company says, its advanced system will be available in 237 car models from 20 OEMs. Among the companies Mobileye already has a deal with are BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Peugot, Volvo, Tesla, and truck manufacturers MAN SE, Scania, and IVECO.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of search engine giant Google, in Jerusalem on Tuesday afternoon.Israeli researchers discover shrub that can treat diabetes
During the meeting, the premier touted Israel’s robust hi-tech and cyber industries, saying that growth in these areas was “a national challenge.”
Netanyahu also noted that Israel was making great efforts to diversify the markets with which it is trading in the technological field.
The prime minister said that Israel placed great emphasis on inculcating mathematics studies in high school. Netanyahu also told Schmidt that Israel would work to attract more investments from multinational companies.
Schmidt, in turn, praised Israel’s leading position in hi-tech pioneering, particularly in the field of cyber technology. The Google executive hailed Israel’s ability to quickly adapt to new innovations as well as its demonstration of creativity and entrepreneurship in the global marketplace.
Israeli researchers have found that a plant that grows in Israel, as well as in other parts of the Middle East, is effective in treating diabetes.Israeli health breakthrough awarded Bill Gates grant
Dr. Jonathan Gorelick of the Judea Research and Development Center will present the results of his study of Chiliadenus iphionoides (sharp varthemia), an aromatic shrub that grows in Israel and throughout the Middle East, at the 25th Judea and Samaria Research Studies Conference in Ariel University on Thursday.
Dr. Gorelick and his team, who published the results of their study of sharp varthemia in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology in October 2011, found that consumption of the yellow-flowering plant increased sugar absorption in skeletal muscle and fat cells and reduced blood sugar levels in animals.
According to Dr. Gorelick, while many plants have traditionally been used to treat diabetes, only few have been successful as marketable medications. His research team is working on isolating the active ingredient in sharp varthemia so that it may be made into an accessible treatment for diabetes patients.
Haifa's Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology, has been awarded a grant as part of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Exploration program.Hebrew School Songs Helped Art Garfunkel Realize His ‘Gift From God’
The foundation has committed $100 million to encourage scientists worldwide to expand the pipeline of ideas to fight the world's greatest health challenges through the Grand Challenges Explorations program, which was launched in 2008 to foster innovation in global health research. More than 1,140 Grand Challenge Explorations grants have been awarded to innovative, early-stage projects in more than 60 countries.
The Technion grant will go to Professor Hossam Haick of the Chemical Engineering Department and Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, who is developing cutting edge biomedical technology, including a self-administered electronic patch for the detection of tuberculosis via skin.
"With the help of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, we are developing an accurate, fast and inexpensive adhesive electronic patch that can diagnose tuberculosis. In this way we wish to increase the survival rate among tuberculosis sufferers and to stave off the spread of the disease. We hope that these steps will improve the democratization and accessibility of health services around the world," Haick said.
On Wednesday, Art Garfunkel—sans Paul Simon—will give a concert in Jaffa. But Garfunkel, who lost his voice in 2010, said on Monday that he will perform with “a great singer, my son Arthur Jr., because he is so damn good.”
Garfunkel’s lively presser took place at the luxurious Dan Hotel, where I imagine the peaceful crooner wakes up every beautiful Israeli morning to eat various figs and cheeses and Sprite, before heading to the beach for a long pensive stroll. Here are some highlights:
— And then, Garfunkel gets asked about his Jewish roots:
I went in Hebrew School in 1948, an important year in the history of this country. I was a little seven-year-old, going to Hebrew School. I didn’t really love Hebrew School. But on Saturday mornings, I was singing, and the rabbi taught me some things to sing… I realized I have a gift from God. It’s a lucky thing. And when I sing these minor key ancient melodies—[Garfunkel hums a riff]—I could see that people relate to it, and I began to realize at that early age [that] these Hebrew words are useful to me as a singer.
— “Do you still go to synagogue from time to time?” a journalist asked Garfunkel.
Very little. They make me pay money when I go. I don’t like that.
— One last zinger:
I’m not a star. I’m a singer who can sing very well if he can get his sleep.
