Sunday, February 26, 2017
David Collier: You don’t want dialogue! Says the Palestinian to the SOAS PalSoc
The event passed successfully. I was surprised by the amount of students that engaged. Israeli chocolate was handed around, very few SOAS students refused. I think it highlights how minority opinion is allowed to rule over everyone, even in (especially in?) the most hostile of environments.Palestinian to SOAS PalSoc 'this is what's wrong, you don't want dialogue""
I did what I normally do, and wandered. Listening to the exchanges between Israelis, and some of those, who in a few short days, will be screaming about the ‘Apartheid state’. I had a few interesting exchanges, but not many. The SOAS Palestinian Society had set up an ‘opposition stall’, but they were ineffective. However, the message I want to deliver today is not about the successful event, but rather to tell a short story through one Palestinian SOAS student I met there.
Hope not Hate
As I was considering that the majority of feedback I was hearing was positive, I came across two of the Israeli girls talking to someone who identified as a Palestinian SOAS student. I listened intently for about 10 minutes. Question, answer; another question another answer. But this was a two way street and the Israelis were interested in asking questions too. It proved to be an opportunity for real dialogue between two groups of people, who are normally unable to engage properly. Exactly what we should be used to seeing on campus. After a while, I said to the Palestinian student that I wished there were more like him, and went away.
Shortly after this, he left the crowd where the Israelis stood. I saw him begin to make his way back into the SOAS building. A couple of girls from the SOAS Palestinian Society stall were clearly unhappy that a SOAS student, and a Palestinian one, had spoken to the ‘enemy’. So they approached him to bring him into line.
This is the exchange:
Report: Trump may pull US out of UN Human Rights Council due to Israel bias
The Trump administration may soon back Israel on its claim of UN bias and pull out of the organization's Human Rights Council, Politico reported on Saturday.UN Watch: U.S. Needs to Stay in the U.N. Human Rights Council—To Fight Back
According to the report, the administration is not expected to withdraw ahead of the council’s next session that begins on Monday, but discussion of the option has already begun and is expected to include input from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and President Donald Trump.
The administration regards the Council as being inherently anti-Israel which is the main reason for the consideration for pulling out of the international body, according to the report.
The news site also reported that in private conversations, Secretary Tillerson has expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the Council.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner did not confirm whether the issue was being considered and would only say that "our delegation will be fully involved in the work of the HRC session which starts Monday." (h/t Yenta Press)
There’s a reason that France, Russia, China and every other world power invests time, money and political capital to campaign for a seat at the U.N. Human Rights Council: to gain influence in a consequential world body.Why the U.S. Needs to Stay in the U.N. Human Rights Council - Neuer in Congress
Like it or not, the UNHRC’s decisions, translated into every language, influence the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of people around the globe.
If the U.S. wants to be a winner, it would be foolish to abandon the coveted 3-year term that it just won a few months ago. When the U.S. left from 2006 to 2009, nothing got better; the UNHRC only got worse, and it began sending its anti-Israel reports to the International Criminal Court.
Here’s what UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer said before the U.S. Congress in testimony earlier this month:
The United Nations’ Forgotten Role in the 1967 Six Day War
Many remember the euphoria that followed Israel’s total victory in the Six Day War of June 5, 1967. Surprisingly, very few recall the United Nations was one of the primary causes of that war.PLO envoy says he hopes Iran will produce 1,000 nukes
On May 17, 1967 “[t]he Egyptian chief of staff, Gen. Mohamed Fawzy, called today for the immediate withdrawal of United Nations peace-keeping force” from the Gaza (NYTimes). On May 18, 1967, U.N. Secretary General U Thant announced he “decided to withdraw the United Nations Emergency Force from the armistice line between Israel and the United Arab Republic [Egypt]” (NYTimes). “Through the Secretariat, he announced only that he had been asked to remove the force, which has served since November, 1956, as a buffer between Israeli and Egyptian forces in the Gaza Strip and on the armistice line that runs from there across the Sinai Peninsula” (ibid).
That said “it had gone to the Middle East with Cairo’s consent and that ‘as a peace-keeping force it could not remain if that consent were withdrawn or if the conditions under which it operated were so qualified that the force was unable to function effectively'” (ibid). Paradoxically on May 27, 1967, “Thant asked the Security Council today to remind Israel and her Arab neighbors that under an existing resolution the Council could use a blockade or other measures to suppress any violation of their 1949 armistice” (NYTimes). On June 5, 1967, Thant gave another reason for the withdrawal: “From a practical point of view, he said, to have delayed would have endangered the lives of members of the international force, supplied by Brazil, Canada, Denmark, India, Norway, Sweden and Yugoslavia” (NYTimes).
The Palestine Liberation Organization’s envoy to Tehran said he hopes Iran will produce 1,000 nuclear bombs, adding that Israel is “truly terrified” of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.Israeli minister: Trump opening new peace path with Israel-Sunni efforts
Although he did not explicitly call for Iran to use a nuclear bomb against Israel, Salah al-Zawawi told the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese television station Al-Manar in an interview on February 20 that “if Iran produces a nuclear bomb — and I pray to Allah that Iran will produce 1,000 nuclear bombs,” he hopes “it will be used to defend, at the very least, the Islamic Republic and its principles,” according to a translation by watchdog group MEMRI.
Iran has denied seeking to produce nuclear weapons and signed a 2015 agreement with world powers that puts in place limitations on its nuclear program. At the same time, the Islamic Republic has continued to develop missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads and a number of senior Iranian officials have called repeatedly for Israel’s “annihilation,” including its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
During the interview, Zawawi also said Israel is part of a “Western enterprise” whose “goal is to establish the Greater Israel, which would control disintegrated Arab and Islamic countries.”
“This way, our enemy, along with its defenders and masters, would complete their plan to turn us into servants, if not slaves, in this region, and to plunder our resources,” he said, adding that “this is happening today in our Islamic world.”
In a 2014 interview, Zawawi called for Iran to support the Palestinians in order to help bring about “Israel’s annihilation,” maintaining Israel is a “fake regime” created by the “US and Western countries.”
The Trump administration is working to strengthen ties between Israel and moderate Sunni states in the region for the purpose of advancing the prospects of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, said Intelligence Minister Israel Katz (Likud).Netanyahu meets with Aussie FM against imposing PA state on Israel
In an interview with the Washington Post published Sunday, Katz acknowledged that Israel has relations with certain unnamed Sunni Arab countries that have no official peace deal or diplomatic ties with Jerusalem.
The minister indicated that due to the relative weakness of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and recent changes within the Hamas leadership, a direct approach has become increasingly difficult.
Therefore, he said he has been pushing his vision for achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians which involved a multilayered regional approach with coordination between moderate Arab states along with moderate Palestinians.
Katz explained that one aspect of bolstering the Israeli-Sunni alliance consisted of uniting in the fight against extremist groups wreaking havoc in the region, such as Islamic State and al-Qaida along with the Shi'ite axis of Iran and Hezbollah.
The new White House administration's shift on the Middle East conflict has provided Israel with mechanisms and backing in order to strengthen security cooperation with Sunni states, Katz told the Washington Post.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to hold a meeting Sunday morning with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who last week said there would be no peace if a Palestinian state was unilaterally foisted on Israel, before boarding his plane for a more than 20-hour return flight to Israel.Senior official: Australia will press ICC to avoid attacks against Israel
Bishop’s comments about a Palestinian state came during her visit to Washington as two former Australian prime ministers from the opposition Labor Party called on Australia to recognize a Palestinian state.
The meeting with Netanyahu comes shortly after she returned from a trip that took her to Great Britain and Ireland, in addition to meetings with US Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Playing down the now notorious first phone call between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Bishop said the relations between the two countries were as close as ever.
Netanyahu met Friday with opposition leader Bill Shorten, whose party – as a result of Netanyahu’s visit – is publicly debating what its policy should be on Israel; while some Labor luminaries, such as former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Bob Hawke, are pushing a more pro-Palestinian policy, others on the party’s right flank, such as MPs Michael Danby and Mark Dreyfus, are pushing back.
The issue is expected to be debated at next year’s party conference.
Australia is willing to be an “important player” in keeping pressure on the International Criminal Court so it is not used as a vehicle to attack Israel, a senior diplomatic official said Sunday, shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.Netanyahu: We will never relinquish security control of West Bank
Bishop, according to the official, committed Australia to continue defending Israel in hostile international forums, as it has done until now.
The official said Netanyahu was trying to put together a group of nations that – in addition to the US under President Donald Trump – would both take a more aggressive tone against Iran, and also block efforts to castigate Israel in various international forums.
Netanyahu met Bishop shortly before leaving Australia after a five day visit. In that meeting, he raised the idea of “Gaza First” to illustrate how unrealistic it was at this time to talk about a Palestinian state.
Israel will never relinquish security control of the entirety of the West Bank, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Sunday.French MPs demand: Recognize Palestinian statehood now
Netanyahu was answering Bishop, who had asked him what he meant when he spoke of supporting a “Palestinian state,” according to a report by Israel Radio about the meeting between the two.
According to a source close to the prime minister, Netanyahu told Bishop that Israel’s insistence on security control stemmed from the failures of international forces to protect the country from past acts of aggression by its neighbors.
The source spoke during a briefing Sunday for Israeli reporters accompanying Netanyahu on a state visit to Australia, the first for a serving Israeli prime minister.
The visit was “wonderful,” Netanyahu said Sunday just before he boarded the plane for the long flight back to Israel.
At least 154 French parliament members have signed on to a letter directed at French President Francois Hollande, calling on him to recognize the Palestinian Authority as a sovereign state.6 members of Congress, 4 MKs, 1 Palestinian negotiator, no top Republicans at J Street confab
Hollande, who declined to run for reelection after his approval rating sank to just 4% in November, will leave office after presidential elections in April (first round) and May (runoff).
But pro-Palestinian Authority lawmakers are hoping to prod the Socialist Party incumbent to take one final, dramatic act on the Israeli-Arab conflict before leaving office.
"France must demonstrate its determination to break the deadlock on the conflict by solemnly reaffirming, in the name of the inalienable right of self-determination, that the Palestinian people are entitled to a State,” the joint letter to Hollande reads.
"Mr. President, show yourself up to the challenge and do not miss this rendezvous with history, recognizing the State of Palestine now.”
The letter comes a year after the Hollande government’s failed push for a Middle East peace summit in Paris, which was hoped to reach a framework for a final status agreement and include representatives from both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
J Street’s national conference, which formally gets under way on Sunday after an opening function Saturday night, will host a slew of prominent liberal Democrats, numerous members of Congress, a handful of Knesset members and no Republican speakers.Tom Perez elected to chair DNC, names defeated Keith Ellison as his deputy
The speaking lineup for the liberal Jewish lobby group’s sixth confab — which runs from February 26-28 at the Washington Convention Center — includes three senators and three House members; four Knesset members and one Palestinian Authority official; one former US secretary of state and one former US negotiator on Israeli-Palestinian peace; many Democrats but no members of the Trump administration.
Vice President Mike Pence, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were invited but did not respond. (Secretary of state John Kerry and vice president Joe Biden spoke at last year’s conference.)
One of the most notable figures attending is Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats and who ran an insurgent campaign for the party’s nomination in 2016. Many pundits consider him to be the current leader of the US progressive movement.
Former labor secretary Tom Perez was elected as the Democratic National Committee’s new chairman Saturday, narrowly defeating his chief rival, Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, after a contentious campaign. Perez immediately named Ellison his deputy.Palestinian convicted of assaulting MK during Temple Mount visit
The four-month race drew controversy over the Minnesota legislator’s past record of associations with known anti-Semitic figures and critical stances on Israel. His alliance with much of the progressive wing of the party threatened to divide the Democrats as they seek to revitalize themselves after tough losses in the 2016 election.
In his first act as DNC leader, Perez appointed Ellison his deputy chair, a move that sought to unify the party and prevent — or, at the least, alleviate — continued infighting. “I look forward to helping the Democratic Party in any way that I can,” Ellison said in a statement.
Perez, the first Latino to hold the post, edged Ellison on the second round of voting by Democratic National Committee members gathered in Atlanta.
A Palestinian woman was convicted on Sunday of assaulting an Israeli legislator during the Knesset member’s November 2014 visit to the Temple Mount.Jihadist: Hamas Confiscates Hundreds Of Rockets From Gaza Salafists
The indictment from the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court said Sahar Natshe shouted “go away” and “Allahu Akbar” as she pushed Shuli Moalem-Refaeli (Jewish Home), in an attempt to prevent the MK from entering the compound.
Footage from the incident does not show Natshe making contact with Moalem-Refaeli, but the Palestinian woman can be heard screaming, along with a number of other women, at the Israeli legislator who continues walking across the compound, unfazed.
Hamas has raided weapons caches of Islamic State-affiliated groups in the Gaza Strip in the wake of several rockets fired from Sinai into Israel, a top jihadi militant affiliated with IS ideology told Breitbart Jerusalem.IsraellyCool: WATCH: Restaurants In “Concentration Camp” Gaza
Abu Bakr Almaqdesi said that about 250 rockets and dozens of rifles have been confiscated, in addition to the arrest of their supposed owners.
The arsenal ranged between smaller rockets, with a range of 5-7 kilometers, to Grad rockets that are capable of reaching Tel Aviv, he claimed.
In addition, more than 60 AK-47 rifles were confiscated, the jihadist said. “But the so-called Muslims didn’t make do with depriving the mujahedeen of their arms,” he said, referring to Hamas, “they confiscated their personal computers, mobile phones and motorcycles as well. They even took Islamic State flags.”
He said Hamas insists on keeping hundreds of jihadists in detention. “Only 17 have been released under severe restrictions, and for a $1000 bail each – more than most of our brothers in Gaza can afford.”
MEMRI TV has translated a recently-broadcast BBC Arabia TV report on restaurants in Gaza.
It needs to be seen to be believed. Highlights include:
- The food. Man, it looks delicious
- A man in a Dubai hat claiming the people of Gaza love life (I assume he is referring to the x% that don’t support or actively send their children or themselves into Israel to blow themselves up or otherwise commit a terror attack expecting to be killed)
- “Dubai” continuing to explain the scenes we are seeing are “a way to escape the bitter reality of the people of Gaza” (you can’t make this stuff up)
- The woman who clearly had a lot of plastic surgery
- 100 shekels for 3 coffees or $250-$300 for 3 dinners (way more than most Israelis would spend)
Dershowitz calls on banks to close accounts that boycott Israel
Financial institutions in the US and Spain are under fire for providing accounts to the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, which promotes a boycott of Israel and defends Iran’s nuclear program.Montana House backs effort to boycott anti-Israel firms
Renowned Harvard University jurist Alan Dershowitz told The Jerusalem Post on Friday: “The organization [IADL] was founded as a communist front and supported financially by the Soviet Union. It is anti-democratic to its core and supportive of terrorism and repression. No decent person or institution should be associated with or supportive of its anti-democratic agenda and actions.”
IADL states on a pro-Palestinian website that it “supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement to boycott Israeli products as well as businesses which support the Occupation, and to sanction Israel for its crimes.”
IADL’s own website solicits donations and lists accounts with Comerica Bank in Michigan and the Spanish bank Caixa d’Est Alvis (Caixa d’Estalvis i Pensions de Barcelona). The latter bank has been renamed La Caixa.
Wayne Mielke, a spokesman at Comerica’s headquarters in Dallas, told the Post, “Comerica Bank as with all other financial institutions in the United States is legally and duty bound to protect the privacy of its clients. Accordingly, we don’t discuss customer relationships with third parties.” He added, “Please know that we have a robust compliance program at the bank to ensure that the customers who bank with us are legally entitled to have a bank account.”
Spurred in part by a spate of controversies over anti-Semitism in one of the state’s towns, Montana lawmakers advanced a bill Saturday that pledges solidarity with Israel by refusing to do business with firms boycotting the Middle Eastern country.Members of U of Georgia Students for Justice in Palestine Removed From Talk by IDF Soldiers for Disruption, Dropping Photos of Dead Children at Speakers' Feet
Republican House Speaker Austin Knudsen of Culbertson said his bill allows Montana to stand in solidarity with Israel. His bill “sends the message that we will not send our taxpayer dollars to companies which chose to participate in the boycotting and sanctioning of one of our nation’s strongest allies,” Knudson said.
The bill would direct the Montana Board of Investments to sever ties with companies supporting a pro-Palestinian movement to boycott Israel. It would also bar public agencies — including counties, cities and towns — from doing businesses with companies that don’t agree to certify in writing that they are not engaged in a boycott of Israel.
Opponents said the bill is well-intentioned but a potential infringement on free speech. Some argued Montana should stay out of global politics.
Nevertheless, the House endorsed the measure 59-41 on preliminary vote. In doing so, Montana is seeking to join other states that have passed similar bills.
Activists at the University of Georgia (UGA) were forcibly removed from a lecture hall where they were disrupting a talk by two Israeli soldiers, footage of the event obtained by The Algemeiner revealed.Meet the terrorist behind the next women’s march
Some 20 members of the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) were escorted out of the room by armed guards for causing the commotion, which began mere minutes into the event, when one protester yelled, “In 2014, Israel killed more than 500 Palestinian children. The occupation is terrorism.” At this point, he and others – some wearing keffiyehs — dropped photos of dead children at the speakers’ feet.
Neta Kanny — senior adviser of Dawgs for Israel and a StandWithUs Emerson Fellow, who helped organize the hosting of the soldiers, described the atmosphere in the room during the protests as “tense, yet calm.”
“Many of the students in the crowd have attended this event in the past, which has been previously protested, and were expecting some level of disruption,” she told The Algemeiner. “So this year, I ensured we would have security in the room.”
“Our reserve and respect attested to our unity as pro-Israel students at UGA, and that even under such circumstances, we welcome everyone to attend such events in hopes of engaging in discussion,” she said.
Here’s the left’s next great idea for bringing down President Trump: another women’s march. Which means another public instance of Trump haters shouting slogans to one another and mistaking it for constructive politics. What progressives need to defeat Trump is outreach, but all they have is outrage.Texas Pre-School Teacher Fired Over ‘Kill Some Jews’ Social Media Post Apologizes for Pain Caused, Particularly to Jews
On March 8, organizers seem to be aiming for a different vibe than the librarians-in-pussy-hats element that made the first women’s march after Trump’s inauguration so adorable.
Instead of milling around Washington, organizers have in mind a “general strike” called the Day without a Woman. In a manifesto published in The Guardian on Feb. 6, the brains behind the movement are calling for a “new wave of militant feminist struggle.” That’s right: militant, not peaceful.
The document was co-authored by, among others, Rasmea Yousef Odeh, a convicted terrorist. Odeh, a Palestinian, was convicted in Israel in 1970 for her part in two terrorist bombings, one of which killed two students while they were shopping for groceries. She spent 10 years in prison for her crimes. She then managed to become a US citizen in 2004 by lying about her past (great detective work, INS: Next time, use Google) but was subsequently convicted, in 2014, of immigration fraud for the falsehoods. However, she won the right to a new trial (set for this spring) by claiming she had been suffering from PTSD at the time she lied on her application. Oh, and in her time as a citizen, she worked for a while as an ObamaCare navigator. (h/t JINO-57)
A pre-school teacher fired this week for encouraging followers to “kill some Jews” on social media prior to her employment expressed great remorse on Thursday.Students urge Ryerson administration to fire a teaching assistant over anti-Jewish statements
Nancy Salem told the local Arlington news station CBS11 that she made her “racist and antisemitic” comments when she was a teenager [in 2013 at College], and “are not a reflection of the beliefs I hold today.”
“These statements were made at a time when I was not strong in my faith; nor do they reflect the family values of inclusivity and respect for all faiths that my parents have worked very hard to instill in us,” she said.
The young “often get involved with individuals that influence their behaviors and not always for the better, and I deeply regret having been influenced in such a way,” Salem said, adding that it “does not excuse my actions and I am truly sorry for the pain and hurt my words caused, especially to members of the Jewish faith.”
Citing her Muslim-American and Palestinian heritage, Salem said, “I am all too accustomed to being bullied and the target of hate speech, so the fact that I made such statements is even more offensive, because I should have known and acted with more compassion.” [translation I got caught being a bigot but I'm still going to claim I'm a victim]
Dozens of flyers calling on Ryerson University to fire teaching assistant Ayman Elkasrawy were plastered around campus on Friday (February 24, 2017) before they were taken down by campus security.IsraellyCool: Coldplay Pours Cold Water On Israel Concert Talk, But No Victory For BDS
In 2016, Elkasrawy, who also serves as an imam at Masjid Toronto mosque which is affiliated with the Muslim Association of Canada, led a Ramadan service at the mosque during which he prayed to Allah to give Muslims victory over the infidels, to slay the enemies of Islam “one by one and spare not one of them”, and to “purify Al-Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews”.
The flyers, which were signed by a group calling itself Ryerson Against Racism, urged Ryerson administration to fire Elkasrawy for making “extremely hateful statements about Jews”.
Following the CIJnews exposé on Masjid Toronto, B’nai Brith Canada – a leading Jewish human rights advocacy organization – contacted Ryerson to demand that swift action be taken against Elkasrawy for anti-Jewish comments he made at the mosque. “There is no place for someone who describes Jews as “filth” as a teaching assistant at a Canadian university, especially when this anti-Semitism is disguised as a pious religious expression”, B’nai Brith’s campus coordinator wrote in a statement.
The veil of secrecy around British band Coldplay and the prospect of them performing in Israel continues, with lead singer Chris Martin denying they are in Israel finalizing concert venues.Guardian erases Israeli citizenship from “Palestinian” Arab Idol contestant
Even though some BDS-holes are taking this as some kind of victory, it isn’t.
- Coldplay clearly recognized Israel in their tweet
- While in Israel, they are presumably purchasing Israeli goods and services. Not a boycott.
- In Israel to “listen and learn” is a good thing, and not something BDS-holes generally support, since there is a correlation between depth of knowledge about the conflict and tendency to support Israel
A Guardian/Reuters report (Palestinians in raptures as as Yaqoub Shaheen wins Arab Idol TV contest, Feb. 26th) focuses on a Palestinian from Bethlehem who won this year’s Arab Idol.Belgian official defends Arab who calls to 'slaughter Jews'
Palestinians have taken to the street to celebrate the victory of their compatriot Yaqoub Shaheen in the hugely popular Middle East television talent show Arab Idol.
This year’s final, filmed in Lebanon, was between a Yemeni, Ammar Mohammed, and two Palestinian competitors, Shaheen from Bethlehem and Ameer Dandan.
Here’s the problem: contrary to the Guardian’s suggestion, runner-up Ameer Dandan is actually an Israeli born resident of the US. He’s from Majd al-Krum in the Upper Galilee and is currently a university student in New Jersey.
Jews from Belgium’s Flemish Region said they “lost all confidence” in the country’s anti-racism authority over its lawyer’s defense of a Palestinian-Arab man whom the lawyer helped convict for hate speech over calls to slaughter Jews.Yad Vashem asks Amazon to pull Holocaust denial books
The unusual rebuke Thursday by the Forum of Jewish Organization of Flanders came after the Jewish weekly Joods Actueel published a leaked email written by Johan Otte, a judicial expert of the Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities, or UNIA, condemning Tuesday's conviction for incitement to violence by a criminal tribunal in Antwerp. In 2014, the man shouted anti-Semitic slogans during a protest rally in that city.
The Belgian Palestinian, according to the media in Belgium, was given a six-month suspended sentence. Two co-defendants were acquitted.
Otte’s rebuke called the sentence “distorted justice instead of true justice,” even though UNIA was one of two complainants who had initiated the trial. The other party was the Flemish Jewish forum.
“The email clearly illustrates that UNIA’s sympathy lies with the perpetrator over his would-be victims,” the Jewish group wrote in its statement.
Israel’s official Holocaust memorial has asked Amazon to stop selling literature on its site that denies the genocide of 6 million Jews during World War II and otherwise promotes anti-Semitism.Red swastika-engraved telephone 'used by Hitler to order the death of millions of Jews' is exposed as a FAKE just one week after it was sold for £195,000 at auction
Yad Vashem’s director of libraries Robert Rozett said he has dispatched a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos offering his assistance to “curb the spread of hatred.”
Rozett said Sunday that Yad Vashem has approached Amazon before on the subject but the internet retailing giant insisted it would not halt sales of offensive and inciting material, citing freedom of information. Rozett says he hoped that given the recent spike in anti-Semitic incidents in the United States, particularly a vandalism attack on a Jewish cemetery near St. Louis, Amazon would reconsider its position.
He said he has yet to hear back.
A telephone which allegedly was used by Adolf Hitler - sold at auction last week for £195,000 (£243,000) - has been declared a 'definite fake' by an expert.Air Force Buys Mysterious Israeli Weapon to Kill ISIS Drones
The bright-red swastika-engraved telephone, upon which the Fuehrer allegedly issued some of his most terrible orders sealing the fate of millions, is bogus, according to Frank Gnegel, head of collections at the Frankfurt Museum of Communications.
He highlights 'oddities' in the phone's construction and quality.
'The actual telephone was manufactured by Siemens & Halske, but the handset comes from an English telephone,' he noted. 'Such phones were never produced this way. It must have been assembled later in England.'
What is this secret weapon? Pentagon officials aren’t saying, but here are some clues.Aid group sends solar light to Yazidi refugees in Iraq
The U.S. Air Force awarded a mysterious contract to an Israeli firm for equipment to counter small drones like the ones used by Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
But service officials will not disclose the type of system and whether it uses electronic jamming, conventional missiles, a combination of both, or some other method to down enemy drones.
Here’s what we know: The Air Force awarded ELTA North America Inc. — a U.S. subsidiary of Israeli Aerospace Industries — a $15.6 million contract for “counter-unmanned aerial systems.” The contract announcement specifically references “21 Man Portable Aerial Defense System kits,” which will be delivered by July 28.
Israel-based international humanitarian aid group, iAID, has announced that it will be providing solar panels to a Yazidi refugee camp in northern Iraq to help 330 families access electricity.First Palestinian undergoes unique Israeli treatment for severe tremor
“Persecuted Yazidi families living in horrible conditions in remote regions on the mountains of northern Iraq will receive [solar panels] which will be used to help provide lights in over 330 family tents and in bathroom and shower structures so to prevent gender-based violence,” Shachar Zahavi, founder of iAID, said in a statement.
The solar electricity will also help charge mobile phones and other appliances.
Zahavi said iAID’s mission is to “connect innovative solutions, technology and humanitarian aid to communities in need worldwide.”
A 60-year-old Palestinian from Bethlehem who suffered from severe essential tremor (ET) has been discharged from Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center after undergoing a highly unusual brain ablation, rather than major brain surgery. He is now able to return to work at his restaurant.Israeli hospital restores face of boy mauled by hyena in Ethiopia
A few years ago, Rambam was the first hospital in Israel and one of the first in the world to perform the painless procedure; now the hospital has performed the procedure on a Palestinian for the first time. It involves using an MRI-guided ultrasound, developed by the Insightec company at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. The technique was introduced in the US only last year, but dozens of the procedures have already been carried out at Rambam, which was a beta site for Insightec’s technology.
The technique, which uses heat ablation on deep-seated brain tissue through an intact skull, was made possible with Israeli technology originally developed to remove myomas, benign fibroid growths in the uterus, but was later applied abroad to ET, which manifests due to a malfunction in the brain. The therapy was made possible by the integration of MRI guidance and the heating of the tissue using focused ultrasound.
Doctors at Western Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya have successfully treated a seven- year-old boy from Ethiopia whose head and face were severely mauled by a wild spotted hyena.
Brought to Israel and treated here for humanitarian reasons, he has recovered and his functional and cosmetic outcome is “acceptable,” the doctors stated.
The unusual case was presented in the latest issue of Israel Medical Association Journal by doctors Ido Lavee, Rojjer Najjar, Patrick Ben-Meir, Eyal Sela, Yanir Kassif and Omri Emodi.
The boy’s head was unrecognizable when he arrived in the hospital, where he was treated in the plastic surgery, otolaryngology, ophthalmology and maxillofacial departments. He had barely survived the attack.
“His face was severely mutilated, and he was hospitalized at the Addis Ababa Medial Center for several months. As a unique humanitarian act, this child was transferred to the plastic surgery department at Galilee Medical Center, with the aid of the Israeli Embassy, a Jewish organization in the US, a local Ethiopian church and an Ethiopian Muslim organization.”
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