Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, April 05, 2013

YU law school defends giving award to Israel-hater Jimmy Carter

Here is the official statement from the Director of Communications and Public Affairs at Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University concerning the award being given to Jimmy Carter next week:

This year student editors of the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution have chosen to honor former President Jimmy Carter with the International Advocate for Peace Award in recognition of his lifetime of work, from the historic Camp David Peace Accord between Israel and Egypt, to monitoring some 90 elections around the world and supporting fledgling democracies to resolve conflicts without violence. The Journal is recognized as one of the premier publications in the field of dispute resolution, and previous Peace Award recipients have included President Bill Clinton, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Senator George Mitchell, John Wallach and Seeds of Peace, playwright Eve Ensler, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Betty Murungi, Ambassador Dennis Ross, and documentary filmmaker Abigail Disney, among others. The students have made this decision based on President Carter's achievements, and we support their right to do so.

It is more than just a mistake for a school that is associated with traditional Judaism and religious Zionism to give an award to Jimmy Carter, no matter what his achievements in conflict resolution. Carter is, simply, anti-Israel.

As I noted, Carter's double standards of how he whitewashes Hamas actions while characterizing Israel's as "apartheid", and his interceding to stop a Nazi war criminal from being deported from the US, may cross the line to indicate that Carter has a real problem with Jews altogether.

Beyond that, how can any Jewish institution stomach the idea of giving an award to this man, smiling as he receives a gift from a mass murderer, that symbolizes that Jews have no rights to their eternal capital?

I hope there are massive protests outside Cardozo's Law School this coming Wednesday at 3 PM. Having YU associated with someone as despicable as Carter cannot be accepted as "one of those things."

(h/t Emet)

Another story of racist, apartheid Israel

Over a week ago there was a story in the major media about how Israel was giving medical treatment to Syrians injured in the uprising.

What few seemed to notice, however, was this:

Hospital director Masad Barhoum, one of a team of doctors that treated the Syrians, said medical staff did their best to save the life of the man who died, but he had suffered a bullet wound through the head that caused massive bleeding.

Masad Barhoum? That doesn't sound Jewish, does it?

In fact, Barhoum made news back in 2007 by being the first Arab appointed to run a government hospital in Israel with impressive accomplishments. As the BBC reported in 2008:

He describes himself as "Israeli, Arab, Christian."

Dr Barhoum says that, nonetheless, he is constantly challenged.

"Every week, someone is saying: you're treating Arabs not Jews, and that's because you're an Arab."

But he says that these accusations are less to do with racism, and more to do with the fact that there are always people who will want to test a hospital director.

"Yes I am in a minority here. But if I were to wake up each day and look in the mirror and say, 'they're screwing you because you're an Arab', then sure, I'll be screwed and I'll get screwed."

Unfortunately, there is an entire industry of organizations and media outlets that subscribe to the idea that Arabs are forever victims and should be treated like helpless children who need the aid of white "progressives", instead of the fact that Israeli Arabs are citizens just like anyone else. While they may have to face some discrimination - like any minority in the world - they can overcome it and gain the respect of all.

Well, almost all.

Those same "progressives" aren't quite as happy that an Arab hospital director demolishes their characterization of Israel as an "apartheid state" and even scorns their point of view. They seethe at the idea that he identifies as an Israeli first. They can' stand that his existence shows that everything they say and believe about Arab citizens of Israel is wrong.

They are the only ones who truly hate people like Dr. Masad Barhoum.

(h/t Meryl)

Friday Links Part 1

From Ian:

Burning Down the Palestinian House

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to "suspend unilateral action" against Israel for some indefinite period of time. It is, his spokesman says, to "give a sufficient chance for [US Secretary of State John] Kerry's efforts to succeed." By this, Abbas apparently means he will not make any additional unilateral efforts in the UN or try to convince the International Criminal Court to take up action against Israel.
This is the functional equivalent of agreeing not to swing the wrecking ball after you've set the house on fire.

Prosor calls on UNSC to condemn Gaza rockets

Israeli UN envoy Ron Prosor called on the UN Security Council to condemn the recent rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel on Thursday.
In a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Prosor wrote, "While children were on there way back to school from the Passover vacation two rockets landed near Sderot. Instead of rushing to classrooms, these children and their families were forced to rush to bomb shelters."

UN Peacekeepers Failing to Stop Hezbollah Arms, Says Israel’s National Security Advisor

“Under pressure, a multi-national force is like an umbrella that gets folded up on a rainy day,” Yaakov Amidror, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser, said in a Tel Aviv University speech, Reuters reported.

I used to be an Islamist
Ahmad Mansour tells of how he turned his back on the allure of religious fundamentalism

Arab girls, Jews and drinking villagers were the prime enemies in our midst, but the imam disclosed that in the outside world there were more foes: Christians, Americans, Europeans, Nationalists and Communists. They were all our enemies and aligned with the Devil. Our imam preached that a cruel and agonizing death was in store for them. One day, in order to maximize our respect for his words, he subjected us to a dramatic test.

Glenn Greenwald’s dishonesty on the rights of women and gays in the Mid-East

In Glenn Greenwald’s latest column at ‘Comment is Free’ (Sam Harris, the New Atheists and anti-Muslim animus, April 3) he attacks the ”New Atheists” such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens for promoting what he claims is “Islamophobia under the guise of rational atheism”.
Greenwald lambasts Harris – and, to a lesser extent, Dawkins and Hitchens – for suggesting that the threat posed by Islamic traditions and doctrines to Western political freedom is greater than that of Christianity and Judaism.

Glenn Greenwald tosses a throwaway line about the injurious effects of Judaism

It’s extremely unlikely that Greenwald – a secular Jew who rarely if ever alludes to his religious background – has ever devoted any serious thought to the question of what role Judaism has played in the policy decisions of Israel’s secular Prime Ministers from Independence till the present day, and the decision by the nation’s leaders to defend against “all sorts of attacks” by “neighboring Arab and Muslim countries” and homicidal terror groups.

New Hamas Leaders: Shalit Deal Terrorists

At least two members of Hamas' top policymaking body are terrorists released in the deal to release Gilad Shalit. The terror group's politburo, announced Wednesday after meetings in Gaza, includes Yahya Snawar and Ruhi Mushtaha, both terrorists released in the Shalit deal, were among four new Hamas central committee members.

Hamas reportedly training rebels, fighting to oust Assad

Islamist group denies claim, but several sources tell UK’s Times newspaper that former Assad ally has joined Syrian rebels in civil war

Iran: West Targeting Syria to Divert Attention from Israel

A senior Iranian lawmaker charged on Wednesday that the Western media is creating a hype against Syria as a tactic aimed at diverting attention from “Israel’s crimes”, PressTV reported.
“Iran tries to counteract the negative wave of anti-Syria propaganda by the Western media,” said the Chairman of the Iranian parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee Vahid Ahmadi.

‘Rihanna set to play Israel again’

Pop star Rihanna may perform in Israel later this year after finishing her current “Diamond Tour” in the US, Europe and other locales, Channel 2 reported Thursday.
The show would be the singer’s second in the country and would take place in October at a still-to-be-finalized location, the report said.

Burger joint to open in memory of terror victim
A decade after a suicide bomber targeted Jerusalem’s Cafe Hillel, a friend of one of the victims realizes a dream

A close friend of a security guard who was killed when he tried to prevent a terrorist from carrying out a suicide bombing will open a hamburger restaurant in the same Jerusalem location as the cafe that was destroyed in the deadly attack.
Yuval Hoveri said that opening a restaurant was a dream he shared with Alon Mizrahi, who died along with six others in 2003 when a suicide bomber targeted the popular Cafe Hillel on Emek Refaim Street.

Arabs encouraged by letter from 100 liberal Jews to pressure Bibi

On Wednesday, a group of 100 self-proclaimed Jewish leaders wrote a letter to Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu asking that he give concessions to the PA - in order to get Abbas back to the negotiating table:

Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu:

As Americans deeply committed to Israel’s security, we were heartened by President Obama’s recent historic visit and his unequivocal assertion that “so long as there is a United States of America, Ah-tem lo le-vad.” We also are encouraged by the rapprochement with Turkey, which was achieved in great measure due to your leadership.

We believe that this is a compelling moment for you and your new government to respond to President Obama’s call for peace by taking concrete confidence building steps designed to demonstrate Israel’s commitment to a ‘two-states for two peoples’ solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We urge you, in particular, to work closely with Secretary of State John Kerry to devise pragmatic initiatives, consistent with Israel’s security needs, which would represent Israel’s readiness to make painful territorial sacrifices for the sake of peace.

Your leadership would challenge Palestinian leaders to take similarly constructive steps, including, most importantly, a prompt return to the negotiating table.

We join with President Obama in expressing our steadfast support for your efforts to ensure Israel’s future as the secure and democratic nation state of the Jewish people.

I would love to know when Israeli concessions have ever prompted the slightest bit of reciprocal goodwill from the PA. Ever.

On the contrary, PalArab leaders consistently resulted in a hardening of positions. any Israeli concessions are regarded as a sign of weakness, or, even worse, a sign that Israel doesn't believe in its own positions.

Here again, the Arab media is trumpeting this letter as an indication that Israel's support is eroding. It is a headline in Al Quds, Asharq al-Awsat, El Nashra, Al Ahram and elsewhere.

None of them are suggesting that Abbas respond positively.

Meanwhile, another group of American Jews - those who represent the thinking wing of American Jewry - wrote their own letter to Netanyahu, one that actually makes sense:

Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu:

We know you don’t need our advice on how to handle the peace process – but given the decision by a group of self-described American Jewish leaders to call for you to make “painful territorial sacrifices,” we felt it appropriate to convey our own thoughts on the matter.

Be assured that they don’t speak for us or for a majority of Americans. We not only question the wisdom of their advice, we question their standing to issue such an admonition to a democratically-elected prime minister whose job is not to assuage the political longings of 100 American Jews, but to represent – and ensure the security of – the Israeli people.

Indeed, it’s puzzling to us why a small group of American Jews believes it appropriate to demand “painful territorial sacrifices” of Israelis, when those issuing the demand will not experience the pain, or be compelled to sacrifice anything, should their advice prove foolish – as it has so many times in the past. We affirm the words of Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, who recently asked an American Jewish audience to “respect the decisions made by the world’s most resilient democracy.”

The “American Jewish leaders” who deign to advise you today are largely the same leaders who rarely, if ever, demand “painful sacrifices” of Palestinian leaders – or even demand that they come to the negotiating table, which they have refused to do in any meaningful way since 2008. From the safety of America, in the past they have recommended trusting Yasser Arafat, dividing Jerusalem, surrendering the Golan Heights to Syria, and withdrawing from territory that today is controlled by Iranian-backed terrorist groups.

Before rushing to issue new recommendations, we suggest that these oracles of bad advice might pause to reflect on the wisdom of the recommendations they’ve already made.

We, too, have strong opinions on the peace process – but one thing we never presume to do is instruct our friends in Israel on the level of danger to which they should expose themselves.

We trust, of course, that you are under no misapprehensions about any of this. But we felt it important that you heard from a mainstream voice in addition to the predictable calls from a certain cast of American activists for more Israeli concessions.

Abbas' list (ElderToon)

In the same spirit as the previous post...

Top Secret Mossad Agent’s Identity Revealed

From commenter L. King:

Top Secret Mossad Agent’s Identity Revealed

Tuesday’s death of Palestinian prisoner Maysara Abuhamdieh who passed away due to terminal throat cancer has resulted in riots in the West Bank and accusations that the Mossad was secretly involved.

Up until now the identity of the agent known only by the initial G, (in Arabic “A”) has been a closely guarded secret. However, given the method used, hackers have been able to narrow down the possibilities to a single individual, pictured here:

Hamas admits it is in "financial distress"

In a major speech yesterday, Hamas leader Khaled Meshal admitted that Hamas is suffering from "financial distress" as a result of the "Arab Spring."

Speaking in Cairo, Meshal's words were understood to mean that Iranian financial support for the group has dried up after Hamas refused to support the Syrian regime and instead announced support for the Syrian people. (Hamas denied a separate story published by the Times of London that claimed that it was training Syrian rebels in building underground bunkers, saying ti is not interfering in Syrian affairs.)

He called on Arab nations to send money, saying they shouldn't do it as only aid but as a "partnership" - presumably to aid Hamas' efforts to destroy Israel. He seemed to be asking for money for weapons, saying "There is an international contest to deprive the Palestinian resistance of the weapon, and the international efforts of harm and prosecution have multiplied, and the our battle requires preparation and considerable money and effort." (I am not 100% certain of that translation.)

Earlier, Meshal emphasized that any unification agreement with Fatah would not come at the expense of Hamas' principles of never recognizing Israel and never giving up its weapons, and would only be based on what they have in common.

A Syrian regime newspaper attacked Meshal yesterday after he won his fifth term as Hamas' leader, saying that he has no reason to celebrate as all of "Palestine" is still occupied.

Egyptian actress and host discuss how Jews control America (video)

Bwa-ha-ha-ha!

Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian actress Lubna Abd Al-Aziz, which aired on Tahrir TV on March 15, 2013.

Lubna Abd Al-Aziz: The first time I went to America was as a student. Back then, the Jews suffered great oppression there.

Interviewer: Although today the Jews have complete control.

Lubna Abd Al-Aziz: They were not allowed to live in certain places, to enter certain clubs, or to work in certain jobs. They were not allowed into hotels. These days, when I go to America…

Interviewer: It is run by the Jews.

Lubna Abd Al-Aziz: Look what patience they had. For 50-60 years, following WWII, they endured it all, and they slowly worked, built, and made purchases, and they spread throughout the country until they just about own it.

Today, the Congress, the Senate, and every administration, whether Republican or Democrat, must stand to attention for them. If they are not happy with someone – that's it, he's gone.

Interviewer: The entire economy is Jewish.

Lubna Abd Al-Aziz: Both the economy and the media. It is Hollywood in the west and the economy and commerce in the east. All the big department stores are Jewish.

Interviewer: Marks and Spencer…

Lubna Abd Al-Aziz: They have got the country in their grip. It is said that every three or four Americans work for a Jew. They have taken control over the largest country in the world, after the terrible defeat they suffered in WWII, and everything that was done to them by Germany.

By the way, that interviewer is on my payroll. Poor Lubna, not realizing how she is being fooled.

People ask me if controlling the world is exhausting, but I gotta say - it's really a fun gig.

UNRWA shuts down in Gaza because of riots. The irony is lost on them.

From UNRWA:

Demonstrators today stormed the compound of the UNRWA Gaza Field Office in response to a programme cut necessitated by budget shortfalls. The incident is a dramatic and disturbing escalation in a series of demonstrations that have taken place over the past week.

Commenting on today’s escalation and demonstrators breaking into UNRWA’s compound, the Gaza Director stressed that the Agency “respect people's right to peaceful demonstration but what happened today was completely unacceptable: the situation could very easily have resulted in serious injuries to UNRWA staff and to the demonstrators. This escalation, apparently pre-planned, was unwarranted and unprecedented". "These demonstrations affect our ability to provide much needed service to the Palestine refugees in Gaza and—because they also targeted the Gaza headquarters building—our operations in the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria."

Demonstrations during the past week had already forced UNRWA to close many of its facilities. With the situation further compounded by today's actions, all relief and distribution centers will consequently remain closed until guarantees are given by all relevant groups that UNRWA operations can continue unhindered. "This is a very regrettable situation for us to be in, as food distributions right now are taking place for some 25,000 refugees every day. But we cannot tolerate these ongoing threats to our staff: their safety is of crucial concern at the moment," added Turner. "Any other affected installations will also remain closed."

UNRWA calls on all the groups behind today's event to immediately stop inciting crowds at these demonstrations and to conduct themselves in a responsible manner.

For years, UNRWA condemned Israel for closing the crossings to Gaza in response to deadly rocket fire and other attacks. The idea that Israeli citizens have the right to safety and security did not cross their minds - to them, Israel providing services to Gazans was more important than the mere lives of Israelis.

But when their own facilities get violently attacked - and not with anything approaching deadly force, from what we can see - UNRWA immediately shuts down their own services to the very people they are tasked with helping, forever.

Just a little more UNRWA hypocrisy.

Egyptian op-ed: "Muslims will not win"

Mohammed Dweik, writing in liberal Egyptian party paper Al Wafd, decries how the Jews are better than Muslims at just about everything.

A terrifying statistic indicates that Jews alone received a quarter of the Nobel prizes since its founding in 1901. The number of Jews in the world does not exceed 14 million. Almost less than the population of the city of Cairo.

[The world] does not hear anything from us in the field of scientific research and in the production of knowledge. Statistics say that the patents issued by the entire Arab world (22 countries) of inventions are less than what is produced by a small European country like Finland.

The question must be asked widely: Why are Muslims no longer capable of creativity in philosophy, literature and art? Why are we no longer offering something new in the field of empirical experimental sciences? I'm talking about a billion and a half Muslims occupying 57 countries in the world. A huge figure representing a quarter of the world. Yet the number of Nobel prizes received by Muslims is only 9 before adding Tawakul Karman. Only two of them are in the sciences. While Jews, who represent only one country, whose numbers in the whole world are tiny, not more than 14 million, received 200 prizes! Over 50 prizes in physics and a similar number in medicine and physiology. Each Jew's accomplishments is the equivalent of 2,000 Muslims!

Shame on us. God will not forgive us for what we did with the minds of people ... The problem is that some people still believe that religion will be victorious if only we apply hijab for women or beards for men...

In Al-Anfal, Allah said to the believers that one fighter-believer can triumph over ten of his opponents, because faith is a work of force and determination. ... If we apply the equation contained in the Koran, we must have left the faith of Islam long ago, even if some women wear headscarves and men pray constantly.

...There is a saying: You may find a poor Jew, but you will not find an ignorant Jew.

...Israel occupied the Sinai peninsula in 1956 during the tripartite aggression against Egypt, and in 1967 occupied the Sinai again using the same strategy which was carried out in 56. They asked Moshe Dayan, wasn't he afraid the Egyptians had developed countermeasures? He answered lightly: Arab people do not read!! This is dagger stabbed through to the handle on our honor. And then turned the dagger blade into the wound so it won't heal.

The story begins when 197 Jews met in the Swiss city of Basel, led by the journalist Herzl in 1897 and they set a specific target: to create a Jewish homeland in 50 years. Exactly fifty years later in 1947 the UN decided to partition the land of Palestine to a Zionist state that suddenly arose out of nowhere. With hard work they achieved the idea in half a century. Although the founding father Herzl died in 1904, his work and the struggle persisted under the leadership of Chaim Weizmann, a Russian-born chemist, who was able to to devise industrial acetone, and during World War I he helped the British manufacture gunpowder guns in large quantities, because acetone is a major ingredient in it, making the British feel grateful to the man who made a scientifically invaluable discovery that impacted the fate of the war, and they began to support the ambitions of Zionism. So said Lord Balfour and the British Foreign Secretary months later: "We have embraced Zionism at the hands of acetone."

Nuclear power that changed the fate of the world ... but all of the work in the U.S. initiative named the Manhattan Project, which produced the first atomic bomb and ensured victory for America against Japan, were done by Jewish physicists.

Victory [of the Jews] did not come as just a coincidence. Men of science are changing the world, as well as enlightened clerics .. The lovers and book of poetry, composers and novelists make glory of man. The novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was pivotal to launch a call for the liberation of slaves, and the novel A Doll's House was the beginning of the liberation of women, the enlightened "liberation theology" in Latin America were the engines that have liberalized their homelands from slavery.

Where are the Muslims in all of this? Often they are zero. If you want to win, embrace science, write a poem or a novel that enraptures the world... The Nobel Prize bears the name of a Swedish man who invented dynamite, and called for peace since a century ago; why is there not a Muhammad Award as the messenger whose name should be synonymous with peace? Muslims must be alert to the purposes of their religion. And to be aware of the world as a whole. And to create an award that bears the name of our religion and the name of the Prophet: Mohammed - peace - unification.

We are a nation doomed to either forgetting or defeat.

Thursday Links Part 2

From Ian:

Jewish Leaders Applaud Hezbollah Terror Designation by France

“We welcome the French government’s decision to support the designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization by the European Union. This follows the declaration by the Bulgarian government of Hezbollah’s responsibility for the attack in Burgas in July, 2012 and the conviction of a Hezbollah operative in Cyprus,” Richard Stone, chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman, of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations said in a statement.

How Canada should conduct its inquiry into the PA

This week, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird has announced that he will visit areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority to inquire as to how foreign aid funds are being spent, in order to determine whether Canada should renew foreign aid to the PA.
While it would seem natural for the foreign minister of a respected democracy to ask for an accounting of how foreign funds are being spent by a nascent entity, Canada is the first government to officially engage in an accountability process with the PA.

Arab MK Denounces 'Israeli Apartheid' During Toronto Lecture

MK Jamal Zahalka, elected to the Knesset, claimed there is no democracy in Israel and that Arabs are victims of Israel’s “apartheid” policy.
An elected Arab Knesset member who visited Toronto last week claimed that there is no democracy in Israel and that Arabs are victims of Israel’s “apartheid” policy.

BBC again blindly repeats PA accusations regarding dead prisoner

Were the BBC to investigate the background to the claims made in this and other cases, it would know that PA representatives have a history of accusing Israel of (among other things) stealing organs from dead terrorists, conducting experiments on prisoners which cause cancer, deliberately neglecting sick prisoners as part of a “policy of slow death” and intentionally killing sick prisoners.
That history of unfounded allegations should be ample reason for any self-respecting media organisation to thoroughly check any current accusations or claims before blindly repeating them – let alone a media organization committed to accuracy and impartiality in its reporting.

Abbas: Freeing Terrorists is Our Priority

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday that the freeing of terrorists serving time in Israeli prisons was a "priority" for his leadership.
"The Palestinian leadership gives priority to the prisoners issue and ending their suffering," Abbas said in a speech to a meeting of his Fatah party in Ramallah, according to AFP.

Antisemitism at the UCU: David Hirsh responds to Tribunal ruling against Fraser

Astonishingly, not only did the Tribunal rule that these incidents did not represent antisemitism, but, in a close approximation of the Livingstone Formulation, outrageously accused Fraser and his 34 witnesses of trying to ‘intimidate’ and ‘silence’ critics of Israel with an invented accusation of antisemitism.
May the examples cited above, of the undeniable racism suffered by Jewish members of the UCU, serve to shame those who have been critical of Fraser and his supporters – some of whom have even suggested that the UK Jewish community should never have taken on the fight in the first place.

IDF Perfects Selective Hearing with Combat Earplugs

The devices reduce background noise and completely block anything louder than 80 decibels. They are tuned in to communications devices, allowing soldiers to continue to hear orders.

BDS Tries, But Can't Break Dead Sea Product Sales
The Dead Sea products business is alive and well, despite the best efforts of the BDS crowd

Undeterred, loyal fans of Dead Sea products, from America to Singapore and from Italy to South Korea turn to the Internet to find their favorite products. Arik Barel, CEO of Jerusalem-based Judaica Webstore, says that the harder the forces of BDS work, the more business gets sent his way. Whether it’s the publicity the products receive from the BDS movement or the desire to fight against the BDS movement itself, business just isn’t drying up for Dead Sea cosmetics.

BGU, University of Michigan partner to develop renewable energy technologies
Partnership aims to solve major challenges in advanced vehicle fuels, solar energy.

BGU has been at the forefront of the energy research for more than 30 years, BGU Vice President and Dean for Research and Development Moti Herskowitz said. The university previously has hosted a joint workshop with U-M on renewable energy with an emphasis on solar energy, liquid fuels and thermoelectricity.

Go the distance with Israel’s revolutionary MUV-e scooter

Commuters who face the daily grind of getting to work on time will be happy to hear about a new invention from Israel: an all-electric scooter called the MUV-e that helps people go the distance between the commuter bus, car park or train to the office and home again.
It was those last five miles commuting inside cities where he worked –– congested cities like Tel Aviv, Milan, Rome and Torino –– that put a strain on Amir Zaid when he was working for Fiat and Ferrari as an interior and 3D automobile designer.

UK's Stephen Hawking set to visit Israel in June

The British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, 71, will arrive in Israel this coming June to take part in the fifth President’s Conference, which features the tagline “Facing Tomorrow,” it was announced on Wednesday.

Amsterdam fined Jews for not paying taxes - while they were in concentration camps

From JTA:

The City of Amsterdam fined hundreds of Jewish Holocaust survivors for failing to pay taxes while they were in hiding or in concentration camps.

The affair was exposed in an article in Het Parool, a local daily, on March 30. Many of the houses in question were confiscated and used by members of the NSB Dutch Nazi party while the Jewish owners were in hiding or in camps.

The city went after survivors as late as 1947, the report said. Other Dutch municipalities waived such debts, Het Parool reported. The following year the city agreed to reimburse half of what it charged to some Jews who were taxed in absentia. The city’s archives contain 342 requests for reimbursement, Het Parool reported.

The documents about this taxation were discovered by Charlotte van den Berg, a 23-year-old university student. She said she found them bundled with an elastic band in the archive section of one of the city’s departments while conducting research on Jewish home owners.

The mayor of Amsterdam called this a serious matter and said "we will see how we can put right that which must be put right."

Thursday Links Part 1

From Ian:

Former German Defense Minister: Germany Must Have Israel's Back

Berlin should also start thinking about how to support Israel in the wake of potential air strikes on Iran. It is better to develop a plan now than to engage in hectic ad-hoc decision making once the crisis has erupted. Germany's first priority should be to offer Israel civil and military assistance to defend against potential counterattacks. This could be by offering medical equipment or reconnaissance specialists for weapons of mass destruction, or by shoring up the Bundeswehr's naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean. The deployment of Patriot antimissile batteries, though logistically challenging, should also be considered.
Even if Israel's actual needs are limited, offering quick, tangible support is a powerful show of solidarity and demonstrates that Israel is not facing this crisis alone.

Palestinians fire rocket, mortars into Israel

Gazan terrorists shot a rocket and three mortar shells at Israel early Thursday morning, marking a third straight day of projectile fire after several months of calm.
Initial reports indicated that the rocket landed in an open area in the Eshkol region, as did one of the mortar rounds. Two of the shells fired failed to cross the fence into Israel and landed in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

Reports: Egypt Slams Hamas Over Rocket Attacks on Israel

Egypt has demanded explanations from Hamas as to how it is allowing terror groups to fire rockets into southern Israel, months after the truce that ended Operation Pillar of Defense last November.

BBC resumes ‘last-first’ reporting from Gaza area – and then changes tack

As we see, the BBC was back to its old habit of ‘last-first’ reporting, with the headlines on the Middle East home page and the article itself highlighting the last in a sequence of events and creating an impression of Israel as the initiator of violence and violator of the ceasefire. Only in the third paragraph of this seven paragraph article were readers given some sort of clue that there might have been prior incidents (not reported by the BBC at the time, incidentally) which prompted the event described in the headline.

Honest Reporting: CNN: Just a Steady Drip of Irksome Projectiles

Nothing that a little Valium can’t fix, right?
“The steady drip of projectiles has irked the Jewish state, which Tuesday conducted its first airstrikes into the Palestinian territory since the cease-fire that ended eight days of raging hostilities in November.

French court postpones verdict in al-Dura libel trial

The verdict in the libel case against French media analyst and critic Philippe Karsenty, sued by France 2 for accusing the network’s Jerusalem bureau chief Charles Enderlin of fabricating parts of a segment showing the reported death of 12-year-old Mohammed al-Dura from IDF fire in Gaza in September 2000, has been postponed to May 22.

MEMRI: Egyptian Minister of Religious Endowments: The Muslims Will Kill the Jews on Judgment Day

Former Egyptian MB Member: The MB Is a Fascist Group that Wants to Take Over Egypt VIDEO

Egypt Denies Hamas Man Wanted Over Border Attack

An Egyptian intelligence officer on Wednesday denied media reports that a top Hamas military commander was wanted by Cairo in connection with the killing in August of 16 border guards.

Breaking the ‘Jew taboo’

The film took three years to make. Ramses has rightly been acclaimed for bravely tackling a ‘taboo’ subject: the Jews. So poisoned are Egyptians with anti-Jewish hatred that the word Jew is an insult and a provocation. Jews are malevolent, a curse, a cancer, the ‘enemies of Islam’. When informed that Leila Murad, one of Egypt’s most popular film stars in its 1930s heyday, was Jewish, one man in the film instantly loses his enthusiasm for her.

Yeshiva U law school to give award to Israel-hater Jimmy Carter (updated)

This is unbelievable: (Sent via email)

The Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution is honored to present the
2013 International Advocate for Peace Award to

Jimmy Carter

39^th President of the United States
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
3:30 p.m.

Jacob Burns Moot Court Room

Reception to follow in the lobby
Seating is limited and available on a first come, first served basis.
The Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution is honored to present President Jimmy Carter with its annual International Advocate for Peace Award. President Carter will speak on "America as Global Mediator." Jimmy Carter served as president from 1977 to 1981. During his time in office, he oversaw significant foreign policy accomplishments, including the Panama Canal treaties, the Camp David Accords, the treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel, the SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union, and the establishment of U.S. diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.
In 1982, President Carter and his wife Rosalynn reinvented the American "post-presidency" by founding the Carter Center. Actively guided by President Carter, the nonpartisan and nonprofit Center addresses national and international issues of public policy. Specifically, the center works to resolve conflict, promote democracy, protect human rights, and prevent disease and other afflictions. President Carter and the Carter Center have engaged in conflict mediation in countless areas around the world, including Ethiopia and Eritrea (1989), Bosnia (1994), the Great Lakes region of Africa (1995-96), Sudan and Uganda (1999), Venezuela (2002-2003), Nepal (2004-2008), and Ecuador and Colombia (2008).

President Carter's post-presidential peace-building efforts were recognized in 2002 when he was awarded the Nobel Prize "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." He is the only American president to receive the Nobel Prize for work done primarily after his time in office.

I couldn't find any press releases but it was confirmed on some ancillary Cardozo sites. Here is the main site for the award, which does not yet mention this .

Perhaps Carter deserves an award for some of his work in Africa and South America, but it is unconscionable for a Jewish - and Zionist - school to honor someone who is so thoroughly anti-Israel and, arguably, anti-semitic.

Shall we go over Carter's ignominious record?

1987: Carter intervened to help a Nazi war criminal.

2006: Carter says that pressuring Hamas economically is immoral - but pressuring Israel economically is desirable.

2006: Jimmy predicts that Hamas will be a peaceful party and that they hadn't had any terror attacks on the previous 18 months, an out and out lie.

2007: Carter quotes a fake Nelson Mandela letter to"prove" Israel is an "apartheid state"

2008: Carter claims that Palestinians in Gaza were being "starved to death" and received fewer calories a day than people in the poorest parts of Africa.

2008: Jimmy entreats Europe to ignore the official US position on Gaza terrorists and embrace them instead.

2009: Carter says Gazans are "literally starving."

2009: Jimmy reportedly asks Hamas to "Help us to help Obama to overcome the Zionist lobby"

2009: Carter was revealed to have been against a separate Israel/Egypt peace agreement.

2010: Carter praised Palestinian Arab "democracy" but casts doubts on Israel's democracy

2012: Carter blames the Jews for the Christian exodus from Palestine."

2012: Liberal Jimmy Carter has no problem with Islamists in power in Egypt where they can implement misogynist and discriminatory laws according to their religious duties.

2012: Carter says that if Iran has one or two nuclear weapons, it is no big deal.

There's lots more, of course, but the idea that YU's Cardozo should honor Carter is simply sickening.

UPDATE: The contact email for the journal is eic@cardozojcr.com .

The editor-in-chief is here.

UPDATE 2: I found the original notice on Google's cache of the Cardozo site - but it is no longer there. Perhaps they came to their senses before I was sent this? Or were they trying to downplay it? (I just heard that the entire website was re-done, so that might explain it.)

Video: Hamas school principal strikes student with offensive hairstyle

According to the (anti-Hamas) Palestine Press Agency, this video shows the headmaster of the Khaled bin Walid School Secondary School for Boys in the Nuseirat camp in Gaza, Abdul Majeed Isa, slapping a student for having a Western-style haircut.

This past week Hamas announced that boys and girls will be separated in all Gaza schools from the age of nine and above - even in UNRWA and Christian schools. They also are forbidding male teachers in girls schools.

Hamas also announced a crackdown on certain Western-style trouser styles as well as offensive haircuts seen in the street, with some arrests reported.