Thursday, October 08, 2015
Stern: ‘Stand Up for What You Believe and F*** Those Who Can’t Get with You’
Radio host Howard Stern offered up another vociferous defense of Israel during Wednesday morning’s broadcast, just a day after he condemned Pink Floyd front man Roger Waters for backing economic boycotts of the Jewish state.Stern Defends Israel (NSFW of course)
Stern, responding to media attention over his comments about Waters, called Israel a “necessity” and urged other supporters of the Jewish state to “stand up for what you believe and f*** those who can’t get with you.”
Waters penned a letter to rocker Bon Jovi, criticizing him for performing in Israel. Waters accused Israel of being an apartheid state and lent his support to the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
“Don’t be so f***ing afraid,” Stern said to those who silently support Israel. “You know what happens when you’re afraid … Stand up for what you believe and f*** those who can’t get with you.”
“Don’t stand silently by when others will sit there and condemn and throw out words like apartheid and all that bullshit,” Stern told his audience. “Fight the power. You hear me?”
Stern admitted that he got a flurry of supportive emails from fellow celebrities and other “prominent people,” thanking him for his defense of Israel and fierce cut down of Waters.
PLO Attacks Howard Stern for Defending Israel
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) verbally attacked Howard Stern today and demanded an apology from the radio host for defending the Jewish state against rocker Roger Waters, a prominent celebrity supporter of the BDS movement against Israel, reports the Washington Free Beacon.Confirmed – Third Grade event meant to create pro-Palestinian activists
Waters had written an open letter to another rock star, Bon Jovi, in which he criticized Jovi for playing a concert in Israel recently. Waters put forth his support of economic warfare against Israel. Stern's response to Waters was, well, stern:
“Where do you want the Jews to go Roger?” he exclaimed. “Where do you want them to go? You want them to just go back to the concentration camp? What is it you want, f*ckhead?”
The PLO took umbrage at the popular radio host's remarks. It accused him of supporting genocide against the so-called Palestinians. That's right: genocide. According to the statement,
“The General Delegation of the PLO to the United States strongly condemns the recent inflammatory statements against Palestinians made by radio host, Howard Stern, as well as his shameful attack of human rights activist, Roger Waters.
“Mr. Stern’s contention that Palestinians ‘did not live there [Palestine]’ is a claim grounded in racist assumptions that the indigenous Palestinian population does not exist. Such baseless allegations only serve to foment violence and hatred, and do little to promote the interests of peace and reconciliation.”
Speaking of fomenting violence and hatred, the PLO is a terrorist organization bent on eradicating Israel and all Jews. Somehow the PLO's statement neglected to mention this. (h/t Yenta Press)
Tamimi is best known for using children, including his own, to confront Israeli soldiers to create viral video and photo opportunities. He also is an advocate of children taking part in resistance activities, including stone throwing. To pro-Palestinian activists, however, he is a symbol of Israeli repression.Palestinian Activist Gives Presentation To Ithaca 3rd Graders
The third-grade presentation was skewed and biased against Israel, according to a statement issued by the Ithaca City School District Superintendent, after an investigation. Among other things, after seeing videos and hearings stories of how Palestinian children suffer at the hands of Israelis, the third graders were urged to become “freedom fighters for Palestine.”
Nonetheless, Jewish Voice for Peace defends the event, and has launched a campaign claiming that Palestinian voices have been stifled and suppressed in Ithaca and elsewhere in upstate NY. It was the leader of the local chapter of JVP and the coordinator of Tamimi’s national speaking tour, Ariel Gold, who appears to have arranged the third grade event.
The event and the call to become “freedom fighters for Palestine, are being portrayed by those who arranged and participated in the event as being blown out of context, that the third grade students merely were urged to become freedom fighters for peace and justice, like Martin Luther King, Jr.
Alex Dunbar of the Syracuse NBC affiliate, reports (the video is cut off at the end):
Michael Lumish: The Jihadists and the Ethnic Cleansing of the Christians in the Middle East
It is astounding that as Muslims drive Christians out of the Middle East, Christians beyond the region do not seem to much care. The rise of political Islam, since the misnamed "Arab Spring" - hereafter referred to as the Arab Nightmare - has unleashed waves of violence, chaos, and cruelty the likes of which I have not seen since coming to political awareness. Christian churches are being destroyed in the thousands, if not tens of thousands. Christian girls are sometimes raped and subject to forced conversion. Christian men are forced to their knees, dozens at a time, for the purpose of filming decapitation as a recruitment tool for savages to come join the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.Senate passes defense bill that supports US-Israel partnerships
{Just how it is that watching videos of head-chopping could act as a positive recruitment tool for people all around the world remains an ethical mystery.}
Pope Francis was recently in the United States, but Francis, strangely enough, is not much of a friend of Middle Eastern Christianity. Although he spoke eloquently concerning the European moral imperative to drown in immigrants, he breathed not a word concerning the heinous fate of Christians in the Muslim Middle East.
The Senate passed a key defense spending bill with a veto-proof majority Wednesday afternoon posing a challenge to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who has said that he will garner enough votes to sustain an anticipated veto from President Barack Obama. The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2016 contains provisions to fund joint US-Israel defense projects, including a new anti-tunneling initiative.Netanyahu bars all MKs, ministers from visiting Temple Mount
Obama opposes the bill because it allows defense spending to sidestep the cuts to the defense budget dictated by the across-the-board sequestration, which went into effect in 2013 after Congress and the White House failed to agree on budget-reducing measures. Instead, this bill funds almost $38 billion to the Defense Department by dipping into an account meant to be reserved for overseas operations during wartime.
Reid spoke from the Senate floor in favor of most of the bill, emphasizing that the side-step of the sequestration cuts was the only obstacle to the bill being signed into law.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has banned Israeli parliamentarians and ministers from visiting the Temple Mount in an effort to quell a rising wave of Palestinian violence, that has left four Israelis dead and dozens injured.Arab MK Zahalka Tries to Defy Ban on Temple Mount Visits
Israel believes the terror attacks over the last week in the West Bank, Jerusalem, Kiryat Gat and Petah Tikva were were sparked by recent clashes between security forces and Palestinian rioters on the Temple Mount that began during the Rosh Hashanah Holiday in September.
Netanyahu adopted the measure on Wednesday night after consulting with defense and security experts.
Senior policy-makers recommendation the ban to avoid a "dangerous provocation" that could set off a "powder keg."
Going one better than fellow Arab MK Ahmed Tibi, Jamal Zahalka (United Arab List) didn't wait for Friday to challenge Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's declaration that no MKs, Jewish or Arab, would be allowed on the Temple Mount. Zahalka presented himself on Thursday afternoon at the entrance to the Mount – after Tibi had said earlier that he would lead a delegation of Arab MKs to the Mount on Friday.Temple Mount Screamers to be Prosecuted
Zahalka was not allowed to enter the compound. Speaking outside the Temple gates, Zahalka said that Netanyahu “is not a king and he does not make the law. I have come to defend the mosques and to protest against the fanatics who want to light a fire here. Who is Netanyahu anyway?”
Zahalka remained in his spot for nearly an hour, arguing with police who blocked his way. Speaking afterwards, he called on Netanyahu' “to stop the provocations. Netanyahu wants quiet? Let him end the occupation.”
Ironically, Zahalka himself has been part of that provocation. Last week, he harassed police who were allowing Jewish visitors to visit the Temple Mount, going on a rant against police and Israeli officials. "Why do you allow them in?" Zahalka shouts at police officers. "The hell with them, it's just a provocation to hurt the feelings of Muslims. You are criminals, lunatics!" he continues. "You are here in our place [i.e. Muslims - ed.], this is my home."
The Muslim women banned from the Temple Mount for harassing Jewish visitors may be subject to indictment by the State Attorney for their actions.Charles Krauthammer: Obama’s Syria debacle
The women, who are members of the Islamic Movement's “Murabitat” group, were banned in September from entering the Mount for periods between 10 and 60 days, Walla! News reported on Thursday.
Days later, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon declared both the male “Murabitun” and female “Murabitat” as illegal organizations following recommendations from Israel Security Agency and the Israel Police.
“The activity of the Murabitun and Murabitat is a central element in creating the tension and violence on the Temple Mount in particular and in Jerusalem in general,” said a statement issued by Yaalon's bureau.
“This is dangerous and inciting activity against tourists, visitors and worshipers at the site, that leads to violence and could cause loss of life.”
Russian planes roam free over Syria attacking Assad’s opposition as we stand by helpless. Meanwhile, the U.S. secretary of state beseeches the Russians to negotiate “de-conflict” arrangements — so that we and they can each bomb our own targets safely. It has come to this.Obama Admin’s Iran Point Man Promotes Anti-Israel Conspiracy Theories
Why is Putin moving so quickly and so brazenly? Because he’s got only 16 more months to push on the open door that is Obama. He knows he’ll never again see an American president such as this — one who once told the General Assembly that “no one nation can or should try to dominate another nation” and told it again Monday of “believing in my core that we, the nations of the world, cannot return to the old ways of conflict and coercion.”
They cannot? Has he looked at the world around him — from Homs to Kunduz, from Sanaa to Donetsk — ablaze with conflict and coercion?
Wouldn’t you take advantage of these last 16 months if you were Putin, facing a man living in a faculty-lounge fantasy world? Where was Obama when Putin began bombing Syria? Leading a U.N. meeting on countering violent extremism.
A State Department official closely involved in the Obama administration’s Iran push has been promoting publications from anti-Semitic conspiracy sites and other radical websites that demonize American Jewish groups and Israel, according to sources and documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.Israel Missile-Defense Guru: Nuclear Deal Will Accelerate Iranian Missile Program
Alan Eyre, the State Department’s Persian-language spokesman and a member of the negotiating delegation that struck a nuclear deal with Iran earlier this year, has in recent months disseminated articles that linked American-Jewish skeptics of the deal to shadowy financial networks, sought to soften the image of Iranian terrorists with American blood on their hands, and linked deal criticism to a vast “neoconservative worldview.”
Eyre described the one article, penned by the anti-Israel conspiracy theorist Stephen Walt, as having an “interesting thesis.”
Insiders who spoke to the Free Beacon about Eyre’s private postings pointed to a pattern of partisanship and called it a sign that key officials at the State Department are biased against the state of Israel. Such criticism has dogged the team Obama since the early days of the administration.
Eyre regularly briefed U.S. officials at the negotiating table and was responsible for proofreading draft texts of the recent Iranian nuclear agreement.
One of the consequences of the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers will be the acceleration of the country’s already multifarious missile program, Israeli missile-defense guru Uzi Rubin postulated in a piece for Defense News on Monday.Russian warships strike Islamic State targets with cruise missiles
According to Dayan, the reasons for this acceleration are twofold: firstly, the deal frees up hundreds of billions of dollars in frozen assets to the ayatollah regime that could go toward arms R&D and, secondly, the language of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is just vague enough to allow the Iranian military to pursue nearly any type of missile it wants as long as the stated intention is not for the delivery of a nuclear payload.
Iran deal supporters claim the JCPOA keeps restrictions against Iran’s conventional weapons and ballistic-missile programs intact for five and eight years, respectively. According to Dayan, the restriction against ballistic weapons is limited to those capable of carrying nuclear weapons, which is, in Dayan’s opinion, a restriction the Islamic state could easily flaunt since it claims to have never intended to build nuclear weapons in the first place.
Four Russian warships on Wednesday struck at Islamic State targets in Syria with cruise missiles, as Moscow ramps up its military campaign, Russia’s defense minister said.U.S. officials say Russian missiles heading for Syria landed in Iran
“In addition to the air force, four warships of the Caspian flotilla have been involved,” Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said, adding that the warships carried out 26 cruise missile strikes against 11 targets.
Moscow maintains that none of the targets was identified with rebel groups apart from Islamic State.
Earlier Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the French president offered him to help create an alliance between the regime of Bashar Assad, which Russia supports, and the Free Syrian Army. The alliance, which seems unlikely, is meant to defeat the Islamic State terror group.
A number of cruise missiles launched from a Russian ship and aimed at targets in Syria have crashed in Iran, two U.S. officials told CNN Thursday.US: Over 90% of Russia’s Syria strikes don’t target jihadists
Monitoring by U.S. military and intelligence assets has concluded that at least four missiles crashed as they flew over Iran. One official said there may be casualties, but another official said this is not yet known.
It's unclear where in Iran the missiles landed. The Russian ships have been positioned in the south Caspian Sea, meaning the likely flight path for missiles into Syria would cross over both Iran and Iraq.
The Russians have been firing a relatively new cruise missile called "Kaliber," using it for the first time in combat.
Iran's semi-official FARS news agency, however, said that neither Russian nor Iranian authorities have confirmed the U.S. officials' information at this point. (h/t Yenta Press)
A large majority of Russia’s military strikes in Syria have not been aimed at the Islamic State group or jihadists tied to al-Qaeda, and have instead targeted the moderate Syrian opposition, the State Department said Wednesday.Reuters: Iran and Russia Plotted Defense of Assad During Final Months Of Nuclear Talks
“Greater than 90 percent of the strikes that we’ve seen them take to date have not been against ISIL or al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists,” said State Department spokesman John Kirby.
“They’ve been largely against opposition groups that want a better future for Syria and don’t want to see the Assad regime stay in power.”
Russia and Iran decided in July to undertake joint military action to prop up Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, even while they sat on opposite sides of the table in nuclear negotiations, Reuters reported Tuesday.Report: Assad May Have Requested Russian Support to Stem Tide of Iranian Takeover of Syria
The first step of the joint offensive was planned by the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—Qods Force, Qassem Soleimani, who reports directly to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and was in Russia despite an international travel ban.
Major General Qassem Soleimani’s visit to Moscow was the first step in planning for a Russian military intervention that has reshaped the Syrian war and forged a new Iranian-Russian alliance in support of Assad. …
His Moscow meeting outlined the deteriorating situation in Syria, where rebel advances toward the coast were posing a danger to the heartland of Assad’s Alawite sect, where Russia maintains its only Mediterranean naval base in Tartous.
“Soleimani put the map of Syria on the table. The Russians were very alarmed, and felt matters were in steep decline and that there were real dangers to the regime. The Iranians assured them there is still the possibility to reclaim the initiative,” a senior regional official said. “At that time, Soleimani played a role in assuring them that we haven’t lost all the cards.”
The real motive behind Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s request for Russian military intervention against opposition forces and ISIS terrorists may have been to stem the tide of Iran’s takeover of his country, the Lebanese daily Annahar reported on Wednesday, based on an article that appeared in Der Spiegel.Breaking from White House, Clinton Calls for Assad’s Removal and No-Fly Zone in Syria
Though Assad’s interest in Russian assistance was initially motivated by fear that his enemies were gaining the upper hand in the civil war in Syria, “Right after that came the fear of his friends,” said a Russian official. The official, who worked for many years in the Russian Embassy in Damascus, was referring to Iran — the Assad regime’s most important protector.
“Assad and those around him are afraid of the Iranians,” said the official, claiming that members of the Syrian president’s inner circle were angry about Tehran’s treating Damascus like a colony.
Former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is further distancing herself from the foreign policy of the administration she served by calling for the removal of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and imposing a no-fly zone over that country.Russian fighter jets shadow US predator drones over Syria
On the campaign trail yesterday, Clinton said of Syria, “We need to be putting together a coalition to support a no-fly zone,” adding that Russia would have to lend their support to the initiative for it to be successful, The Huffington Post reported. Her statement reflects a position expressed in a television interview last week, during which Clinton called for enforcing a no-fly zone and humanitarian corridors in the war-torn country, according to The New York Times.
Russian fighter jets shadowed U.S. predator drones on at least three separate occasions high above Syria since the start of Russia’s air campaign last week, according to two U.S. officials briefed on this latest intelligence from the region.Jordan MP’s son joins Islamic State, becomes suicide bomber
Meanwhile, U.S. Navy Captain Jeff Davis told reporters a U.S. aircraft flying over Syria had to be rerouted to avoid a Russian fighter jet at least once.
“We have taken action to maintain safe separation,” Davis said, adding that the U.S. aircraft "changed path a little bit." He did not disclose which type of U.S. aircraft was involved.
U.S. officials tell Fox News the drone encounters took place over ISIS-controlled Syria, including its de facto headquarters in Raqqa, as well as along the Turkish-Syrian border near Korbani. Another occurred in the northwest, near the highly contested city of Aleppo.
“The first time it happened, we thought the Russians got lucky. Then it happened two more times,” said one official.
A Jordanian parliament member said his son carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq just three months after the family failed to prevent him from joining the Islamic State extremist group.Cowardly ISIS jihadis now hiding in MOSQUES in desperate bid to escape Putin's bombers
Jordan is part of an international military coalition against IS, but the group has some grassroots support in the country.
Parliamentarian Mazen Dalaeen told The Associated Press he last saw his 23-year-old son Mohammed in June in Ukraine, where he was studying medicine.
Dalaeen said his son left for Iraq via Turkey and Syria the next day, after they argued about the terror group.
He said Saturday he learned of Mohammed’s death late last week from IS-linked websites that posted a photo of his son and said he participated in a triple suicide car bomb attack on an Iraqi army post.
Trembling jihadis have taken to cowering behind praying families after Russian airstrikes obliterated dozens of their outposts leaving scores dead.The Palestine Exception
Drone footage has emerged showing ISIS fighters parking up military vehicles outside a mosque in Syria, where they know they cannot be attacked without huge civilian casualties.
Military officials also warned that the desperate fanatics could resort to committing terrorist atrocities - including bombing mosques - which they can blame on Russian jets to help whip up support for their ailing cause.
Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said: "Moderate rebels would not hide behind civilians as human shields or, moreover, concentrate armoured vehicles under the arches of religious institutions.
"All of these actions can only be the calling card of terrorists."
Three dozen student and community members gathered in Boalt Hall on October 5 to hear a panel presentation on the launch of a new campaign, Palestine Exception. The name is aptly chosen. Particularly on campus, Palestinians and their supporters have come to regard themselves as exceptional, and above the rules.BDS Infests a Jewish Day School
Speaking were Liz Jackson of the Palestine Legal Solidarity, a branch of the Center for Constitutional research (CCR) that offers free legal advice and representation only to Palestinian activists. In spite of a repressive climate on campuses for students nationwide, the only ones are covered under the largess of this organization are Palestinian activists. That’s the Palestine Exception.
Cheryl Davila, the Berkeley Human Welfare Commissioner fired from her post for bypassing the poor of Berkeley in favor of the Palestinians exhorted the room to attend a city of Berkeley Oct 21 divestment vote, and to sign the anti-Israel petition. When it comes to Palestine, you don’t even need to be a Berkeley resident to weigh in on how Berkeley spends its time and money. That’s the Palestine Exception.
Let us engage in a brief thought experiment. Suppose that Howard University hires a linguistics professor to offer instruction on various African dialects. Suppose further that said professor was a card-carrying member of the KKK and participates in Klan meetings and demonstrations. Now suppose that the university, after failing to properly vet the professor’s extra-curricular activities, is confronted with hard evidence of the professor’s Klan affiliation and instead of firing him offers a spirited defense of his employment at Howard.UK foreign minister lampoons opposition leader over Israel
School officials argue that 1) the professor is entitled to his personal beliefs 2) students should respect those differences, no matter how odious and 3) there is no evidence that the professor introduced his personal views into the classroom. Such a scenario would not only be implausible, it would be unfathomable. An institution so historically central in the Civil Rights movement would never tolerate the presence of such malevolence in its university and rightfully so.
But this precise scenario is currently unfolding in Durham, North Carolina at a Hebrew day school known as the Lerner School. In fact, the situation at the Lerner School is far more egregious than the aforementioned example because its problematic actions are not merely limited to one single teacher, but are far wider in scope and scale.
UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on Tuesday scorned newly elected leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn MP for his failure to mention Israel by name at a meeting of his Labour party’s pro-Israel faction.Former Guardian contributor tells Jewish journo that Palestinians should “cut his throat”.
“I’ve read the reports of Mr. Corbyn’s attendance at the Labour Friends of Israel meeting at Labour Conference and I just want to say one word to you: Israel. I’ll say it again: Israel!”
Hammond addressed some 500 Conservative party parliamentarians and activists at the annual reception of the Conservative Friends of Israel reception.
Corbyn, who has been accused of being empathetic to Hamas and Hezbollah — terror groups committed to destroying Israel — is widely regarded as one of the British MPs most hostile to Israel.
Richard Seymour, a Guardian contributor through 2014 and radical blogger for the uber-left site Lenin’s Tomb, had this to say on Facebook about Josh Hasten, an Israeli journalist who recently reported on the near lynching of a Jewish woman near Jerusalem by rioting Palestinians:BBC’s ‘Dateline London’ inserts ‘the Palestine issue’ into item on US gun law
Just last month, Seymour was widely criticized for mocking a Falklands War veteran and serious burns victim.
In addition to his work at the Guardian (he had no less than 27 op-eds published there in 2014 alone), Seymour has contributed to London Review of Books and Al-Jazeera.
The October 3rd edition of the BBC News and BBC World News programme ‘Dateline London’ included a discussion on the topic of gun law in the United States, apparently in light of the recent shootings in Oregon.A Very Incomplete List of Anti-Israel Biases at the New York Times
Guest American journalist Stephanie Baker of Bloomberg Markets raised the subject of the National Rifle Association’s influence on US legislation, stating that the organisation “has so much money to channel into the election process…”. Next came a contribution from a British journalist before Syrian ex-pat Mustapha Karkouti – a journalist with the Dubai based Gulf News – caused the conversation to take a bizarre deviation.
Karkouti: “We outside, away – as Arabs, let’s say – we find it really perplexing sometimes; the division between the Congress and the White House itself. I mean the lobby system…
Gavin Esler: “And the inability of presidents to deal with it…”
Karkouti: “Yeah. I mean take the Palestine issue. It has not been progressing at all for at least three or four dec… – well, through its history – because of the lobby system in the States. They just control the president.”
The anti-Israel prejudice at The New York Times (“NYT”) is so extensive and persistent that it takes looking back only to the last few weeks to easily find a dozen examples of this bias.First pictures: Vile thugs who put teen in coma 'for being Jewish' named and shamed
1) On September 10th, the NYT singled out Jewish lawmakers on the Iran deal.
2) On September 15th, the NYT suggested that the Israeli who was murdered by rock-throwing Palestinians had died of a “self-inflicted accident” after the attackers had merely “pelted the road” (rather than his car). The National Review provided a detailed critique of this farcical reporting.
3) On September 29, New York Times reporter Diaa Hadid used an anonymous European advocate of Palestinian rights as a witness to contradict Israeli army claims that a Palestinian woman shot at an IDF checkpoint was armed with a knife, but then omitted confirmatory reports from another witness mentioned in the article, a Palestinian named Fawaz Abu Aisheh, who said the woman had dropped her knife after being shot (even though Amnesty International mentioned Aisheh’s corroborating testimony about the knife).
4) The explanation for the glaring prejudice underlying items #2 and #3 above is simple: both of the articles in which these biases appeared were written by Hadid who, alleges pro-Israel blog Israelly Cool, penned works for Electronic Intifada, an anti-Israel hate site.
A judge took the unusual step of allowing the pair to be named as they were jailed for the savage alcohol-fuelled assault on the group of teens, which was claimed to be because of their religion.UK Prime Minister Cameron Pledges to Close Islamic Schools That Teach Conspiracy Theories About Jews
Joseph Kelly and Zach Birch, both 17, had their anonymity lifted after being sentenced to 18 months and 12 months respectively.
The father of 17-year-old victim Moshe Furst, who was put in a coma after suffering a fractured skull, is furious the attack was not treated as a hate crime after it was alleged one of the thugs spat on a victim's skullcap as it lay on the floor.
Michael Fuerst is being backed by Bury South MP Ivan Lewis, who has written to the Crown Prosecution Service pleading for it to rethink its decision.
Mr Lewis said: "I wrote to the CPS asking them to reconsider and treat this as a hate crime. I think there was sufficient evidence to justify that but they chose not to. This is a source of regret. They claim they considered all available evidence. I don't agree with them. I think they got this wrong.
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron vowed on Wednesday to shut down madrassas, or Islamic primary schools, which teach their students intolerance and spread antisemitism.Holocaust-era archive places thousands of documents online
During a comprehensive policy speech at the Conservative Party conference five months into his second premiership, Cameron stressed the right of religious communities to private education as part of a broader, “multi-racial” British society.
“Let me be clear: there is nothing wrong with children learning about their faith, whether it’s at madrassas, Sunday schools or Jewish yeshivas,” he said. “But in some madrassas we’ve got children being taught that they shouldn’t mix with people of other religions; being beaten; swallowing conspiracy theories about Jewish people.”
“These children should be having their minds opened, their horizons broadened — not having their heads filled with poison and their hearts filled with hate. So I can announce this today: If an institution is teaching children intensively, then whatever its religion, we will, like any other school, make it register so it can be inspected,” he said.
“And be in no doubt: if you are teaching intolerance, we will shut you down,” he said.
The International Tracing Service says it has begun putting its Holocaust-era archive online for the first time, including photos of items seized from concentration camp victims and other historical documents.6 made-in-Israel devices for disaster relief
The archive, located in the German town of Bad Arolsen, said Wednesday the materials are now available at no charge on its site. The 50,000 images posted so far represent only a small part of its collection of some 30 million documents.
The ITS was established by Western Allies in the final days of World War II and initially run by the Red Cross to help uncover the fates of Holocaust victims and others.
In 2007, scholars and researchers were allowed access to the documents, beginning the archive’s transformation from a tracing service to a research institution.
When disaster strikes anywhere in the world, Israelis are always among the first on the scene to offer search-and-rescue, first aid and secondary medical care.Bringing Israeli Cuisine to American Kitchens
Some of the most critical pieces of equipment they take with them to help victims of earthquakes, fires, typhoons, hurricanes and terror attacks are home-grown.
But these innovative devices are not just for Israeli aid workers. Here are six blue-and-white innovations that emergency responders in many countries keep at the ready in case of disasters. More are in development, to be discussed at today’s seminar on product innovation for first responders in Herzliya.
1. Water-Gen
After any kind of mass disaster, access to drinking water is a pressing concern. International aid workers regularly rely on a range of Israeli innovations to purify, store and transport the precious liquid. Among the most widely deployed solutions are the portable machines made by Water-Gen of Rishon LeZion to generate drinking water from the atmosphere and to purify existing water sources.
When Philadelphia-based chef Michael Solomonov and his business partner Steven Cook opened their first restaurant Zahav in 2008, diners didn’t really know from modern Israeli cuisine. Sure, there was plenty of falafel and hummus in rotation on menus at cheap eateries. The adventurous home cook had perhaps tried her hand with homemade baba ghanouj or baklava. But the delicious subtleties of the innovative cuisine emerging within Israel were not yet on most Americans’ radar. A mention of za’atar or labneh would be met with blank stares.United Airlines to launch non-stop Tel Aviv-San Francisco route
Flash forward seven years, and Israeli food has taken a seat among the world’s celebrated cuisines. Zahav, meanwhile, is one of the most popular restaurants in the country. Solomonov and Cook have a mini empire of eateries in Philly (some Jewishly focused, some not). And, just this month, they released their first cookbook, Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking.
It is unusual for a restaurant as successful as Zahav to wait the better part of a decade before putting out a cookbook. Not surprisingly, the idea for a book came to the table a long time ago. “We started talking about it around the one-year mark,” Cook told me. They toyed for a while with the notion of doing an out-of-the-box, all digital cookbook that included instructional videos and other interactive features along with recipes. “We wanted to be pioneers in that arena,” Cook said, “but nobody in the publishing world wanted to talk about it.”
It's about to get a little easier to do business between Silicon Valley and the Start-up Nation.Jerry Seinfeld set for Israel stand-up debut
United Airlines on Thursday announced that it will launch a non-stop flight between Tel Aviv and San Francisco.
The three new flights will launch on April 1, just four months after American Airlines lays to rest its non-stop flight between Tel Aviv and Philadelphia.
“We’re very excited about introducing nonstop service between Tel Aviv and San Francisco with the customer-pleasing Dreamliner,” said Avi Friedman, United’s Managing Director Sales in Israel. “This is a response to demand from our customers for direct flights to one of the United States’ most popular business and tourism destinations, with the added benefit of convenient onward connections from our San Francisco International hub.” (h/t Cliff)
Famed American comedian Jerry Seinfeld will make his professional debut in Israel in December, with a stand-up performance at Tel Aviv’s Mivtachim Menorah Arena. Seinfeld’s routine in Tel Aviv is part of a world tour.Matisyahu: No Place I'd Rather Play Music Than Israel
Asked about whether he’d add Jewish jokes to his set in Israel, the funnyman told Channel 2 news that his jokes are “all Jewish jokes, everything I’ve ever said is Jewish. When you’re Jewish everything you say is Jewish.”
Seinfeld can currently be seen on his web series, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, on which he selects a vintage car for each guest. Asked which car he’d choose if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were to join him for a drive on the show, Seinfeld thought for a brief moment and then told Channel 2, “a tank. The man needs a tank. He needs some kind of protection.”
Seinfeld last visited Israel in 2007, to promote The Bee Movie. He also volunteered on a kibbutz as a teenager. But the comedian behind television’s wildly successful Seinfeld series, has yet to take the local stage.
Ahead of his upcoming concert in Jerusalem on Saturday night, American Jewish reggae star Matisyahu sat down with Arutz Sheva to discuss what it means to him to be performing in Israel.
"Being in Israel is great," Matisyahu said. "For me it's a special place obviously. It's had a big part in my history in terms of making music, in terms of being Jewish, in terms of my own search for my own Jewish identity...it's always played a major part in my life."
"Being here and playing music - there's absolutely no place in the world to me that I'd rather be playing music."
Despite the security situation in Israel, the singer said he had no second thoughts about coming to Jerusalem and that both he and all the musicians performing with him were excited to be in the Jewish state.
Matisyahu also addressed his recent performance facing down anti-Israel boycotters at a Spanish reggae festival.
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