Monday, October 19, 2015
MSNBC Admits Anti-Israel Graphics Were ‘Wrong’
MSNBC has admitted that highly controversial graphics aired on the network that depicted Israel as stealing land from the Palestinians were “factually wrong” and that the broadcast would be corrected on Monday, according to a network spokesperson.MSNBC Apologizes For Palestinian Map-Gate
The cable news network has been fighting off criticism after it aired the graphics and analysis, including a map linked to conspiracy groups branded as anti-Semitic, that portrayed Israel as existing on territory expropriated from Palestine.
The graphics garnered criticism from pro-Israel advocates and has now prompted the network to acknowledge that the graphics were highly misleading.
“In an attempt to shed light on the geographic context of the Israeli-Palestinian issue, we aired a map that was factually wrong,” the spokesperson said on Sunday.
Two MSNBC broadcasters, Kate Snow and Martin Fletcher, “will address the map in a segment Monday about agendas and disinformation on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the spokesperson said.
Fletcher, a Middle East analyst, said on Sunday that the map and analyses were “dead wrong.”
Sky News fails to challenge lie that Israel plans to destroy al-Aqsa Mosque
First, beginning at roughly the 4:20 mark in the film, note that Rossi falsely claimed that Netanyahu has a secret plan to allow Jews to pray at the Temple Mount / Al-Aqsa Compound.Israel slams UNESCO vote calling Western Wall Muslim
However, as anyone who’s been following the issue would surely know, the Israeli prime minister has stated repeatedly that there is no such plan to change the status quo, where Jews can visit but not pray. Indeed, Netanyahu recently banned Israeli MKs and ministers (and Arab MKs) from visiting the site in order to prevent the possibility that a visit by a controversial political figure will ignite more violence.
Even worse, the PSC Vice Chair then claims there is a secret plan to destroy the Mosque and build a Third Temple. This also goes unchallenged by Rossi.
He further claims that Israeli security personnel have engaged in “extra-judicial executions”.
The Sky News reporter allowed millions of viewers to hear such PSC propaganda without comment or critical scrutiny.
The proposal to recognize the adjoining Western Wall as a Muslim holy site was submitted by six Muslim countries on behalf of the Palestinians, according to a Ynet news report.
The proposal also calls for the international community to condemn Israel for urging “its citizens to bear arms in light of [the] recent terror wave,” as well as for recent actions by Israel and the Israel Defense Forces in Jerusalem. The document, a copy of which was obtained by Ynet, refers to Jerusalem as “the occupied capital of Palestine.”
In addition, the Palestinians seek condemnation of ongoing Israeli archaeological excavations near the Temple Mount and in Jerusalem’s Old City, as well as of the “aggression and illegal measures taken against the freedom of worship and access of Muslims to Al-Aqsa Mosque and Israel’s attempts to break the status quo since 1967.”
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely denounced the bid on Monday.
“This shameful and deceitful Palestinian attempt to rewrite history will fail the test of reality,” Hotovely said.
The Likud lawmaker said her ministry is making every effort to see that the bid is voted down by UNESCO on Tuesday.
The proposal is largely expected to pass, as most of UNESCO’s 58 members traditionally support the Palestinian cause.
Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership campaign was part-funded by pro-Hamas terror supporter who has backed the recent wave of stabbings of Jews in Israel
The leadership campaign of Jeremy Corbyn was part-funded by a man closely connected to the EU-designated terror group Hamas, it has been alleged.David Collier: From the university to an attack on the streets of Israel, the true cycle of violence.
Dr Ibrahim Hamami, an outspoken supporter of the Palestinian Islamic group, reportedly gave £2,000 to Mr Corbyn in August.
The GP, who is also a supporter of the current spate of violence in Israel, is one of just three key individuals to have made donations to Mr Corbyn’s campaign.
The Labour leader further misspelled the donor’s surname, failing to reveal his true identity in a declaration to Parliamentary authorities.
Mr Corbyn listed the donation in the Commons register of members’ interests as being from ‘Dr Ibrahim Hamam’, according to The Telegraph.
Dr Hamami is the founder and director of the Palestinian Affairs Centre, a pro-Hamas group, and a columnist for an official Hamas newspaper, the Filastin.
He praised the recent violence in the West Bank last week on his Facebook page, describing the attacks as acts of ‘dignity, freedom and honour’.
In his talk on 18/10/2015 at the latest SOAS conference, Ilan Pappe stated:CNN: Joseph’s Tomb “Catches Fire”
“The only thing that is working for us of course is the international movement, the BDS that doesn’t wait for Palestinian unity or the Israeli left to get its act together.”
It is important to understand the implication. Pappe suggested in his speech that many of the Palestinians themselves, the Israeli left and the Israeli Arabs have ‘bought into’ the two-state solution. In Pappe’s own paradigm, this is not an acceptable position and by further claiming that the actual people involved are being rendered impotent through their own narrow vision, external strategic influence becomes necessary. Or in more direct langauge, ‘forget what the Palestinians think, we know best’.
It is the broken record of those that claim to support the Palestinians. In 1947 telling the Palestinians to reject Partition, in 1948 telling the Palestinians the Arabs would win the war, in 1949 telling the refugees not to resettle, between 1949 and 1964 telling the Palestinians not to declare their state, in 1964 telling the Palestinians that the PLO was their true representative and so on. Always from the outside and always rejecting compromise. It could be argued that the Palestinians have no viable internal leadership today because they were never allowed to develop one naturally.
The conference itself is a well-oiled machine. There is a message that needs to be given out and that is reinforced throughout the conference. It is a constant drum roll of BDS. Areas of weakness within the BDS argument are heavily addressed rather than ignored. This is part of a war machine, that intends to enable activists to push the propaganda. Each of the messages are dealt with in turn and you soon realise this is the main purpose of the event, carefully selected speakers each covering a single area of topic.
CNN managed to disgrace itself over a weekend in which Joseph’s Tomb, an important Jewish holy site located in Nablus, was torched by a mob of Palestinians. According to CNN, however, Joseph’s Tomb simply caught fire with not even a whiff of Palestinian involvement.Half-Right Headline on Yahoo News
Eventually, CNN updated the headline:
Even now, the headline is still morally ambiguous. Is it really too much for CNN to admit that Palestinians are responsible both for the Joseph’s Tomb blaze and also for initiating the wave of terror currently afflicting Israelis?
HonestReporting Managing Editor Simon Plosker adds:
In CNN’s world, Joseph’s Tomb spontaneously combusts while Israelis fall victim to anonymous knives. It’s appalling that CNN and other media are unwilling or unable to assign responsibility to Palestinians for any acts of violence against Israelis or, in this case, a Jewish holy site.
Joseph's Tomb: a sacred Jewish site on Palestinian landLos Angeles Times Cover Up: Palestinian Police Beat Israelis at Joseph's Tomb
At least they got the "sacred Jewish site" part right, but why do they insist it's "Palestinian land" sic? I think of our Land in terms of history, not present day administration. Today, now the PA- is in charge of order, but if Yahoo News is willing to accept that the Tomb is that of the Biblical Joseph, then they should also recognize the ancient Jewish presence in this part of the world.
The Los Angeles Times today covers up the fact that Palestinian police beat Jews who illegally visited Joseph's Tomb. The article today, with the somewhat vague headline "Man opens fire in crowded bus station in Israel, 1 killed; 9 injured," mentions the Joseph's Tomb incident at the end of the piece.Biased coverage of Israeli-Palestinian 'violence': When terror becomes 'tensions'
A reminder of the explosive role of religion in the conflict came overnight as 30 Jews violated standing instructions from Israel’s military and entered the West Bank city of Nablus to visit the site of Joseph’s Tomb, a Jewish holy site under Palestinian control, parts of which were damaged by fire the night before.
Palestinian security services blocked the Jews from entering and coordinated with Israel’s military to extricate them from an angry crowd. Israeli soldiers detained five of the violators, who were later placed under house arrest.
In two paragraphs about the incident, The Los Angeles Times provides not a word about how the Palestinian Authority police themselves beat the Israelis.
In a speech last month, Abbas denounced right-wing Knesset members’ demands to visit the Temple Mount, which Netanyahu has now forbidden. Abbas warned against the "filthy feet" of Jews trampling the holy Muslim site and praised "every drop of blood shed ... for the sake of Allah," which prompted a rare reprimand from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. But Abbas included his inflammatory accusations against Israeli policy in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly address a week later. Little of this important background has been reported extensively by the American press.NBC Can't Be Sure, Assailant Ahmed Manasrah, 13, Could Be Innocent
While the American media have reported the growing Palestinian fury over continued Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and frustration over the lack of progress in the peace process, American journalists rarely dwell on the incendiary statements and cartoons that appear regularly in the Palestinian press and are quoted often by senior Palestinian Authority officials.
David Pollock of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Fikra Forum wrote recently that senior PA officials have explicitly praised violence against Israeli civilians and have called Israeli settlers “legitimate targets.” In early October, he reports, the Palestinian Cabinet issued a statement that failed to mention Palestinian violence but accused Israel of acting “to kill and assassinate defenseless children and civilians ... summary executions and cold-blooded murder.”
Only when Palestinians stab Israelis is terror called “tensions.”
During the recent spate of Palestinian terror attacks, the first big Palestinian lie that the mainstream media embraced and elevated to a legitimate "dispute" with Israel was the now infamous, and subsequently retracted, New York Times article that it is not in fact known if the first and second Jewish temples really stood on the Temple Mount ("Historical Uncertainty Proves Elusive at Jerusalem's Holiest Place," Rick Gladstone).Another British headline suggesting that Palestinian stabbers are the victims
The second big Palestinian lie repackaged by a major media outlet as a disputed claim whose truth cannot possibly be determined is the Oct. 14 NBC report, "Dispute Over Viral Video of Shot Ahmed Manasrah Sums Up Israel-Palestinian Conflict," by Cassandra Vinograd, Lawajez Jabari and Paul Goldman. The three argue that the facts are simply too murky to determine whether or not 13-year-old Ahmed Manasrah carried out stabbing attacks against Israeli civilians, including possibly, a child, before Israelis forces shot him dead.
In both cases, journalists treat sources lacking credibility as credible, and manipulate and exploit credible sources to serve their own purposes.
In the NBC piece, the trio place the unfounded vitriolic allegation proliferating on Palestinian social media, and outrageously repeated by Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, that the innocent Manasrah was shot in cold blood on equal footing with information confirmed by Israeli witnesses, police and medical workers that Manasrah stabbed and critically wounded two Israelis, including a 13-year-old.
In order to present the false Palestinian claims as at least as credible, it not more so, than the information provided by Israeli police and emergency medical services, as well as from footage of the attack, the NBC reporters cover up the fact that Abbas himself lied that the Israelis shot the boy dead, when clearly he is still alive.
Earlier today, CAMERA’s Tamar Sternthal commented on a misleading headline at USA Today. The headline, “Israelis kill 4 Palestinians as violence surges,” noted Sternthal, failed to “clearly report that the four Palestinians were killed had carried out, or attempted to carry out, stabbing attacks yesterday — three in Hebron, one in Jerusalem.”MSNBC Hires Roger Waters (satire)
Similarly, a headline in a Oct. 17 Telegraph report on the same series of attacks mislead readers by using a headline and strap line obfuscating the fact that the four Palestinians were killed only after they attempted to kill Israelis.
In a move to make the network’s coverage of the Middle East more even-handed, MSNBC has replaced troubled Middle-East reporter Ayman Mohyeldin with former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters. MSNBC spokesperson Sabrina H. explained the change of lineup. “We at MSNBC feel that Mr. Waters will bring a fresh perspective to the conflict in the Middle East. Mr. Waters is excited to hit the ground running.”JPost Editorial: French folly
When reached for comment, Mr. Mohyeldin was noticeably distressed about the recent change of events. “I’m out of a job. I totally did not see this coming. But there’s a lot of things I didn’t see. Like the knife in the hand of the terrorist last week that everyone with two eyes could see. Then again, sometimes I see Israeli drones that nobody else can see. You know, vision’s a funny thing.”
Conversely, Mr. Waters was enthusiastic about his new job. The Daily Freier caught up with Mr. Waters at his new MSNBC office as workers installed his personal SodaStream machine. “I never thought I could land this gig, what with you-know-who running the world’s media. But I’m excited to start work.”
Are these the “peacekeepers” the French want to entrust with guarding a site considered by devout Jews to be the single most holy place in the entire world and which is hallowed by Muslims as well? Do the French truly believe that UN peacekeeping forces with such a horrendous track record will succeed in calming the tensions, or do the French have another agenda? As Netanyahu pointed out in his rejection of the French proposal, no mention is made of the lies and incitement spouted by Palestinian Authority officials that Israel is attempting to change the status quo on the Temple Mount.JCPA: International Supervision in Jerusalem Has Never Worked
Indeed, the French motion seems less to do with restoring security on the Temple Mount and more to do with taking advantage of the recent conflict to “internationalize the holy sites” in a bid to cave in to Muslim pressure to force Israel to relinquish control over the Temple Mount.
Introducing an inept, potentially corrupt UN peacekeeping force will only exacerbate an already volatile situation.
The real problem on the Temple Mount is not a lack of law enforcement capability, it is irresponsible Palestinian incitement. The French would put their time to better use if they persuaded Palestinian leaders to stop spreading lies and promoting conflict.
But the absolute failure of United Nations international supervisors tasked with overseeing Jerusalem’s Jewish holy sites between 1949 and 1967 is a flashing red light warning of France’s initiative.Israel summons French envoy over call for Temple Mount observers
The UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) was officially established by UN Security Council Resolution 50 on May 29, 1948 for peacekeeping in the Middle East. On August 11, 1949, UN Resolution 73 mandated that UNTSO was responsible for “observing and maintaining the cease-fires and Armistices” after the Palestine Conflict.
One of those Armistice Agreements, between Jordan and Israel and signed on April 3, 1949, called for the “resumption of the normal functioning of the cultural and humanitarian institutions on Mount Scopus and free access thereto; free access to the Holy Places and cultural institutions and use of the cemetery on the Mount of Olives…”
UNTSO utterly failed in its mandate to maintain the Armistice for 19 years.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned France’s ambassador Patrick Maisonnave for a Monday morning meeting, French and Israeli diplomatic sources said, over the Paris proposal to deploy international observers to the flashpoint Temple Mount in Jerusalem.Israel rejects Jordanian offer to manage Temple Mount
Maisonnave was expected to meet at at 10:30 a.m. with the head of the ministry’s Division for International Organizations, Ronny Leshno-Yaar, and the deputy director-general of the Europe Division, Aviv Shir-On.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the plan out of hand, calling it a fundamentally absurd proposal. France submitted a draft proposal on the issue to the UN Security Council on Friday evening.
Israel recently rejected a Jordanian proposal that would have seen the Hashemite Kingdom begin to oversee visits to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem instead of Israel, Arab sources told The Times of Israel on Monday.Kerry: Foreign presence not needed at Jerusalem holy site
During recent meetings between officials in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Jordanian government, the latter proposed giving the Jordanian-run Muslim Waqf control over entry to the contested holy site — as it had until the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000. Since then Israel has effectively exerted control over entrance to the Temple Mount complex, which is considered Judaism’s holiest site and the third holiest to Muslims.
The Jordanian proposal was aimed at calming tensions over the compound, which has been the focal point of violent Palestinian unrest in the past month. The current outbreak of violence has been fueled by rumors that Israel is plotting to take over the area, where Jews can currently visit but not pray. Israel has adamantly denied the allegations, saying it has no plans to change the status quo on the Temple Mount, and accused the Palestinians of incitement by spreading the rumors.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that a proposed international presence at the Jerusalem holy site at the center of escalating Israeli, Palestinian tension and violence is not needed.Khaled Abu Toameh: Netanyahu to offer Kerry no concessions for Abbas
Instead, he said what is needed is clarity over pledges by Israel to maintain the status quo at the hilltop compound revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third-holiest shrine and a key national symbol for the Palestinians.
"We don't contemplate any change, but nor does Israel," Kerry told reporters at a news conference in Madrid. "Israel understands the importance of that status quo. What is important is to make sure everybody understands what that means. We are not seeking some new change. We are not seeking outsiders or others to come in ... "
"We need to have clarity," he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not offer any concessions to the Palestinians during his scheduled meeting in Berlin later this week with US Secretary of State John Kerry, a senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office said Sunday night.IDF soldier cleared of wrongdoing in death of Palestinian
Rather, the official said, he will demand that the Palestinians stop the incitement that is fueling the terrorism.
Kerry confirmed Sunday that he is scheduled to meet Netanyahu later this week in Berlin, and then Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah II in the region. The meeting with Netanyahu is slated for Thursday, if the security situation allows the premier and some of his top ministers to travel to Berlin on Wednesday for an already once-postponed government-to-government German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
There are unconfirmed reports that Kerry’s meeting with Abbas will take place on Saturday in Amman.
The Military Advocate General Danny Efroni closed an investigation against a former IDF lieutenant for the death of a Palestinian he shot during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron in 2013.South Africa hosts Hamas leader Mashaal, prompting angry protest by Israel
Efroni decided last week not to pursue manslaughter charges against Menashe Aviv for the death of 19-year-old Muataz Idreis Sharawnah, Channel 2 reported on Sunday.
An army spokeswoman at the time said the Israel Defense Forces was carrying out a routine overnight operation in Dura, southwest of Hebron, when clashes broke out. She said that a group of Palestinians hurled rocks at soldiers, and two of them began to climb onto one of the jeeps. After the Palestinians ignored warnings to retreat, and were undeterred by standard riot-dispersal means, the spokeswoman said soldiers opened fire at one of them.
“There was a real fear that they would open the door, throw a grenade inside our jeep and kill all of us,” Aviv said of the incident.
On the same day that the Israeli media reported Hamas calling on its members to carry out suicide bombings against Israelis, South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) Party hosted Hamas head Khaled Mashaal in a move that infuriated Jerusalem.South Africa’s ANC Party Urges Citizens Not to Travel to Israel
According to South Africa's Radio Islam, which posted a picture on its Twitter feed of Mashaal meeting South African president Jacob Zuma, Hamas' “political and decision making body is visiting South Africa to engage with the leadership of the ANC on the party’s shared vision of self-determination for the Palestinian people and a free, independent and sovereign state of Palestine liberated from Israeli occupation.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon said the Foreign Ministry called in South Africa's deputy ambassador to protest the visit.
The invitation to Mashaal to visit, he said “gives support and encouragement for terrorism and pointedly ignores the position of the international community, which views Hamas as a terrorist organization.
South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), has urged its citizens not to travel to Israel unless it is to promote “solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.”Iranian Leaders Refuse To Uphold Nuclear Deal
The decision came amid a “strong consensus” among the ANC’s National General Council, South Africa’s Independent Online reported.
According to the report, senior ANC leaders have recently criticized South African lawmakers and business leaders for traveling to Israel due to the fact that that they view the situation in Israel as worse than what was experienced during apartheid-era South Africa.
“Apartheid in South Africa was a picnic compared to what we have seen in the occupied territories,” South African Parliamentary Speaker Baleka Mbete said.
South African Jewish leaders condemned the ANC’s move, saying it unfairly singles out Israel.
“Placing a ban on traveling to Israel is wholly inconsistent with the way South Africa engages with other countries. ANC representatives regularly travel to all parts of the world, including to countries with very poor human rights records; it’s therefore grossly discriminatory to single out Israel alone for a travel boycott,” South African Jewish Board of Deputies President Zev Krengel said in a statement.
Senior Iranian officials continue to lash out against the recent nuclear deal even as the Obama administration begins to implement it, according to a series of statements by the Islamic Republic’s leaders.MEMRI: Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei, Iranian Officials Speak Out Against Iranian Approval Of JCPOA
The aggressive rhetoric comes as the Obama administration celebrated on Sunday the implementation of the deal, hailing it as a “milestone” in U.S. diplomatic history. However, Iran has balked.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took to his Twitter and Facebook pages to post an announcement titled, “Negotiation with America is Forbidden,” according to translations of the documents provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
Other Iranian officials have demanded that the U.S. completely terminate economic sanctions, rather than suspend them, per the nuclear deal.
Some Iranian leaders have stated that President Obama will announce this week the full termination of sanctions, a move that would likely spark anger on Capitol Hill.
On October 18, 2015, the day set as Adoption Day for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Iranian leadership continues to come out with statements opposing Iran's approval of it.Iranian Guardian Council Sec.-Gen. Jannati: Khamenei Has Not Approved or Signed the JCPOA
In the past few days, Iranian officials have clarified that Iran's Majlis, Supreme National Security Council, and Guardian Council have not approved the JCPOA; Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei tweeted, and posted on his Facebook page, an announcement titled "Negotiation With America Is Forbidden"; and other Iranian officials have stated that Iran is expecting the U.S. to announce that the sanctions have been terminated, not suspended as the JCPOA stipulates.
Khamenei's Facebook and Twitter announcement: "For America negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran means penetration. This is their definition of negotiation and they want to open the way for imposition. Negotation with America is forbidden, because of its countless detriments and because of alleged advantages of which it has none whatsoever." @Khamenei_ir, October 16, 2015.
In light of these developments, it is not clear whether Iran will officially announce its "adoption" of the JCPOA. It is also not clear whether the U.S. will announce its suspension of sanctions and the E.U. will announce its termination of sanctions, as per the agreement.
Iran Warning it Will Cease Implementing Deal if Threats Continue
The speaker of the Iranian Majlis (parliament), Ali Larijani, said that Iran would cease implementing the Nuclear Iran Deal if the other parties to the deal “make military threats against Iran,” the Tehran Times reported on Sunday, Oct. 18.Obama orders steps toward lifting Iran sanctions
Larijani claimed that some U.S. officials have threatened military attacks against Iran, even after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was finalized in Vienna on July 14.
The Majlis Speaker did not mention the many threats publicly uttered by the very highest leadership in Iran against the U.S. and its allies. Larijani apparently does not consider those threats problematic.
The Iranian official also made statements regarding inspections of Iran’s military sites which seem to contradict at least the version of the Nuclear Iran Deal which the west has been peddling.
President Barack Obama ordered the US government Sunday to take steps toward lifting sanctions on Iran, in accordance with the historic nuclear deal struck between six world powers and Tehran.Ministers approve banning boycotters from entering Israel
Obama’s directive comes 90 days after the UN Security Council endorsed the accord signed in Vienna in July, a milestone referred to as “Adoption Day.”
“I hereby direct you to take all necessary steps to give effect to the US commitments with respect to sanctions,” Obama said in a memorandum addressed to the US secretaries of state, energy, commerce and the treasury.
The measures will take effect upon confirmation by the Secretary of state that Iran has met its commitments under the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the accord is known, Obama said.
A bill calling to ban people who call to boycott Israel from entering the country received the Ministerial Committee for Legislation's approval on Monday.Jewish, Muslim graves defiled with swastikas in Austria
The initiative by MK Yinon Magal (Bayit Yehudi) states that anyone who is not a citizen or a permanent resident and calls for or encourages boycotts of Israel or belongs to an organization that does so will not be able to receive a visa or residency permit.
"It cannot be that someone who is trying to harm the State of Israel can enter it freely," Magal said after the bill was approved.
According to Magal, "anyone who calls to boycott Israel is using terrorism against it, and it is unthinkable that he would be allowed to move freely throughout the country without being bothered."
MKs from Zionist Union, Yesh Atid, Kulanu, United Torah Judaism, Shas and the Likud co-sponsored Magal’s initiative.
The bill defines "boycott" according to the 2011 Anti-Boycott Bill as “Deliberate avoidance of economic, social or academic ties or ties to a person or other body just because of his connection to the State of Israel, its institutions or regions under its control, in order to harm it economically, social or academically.”
A Jewish and a Muslim cemetery were defiled with Nazi symbols and anti-migrant slogans in western Austria, police said Monday, just weeks after similar attacks on a refugee hostel and Jewish museum.Richard Millett: Author Tom Sperlinger: “Poem about ‘Zionist SS’ is not anti-Semitic.”
Unknown perpetrators desecrated graves and buildings with a red pen in the Jewish cemetery of the town of Hohenems, close to the Swiss border, some time between Saturday night and Sunday morning, a police spokeswoman told the APA news agency.
The offenders also drew swastikas and wrote racist slogans at a Muslim burial ground in the nearby municipality of Altach.
Police suspect the attacks were carried out by the same people who earlier this month painted phrases like “Stop the refugee flood” on a refugee hostel and drew swastikas on buildings in the Jewish quarter, including the Jewish Museum, in Hohenems.
Tom Sperlinger is the author of a new book Romeo and Juliet in Palestine: Teaching Under Occupation. He launched the book last Thursday at Blackwell’s bookshop in the Institute of Education.‘Dreidel song’ used as anti-Semitic chant at game
Sperlinger is Reader in English and Community Engagement at the University of Bristol and this is his first book. He has also been a regular contributor to the Guardian on education issues and his new book was reviewed in that very newspaper.
In 2013 Sperlinger taught English literature at the Abu Dis campus of Al Quds University for a term. The book is an account of his time there and the affinity he built up with Palestinian students while teaching them works like Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet.
Zero Books, his publisher which also published Gilad Atzmon’s anti-Semitic book The Wandering Who?, are selling it as an academic memoir with important questions like: “What does it mean to read under occupation? What might such encounters reveal about the nature of pedagogy and the role of university?”
However, from what I read of the book at the event it is just another anti-Israel diatribe which will now go into bookshops and libraries and onto student reading lists.
Fans at a high school soccer game in Connecticut are accused of using “The Dreidel Song” as an anti-Semitic taunt directed at an opposing team.Enrique Iglesias set to return to Tel Aviv
Fans of the South Windsor boys’ varsity soccer team chanted verses from the Hanukkah tune during a game last week against Hall High School in West Hartford, a town with a large Jewish population. No other chants were heard the rest of the game, according to reports. Hall won the game.
South Windsor High School administrators met with students who chanted the song during the game, the district’s superintendent of schools, Kate Carter, said in a statement, the Hartford Courant reported Friday. The incident occurred on Wednesday.
“We take this situation seriously and are committed to using this unfortunate incident as a catalyst for meaningful conversations and teachable moments,” the statement said.
After four years, Latin pop sensation Enrique Iglesias will be returning to Tel Aviv and will regale audiences with the hip-shaking hits that have captivated fans for nearly two decades.Miley Cyrus celebrates in a giant star of David at James Franco's bar mitzva
His Sex and Love tour will take place at Tel Aviv’s Menorah Mivtachim Arena on December 16.
Enrique (40) is the son of Julio Iglesias and one of the most popular singers in the world, with countless Spanish and English hits to his credit.
In Judaism, having a bar mitzva signifies the important milestone when every Jewish boy agrees to take on the responsibilities of manhood. On Saturday evening, only 20-something years later than the average Jewish teen, James Franco became a man.Israeli windsurfer Davidovich at Oman Worlds competing flag-less
Many famous Jews were there to welcome Franco to the tribe, including Seth Rogen and Sarah Silverman. Other honorary non-yids in attendance included Aziz Ansari, Bruno Mars, and most notably Miley Cyrus, who as per usual stole the show while wearing an outfit adorned with a giant Star of David.
Franco's star-studded bar mitzva was part of the Hilarity for Charity organization's bid to raise money towards Alzheimer's research. This year marks the charity's fourth year celebration.
No word yet if Miley Cyrus sang Hava Nagila to the barmitzva boy, but we can only hope.
Israeli windsurfer Ma’ayan Davidovich is competing at the world championships in Oman after all, but is not doing so under the Israel flag after entering the Muslim Sultanate with her Austrian passport.25,000 runners to glow at Tel Aviv Night Run
The Israel Sailing Association (ISA) announced last Thursday that it will not send a delegation to Oman. Due to the security concerns raised by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), which is responsible for the safety of Israeli national teams when competing abroad, the ISA notified the organizers two weeks ago that it will not take part in the championships, resulting in the cancellation of the visas originally issued by Oman in July.
The ISA backtracked a day later and decided to send its three most senior surfers, Ma’ayan Davidovich, Shahar Zubari and Nimrod Mashiah. However, the organizers insisted they were unable to issue new visas so quickly and it seemed the three would have to watch the championships from afar.
However, Davidovich, who claimed bronze medals in the past two world championships, received permission from the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) to compete in Oman, although it refused to allow her to do so under the Israel flag as she entered the country with a different passport.
Some 25,000 runners will don sports shirts, accessorized with glowing neon lights, and take to the city streets tomorrow (October 20) for the 2015 Coca Cola Zero Night Run Tel Aviv. This is the ninth consecutive year that the 10-kilometer race — a part of the Municipality’s strategy of advancing a healthy lifestyle — is taking place.Traveling Israel: 10 things you didn’t know about the Israeli-Arab conflict
“Tel Aviv is the Nonstop City: there is much more to see here at 3am than at 3pm. There is no better place in the world to hold a race at night,” says Hila Oren, CEO & Founder of Tel Aviv Global.
For the first time ever, the race will include lighting elements such as installations, LED ports and large-scale screenings. Every runner will be granted a kit of glowing elements to enhance the experience.
Leading deejays will play music throughout the course and the event will conclude with a party at the Yarkon (Yehoshua) Park.
10 things you didn’t know about the Israeli-Arab conflict
As a tour guide in Israel I talk about history, religion, the desert, and everything else Israel has to offer. But there is always a big elephant in the room – the Israeli-Arab conflict. Sometimes I think this topic is more interesting than any other. Here I’ve tried to summarize the most important insights I’ve gained from hundreds of discussions about this issue.
The Israeli-Arab conflict is smaller than you might think
If you try to complete the sentence “The Israeli – Arab conflict is important because…”, you’ll discover that you don’t have an answer. The conflict is one of the smallest in the world. Israel is a tiny country without any strategic importance. There is no oil in Israel or in any country surrounding Israel. The only reason why you hear about Israel is because enough people decided that it is important, but there’s no objective reason. Every moment you deal with this conflict is a moment you’re not dealing with the real big and important problems, such as China, a dictatorship with over a billion people that also has the largest economy in the world; the bloody and seemingly intractable conflict in Syria; and the genocide occurring in Sudan.
The world media is obsessed with Israel
The medium is the message. Normally the closer the event is and the more dramatic it is, the chances of you hearing about it in the media are higher. This rule doesn’t apply to the Israeli-Arabic conflict. The smallest incident in Israel immediately becomes headline news all other the world. Here’s one important fact to keep in mind: In more than 100 years of conflict, about 25,000 Palestinians have lost their lives. In the Arab world more than 15,000,000 people have lost their lives in just the last 50 years. You hear much less about them, or the millions that are killed in Africa (or the some 80 percent of the world population that lives under totalitarian regimes). One of the reasons for this is that it’s very easy to work in Israel as a foreign correspondent. There is a modern infrastructure, freedom of speech, and journalists feel safe. The Palestinians also feel safe. Notice that the Palestinians never speak anonymously or cover their faces like people do when they fear the authorities. Israel, like all countries, is not perfect, but it is very important to remember that even the right to complain against the government is a privilege that only a few people in our world enjoy.
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