Saturday, February 04, 2017
Dr. Mordechai Kedar: Palestinians - We're sick and tired of you!
This article is not about how Israelis feel. It is about why the Arab world is not taking up the Palestinian Arab struggle.The Ramallah pressure cooker
I would like to raise a few pointed questions at the start of this article:
Why doesn't the Arab world make an all out effort to free "Falestin" from the Jews and give it to the Palestinian Arabs?
How come the Arab world, most of which has not recognized Israel's right to exist - goes on about its business, despite the fact that two major countries, Egypt and Jordan, have made peace with Israel? Why doesn't it boycott those two countries, except for the short period during which Egypt was ousted from the Arab League?
Why hasn't the Arab world waged a total war against Israel for the last 44 years - that is,since 1973?
Why did the Iraqis expel the Palestinians from Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003?
Why did the Egyptian regime persecute the Gazan Palestinians? Is it a political struggle against Hamas or does it signal something deeper?
Why did all the sides fighting one another in Syria - Assad, Hezbollah, the rebels, Islamic State - behave with such cruelty to the Palestinians living in refugee camps in Syria?
Why do the Arabs continue to keep the Palestinians in refugee camps?
The moments of anticlimax that the Palestinians are currently experiencing -- the sharp turn from sky-high hopes and expectations to disappointment and dejection -- could lead to another wave of violence.Trump sidelines Palestinians, as aide rules out building ties for now
The Fatah leadership is talking openly about the possibility, and even laying the groundwork for it. Israeli officials have identified the U.N. Security Council's Resolution 2334 against the settlements as a high in the fight against Israel, whereas the first two weeks of Donald Trump's presidency in the U.S. are being seen by those same officials as nothing less than a nightmare for the Palestinians. But Barack Obama is gone, Trump is here, and the list of "blows" and "damage" to the Palestinians is growing.
The Americans have demonstrated virtual apathy in the face of Israel's announcement that it was recommencing settlement construction and the approval of thousands of new housing units in Jerusalem and the settlement blocs; the "threat" to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem -- a possibility that has not been dropped from the agenda and of which Trump associate Rudy Giuliani has said it's not a question of if but when; a suspension of Obama's "sucker punch" of transferring $221 million to the Palestinian Authority mere hours before he left office, a sum almost identical to that which the U.S. gave the Palestinian Authority for all of 2016; American orders freezing funding for U.N. organizations that give the PA or the PLO full standing; and even the first signs of a rapprochement between Israel and the European Union after two years of fraught relations in light of the new U.S. administration and the threat of terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists in Europe.
For dessert, the Palestinians got another present at the start of the week: New U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres made his first declaration that it was "completely clear that the Temple that the Romans destroyed in Jerusalem was a Jewish temple." After the delusional resolutions by UNESCO, which erased or ignored Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, words like these are refreshing to Israeli ears but scorching to those of the Palestinians. The Palestinians take care to refer to the Temple as "al-Mazoom" -- the false, imaginary, or pretender. (h/t Elder of Lobby)
Two weeks into his presidency, the administration of Donald Trump appears to be entirely ignoring Palestinian leadership.White House declines to voice support for two-state solution
On Friday, London-based Arabic-language newspaper A-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that Washington has not responded to overtures by the Palestinian Authority, reinforcing top negotiator Saeb Erekat’s claim to that effect earlier this week.
The Times of Israel has learned that Jason Greenblatt, the administration’s special representative for international negotiations, met on Friday with three Palestinian businessmen with close ties to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, and informed them that the administration does not intend to build relations with the PA at this juncture.
According to Palestinian sources, the three met Greenblatt in their capacity as businessmen, and not as formal representatives of the PA, although they did have Abbas’s blessing. The sources said the three told Greenblatt that they believed a strong Palestinian economy was essential for the two-state solution to become reality.
The Trump administration on Friday declined to clearly throw its support behind a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying only that “the president is committed to peace.”
The two state solution — to which Israel is also officially committed — is viewed as the only real path to ending the conflict by much of the international community and the last three successive US presidents.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer was asked to follow-up on a statement he made Thursday on Washington’s position that new settlements in the West Bank or expanding existing settlements beyond their current borders “may not be helpful” to achieving peace.
Asked specifically to clarify if the two-state framework is part of President Donald Trump’s objective, Spicer told reporters Friday: “The president is committed to peace.” He added: “That’s his goal. I think when the president and Prime Minister Netanyahu meet here … that will obviously be the topic.”
The two leaders will meet on February 15, when the Israeli premier comes to Washington.
Call Palestinian ‘Statehood’ What You Will
Netanyahu pointed to the root of the problem in the conflict — it is not Jewish settlement, nor the “occupation” (no withdrawal on our part brought peace closer), rather the Arab-Palestinian fundamental, century-long refusal to “recognize the right of the Jewish people to its own state in its historic homeland.” So the first principle he set for any arrangement was: recognition of Israel as the national home of the Jewish people. This principle was never met by any Arab or Palestinian leader, including those considered to be “secular” and “moderate.”PreOccupiedTerritory: Whenever I Need A Laugh, I Think Of All Those People Assuming Palestine Will Be A Liberal Democracy By Mahmoud Abbas (satire)
For example, Article 15 of the Fatah movement’s Palestinian National Charter determines that “the liberation of Palestine, from an Arab viewpoint, is a national duty and it attempts to repel the Zionist and imperialist aggression against the Arab homeland, and aims at the elimination of Zionism in Palestine.” Not the territory captured in 1967, but the entire land. Did someone say “ethnic cleansing?”
Article 20 abolishes the Balfour Declaration and determines that “claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history.” Not just on the Temple Mount, but throughout the whole land. The article further states: “Judaism, being a religion, is not an independent nationality. Nor do Jews constitute a single nation with an identity of its own; they are citizens of the states to which they belong.” Jews belong to a religion, not a nation, and so they do not deserve the right to national self-determination of any kind, certainly not in this land, which, as stated, they have no ties to. By the way, this same spirit can also be found in the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee’s document, “The Future Vision of the Arab Palestinians in Israel,” published in 2006.
The second basic principle that Netanyahu set for any arrangement is that the Palestinian entity, once established, must be demilitarized in order to prevent it from becoming a terrorist entity in the heart of the country. This means that Israel would have full security control from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. This principle was strongly reinforced with the collapse of the Arab regimes and the understanding that one cannot trust a signature from any entity that may turn into a Hamas or Islamic State group country on the mountaintop.
Netanyahu repeated these two principles this week, but added that full Israeli security control from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea does not fit in with the idea of two states, as it is “less than sovereignty.” And his answer: “So there is a limitation to sovereignty, if you want to call it as such.” And when he spoke again of a “demilitarized state,” he said, “call it what you will.” He added that the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin also thought so.
Nobody ever promised me the position of President of the Palestinian National Authority would be easy. I never expected it to be. Combine it with – or consider it a subsidiary role of – my position as Chairman of the Fatah faction and Palestine Liberation Organization, and you get one long work day after another. Tensions run high. Usually I thrive on that – it gives me a sense of vitality – but occasionally I need to dissipate that tension, and there’s no better way to do that than to laugh. When I need a good laugh, I think of all those fools who see the nascent State of Palestine as a liberal democracy.Dennis Prager’s brilliant analysis on why the far left opposes Israel
It never fails to crack me up. Other people’s idiocy can be an amazing thing to behold, and a hilarious one. In the almost twenty-four years since the Authority was created, there has been a steady erosion – one might describe it as an active weakening – of any semblance of democratic values, leaving precious little around which one might build a democratic state. We’ve had the occasional elections – I was voted into this four-year term twelve years ago, and the Palestinian parliamentarians a year later – but other than that, I chuckle every time I consider what our supporters in the West believe will happen once we gain full state status. Somehow our violent political culture, our endemic corruption, our all-important tribal loyalties, and our irrational genocidal hatred of Jews will dissipate in favor of transparency, robust institutions, and rule of law. Excuse me for a moment, I’m about to lose my composure…
It’s not about logic. It’s about being on the side of the underdog. But, this moral compass that measures weak and strong – and not via the good and evil measuring stick is – yes – wrong.Dave Rubin: Dennis Prager on Trump, Israel, and Jew Hatred (Pt. 2)
There is wrong in this world. Sometimes it is so obvious that some actions are wrong, but when it comes to Israel and the Middle East, this still needs to be spelled out.
The French Inquisition
France's New Dreyfus Trial, a Jihad against the TruthGerald Steinberg: Human Rights Watch takes its campaign against Israel to Fifa
"It is a shame to deny this taboo, namely that in the Arab families in France, and everyone knows it but nobody wants to say it, anti-Semitism is sucked with mother's milk." — George Bensoussan, historian of Moroccan heritage, on trial for saying that.
"When parents shout at their children, when they want to reprimand them, they call them Jews. Yes. All Arab families know this. It is monumental hypocrisy not to see that this anti-Semitism begins as a domestic one. " — Smaïn Laacher, French-Algerian professor of sociology.
This witch-hunt against Bensoussan is symptomatic of the state of free speech today in France. Intellectual intimidation is the rule. Complaints are filed against everyone not saying that Muslims are the main victim of racism in France.
In December 2016, Pascal Bruckner, a writer and philosopher, was also brought to court for saying: "We need to make the record of collaborators of Charlie Hebdo's murderers." He named the people in France who had instilled a climate of hatred against Charlie.
On the football issue, despite the numerous conflicts and “settlements” in occupied territories throughout the world, including Cyprus and Morocco, HRW has never campaigned on these issues. HRW has no problem working with repressive regimes and rights abusers (such as the ones mentioned above) and will choose to look the other way to further the biased agenda.French CEO: EU Regulations Singling Out Israeli Settlement Products ‘Detrimentally Affect’ European Businesses
What do Ms Bashi and her boss Ken Roth hope to accomplish? Do they seriously think that the settlements will simply disappear and the conflict will end if lower league football clubs and their youth teams are closed? If anything, the only realistic result would be to punish underprivileged children who participate in such leagues.
Moreover, Fifa does not directly license the six teams in question. Rather, they are members of the Israel Football Association, which is a member of Fifa. In HRW’s dizzying logic, however, this ought to be Fifa’s most pressing issue, and not the corruption or the issues surrounding the 2018 World Cup, to be held in Putin’s Russia.
We should not expect a sports organisation to draw borders or interfere in the most contested geopolitical conflict of the modern era. It is time for the Fifa management to make it clear that external ideological advocacy groups, such as HRW, are not going to bend the rules of the game.
EU regulations singling out Israeli products made in the West Bank “detrimentally affect” European businesses, the head of a French food company said this week.The Atlantic Stumbles on the Truth About Potential Palestinian State
Addressing lawmakers at a European Parliament hearing on Thursday, Sydney Knafou — the CEO of Casimex — stated, “I am here before you today, as a European businessman and a supporter of European integration, to alert you to the fact that these regulations may have serious consequences with regard to my ability to compete globally, my existing contracts in the European Union, and, ultimately, the jobs I created for my European employees.”
“For several years now, but, crucially, in the last few months, my business has been disrupted by unhelpful statements made at the EU level which are politically motivated and unrelated to any legitimate European business concern,” Knafou went on to say. “With the adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 in December 2016, this trend is increasing.”
“I am told by my lawyers that the UN Security Council resolution is not binding and that its legality is, at the very least, questionable. However, the resolution still calls on states to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the internationally-recognized territory of the State of Israel, and the disputed territories, controlled by Israel for all purposes relevant to EU commerce, since 1967.”
A January 28 piece about the city of Hebron in The Atlantic by Zach Dorfman contains a few errors and omissions, some more egregious than others, but also includes an unusual moment of honesty about the settlements there.Toronto Star Writer Claims 2009 Israeli Invasion of Gaza was Meant to “Punish” Palestinians
The most glaring omission in the piece comes after Dorfman details the Oslo II agreement, including that in that agreement, “Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) formally agreed to the terms an independent Palestinian state [sic] by 1999.” He omits, however, that such a state was offered to, and rejected by, the Palestinians three times. While it’s unfortunately commonplace for journalists to ignore Israeli peace offers, in this case the omission is particularly bad because the implication is that Israel agreed to Palestinian independence and then reneged on that agreement, when in fact it was the Palestinians’ own leaders that turned down statehood.
Another issue is Dorfman’s statement that “Jews believe the Temple Mount, where the mosque now stands, is where the two great Jewish temples were once located.” The statement that “Jews believe” that the Temple Mount is the location of the two ancient Jewish Temples implies that this is something that is legitimately in question, something that can be subjectively believed or not. In fact, as CAMERA has noted in the past, there is ample archeological evidence of the Temples, and there are “no credible scholars who question the existence of the two temples or who deny that they stood somewhere on the Temple Mount.”
HonestReporting Canada has filed a formal complaint with the Toronto Star regarding a January 30 article by Oakland Ross which claimed that a 2009 Israeli invasion of Gaza was meant to “punish” Palestinians, not simply to thwart the thousands of rockets and mortars which were fired on Israeli cities like Sderot and Ashkelon at the time.Edgar Davidson: How one lazy sentence in a 'pro-Israel' report propagates anti-Israel lies
Former Star Mideast Bureau Chief Oakland Ross’ article entitled: “Toronto doctor may soon see justice for his daughters, 7 years after an Israeli tank killed them” erroneously claimed the following (emphasis added):
“Known to Israelis as Operation Cast Lead, the invasion sought to punish Palestinians for almost daily rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel. The operation claimed more than 1,400 Palestinian lives, many of them civilians, including three of Abuelaish’s daughters and a niece. Thirteen Israelis also died.”
This appeared on Page 2 of the Daily Express on 2 Feb in an article headlined "Farage brands Khan 'hypocrite over travel ban" that described how Nigel Farage called out the London Mayor for hosting ambassadors from Muslim countries that ban Israelis, while condemning Trump for 'banning' people from Muslim countries.
While far more offensive stuff against Israel is written and said every day by the BBC, Guardian, NY Times, etc this is troubling because of its sheer banality and that it shows the extent to which the anti-Israel narrative - based on a tissue of lies - has become so engrained in popular language that it is just casually trotted out even by people who are nominally 'on our side'. The incessantly repeated lie "Israel mistreats the Palestinians", much like the lie "Jerusalem and the West Bank is Palestinian land illegally occupied by Israel", have become tautological 'facts' simply because not enough people called out the lie.
But it is quite an achievement to unintentionally squeeze so much bullshit into such a short sentence. The highlighted text implies that these countries - which have some of the worst human rights records in the world - ban Israelis as some kind of 'humanitarian protest' on behalf of 'Palestinians'. That is as lazy and ignorant journalism as you could imagine. The word ‘Palestinian’ was not even used to refer to Arabs until 1965 - 17 years after these countries started their racist ban.
Bannon, in film treatment, described US Jews as unwitting ‘enablers’ of jihad
The Washington Post reported Friday on a 2007 proposal for a documentary that was never made called “The Islamic States of America.” It would be comprised of interviews of people who, like Bannon, believe that the threat posed to the West is broader than Islamist extremist terrorists, embracing an array of Muslim advocacy groups.Le Pen defends Trump in interview with Israeli TV: ‘Patriotism is never racism’
It describes as “enablers among us” – albeit with the “best intentions” — major media outlets, the CIA and FBI, civil liberties groups, “universities and the left” and the “American Jewish Community.”
It also describes “front groups and disingenuous Muslim Americans who preach reconciliation and dialogue in the open but, behind the scenes, advocate hatred and contempt for the West.”
Among these named by Bannon as “cultural jihadists” are the Islamic Society of North America, a group that had associations with the Muslim Brotherhood at its founding in the 1960s, but in recent years has worked closely with Jewish groups, including in combating anti-Semitism and raising Holocaust awareness among Muslims.
Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Front party, said in an interview to Israel’s Channel 2 that her party fully supports the executive order signed by US President Donald Trump last week, in which the president temporarily banned entry to the US to arrivals from seven Muslim-majority countries.Kuwait imposes visa ban on five Muslim-majority nations including Pak
“I strongly oppose the claim that this is an attack against Muslims, this is a lie – because there are dozens of Muslim countries in the world that are not on this list,” Le Pen said. “I see this is infuriating everyone. On the other hand, the fact that there are 15 countries that prevent entry to Israelis is not troubling anyone,” Le Pen said.
“I think patriotism is never racism,” Le Pen told a Channel 2 interviewer. “Loving the country, wanting to preserve the culture and identity, protecting the interests of the Americans in America, of the French in France of the Israelis in Israel seems to me perfectly legitimate,” Le Pen said.
“I say we should behave like landlords and like renters or squatters with no rights. This is the first aspiration of countries – we are the landlords in our countries, so that they remain free and we can live in security,” she added.
Following the Muslim ban in the U.S., Kuwait has now suspended the issuance of visas for travellers native to Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran.Emboldened by Amona evacuation, Palestinian mayor sets sights on Ofra
Tourism, trade, and visitor visas from the above mentioned nations have been restricted following an order from the Kuwaiti Government to slap a "blanket ban" on possible migrants, according to Sputnik News.
The Kuwaiti Government has asked would-be migrants from the five banned nations not to apply for visas, as Kuwait City is worried about the possible migration of radical Islamic terrorists.
A group of militants bombed a Shia mosque in 2015, killing 27 Kuwaiti nationals. A 2016 survey conducted by Expat Insider ranked Kuwait one of the worst nations in the world for expatriates, primarily due to its strict cultural laws.
After witnessing a decade-long legal battle end in apparent victory, with the evacuation this week of the West Bank outpost Amona, the mayor of the adjacent Palestinian town has set his sights on a new target.Egypt said pressing Hamas to open negotiations over Israeli captives
“We are now going to evacuate the settlers from Ofra,” said Abdul Rahman Saleh, the mayor of Silwad. “I am preparing to get all the documents to give the Israeli High Court,” he said, terming it a “very good court.”
But he’s likely to face a far stiffer, if not impossible, challenge with Ofra, northeast of Ramallah. “It will take time, but I will try,” he said, speaking to The Times of Israel in his office on Thursday.
Ofra, which overlooks Amona, is legal under Israeli law. However, even within settlements considered legal by Israel, ownership of plots of land allegedly built on private Palestinian property, if the land was not deemed a military zone by the Israel army, can be challenged in Israeli courts.
A delegation of senior Hamas members has traveled to Cairo amid a report Saturday that Egypt is pressing the Islamist group to open talks with Israel over the release of captives.Days of turning a 'blind eye' to Iran's hostility 'are over,' White House says
According to a report in the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper, senior Egyptian intelligence officials pressed Hamas to restart its negotiations with Israel for the release of two Israeli civilians and the remains of two IDF soldiers held in the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported.
Hamas is currently holding the remains of IDF soldiers Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul and Lt. Hadar Goldin, who the army says were killed in the 2014 Gaza war, and is also believed to be detaining Avraham Mengistu and Juma Ibrahim Abu Anima, two Israeli men who crossed into Gaza on their own accord.
Hamas has long demanded Israel first release hundreds of Palestinians who were rearrested after they were freed in the 2011 Shalit deal before it would even enter into negotiations with Israel over a prisoner exchange.
In the past Egypt has mediated deals between Israel and Hamas.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran are intensifying after the Trump administration announced sanctions targeting Iran's ballistic missile program on Friday.Mattis: Iran world’s ‘biggest state sponsor of terrorism’
The US issued the new penalties in response to several Iranian missile launches that international powers say are in violation of Iran's international obligations. But Iranian officials responded forcefully over the past two days, characterizing its missile program as defensive and the new American president as a reckless buffoon.
In a statement, US National Security Advisor Michael Flynn said that Iran's "belligerent and lawless" behavior across the Middle East had only increased since it agreed in 2015 to a deal with six foreign nations meant to govern its nuclear program for over a decade.
"The international community has been too tolerant of Iran’s bad behavior. The ritual of convening a United Nations Security Council in an emergency meeting and issuing a strong statement is not enough," Flynn said.
"The Trump administration will no longer tolerate Iran’s provocations that threaten our interests," he continued. "The days of turning a blind eye to Iran’s hostile and belligerent actions toward the United States and the world community are over."
Flynn's statement follows a similar threat on Thursday, in which he said the Trump administration intended to place Iran "on notice" that its actions would not go unpunished.
US Defense Secretary James Mattis said Saturday that Iran is the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism, as President Donald Trump slapped fresh sanctions on the country’s weapons procurement network.Top Iran officer: If enemies do wrong, missiles will come down on them
“As far as Iran goes, this is the single biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world,” Mattis said at a press conference in Tokyo, but he added that the US had no plans to increase troop numbers in the Middle East in response.
“I think it is wise to make certain that Iran recognizes that what it is doing is getting the attention of a lot of people,” Mattis said.
He added: “It does no good to ignore it. It does no good to dismiss it. At the same time, I don’t see any need to increase the number of forces we have in the Middle East at this time.”
Iran’s missiles will come down on the country’s enemies if they do wrong, a senior commander in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard was quoted as saying in a Saturday report from semi-official Tasnim news agency.New York Times Offers ‘Alternative Facts’ On Iran Missile Test
Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, chief of the Guard’s airspace division, said: “If the enemy does not walk the line, our missiles come down on them.”
Hajizadeh’s comments came during a Revolutionary Guard military exercise aimed at testing its missile and radar systems. The exercise was taking place in a 35,000-square-kilometer (13,515-square-mile) area in Semnan province in northern Iran.
The exercise comes a day after US President Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on Iran in response to a recent missile test. The sanctions target more than two dozen people and companies from the Persian Gulf to China.
A New York Times editorial headlined “New Tensions With Iran” discusses a recent Iranian missile test and the Trump administration’s response to it. The editorial reports:Jewish woman shoved, called ‘dirty Jew’ on NY subway
…despite what Mr. Flynn has said, the test is not considered a violation of 2015 United Nations resolution that calls on Iran to refrain from testing ballistic missiles, without making it mandatory.
There appears to be a word — “a”? “the”? — missing from the sentence, but never mind that. This is an example of the Times editorial board operating with its own set of facts, untethered to any recognizable version of underlying reality, even the version that exists in the same newspaper’s own news columns.
The “is not considered” formulation uses the passive voice that is favored by the Times when it is fudging the truth. Clearly, the national security adviser to President Trump, General Flynn, considers it a violation. And he is not alone.
A Jewish woman was verbally abused and shoved aboard a New York City subway by a man with a German accent who recited an anti-Semitic pamphlet, according to a newspaper report.Celanese buys Israel’s Nilit Plastics for $250m
The incident Monday evening occurred shortly after the suspect, a white man in a dark blue jacket with close-cropped blond hair, boarded the train at a downtown Manhattan station, according to the report Thursday by the New York Daily News, which cited unnamed police sources.
The suspect shoved the woman, an unnamed 25-year-old, after shouting at her “Dirty Jew” and “Hail the Hitler Youth!” He was carrying a black bag or briefcase and is still at large, the report said.
In an apparently unrelated incident, a swastika was found etched in a subway window at a station in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood on Wednesday morning.
The Migdal Ha'Emek based company will retain ownership of its nylon fibers and nylon polymerization businesses.Stratasys teams with McLaren Racing
US specialty materials company Celanese Corp. (NYSE: CE) has acquired Israeli company's Nilit Plastics’ nylon compounding product portfolio. The acquisition includes customer agreements and manufacturing, technology and commercial facilities but Nilit, controlled by Michael Levi and based in Migdal Ha'Emek, will retain ownership of its nylon fibers and nylon polymerization businesses worldwide, including facilities in Israel, US, China, and Brazil. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed but market sources estimate that Celanese is paying $250 million.
Celanese EVP and president materials solutions Scott Sutton said, “Nylon compounds continue to be a material of choice in automotive, E&E, consumer and industrial applications, and this acquisition delivers on Celanese’s intention to complement its broad portfolio by becoming a leading, global nylon compound supplier."
The Israeli company will supply 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions, as the Official Supplier to the McLaren-Honda Formula 1 team.Video of Jewish and Arab Kids in Israel Asks: “Can You Tell the Difference?”
Israeli 3D printing company Stratasys Inc. (Nasdaq: SSYS) and McLaren Racing have agreed a four-year partnership. Stratasys will supply McLaren Racing with 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions, as the Official Supplier of 3D Printing Solutions to the McLaren-Honda Formula 1 team.
Stratasys will work closely with the grand prix outfit as it ramps up its rapid manufacturing capacity at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, UK.
Under the agreement, Stratasys will supply McLaren Racing with its latest FDM and PolyJet based 3D printing solutions and cutting-edge materials for visual and functional prototyping, production tooling including composite tooling, and customized production parts – enabling their accelerated delivery while increasing performance and productivity in design and manufacturing operations.
An Israeli jazz pianist and Czech director collaborated to create a short film featuring Israeli Jewish, Muslim, and Christian children in order to ask a simple question: “Can you tell the difference?”"Can You Tell the Difference?” Guy Mintus Trio - Our Journey Together Music Video
The video premiered on January 9 and is set to the song “Our Journey Together,” which was written during the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas “as an expression of hope from within [a] difficult reality,” according to Israeli artist Guy Mintus.
By filming the smiling faces of Israeli kids of various faiths, the project sought to highlight commonalities that transcend religious and political divides.
“The different interactions and responses we’ve gotten along the trip have become the meat and bones of the video,” Mintus explained. “During our visits in Abu Gosh, Ramle, Zefat, Be’er Sheva and Kfar Kara, we’ve got to film the portraits of over 100 kids of all backgrounds.”
