Monday, November 30, 2015
Douglas Murray: The Real Lesson of the Paris Attacks
When the truth is revealed, it can be not merely unpleasant but often accidental. There have been several striking examples of this since the massacre in Paris earlier this month. In the days immediately after the attack, The Times of London interviewed residents of Paris. Referring to the latest attacks, one 46-year old resident also referred back to the attacks in January on the offices of Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket. "Every Parisian has been touched by these attacks," she said, referring to the latest attacks. "Before it was just the Jews, the writers or cartoonists."Deeds of defiance
If "just the Jews" was an unfortunate way of putting it, it was no less unfortunate than the reaction of America's top diplomat. Days after the latest Paris atrocity, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said:
"There's something different about what happened from Charlie Hebdo, and I think everybody would feel that. There was a sort of particularized focus and perhaps even a legitimacy in terms of -- not a legitimacy, but a rationale that you could attach yourself to somehow and say, okay, they're really angry because of this and that. This Friday was absolutely indiscriminate."
To the extent these comments have been noticed, they have been ridiculed. It is what lies revealed beneath the statement that deserves our attention.
The true problem with the line that it used to be "just the Jews, the writers or cartoonists," is not that it is offensive or inelegant or any of the other words that are now used to shut down a discussion -- though all these things it may be. The problem is that it suggests that people were not paying attention during those earlier attacks. It suggests a belief that the terrorism in January was a different order of terrorism -- call it "understandable terrorism" -- rather than part of a continuum of terrorism that now reached its logical endpoint, as "impossible-to-understand terrorism" -- because "Jews, writers or cartoonists" were missing.
What if the terrorists had been targeting "just Americans," or "just diplomats" -- would that be "understandable terrorism" in Kerry's thinking? That it used to be "Jews, writers or cartoonists" is precisely what made the attacks on everybody else inevitable. The only surprise should be our own surprise.
As I sat there in the marketplace that night, surrounded by friends and strangers, I was struck by how this was the perfect example of the difference between Europe and Israel, and how this seemingly mundane activity was the guarantee of our survival. The Jewish community I had just left chose to shut down at the mere threat of terror. Here, where that terror is a reality rather than a suspicion, it is met with life and resistance. When they cut us down we rise. When they fight us, we grow stronger.Journalist Sparks French Ire Over Biased ‘Headline’ About Paris Attacks Parodying Coverage of Terror Against Israelis
Israel has chosen life, and as evidenced by last week's events, Europe has also made its choices. Closing down Jewish life to avoid trouble ironically serves to invite trouble in. Faced with appeasement and silence, the voices of evil will soon speak in unbridled unison.
As I prepare to leave Israel to go back to Sweden, my heart aches as more pieces of it are left behind with every visit. I'm safe here, no matter the terror, because while a minority may wish to harm me, the majority will stand with me. The good speaks loudly here, and the message is clear to anyone who cares to listen: Our love of life trumps the enemy's cult of death and our defiance is measured in babies and land, just as our forefathers promised.
An Israeli reporter was met with indignation from French citizens and tourists whom he presented with a biased headline about the recent Paris terror attacks, Israeli website nrg reported on Sunday.How did the French react to a biased headline after the terror attack in Paris?
Zvika Klein, the Makor Rishon/nrg journalist — whose viral video about walking the streets of Paris illustrated a rise in antisemitism in France — filmed passersby in Paris’ Place de la Republique (Republic Square) reacting to a screenshot of a slanted headline reporting on the November 13 ISIS attacks that resonated around the world.
The format of the headline – purposely fabricated by nrg as an experiment — emulated that of certain international media outlets’ coverage of recent terror attacks against Israelis, creating the impression that terrorists are victims as well. The phony screenshot was a virtual replica of a BBC headline that appeared following the murder of two Israelis, and serious wounding of a mother and her baby, in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem on October 3.
The BBC headline read: “Palestinian shot dead after attack kills two.”
The headline cooked up by nrg a few days after the Paris attacks was: “7 men shot dead during Paris attack; 129 dead.”
Klein is seen in the edited under two-minute video clip conducting man-in-the-street interviews with a cross section of people walking through the famous Parisian square. Holding out his phone to show passersby a fake website, “The Damascus Daily,” on which the ostensible news story and headline are featured. (h/t Yenta Press)
Vic Rosenthal Calling their bluffs
I am not saying that Netanyahu should emulate Vladimir Putin, but there are things we can learn from him. One of them is not to be too timid and to take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. This would be a good time to annex the Golan, although asking for permission from Washington was not at all a good idea (really, what did Netanyahu expect?).'Israel sees no sign that terror wave subsiding, IDF prepared for escalation'
Another is the importance of public relations. The Russians are pulling out all stops to (effectively) take credit for fighting Da’esh in Syria, despite the fact that they have so far done little against it. We, on the other hand, are talking about how victimized we are, while the international media barely cover Palestinian terrorism.
Israel needs to put the Palestinian Authority out of the delegitimization/demonization and incitement business and at the same time present its own case as the holder of historical, moral and legal right to Judea and Samaria as the homeland of an indigenous people. It isn’t easy or cheap, but we have to do it.
And we should be thinking about bold moves to change the situation on the ground as well. How did it happen that the despised terrorist PLO became a “non-state member” of the UN, a more respected international entity than the state of Israel?
The US and Europe have their own problems today. Obama is weak – he folded in the face of Russia, and even Bashar al-Assad made a fool out of him – but he could lash out at us. So we will have to do our homework and see to our alliances first.
But then let’s call the PLO’s bluff. We created this monster, and we can destroy it.
The current wave of terrorism does not seem to be ebbing, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said at the opening of a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting Monday.Cabinet launches NIS 100m plan to ‘strengthen Jerusalem’
"We don't see any changes in the wave of terrorism; it is mostly attacks by individuals," Ya'alon stated. "The wave of terrorism is not dwindling or being curbed."
The Defense Minister said that the IDF is doing what it can to try to stop the terrorism, but that it is also prepared for an escalation.
Other arenas - northern and southern borders, Gaza, Sinai - remain quiet, he added.
The cabinet on Sunday approved a plan to strengthen Jerusalem economically following three months of terror attacks that saw streets emptying of shoppers and businesses struggling to remain open.Israeli Soldier Wounded in Gaza War Pays Musical Tribute to Terror Victims (VIDEO)
Presented by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin and Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, the plan would allocate NIS 100 million ($26 million) for developing the business sector in the city, encouraging tourism, strengthening Jerusalem as a center of academia and giving businesses convenient payment plans for paying tax debts.
The plan was presented after Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat ran a campaign over the past few weeks pressuring Kahlon “not to abandon Jerusalem.” Barkat recruited municipality workers for the campaign and at one point earlier this month a garbage truck bearing an anti-Kahlon poster was parked for hours across the street from the Knesset.
During Sunday’s cabinet meeting, when the plan was announced, Barkat apologized for his personal campaign against Kahlon. According to Channel 10, Barkat said he was sorry for targeting the finance minister and noted that Jerusalem was a matter of national importance.
An Israeli soldier who was injured during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014 performed a song for Israelis wounded in action and terrorist attacks, the Israeli news site nrg reported on Sunday.Court sentences 3 for planning to kill Jews praying on Temple Mount, e. Jerusalem attacks
Haim Lev Tov took part in a music video with Israeli composer and conductor Kobi Oshrat and a number of Israeli youth movement activists. They performed the song “Always Together,” whose lyrics were written to commemorate the second Annual Day of Appreciation for those Wounded in Israel’s Wars and in Terrorist Attacks.
Appreciation Day was initiated by Israeli youth movements, and in the summer of 2014, the Israeli government decided that the 17th Day of the Hebrew month of Kislev would be an annual day of gratitude to the approximately 80,000 Israelis wounded in action.
The Jerusalem District Court on Monday sentenced three east Jerusalem Arabs for conspiring to carry out shooting and kidnapping attacks against Jews praying on the Temple Mount and security forces posted in east Jerusalem.PMW: Israel closes Radio Hebron station for promoting murder and suicide bombing: "Blow up the executor's innards"
Jalal Koutoub was sentenced to 13 years in prison for assisting the enemy in a time of war, conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping, two counts of attempted murder, kidnapping for a murder and other crimes. Muhammed Shaar was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for assisting the enemy in a time of war and attempted robbery, but not for any murder or kidnapping-related crimes.
Ahmad Bazalmit was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for conspiracy to assist the enemy in a time of war and attempted robbery, but not for any murder or kidnapping-related crimes.
It was unclear what the status of the proceedings against the leader of the cell, Nor Hamdan, was, as well as two other defendants, Omar Vuzvuz and Amjad Raazam.
According to the indictment, Hamdan decided in February 2013 to carry out shooting attacks on Jews who came to the Temple Mount to pray and against security forces in east Jerusalem.
Following the numerous terror attacks carried out by terrorists from the Hebron area, the Israeli army closed down the offices of the Radio Hebron station (Nov. 21, 2015) because the station had been broadcasting songs inciting Palestinians to murder Israelis and return to suicide bombing. The following is the call to murder and return to suicide bombings broadcast in a song on Radio Hebron:
"Blow up the executor's [Israel's] innards
Bring back the period of Martyrdom-seeking (i.e., suicide bombing)
Rise and strap yourself with bombs."
The following are examples of songs and statements inciting Palestinians to murder Israelis, which were broadcast by Radio Hebron:
The U.N. chief declared a moment of silence for terror victims on and then checked off the cities hit by terror - except for Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The Paris climate conference opened on Sunday with a moment of silence for the world’s recent victims and a solemn recital of cities where radical Islamists have murdered people, with the blatant omission of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.Hey “Progressives,” This Is Your “Peace Partner!”
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who draws a line connecting global warming and terrorism, ticked off the names of cities, including:
Paris; Tunis; Beirut, and Bamako, Mali. notably
And what about Jerusalem and Tel Aviv?
Apparently Jews murdered there are not terror victims, according to Ban. He and other Western leaders have tried to manufacture a link between the “occupation” and the Arab “resistance” movement that encourages the murder of Jews.
The Palestinian Authority recently unveiled a monument for the terrorist who went on a stabbing rampage in October that killed two Israeli civilians and injured others, including a two-year-old baby.Gaza's 'Hitler 2' store spawns copycat
He is known for posing in a fancy leather jacket and making terrorism “cool” as a role model for Palestinian youngsters with his chic fashion statements, one of a few terrorists that inspired the term “Prada Intifada.”
The PA also named a street after him.
Note the shape of the monument. Does this look like a group that wants a two-state solution?
Less than a month after reports surfaced about a clothing store in Gaza City named "Hitler 2" that features knife-wielding mannequins, it seems the store has at least one copycat, possibly yearning for the same kind of international notoriety the first one received.Al Jazeera Anchorwoman Calls Arab Terrorist Who Stabbed Israeli ‘My Hero’ on Facebook
The Flash 90 news photo agency features of another, unnamed store – this one in southern Gaza – which also placed knives in the hands of its street mannequins. This time, the mannequins are female.
The knives are an obvious homage to the current murderous terror spree against Israeli Jews, in which knives are a popular weapon.
A Qatar-based Al Jazeera anchorwoman recently posted a video on Facebook of a stabbing attack in Israel, lauding the Palestinian assailant, Israeli news website nrg reported on Sunday.“Jerusalem’s Streets Run Red With Blood”: Daily Mail’s Shocking Headline Fail
“Bless you, my hero,” wrote Khadija Benguenna alongside uploaded security-camera footage of a young Arab stabbing an Israeli Border Policeman in Nahariya on Friday, referred to by Benguenna as “northern Palestine.”
By Saturday night, Benguenna, who is of French-Algerian origin, had deleted her comment but not the video, which garnered close to 70,000 “likes.”
The footage shows a 16-year-old Arab from a village in the Galilee stabbing a 37-year-old Border Police officer in the upper back before the two struggle with one another. The officer eventually breaks free and runs off camera as the attacker pursues him, while still holding a knife.
Only days ago, in response to complaints from HonestReporting and its subscribers, the Daily Mail’s Mail Online site amended a headline that turned Palestinian attackers into the victims and instead portrayed Israelis as the party at fault.Guardian headline on knifing of Israeli leads with death of the Palestinian terrorist
You’d think that lessons may have been learned. Think again.
Here’s Mail Online’s latest headline:
"Jerusalem's streets run red with blood: Israeli police shoot dead man who stabbed border guard at Damascus Gate - the 99th Palestinian to die in latest wave of violence"
Jerusalem’s streets are certainly not running red with the blood of Palestinians. What is happening is a spate of Palestinian attacks against Israelis that have ended with Israeli security forces defending themselves and the civilians around them. This latest headline once again portrays the perpetrators as the victims.
Now, here’s how the Guardian framed it in their headline and strap line – again, using the same AFP report:Analysis: Are France and the EU serious about combating jihadism?
"Palestinian shot dead at Damascus gate in Jerusalem after stabbing Israeli guard"
So, not only did Guardian editors lead with the death of the terrorists in the headline, they added a strap line which focused on the number of Palestinians killed in “the latest wave of violence”.
Of course, the “wave of violence” they’re referring to is a string of 119 Palestinian attacks on Israelis since Oct. 1. Of the 99 Palestinians killed during this time, most (as the article itself ultimately acknowledges) have been the “alleged perpetrators of stabbing, shooting and car ramming attacks”. Almost all the other Palestinians “killed during this time” were killed during violent, Palestinian-led clashes.
Contrary to the implications of such headlines and euphemisms, there has not been a “cycle of violence”. There has been a surge of Palestinian terror targeting Jews – a campaign of antisemitic violence legitimized and often encouraged by the Palestinian Authority.
You’d be hard pressed to find an example of terror in world – outside of Israel – where mainstream media outlets prioritize the fate of the perpetrators over that of their victims.
Hollande’s stated aim: to destroy “the army of fanatics.” His rhetoric suggests a new form of hawkish socialist anti-jihadism.Australian terrorist 'linked to Charlie Hebdo attacks'
While Hollande made a whirlwind tour to enlist support from the Americans and the Russians to mount a broad-based coalition against Islamic State, he still is fighting with one arm behind his back.
“France will not intervene militarily on the ground,” said the French president on Tuesday in Washington.
Scores of military experts believe ground troops are a sine qua non of winning the war against Islamic State in the Syrian and Iraqi theaters.
Europe, parts of which still suffer from high-intensity Bush Derangement Syndrome, could find some wisdom in a core feature of George W. Bush’s foreign policy doctrine, namely, “Take the fight to the enemy overseas before they can attack us again here at home.”
To be fair, Hollande has launched an air campaign against Islamic State targets. His government plans to increase the military budget by 600 million euros.
Hollande, however, has not seized the opportunity to mobilize his army, the largest in Western Europe.
One of Australia’s most notorious terrorists, Willie Brigitte, was in contact with the masterminds behind the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, it has been reported.Envoy slammed for saying French Jews aren't 'ordinary citizens'
The information has surfaced in the wake of French intelligence services sharing files with Australian spies according to News Corp.
Reportedly, Australian and French intelligence officials have been in formal meetings after it was uncovered that Willie Brigitte was in direct contact with the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks at the satirical magazine in the months leading up to the massacre.
It is understood that Brigitte first came in contact with the masterminds while spending time inside the Fleury-Merogis prison, where he is currently incarcerated.
The French Jewish community is in a fury in the wake of a letter sent last week by French Ambassador to the US Gerard Araud, which included a shocking statement in response to the Islamic State (ISIS) attacks on Paris earlier in the month.Former Belgian Zionist head leads uptick in Israel immigration
In the letter written to French citizens residing in the US, Araud did not mention ISIS in relation to its six attacks that left 130 murdered. He went on to draw a comparison with the January attacks in Paris, in which Muslim terrorists murdered 17 people in attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical paper and on a Jewish supermarket.
"These are the foundations of our model of society that the terrorists seek to destroy: Yesterday journalists and Jews; now ordinary citizens whose only crime was to enjoy life on a Friday night in Paris," said Araud, in a shocking distinction between Jews and "ordinary citizens."
One Jewish ex-pat living in New York, Ron Agam, took to Facebook to write, "tonight French people in the US received a letter from the French Ambassador about the events in Paris. To my surprise I learned that I - the Jew that I am - was not a regular French citizen, I was a Jew.”
In an interview with the UK Telegraph, Betty Dan said the multiple attacks in Paris on November 13 that killed 130 people, and the subsequent revelation that a Brussels-led jihadist cell led the assault, and the murders last year at the Brussels Jewish museum — also by a jihadist — have triggered fears that Belgium and Europe in general, are not longer safe for Jews.Government urges educators to avoid school trips to Europe
Dan, the manager of a Jewish radio station for 25 years, also organizes property fairs for Belgian Jews who leave for Israel. She said that following the Paris attacks, there’s been a sharp increase in the number of calls she gets from people seeking information on moving to Israel, from about once a week to five per day.
“A few years ago it was the pensioners going, who wanted the Israeli sun,” Dan told The Telegraph. “Now it is young people with children who sell their houses and leave everything. They are scared.”
“It is a painful thing. I am a real Belgian – my country, my culture and my friends are here,” she said, adding that her daughter and grandson will likely make the move with her.
“My daughter never, never, never thought to leave. Now, she says of her little boy, what is his future here? We don’t feel safe,” Dan said.
The Education Ministry has advised regional administrators not to send students on European tours and exchange programs unless absolutely necessary. It is unclear whether this advisory, issued by the ministry's security division, is a consequence of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris or due to potential anti-Semitic incidents.Following Pressure from Liberals, France Declares War on France to Defeat ISIS (satire)
The advisory makes specific mention of France and Germany due to the particular threat of violence there, but it does not apply to the high school tours in Poland, including visits to former concentration camps, as those have dedicated security details.
Sources at the ministry said they were unaware of any cancellations at this point and have no specific figures on the number of trips currently in the works. Security officials at the ministry noted that in instances where canceling a trip was not a feasible option, schools should contact the local authorities and verify that proper security measures have been taken.
In the time that has passed since the terror attacks in France, everyone from President Obama to your drunk uncle at Thanksgiving has weighed in on how the world’s number one exporter of baguettes and lovesick skunks should respond. Right wing demagogues have advocated for a merciless, chest thumping, scorched-earth type of approach to ISIS’s actions while liberals, sometimes called “nerds,” or “pussies” by jocks, have maintained that the fault for the violence actually lies with France itself, rather than the terror group.In Paris, Netanyahu and Abbas shake hands for first time in years
France’s reaction to the attacks was outlined by French President, François Hollande, earlier in a press release. “Following the cowardly attacks on our people, we vow to find those responsible,” the statement read, “We have consulted with our most liberal advisors, and they have expressed to us that we are, in fact, the ones responsible. Apparently, our actions in the Middle East are what resulted in the ISIS terror, so… we are our own enemy, I guess. Therefore, we will begin our own bombing campaign in Paris in order to punish ourselves for unleashing ISIS on ourselves, and the rest of the world.”
Hollande also hinted at the possibility of a campaign against other western nations, including the U.S., “who also contributed to the rise of ISIS, and therefore also bear responsibility for the attacks.” According to one “level 5 liberal” (his description, not that of TMB), “God, just think of how free everyone could be if we just got rid of all these white people! That’s the dream we’re chasing with this Paris bombing campaign – hopefully coming to a city near you!”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday had an unplanned meet-up on the sidelines of the Paris climate change conference, shaking hands for the first time in five years.The Coptic Pope goes to Jerusalem
Only the New Zealand prime minister stood between the two leaders during the group photo of more than 150 world leaders attending the summit.
After the pictures were taken, the two shook hands for the first time since 2010.
Netanyahu also spoke with US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry for about 10 minutes, as well as with with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince Charles, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
Since his ascension as Pope in 2012, Pope Tawadros has tried to ease the tension. While officially maintaining his predecessor’s position, he has allowed Copts abroad to make the journey. And without making any public fuss about it, removed the ban on communion for those who defy the church’s position inside Egypt. It became obvious to church observers that his heart was not fully behind Pope Shenouda’s ban. In all cases, even under his predecessor, the Coptic church had regularly sent monks and priests to Israel to maintain its property there. The church also ordains a Metropolitan, the second highest position in the church hierarchy after the Pope, based in Jerusalem and responsible for a wide diocese stretching from Israel to the Gulf.Hamas Building Sophisticated 'Tunnel City' Under Gaza
Metropolitan Abraham’s death yesterday is what brought the Pope to Jerusalem, where he will head the funeral service. The Church has already attempted to portray the visit as exceptional—that is, very different from pilgrimage, but it is unlikely anyone will buy that. Islamists will use the visit to further incite animus and hatred against the Copts. And Egypt’s deeply anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli political class will condemn the Pope’s visit.
Why did the Pope decide to go to Jerusalem? He must have known that he will pay a heavy political price for his decision. But since his ascension to the Papacy, Tawadros has shown that once he is convinced of the soundness of a decision, he ignores its political costs. No matter what his calculus might have been, there is no turning back now. Next April when it is time for pilgrimage, thousands of Copts will make the journey no matter what the Church says officially. Pope Tawadros’ short trip may not be as historical as Sadat’s 1977 visit to Israel, but for Egypt’s Copts it may prove to be no less significant.
Hamas is in the process of building a sophisticated network of tunnels beneath the Gaza Strip, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the issue speaking to Breitbart Jerusalem.Jerusalem mayor saves the day, again
The tunnel infrastructure mirrors the network built by Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Iran-sponsored militia is known to have dug a vast underground tunnel complex replete with war rooms, internal communication lines, ventilation systems, and even missile silos.
Israel destroyed a significant portion of Hamas’ previous tunnel system during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014.
One source, a member of Hamas’ ”military wing,” told Breitbart Jerusalem that following the operation, Hamas enlisted hundreds of terrorists in order to construct an even larger tunnel network.
The Hamas source claimed that the terrorist group has succeeded in restoring much of its former tunnel system.
He said the next stage involves linking tunnels in north Gaza with those under Gaza City and the south. The source conceded that this requires at least two more years of work.
Somehow, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat always seems to be at the right place at the right time. As on Sunday afternoon, when the wife of Interior Minister Silvan Shalom fainted in Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market, and Barkat was on the scene to revive her.Abu Khdeir murder ringleader verdict delayed by 11th hour insanity plea; 2 minors convicted
Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes came to Jerusalem for a tour of the city, guided by Barkat. However, upon arriving at the market, she passed out suddenly, and was given preliminary care by the mayor.
Nir-Mozes was then evacuated to the hospital, where her husband — who came directly from the Knesset — met her.
“Thanks for the concern,” she tweeted later. “Everything is okay. Feeling good.”
There was pandemonium in the Jerusalem District Court on Monday as a three judge panel found all three defendants perpetrated the murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, but delayed formally convicting the ringleader, Yosef Haim Ben David after an unprecedented eleventh –hour insanity plea.Tel Aviv cinema faces funding cut over Nakba film fest
The court did convict the two defendant-minors, one from Jerusalem and one from Beit Shemesh but whose names are under gag order, of murder, kidnapping and a range of other offenses, despite their protests that only Ben David committed the murder, and they only intended to rough up Abu Khdeir.
Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old Arab from Shuafat in east Jerusalem was abducted, burned and brutally murdered on July 2, 2014 while waiting to enter a mosque.
Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev said she would weigh withdrawing funds from the Tel Aviv Cinematheque over its upcoming festival about the Nakba (catastrophe) — the Palestinian term for the 1948 creation of the State of Israel.The ghost town of Sharm El Sheikh: How bombings, political turmoil and a plane crash have left Egypt's tourist hotspots deserted with abandoned hotels and empty beaches a reminder of what they have lost
The festival, which runs December 4-6 and is in its third year, deals with the consequences for Palestinians of Israel’s victory over Arab nations in 1948, the creation of the State of Israel and the controversial issue of the return to Israel of Palestinian refugees. Movies by Palestinian and international filmmakers will be screened at the Cinematheque as well as the Arab-Hebrew Theater of Jaffa.
Regev on Sunday demanded to know whether the films contravene Section 3b of the Basic Budget Law, the Haaretz daily reported.
“Those of us who are responsible for the public coffers are forbidden from closing our eyes where there’s a fear, however slight, that a law is being broken in Israel,” said Regev. “It’s our responsibility and our authority to… ensure that public funds not be directed toward incitement against the state.”
It's faced bombings and political turmoil over the past decade - and last month's plane crash has left Egypt's tourism industry in chaos.Israeli Customs Agent Saves Gazan Merchant’s Life at Border Crossing
Some 15million visitors a year were heading to the country up until the 2011 Arab Spring, but that had dropped to just 9million in 2014.
And this eye-opening collection of photographs reveals an abandoned landscape of deserted beaches, unfinished hotels and a country in crisis.
Married photographers Andrea and Magda have documented the Sinai region including resorts such as Sharm El Sheikh and Nuweibaa.
They spent nine months touring the area after finding more and more of the places they had previously visited were closing down.
The suspected bombing of a Russian passenger jet saw British Airways and easyJet cancel flights between Sharm and the UK until 2016.
The Foreign Office has warned British tourists of a 'high threat from terrorism' in Egypt, where more than 900,000 UK nationals visit a year.
An Israeli customs agent’s resourcefulness saved a Gazan merchant’s life last week after the latter suffered a heart attack at the Erez border crossing.Israeli Paramedic Reflects on Treating Wounded Syrians
The merchant had arrived at the crossing to enter Israel on Nov. 26 when he suddenly collapsed as a result of a heart attack. An Israeli customs agent, who had undergone paramedic training in the past, rushed over to the man and began resuscitation efforts, using a defibrillator.
Another crossing employee, also a trained paramedic, joined the resuscitation efforts. An Israeli Magen David Adom ambulance later arrived at the scene with two additional paramedics.
After the merchant’s condition was stabilized, he was transported to a hospital, where he underwent a catheterization procedure and regained consciousness.
Israeli Defense Forces Staff Sergeant “N” sounded surprised by the question.
“No,” she answered the JewishPress.com reporter, the wounded Syrians “we were treating trusted us and the IDF. With us, they knew they were safe from the bombings and the terrible situation in Syria. They thanked us and were grateful,” N said of the Syrians – some of whom were suffering from catastrophic wounds – she and her colleagues treated at the Syrian-Israeli border.
When N first entered the Israel Defense Forces nearly three years ago, she knew she wanted to be a paramedic. She spent 14 months training for this specialty, and spent much of her service working with a brigade in Judea and Samaria.
But when she heard there was help needed in the north, help needed in the Golan Heights on Israel’s border with Syria, N went.
Every day the Israeli medical professionals go to Israel’s border with Syria. It is there that the injured are brought by Syrians, and it is there that Israeli ambulances pick them up for treatment.
