Friday, February 05, 2016
Melanie Phillips: Those nice Israel-bashers’ Achilles’ heel
Ban and others committed to universalism think this equation is fair. In fact, it diminishes Jew-hatred and sanitizes Islamic aggression. Which is why progressives who think they are pure because their hearts so conspicuously bleed for the oppressed are not pure at all. They are morally corrupt.Gerald Steinberg: How NGOs Became a Weapon Against Israel
They aren’t driven by compassion for any kind of victim. What drives them instead is hatred of supposed victimizers in the “powerful” West.
Their purported even-handedness thus camouflages a moral degeneracy.
For while denouncing Israel, they support Palestinians who throw gays from the top of tall buildings, who abuse women and children, who jail, torture and kill dissidents. They support the racist ethnic cleansing of Jews from a future state of Palestine. They help incite false grievances that kill.
They have the blood of innocents on their own hands.
But they think of themselves as fair, decent, progressive. This is where they are vulnerable. For like Ban, they also tend to be remarkably thinskinned.
That’s because their image of themselves really is all that matters to them. They don’t care about the world’s victims. They care about being seen to care.
They think of themselves as nice people. We have to show them that they are not. Self-regard is everything to them. It is therefore their Achilles’ heel.
We should puncture it.
For Israel itself, however, the stakes are even higher. In question is Israel’s right to reassert its national sovereignty in the face of foreign manipulation, demand transparency from unelected groups that campaign intensely against the policies of its elected government, and counter an international campaign of hate and defamation that potentially threatens Israel’s very existence.Ami Ayalon: Protesters silencing speakers like me won’t solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem
Ironically, the NGOs and their patrons have made this controversy inevitable. They are answerable to no one but themselves, keep their own internal affairs completely secret in a manner they would condemn if the Israeli government did the same, and resort to hysterical and often slanderous rhetoric almost reflexively when anyone questions their activities or ideology. In the face of this, the rising anger and mistrust directed toward them is completely understandable.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the proposed NGO law is, contrary to the claims of many inside and outside Israel, entirely compatible with democratic norms. It does not restrict these groups’ freedom of speech or assembly in any way. Countries like the U.S. and India have similar laws that are observed without controversy. Comparable laws have been passed in Israel that have left NGOs and their activities undamaged. And there is no reason for organizations to fear simple transparency; in fact, if they support democracy and open government, they should welcome it.
The NGO wars will undoubtedly continue, as both the Israeli people and the NGOs escalate their rhetoric and entrench their stands. The sight of Ezra Nawi conspiring to murder a Palestinian was a hammer blow to the NGO network, but there may be more revelations coming, and the network will unquestionably keep fighting against its critics. But the debate should be based on the facts, not on wild and unjustifiable accusations of McCarthyism and government suppression. The NGO law would be an asset to Israeli democracy, and those groups that claim to care so much about precisely that should embrace it. (h/t Yenta Press)
I came to the UK two weeks ago, at the invitation of the British Jewish organisation Yachad, to present my ideas for how Israel and Palestinian people might create a step-change that may bring about the forging of a political agreement. There is nothing more urgent than finding a way to end occupation and create two states, both for the sake of the Palestinian people and Israel. Both peoples deserve to live in secure, democratic, independent states, and I wish to see the Israel that my parents built remain true to its Jewish and democratic values.
Having spent my career serving in Israel’s navy and security establishment, having been present at numerous peace negotiations, and served as an Israeli cabinet member, I believe I have some ideas as to how this might be achieved.
I spoke to more than 1,000 people over the course of the week. But it was only at King’s College London, where I was speaking at an event jointly hosted by the KCL and LSE Israel societies along with Yachad, was I met with violence. A window was smashed, students were pushed and the event was cut short due to the disruption.
It is worth noting that in comparison to the audience inside the room, who came from a wide variety of backgrounds, and listened and engaged with what I had to say, those responsible for the chaos outside were small in number. Nonetheless, their behaviour has no place at a London university that is committed to free speech. In a democratic society, unless someone is guilty of hate speech or inciting violence, you have a right to express any opinion you want and people have a right to disagree with it, but not through violent means.
Violent Anti-Israel Protesters Banned From King’s College, London
King’s College London Student Union (KCLSU) told Jewish News after the incident: “We strongly support free speech- student groups should be able to host external speakers.. However, we don’t support violent action taking place, especially around our students, and we don’t support action leading to an approved event closing early.Using the Left's own tactics against it
King’s subsequently launched what it called a “swift and comprehensive investigation” into the events of the night. Its findings concluded that the disruption had been intended. The incident will now be referred to a student disciplinary committee.
The university said in a statement: “A number of individuals intentionally disrupted the rights of others to exercise freedom of speech within the law.
“Those individuals who chose to behave inappropriately crossed a line and should be held accountable for doing so.”
The university’s report added: “As the majority of the students involved in entering the Norfolk building were not King’s students, we will assist other London institutions in any way we can to take action under their disciplinary procedures.”
Through the years, the Left has become a fanatic religious cult: It has its own heteronomic rules, dictated by some god (they must be, considering that the Left views them as absolute truth), and they outweigh the rules of man and the opinion of the majority. The Left's totalitarianism also comes from the same source: Despite talking ceaselessly about human rights, there are no humans there, only ideas. But Schocken's sentiments, which have been translated and distributed around the world, are far more dangerous. Short of inviting the terrorists of the world to come and butcher us, he said it all.In the Safe Spaces on Campus, No Jews Allowed
In his 1983 book "How Democracies Perish," philosopher Jean Francois Revel spoke about the "industry of blame," a clever mechanism whereby the West has adopted a one-sided view of its own historical guilt. Revel described the clash between the Soviet Union and the West like a soccer game, in which one of the teams -- the West -- restricted itself from going beyond the half court line. Today, the Palestinian Authority and the Islamist movements (as well as parts of Europe) play the role of the Soviet Union in this scenario, while the leftist organizations are helping them fight against Israel.
And yet, there is one difference: While peace organizations were taking internal action to weaken their own countries' stance against the Soviets, the American and British citizens were able to walk around the streets of their cities without fearing for their safety. The price that the West would pay for internal Soviet support seemed far off. But that is not the case in Israel today. Left wing activists are waging endless campaigns around the world, telling our enemies and our haters that they are indeed justified in hating us. And since Israel's demonic image is growing stronger, because, after all, the evidence of our demonic nature is being presented by some of our own, it is becoming ever more legitimate to murder Jews. Can we honestly say that our enemies care about human rights?
While the effectiveness of campus protests is worthy of debate, it should remain undeniable—and undeniably troubling—that the progressive college movement, and specifically pro-Palestinian groups within it, have pushed anti-Semitic rhetoric in the name of progressive values. For example, the SJP chapter at Northeastern University likes to fashion itself a progressive organization, but in 2012 the school’s SJP advisor was recorded telling members to be proud to be called an anti-Semite—to wear it as a “sign of distinction. This proves that I’m working for the right side, the just cause.”Student Israel Advocates Leading Anti-BDS Effort at Columbia: ‘It’s Considered Cool to Oppose Zionism’ (INTERVIEW)
The ramifications of ignoring the normalization of anti-Semitism cannot be understated: The most recent FBI hate crime report found that 58.2 percent of hate crimes motivated by religious bias were targeted at Jews. Jews make up 2.2 percent of the American population, so the FBI’s statistics make it clear that Jews are the most disproportionately attacked religious group in America. It should be troubling to everyone that an SJP member at Temple University physically assaulted a pro-Israel Jewish student two years ago, calling him “kike” and “Zionist baby killer.” But it should be far more troubling that the SJP chapter at Temple (like all SJP chapters) promotes itself as a progressive organization, claiming solidarity with movements such as Black Lives Matter.
Brennan Thorpe, a pro-Israel student at Portland State University, told me how the pro-Palestinian movement has used “intersectionality” to co-opt the struggles of marginalized communities and promote themselves as a progressive movement.
The [university] administration is very progressive and liberal, and understands anti-Semitism, but most of the hate comes from the student body, especially the pro-Palestinian people. They tie the Palestinian cause to environmental issues, Black Lives Matter, feminism, LGBTQ rights, and pretty much all progressive causes. And, while they pursue these progressive causes, they also say that Israel doesn’t have a right to exist and Jews don’t deserve a state, even though they admitted they had no problem with any of the other modern nation states that have a particular ethnic identity. It’s frustrating because it’s a cultural trend in the student body that I feel like we can’t stop.
A student group at Columbia University is gearing up to counter an anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign being launched on campus this Thursday, The Algemeiner has learned.Martin Luther King, Hijacked by Academic Radicals
The Columbia chapter of “Students Supporting Israel” (SSI) – established in September to prevent and combat such efforts, which have become increasingly commonplace at colleges across America – intends to send a delegation to attend a launch event, sponsored by Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a joint organization formed by Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace.
CUAD has been advertising on social media and in fliers distributed throughout the Ivy League school in New York City that it is holding an event to kickstart its BDS endeavor, which is focused on pressuring the university to divest “from companies that benefit from or provide funds for the continued presence of Israeli homes, business, and infrastructure in the West Bank,” as The Algemeiner reported on Tuesday. It has also been circulating an online petition and referring students to a Facebook invitation page called BDS 101.
SSI Columbia founder Alexandra Markus told The Algemeiner that this kind of event is precisely what spurred her into action in the first place.
Just a few years into the controversy over “Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend,” Tim Wise, an avowedly anti-Zionist Jew who presents himself as a professional “anti-racist,” weighed in on Electronic Intifada with his own effort regarding the “Misuse of MLK.” He holds in response to this “misuse” that all one can do is speculate about King’s future views, but he is otherwise at pains to diminish all of King’s positive statements about Israel. He then perorates with a list of what he now confidently asserts King would condemn and oppose, based on what seems “imminently [sic] clear from any honest reading of his work.” Apparently, what Wise means by misuse of King is any use other than that to which Wise would put him.Here’s an Easy Way to Find Out if Your Congress Member is Actually Pro-Israel
True misuse of King, it must be said, is using him at all, in all his totemic symbolism, as a weapon in contests beyond his lifespan. The record of the abuses to which the legacies of the great are subjected is long, and these debates only add to it. One might wish to rest assured about what so large a mind and spirit as King’s would have come to believe over time. He was a great man, with the magnitude of the adjective only amplified by remembrance of the noun. Yet the founders of the American republic, also men of astonishing greatness, did agree in their own lifetimes to a union founded in the legal protection of slavery and the non-personhood of the indigenous men and women of the land.
Had Martin Luther King, Jr., in a hypothetical completed life, come to mimic the hateful anti-Zionism of today, then he would have been tragically mistaken, to much sorrow. It is the ideas and their truth, not the men, that will out. What King did believe, and say, during his life, we know. We should all gratefully settle for it.
PROPOSED BILL TO UNDO THE U.S. ANTI-ISRAEL LABELING LAWBDS After the Boycott
The proposed measure, S.2474, was introduced to override this Administration’s latest stealth anti-Israel move: a promise to start strictly enforcing a nearly 20 year administrative agency regulation — never enforced until now, and with good reason — that bans the use of the word “Israel” to denote the source of origin for products produced in the disputed territories: Judea and Samaria (as those areas are called by those interested in historical accuracy).
The areas are referred to, and the labeling permitted, as the “West Bank” and “Gaza” by those so hell-bent on enforcing a Two State Solution they are willing to overlook the fact that there is not as yet any state of Palestine, nor is the West Bank any more real a “country of origin” notation for the area in dispute than is Israel.
WHAT THE BILL WOULD DO
Cotton’s bill would amend the underlying statute to incorporate what the 1997 regulation allowed, that is, the designation for “West Bank” and “Gaza,” but it would also permit the designation of “Israel” for items produced in Jewish communities in those areas. What it accomplishes, is throwing out a regulation – something decided upon by administrative agencies, not elected officials – and instead incorporates the myriad regulations into comprehensive, and more balanced, legislation.
The bill was referred on Monday to the Senate Finance Committee.
BUT WHERE ARE THE CO-SPONSORS?
So far, only a pitifully small number of U.S. senators care enough about Israel to attach their names to this legislation which is merely an effort to prevent the U.S. from enforcing a boycott against Israeli goods, and every one who has stood up for Israel so far is a Republican.
2016 may well be remembered as the year that Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel finally died its death—in a clinical sense, at least.The Independent has no idea why Co-op Bank closed Friends of Al-Aqsa’s account
Across the U.S., state legislatures are passing bills that will outlaw state authorities from investing public funds in, and entering into contracts with, companies and other entities that engage in a boycott of Israel. This doesn’t mean that engaging in a boycott of Israel is illegal, but for anyone who cares about their bottom line, the legislation should provide a powerful incentive against its adoption.
These anti-boycott bills should properly be seen as anti-discrimination measures, and welcomed on those grounds. No U.S. state should contract with entities that enforce discriminatory policies—and boycotting Israel in the expectation that doing so will contribute to the Jewish state’s demise is, by definition, an act of discrimination. Why should taxpayer funds subsidize such bigotry? Why should jobs and revenues be sacrificed in the promotion of hatred towards an entire nation?
As we’ve learned over several years, however, in the inverted world of the boycotters, this same hatred is regarded as love and this same discrimination is regarded as justified resistance. Hence the BDS movement’s depiction of the anti-boycott bills as a conspiracy of “special interests” aimed at crushing free speech for Palestinian advocates.
The Independent evidently has no idea why Co-op Bank closed the account of the “pro-Palestine” NGO Friends of Al-Aqsa.Israel Boycott Loons Turn on Liberal Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Ban Based on False Claims
A Jan. 6 Indy report (Co-op Bank shuts down account belonging to Palestinian NGO Friends of Al-Aqsa ‘without explanation’, Jan. 6) informs us that a “British NGO that supports Palestine” has called for public support after Co-op Bank closed its account.
We get a hint of what may be the problem in a quote by a bank spokesperson, included in the article, who noted that banks are required to “make sure the funds do not inadvertently fund illegal or other proscribed activities”.
In fact, if the Indy had conducted even a minimal amount of research, it could have at least provided readers with a little background on possible “proscribed activities” by Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA), such as the fact that the group and its leadership supports Hamas and their acts of violent “resistance”.
Anti-Israel students at an exclusive NY college proposed a ban on the consumption of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream due to the ice scream mavens’ supposed support of apartheid via its “contractual relationship with an Israeli franchise.”How Pinkwashing Makes You Dumb
Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) activists at Vassar College proposed a resolution prohibiting student organizations from serving the ice cream at student functions, based on the false claim that Ben & Jerry’s conducts business in Israel’s disputed West Bank territories.
According to the resolution, “Ben & Jerry’s continues to tie its franchise to these illegal settlements. In short, while apartheid ensues in historic Palestine, Ben & Jerry’s ‘peace & love’ ice cream continues to pass through Israeli checkpoints, and be transported on Jewish-only roads to be sold in Jewish-only settlements.”
The American libertarian magazine, Reason, published a sarcastically-toned article claiming that despite their liberal politics, Ben & Jerry’s are actually “in cahoots with the Zionists.”
“I scream, you scream, we all scream because it never stops,” the article concluded.
However, a statement from the ice cream giants disputed the Vassar students’ accusations, claiming it had “no economic interest in the occupied territories.” The company categorically denied accusations that it operated business facilities in disputed regions.
It continues to be an open question whether stupid people gravitate towards joining the BDS “movement” vs. participating in BDS itself lowering one’s iQ.Canadian Media Mogul Blasts ‘Clueless’ York U Administration After Pulling Funds Over Anti-Israel Mural (INTERVIEW)
One of the things that makes this a tough call is that participating in BDS and associated propaganda activity requires you to believe so many demonstrably false things (Jenin, Jenin, anyone), and to push any facts and arguments that contradict a narrow set of beliefs out of your own head before shouting those who speak such truths off the stage.
With the emergence of the “pinkwashing” issue, however, I think we might have adequate evidence to support the self-stupification thesis.
For those unfamiliar with the term, “pinkwashing” is a fake phenomenon baked up by BDS propagandists to help them deal with the fact that Israel is the most enlightened state on earth with regard to gay rights while Palestinian society, like the rest of the Arab world, represents the place on the planet where murderous homophobia is sanctioned by both religion and law.
As one commentator described it, this fact is so true the boycotters can’t stand it. And so they have concocted a fantasy that Israel’s gay freedoms, or more specifically any attempt to portray the truth about those freedoms, is part of a nefarious plot to obscure Zionist wickedness.
“I heard that there has been a toxic, antisemitic and anti-Israel environment at York University for years, but I wasn’t really involved in those issues until the mural was called to my attention,” Canadian-Jewish media mogul Paul Bronfman told The Algemeiner on Tuesday.Israel threatens to revoke press credentials from 'negligent' journalists
Bronfman, chairman of Pinewood Toronto Studios and William F. White International, a supplier of film equipment and know-how, subsequently became associated with the now-famous controversy surrounding a wall painting at the university’s student center, deemed anti-Israel by many students complaining that it made them uncomfortable.
The mural, called “Palestinian Roots,” shows a keffiyeh-clad individual aiming rocks at a bulldozer — as The Algemeiner reported last Tuesday. The winner of a 2013 student contest, the mural has been on display since then.
Bronfman said he learned of its existence “by accident,” in a recent weekly email sent out by the CEO of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, Avi Benlolo. Bronfman, a director of FSWC in Canada, is also a contributor to the York University film studies department.
The Israeli government official responsible for accrediting foreign journalists said on Wednesday that he will consider revoking press credentials for media members who “are derelict in doing their jobs and write headlines that are the opposite of what happened.”Age chief: Israeli deaths don’t sell papers
Nitzan Chen, the head of the Government Press Office, wrote an angry post on his Facebook page on Wednesday in reaction to a number of news clippings and stories with headlines that seemed to paint Palestinian terrorists in a more sympathetic light.
Western news agencies wrote stories about Wednesday’s attack in Jerusalem, where three armed Palestinians killed a Border Policewoman and wounded two others.
The Foreign Ministry moved swiftly on Wednesday to change what it termed a “horrible headline” the American CBS news outlet put on its story about the terrorist attack at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate.
At about 4 p.m. the network’s website put the following headline on a story about the attack: “3 Palestinians killed as daily violence grinds on.” About 90 minutes later it was changed to this: “Israeli police kill 3 alleged Palestinian attackers.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon said the original headline was “biased and dishonest,” and an example of “unparalleled chutzpah.”
Australia: The editor batted away an opener by J-Air radio commentator Michael Burd – whether he thought Jews were “naive” enough to believe The Age is objective on Israel while it has, according to Burd, pro-Palestinian activists on its editorial staff. “There is no group-think or mindset within The Age or The Sydney Morning Herald that says we are anti-Israel,” declared Holden. “Let me say categorically The Age has never doubted Israel’s right to exist.”Washington Post Retweets 16-Year Old’s Antics as News
But Mount Scopus Memorial College principal Rabbi James Kennard accused Holden of “a straw-man argument … I don’t think the suggestion or concern is that you or The Age deny Israel’s right to exist … What is concerning is what most people would call bias … Of course you’re entitled to hold Mr [Benjamin] Netanyahu to account, most of us do as well, but where is the similar … investigation into … Hamas and the Palestinian Authority?”
Holden countered: “If you were the ambassador of Mexico, you would excoriate me for the fact that the only stories I ever run about Mexico are drug lords killing people … it’s the nature of news … that we do focus on the negative and critical.”
But despite his dictum that, in his words, “bad news sells”, Holden claimed Israelis dying at the hands of Palestinians is not the news his readers think important.
A 16-year old New Jersey teenage girl named Bethany Koval was the focus of a Washington Post online story (“A New Jersey teen who tweeted ‘Israel is a terrorist force' was called to the principal's office for ‘bullying',” Jan. 8, 2016). The reason? Koval took a trip to her principal's office after allegations of harassment relating to her anti-Israel social media postings.Fox News Correspondent Conor Powell's Coverage of Israel is Not Fair and Balanced
Readers may be perplexed why The Post—a paper whose Watergate investigative journalism played a role in the resignation of a President Richard Nixon—would devote 1,174 words to a story that, at best, belongs on the 10 p.m. local news.
The report begins, perhaps appropriately enough, by noting that Koval has “7,584 Twitter followers and counting. Recently, these followers were reminded that Koval is a 16-year-old high school student—one who can be called to the principal's office.”
Fox News reporter Conor Powell demonstrates a pattern of bias and editorializing in his coverage of events in Israel. His intermingling of opinion with reporting is a disservice to the Fox News audience and tarnishes the reputation of the news network promising fair and balanced treatment of Israel and the conflict with the Palestinians.BBC Africa misrepresents campaigning reports as ‘scoop’
On Feb. 3, 2016, Powell reported on the lethal attack by three Palestinian terrorists on two Israeli policewomen. Powell stated:
...Now, these attacks have been seen as lone wolf attacks. They are not driven by a militant group but by the frustration of individual Palestinians. They say this frustration stems from the lack of prospects for an independent Palestinian state and the growth of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. It fuels this wave of violence...
Powell is offering conjecture, not fact. And his conjecture is inconsistent with what is known about the events and incitement to violence by Palestinian officials that led to the recent wave of attacks and what Fox News has previously reported.
However, it is not unreasonable to assume that contact with those two men may have been facilitated by the campaigning NGOs which are obviously the source of this story. Last year a representative of one of those organisations – Sigal Rozen who is interviewed in Harcombe’s written article – produced a report that includes remarkably similar stories which were collected by Harcombe’s other interviewee, lawyer Anat Ben Dor. The background to the BBC’s repeated claims that it has “found evidence” or “gathered evidence” therefore requires clarification.British Judge Quits Following Investigation Over Antisemitic Comments
Clearly, this BBC ‘scoop’ is in fact a self-conscripted contribution to the PR efforts of a campaign being run by a coalition of political NGOs. That in itself does not come as much of a surprise: the BBC has a record of reporting on the issue of African migrants in Israel which includes the regurgitation of a report from Human Rights Watch, the amplification of allegations of racism from a very dubious anti-Israel campaigner and one-sided reporting which has serially failed to present the viewpoint of the people of the neighbourhoods of south Tel Aviv where the majority of the migrants live.
However, the BBC’s funding public has the right to know that such an energetically promoted multi-platform ‘scoop’ is in fact part of a political campaign. Audiences also have the right to expect transparency concerning any third-party involvement in locating and recruiting interviewees and BBC editorial guidelines on impartiality dictate that the political agendas of the campaigning NGOs which are obviously the source of these multiple reports should have been made known to viewers, readers and listeners.
A British judge in northern London resigned prior to his impending removal over antisemitic comments he made on Facebook, the U.K.-based Campaign Against Anti-Semitism (CAA) grassroots group announced Thursday.What happened to the Jewish orphans who were brought to Britain in 1945?
Following an official year-long investigation into the matter, CAA cited the British Judicial Conduct Investigations Office as saying that magistrate Abul “Abz” Hussain “has resigned from judicial office following an investigation into an allegation that he had posted racist and antisemitic comments on social media. A disciplinary panel recommended that Mr. Hussain be removed from the judiciary, but he resigned before the disciplinary process had been formally concluded. His resignation took effect from 26 August 2015. Had he not resigned, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice would have removed him from judicial office.”
Hussain’s antisemitic Facebook posts included “u know the worlds coming to an end when a jew accuses another of being his kind!” and “jews like u are boring so find everything lame, here’s a penny go put it in the bank and u just might get a pound after ten years interest!”
In 2010, Hussain was expelled from the U.K.’s Respect political party—which is led by outspoken anti-Israel lawmaker George Galloway—over his antisemitic views. The U.K.’s Sunday Telegraph published an exposé in December 2014 that found Hussain was still an active judge in the British court system despite the knowledge of his publicly expressed antisemitism.
Bela Rosenthal was three years old when she came to Britain in August 1945. She spoke no English and even her German was limited to a few words, dog and soup.Budapest names promenade for late Jewish congressman Tom Lantos
Born in Berlin, Bela, was the youngest of six Jewish orphans liberated from the Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia in April 1945.
Her mother – whose name the toddler didn’t even know until years later – had died in the camp in March 1944, her father had been killed in Auschwitz the year before. In June 1945, the six were taken to houses outside Prague, while the Red Cross searched to see if there were still any surviving relations of the children.
When none were found on August 15 1945, Bela became one of 301 children aboard a Lancaster bomber, bound for England.
Nine flights full of Jewish orphans left that day, making Bela part of an exclusive club – “The Boys” – known as such because out of the 732 orphans who were taken in by the British government to make new lives, just 80 of them were girls.
A promenade in Budapest has been named after the late US Rep. Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor to have served in the Congress.Israeli researchers develop unique new bird tracking device
The Tom Lantos Promenade, which was inaugurated Monday, is located near the school the late congressman attended in the Hungarian capital during his teenage years.
Lantos, who was part of a middle-class Jewish family, was forced into a labor camp at 16 in 1944. He escaped to a safe house set up by the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved tens of thousands of Jews from Nazi-occupied Hungary.
Lantos joined Wallenberg’s network and delivered supplies to Jews in other safe houses. He immigrated to the United States and eventually earned a doctorate in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1953. After serving as an adviser to various senators, he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1980. He died in 2008 at 80.
Where do barn owls hunt their prey? How often do white storks cheat on their partners? Israeli researchers may get the answers with a tracking device suitable for small birds. Brigitte Osterath reports from Hula Valley.Revolutionary car safey seat mifold raises $1.5 million
A barn owl lies on Motti Charter's lap, a cloth bag over its head, its feet tied up with rope.
The brown-white bird is visibly, terribly scared. But it lies very still as the researcher fiddles with straps to adjust a black metal device on its back.
The device is about two centimeters long and equipped with a 20 centimeter antenna.
Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University developed the new tracking device which they hope will revolutionize avian behavior research.
"This tag provides data every two seconds, which is amazing!" Charter tells DW.
Once Charter lets the barn owl go, the tag transmits radio signals. They are received by seven ground stations based around the area, which calculate the owl's location.
The revolutionary mifold car seat — 10 times smaller than a regular booster and just as safe – has secured a Series AA funding round of $1.5 million led by Sweet Capital, the new investment fund created by the founders of King Digital Entertainment. Altogether, child car safety company, Carfoldio, the maker of mifold, has raised over $3 million in funding from institutional and private investors.China and Japan Bet Big on Israeli High-tech Sector
Mifold hit the headlines around the world when its crowdfunding campaign topped $1 million in mid-2015. The company ended up pre-selling the grab-and-go booster seats to nearly 13,000 customers in more than 100 countries worldwide.
“We loved mifold when we saw the crowdfunding video and reached out to [founder Jon Sumroy]. mifold is reinventing the child car safety category and disrupting the market. mifold is a genuinely innovative solution to a real problem that traditional players have ignored. Their worldwide sales are a strong proof of concept,” said Christian Dorffer, CEO of Sweet Capital
With the high-tech sector making up about half of its total industrial exports, Israel is forging strong trade ties with the emerging economies of Asia. Leading nations of Far-East Asia — namely Japan, China and Singapore — have launched series of efforts to court Israeli technology sector.Bruce to ‘The Promised Land’? Just rumors, for now
In the age of global competition where technological edge makes all the difference, no significant players in Asia wants to miss out on the disruptive and game-changing innovation going on in Israel. The recent big ticket acquisition of Israeli start ups by Asian multi-nationals is just part of this growing cooperation. Asian players want to build long-term partnerships with Israeli businesses, entrepreneurs, start ups and universities to jointly develop the next generation of high-tech products and solutions.
Countries like India, China and Japan; which in past have been hesitant of openly engaging with Israel — to avoid offend oil-supplying Arab countries — are changing their long-held adverse stance and strengthening commercial and diplomatic ties with the Jewish State. Leading technology news website TechCrunch reports:
Despite one newspaper’s claim that Bruce Springsteen could be on his way to Israel this summer, the Boss has not been booked. And Bruce watchers know all too well that rumors of his imminent arrival have repeatedly proved false in the past.Nestle to Buy Rest of Israeli Foodmaker Osem for $840 Million
According to the Hebrew-language Yedioth Ahronoth daily on Thursday, Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park, an expansive outdoor venue that has lately hosted the likes of Bon Jovi, the Rolling Stones and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, has been reserved for an end-of-July date.
But a publicist for Shuki Weiss, the promoter who for years has been trying to bring Springsteen to Israel, told The Times of Israel that “nothing has been booked.”
She pointed instead to the upcoming concerts of Elton John at the end of May and Simply Red in June.
Swiss food giant Nestle has agreed to buy out minority shareholders in Israel’s largest listed foodmaker Osem for about $840 million, increasing foreign ownership of leading Israeli food producers.Black Jews You Should Know, Part 1
Nestle has invested in Osem for over 20 years and already owns 63.7 percent of the company, Israel’s third-largest food maker by sales, competing with market leader Tnuva and Strauss Group.
China’s Bright Food bought control of Tnuva last year for $1.1 billion to gain access to new products and technology.
Nestle offered 3.3 billion shekels or 82.5 shekels per share for the Osem shares it does not own, Osem said in a filing to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, adding that the deal would value the company at 9.13 billion shekels.
That’s well above Wednesday’s closing price of 65.71 shekels and higher than an offer of 80 shekels it made to the company in November that led to an agreement in principle to sell.
Every year, generally around Hanukkah, my news feed gets inundated with article like “10 Black Celebrities You Didn’t Know Were Jewish (#7 Will Blow Your MIND!).” These curated masterpieces of investigative journalism typically run the classics: Sammy Davis Jr., Lenny Kravitz, Lisa Bonet, Boris Kodjoe, and Slash, as well as some newer crew that includes Drake, Shyne, Maya Rudolph, Rashida Jones, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kali Hawk, and Katerina Graham. (And, by the way, these articles would be more accurate if you entitled them “10 Black Celebrities WE Still Didn’t Know Were Jewish Even Though Everyone Else Got the Memo in, Like, 2001.”.IsraellyCool: Coldplay Apparently Not So Committed To The Anti-Israel Cause
As worn-out as these ‘revelation” pieces are, I’m also not sure why they never seem pop up around, say, Jewish Heritage Month in May. Or, now, for instance, during Black History Month. So let’s shake that up a little bit.
For Black History Month 5776, I’ll be presenting you with seven black Jewish figures each week. We’re looking at the racial axis here, not the denominational one, so Jews who are either matrilineal/patrilineal count, as do conversions, be they of the Orthodox variety or not—it’s all game. So let the games begin.
Back in 2011, British band Coldplay played dirty when it posted a pro palestinian song on its Facebook page. And even though they later removed the song from their page, the initial post, as well as the fact they have not played in Israel, might lead one to conclude they are BDSHoles.IsraellyCool: BDSBowl
But not so fast. Last year, they invested in an Israeli company. And now comes news they employed an Israeli visual design company to produce their latest video clip.
The new hit music video of “Hymn for the Weekend,” performed by Beyonce and the British rock group Coldplay, was produced with visual design by Israelis from Yaron Yashinski Studio. The work on the video, which attracted 18 million views online in just two days, is among the most prestigious projects ever undertaken by an Israeli firm of its kind.
As we all know BDSholes don’t care so much about actually boycotting Israel when it comes to something that actually benefits them (like cellphones, computers, medical technology, etc.) and this Sunday will be no different.
As you may or may not have heard, CBS announced the upcoming use of the camera technology called FreeD (although CBS calls it EyeVision 360 for broadcasting). FreeD is made by the Israeli company Replay Technologies. The way it works is there are 36 strategically placed 5k ultra definition cameras all around the stadium recording the game. The video is then run through a program that turns it into a 360 video that looks a little something like this:
Now at this time it can only be used for replays but still, this is some amazing stuff that is sure to make this year’s Superbowl, or any live tv broadcast for that matter, look spectacular. Unfortunately for the BDSholes, they don’t care enough to make a stink about this, and that will make this Super Bowl even more enjoyable for me.
So this Sunday, here’s to a good game, and may the best team win.
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