Al Jazeera has video:
(h/t Gidon Shaviv)
In 65 years, Israel has surpassed the dreams of its founders, emerging as the Middle East’s strongest military force, a global high-tech powerhouse and a prosperous homeland for the Jewish people.‘We will not give in or surrender,’ PM says as nation remembers fallen
Yet it remains a divided society, and its most intractable problem — peace with its Arab neighbors — has yet to be resolved.
On the eve of the 65th anniversary of its creation, the Jewish renaissance in the Holy Land remains a work in progress.
A two-minute siren brought the country to a halt at 11 a.m. Monday, as Israel continued its Memorial Day events in remembrance of 25,578 war and terror victims.Torch lighters to illuminate start of Independence Day
Speaking at the official state ceremony for Israel’s fallen, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who lost his brother Yoni in the 1976 Entebbe raid, said he had been asked how to cope by children he met recently who had lost parents in wars or terror attacks.
When Memorial Day draws to an end on Monday evening, 12 torches will be lit by Israelis during an annual ceremony at the Mount Herzl military cemetery to mark the beginning of Israel’s 65th Independence Day.Druse participate in Israel's joy and sorrow
Three hundred and ninety two Israeli Druse have been killed while serving in the IDF; have served in all of country's wars.Pamela Geller: Dangerously rewriting history
Today we are at a point where history and facts must be “erased” and rewritten, because truth is racist-Islamophobic-anti-Muslim bigotry. Historical revisionism has taken on a new life, as history is scrubbed and manufactured Muslim myths are presented as fact.Bieber wishes Anne Frank were a fan
Pioneering historian Bat Ye’or recently visited the British Museum and found that “Palestinian propaganda and its cohorts of EU bowdlerizing troops have also visited the Museum – which is why all the information notes pertaining to the artifacts that mention the history of the Kingdoms of Judea and Israel now also mention the word “Palestine” – even 3,000 years B.C. – while the name was only given to the land in 135 A.D. by Roman Emperor Hadrian when he incorporated it into the Roman Empire.”
Teenage pop star Justin Bieber faced a barrage of derision on Sunday when news broke that he had visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and wrote in the visitors’ book at that he hoped the young Jewish author, who died in the Holocaust at 15, would have been a fan had she survived World War II.Jewish Actress Emmy Rossum Slams Justin Bieber for Anne Frank Remark
“Truly inspiring to be able to come here,” Bieber, 19, wrote on Friday after touring the iconic building where Frank and six others spent two years hiding out from the Nazis. “Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a Belieber.”
Emmy Rossum, a Jewish actress and singer, tweeted: “Anne Frank suffered WW2 and Justin Bieber hopes she would have been a fan? I have no words.”Israel’s first flyboys soar again in celluloid
Some 65 years after a band of foreign volunteers took to the skies to ensure Israel’s birth and survival, filmmakers are racing to bring their exploits to the screen before the last of the breed passes away.Original 1917 Balfour Declaration to be displayed in Israel
The original document setting out Lord Arthur James Balfour’s 1917 declaration, stating Britain’s support for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, will be placed on display at the Independence House in Tel Aviv for a limited period in two years’ time. The document, which is nearly one hundred years old, currently resides at the British National Library and has never left British soil.
Following are excerpts from a children's show on Umm Nidal Farhat, which aired on Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV on March 29, 2013:
Child presenter: Iman, you are the daughter of the martyr Nidal. What did your father do to help liberate Jerusalem?Iman, who is sitting alongside other grandchildren of Umm Nidal Farhat: He produced missiles.
Child presenter: He produced the first missile, and it was called "Qassam," right? When he was making missiles, was your grandmother there with him?
Iman: No.
Child presenter: Did she encourage him to do so?Iman: Yes, of course.
Child presenter: Iman, are you proud to have Umm Nidal Farhat as your grandmother?
Iman: Yes.
Child presenter: Are you proud that your father is a martyr?
Iman: Yes.
Child presenter:Would you like to follow in their footsteps?
Iman: Yes.[...]
Veiled child presenter: Jinan, you told me that the great mother, Umm Nidal Farhat, saw her sons in a dream before she died, right? Tell us that story.
Janin: When she was in Egypt, she was already ill.
Veiled child presenter: She was in Egypt before she came here, right?
Janin: Yes. Allah be praised, she got a little better before she died, and she saw her martyred sons in a dream, coming to her and wanting to take her. They missed her a lot, just like she missed them. Imad 'Aqel, Allah's mercy upon him, also came to her in a dream. It was a day before she returned to Gaza. He wanted her to go with them. He wanted her to meet them in Paradise.
Veiled child presenter: She understood that she was going to them, right?
Janin: Yes. She said to my uncle: I want to go to Gaza.
Veiled child presenter: She didn't want to die in Egypt. She wanted to die on her land. She insisted on departing from this life in her own bed, right?
Janin: Yes.
[...]Granddaughter of Nidal Farhat: I call upon all Muslim mothers, daughters, and sisters – Al-Aqsa Mosque expects us to be the next generation to march toward it. Do not spare us the commanders, the soldiers, and the martyrdom lovers. Al-Aqsa Mosque expects us to be the next generation to march toward it. Do not hesitate [to sacrifice] commanders, soldiers, and martyrdom-lovers. The mothers send their sons to victory or to Paradise, Allah willing.
The children in the studio sing in unison: Jihad bestows pride and glory upon you when you become a martyrdom-seeker.
Jihad bestows pride and glory upon you when you become a martyrdom-seeker.
Oh explosive device of glory – with her blood she created freedom.
Oh explosive device of glory – with her blood she created freedom.
Ask [suicide bomber] Fatima Al-Najjar how one should live a life of pride.
Ask [suicide bomber] Fatima Al-Najjar how one should live a life of pride.
Presenter in chicken costume: Let's have a round of applause.[...]
Veiled child presenter: We should sacrifice our lives for the sake of the homeland, so we can please God and liberate Palestine and Jerusalem. What we learn from her example is that we should follow in her footsteps.
Child presenter: She raised her children from an early age on love of martyrdom for the sake of Allah, as well as on love of the homeland and its defense. We should learn from them. We should wage Jihad and persevere, in order to liberate this land. When one of us is martyred, we say that his life is precious, yet it is a cheap price to pay for the liberation and defense of the homeland.
Veiled child presenter: The lives of all the martyrs are precious, but no price is too high when it is paid for the sake of the homeland.
By now everyone in Israel has read the results of the study published earlier this month that showed Israelis ranked among the happiest people among the Western nations, despite an extensive laundry list of problems in their country.If constant war or threat of war makes people happy, then people in Iraq and Lebanon must be ecstatic!
Israel ranked low in terms of income, housing, education and security for example—all things we would typical associate with contentment. As an Asian-American who hails from San Francisco, I could add a few of my own complaints to the list: lack of ethnic food, the outrageous cost of imported goods, the raging summer heat, the marginalization of minorities and refugees, and the famous Israeli frankness that has me constantly fielding questions about why I pay so much for my apartment and my (ever so subtle) fluctuation in weight (Up or down? Eating cakes or working out?), chief among them.
So then why—if they probably can't find a job or afford the apartment that they live in—are Israelis so damn happy?
War has quite a bit to do with it. The fact is that Israel has been in a perpetual state of war—or under the threat of war—since David Ben-Gurion declared independence in May 1948, the only Western country in the world in which this is the case.
Even during periods of "peace," there still seems to exist, at a minimum, a potential intifada brewing in the West Bank, or chemical weapons making their way into the hands of Hezbollah, or rockets being lobbed into the country from Gaza.
And this has created a fascinating psychological paradox, one that has been studied extensively by Professor Zahava Solomon of Tel Aviv University. On one hand, as she told me in a recent phone interview, the culture of conflict has made Israelis constantly aware of their potential demise; on the other it has made them virtually fearless. Think about it. How would you act if you woke up every morning thinking that this day could be your last? Or at least took a moment to imagine how you would be eulogized at your funeral? (An exercise that Stephen Covey recommended in his wildly popular “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” although admittedly “live in a war zone” did not make the list.)
The point is this: you'd enjoy the day you had. And if you continued to survive until the next morning, this daily exercise might develop into a mantra for how you lived your life. And you might bother to take that beach day, or spend more time with your family. You might grow a pair and launch that startup you've been thinking about (Boom: Silicon Wadi) or stop a beautiful woman on the street and insist that she have lunch with you, or park on the sidewalk if there was no other parking within a five-block radius. You might climb a mountain, or go scuba diving or backpack in South America for a year. All things that Israelis do in droves, and that, in my opinion, probably lead to a more fulfilling existence.
It’s not clear why Israelis are so happy, despite a relatively poor showing on measures such as housing, income, job security, community support and education. It could be that what makes the average Norwegian happy doesn’t do the trick in Israel. Or maybe Israelis try to appear happy even when they’re not and respond to pollsters accordingly.
There is some other information that Maan did not report. For example, he was arrested in a hideout, not in his home.Special Report: Canada's University of Manitoba Students' Union becomes first in North America to ban IAW
And the “handicapped” man “threw at the soldiers everything he could get his hands on,” such as hammers, said a military spokeswoman. “I won’t say he does not have a disability, but he can walk,” a spokesman added.
For a man who supposedly cannot walk on his own, he must have had an angel helping him because he walked down the stairs from the second floor, where soldiers nabbed him, and then tried to grab a soldier’s rifle.
The University of Manitoba Students Union (UMSU) has become the first in North America to vote to ban Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) on campus and strip the group Students Against Israel Apartheid (SAIA) of official student group status.Investigation: Jewish Students Were Unjustly Evicted from Brooklyn College BDS Event
After a two month investigation into the circumstances surrounding the expulsion of four Jewish students from a BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) event aimed at Israel at Brooklyn College in February, a report has been issued that states that a “plausible inference can be drawn that the removal of the four students was motivated by their political viewpoint.”Lawsuit Threatened if Major Equities Fund Goes Through With Boycott of Israel
The event featured anti-Israel activists Judith Butler and Omar Barghouti, and gained considerable attention in the press when it was discovered that the school’s Political Science Department was a sponsor.
The Israel Law Center (Shurat HaDin) is threatening legal action against the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) if it chooses to adopt a resolution boycotting Israeli firms and investments.PMW: "To war that will... destroy the Zionist's soul" - Girl recites poem on PA TV
He added that none of the candidates on the short list to replace Fayyad were viable reformers. “Whether Mohammad Mustafa, [former PA public works and housing minister] Azzam al- Ahmed or even Rami Hamdallah, it is significantly less likely that the new prime minister challenges Abbas on matters of transparency and reform,” he said.German event with Iran envoy ‘legitimizes evil’
A German government ministry and an evangelical church academy provoked outrage in the US and Germany by inviting the Iranian ambassador – allegedly involved in the massacre of Kurds – to speak at a conference slated for this week in Lower Saxony state.Father of Israeli Hi-Tech, Efi Arazi, Dies at 76
Arazi began his career in the United States. While he was a student at MIT in 1969, he built the camera the Apollo 11 crew used to broadcast the first pictures of the moon. NASA continued to use his camera until 1995.Report: Germany Prefers Israeli Over US Drones
Germany is in talks with Israel to buy weaponized drones for its military that are seen as more technologically advanced than US onesThe Israeli medical device Steve Jobs would have liked
For the first time, an Israeli company has been accepted into a prestigious program run by GE Healthcare, one of the biggest health-tech companies in the world. Oxitone, located in Ashkelon, was selected for GE Healthcare’s Start-Up Health Academy Entrepreneurship Program, a three-year arrangement where start-ups enter as fledgling businesses and emerge ready for prime time.
Earlier last month, amid overwhelming criticism from public figures and nongovernmental organizations, the military wing of the Islamic movement of Hamas, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, bulldozed a part of the ancient Anthedon Harbor in northern Gaza along the Mediterranean Sea. The Brigades damaged the harbor in order to expand its military training zone, which was initially opened on the location in 2002, according to Ejla.UNESCO describes the harbor as a tentative World Heritage site, and it says that it qualifies because "Anthedon exhibits an important interchange of human values, over important periods of time that relate to the main trade route crossing the Holy Land from Egypt to the Fertile Crescent and linking Africa and the Middle East to Europe."
The Anthedon seaport, which dates back over 3,000 years to the Mycenaean era, is considered one of the most important sites in the Middle East and is the oldest harbor in Gaza. It was designated an international heritage site by UNESCO in 2012. The location was discovered in 1997 on the space of 180,000 square meters. It contains mosaic floors with historical pillars from the Roman, Byzantine and Islamic ages.
In a press statement, the Hamas-run Ministry of Tourism said that it is the only responsible authority over the location, and it would not permit harm to the monuments.
“Due to rising population in the region, the ministry appreciates the urgent need for using new pieces of land. This is why the ministry has agreed with the different responsible parties on using a limited part of the location temporarily in a way that won’t harm the underground monuments there in any way,” the statement read.
But Deputy Minister of Tourism in Gaza Muhammad Khela told Al-Monitor that the location was taken for military use and not demographic purposes.
“We can’t stand as an obstacle in the way of Palestinian resistance; we are all a part of a resistance project, yet we promise that the location will be limitedly used without harming it at all,” Khela explained.
RNS strives to meet the highest standards of public service journalism. Through our work, we report, write, compile, record and post news, features, photos and video.I didn't know that outright lies were considered "highest standards" of journalism.
Our goal is to promote civic engagement and discourse on religion. We strive to inform and challenge our readers, out of a conviction that religious literacy is a necessary component of effective citizenship.
Last week policeman Ibrahim al-Jarrah, aged 27, had been accompanying Israeli tourists to the Ma’in hot springs, close to the Dead Sea, shortly before he was found dead at the site.Video of Harrah's body being recovered makes it appear likely that he simply slipped and hit his head in the rocky spring.
Al-Jarrah’s brother, Joseph, told Arabstoday: “We want a full explanation of the death of our brother, who remained in sulphuric water for 40 hours.”
Relatives have claimed al-Jarrah was killed by criminals.
Security sources have meanwhile denied reports of foul play circulating on social networking sites, amid claims al-Jarrah was killed after receiving a blow to the head while escorting 21 Israeli tourists to Ma’in.
“There is no criminal suspicion here,” sources told Arabstoday.
Surprisingly enough, an attempt to examine our contemporaneous controlled opposition within the Left and the Progressive reveal that it is far from being a conspiratorial. Like in the case of the Jewish Lobby, the so-called ‘opposition’ hardly attempts to disguise its ethno-centric tribal interests, spiritual and ideological orientation and affiliation.Yes - the anti-Zionism of Mondoweiss is really an expression of evil Jewish tribalism, and meant to stifle the truly radical and moral voices like Gilad Atzmon's!
A brief examination of the list of organisations founded by George Soros’ Open Society Institute (OSI) presents a grim picture - pretty much the entire American progressive network is funded, partially or largely by a liberal Zionist, philanthropic billionaire who supports very many good and important causes that are also very good for the Jews. And yet, like staunch Zionist Haim Saban, Soros does not operate clandestinely. His Open Society Institute proudly provides all the necessary information regarding the vast amount of shekels it spreads on its good and important causes.
...As with Orwell’s Big Brother that frames the boundaries of dissent by means of control opposition, Soros’ Open Society also determines, either consciously or unconsciously, the limits of critical thought. Yet, unlike in 1984, where it is the Party that invents its own opposition and write its texts, within our ‘progressive’ discourse, it is our own voices of dissent, willingly and consciously, that are compromising their principles.
...We may have to face up to the fact that the progressive discourse effectively operates as Israel’s longest arm - it certainly acts as a gatekeeper and as protection for Zionism and Jewish tribal interests. If Israel and its supporters would ever be confronted with real opposition it might lead to some long-overdue self-reflection. But at the moment, Israel and Zionist lobbies meet only insipid, watered-down, progressively-vetted resistance that, in practice, sustains Israeli occupation, oppression and an endless list of human rights abuses.
Instead of mass opposition to the Jewish State and its aggressive lobby, our ‘resistance’ is reduced into a chain of badge-wearing, keffiyeh-clad, placard-waving mini-gatherings with the occasional tantrum from some neurotic Jewess while being videoed by another good Jew. If anyone believes that a few badges, a load of amateur Youtube clips celebrating Jewish righteousness are going to evolve into a mass anti-Israel global movement, they are either naïve or stupid.
...For the Jewish progressive discourse, the purpose behind pro-Palestinian support is clear. It is to present an impression of pluralism within the Jewish community. It is there to suggest that not all Jews are bad Zionists. Philip Weiss, the founder of the most popular progressive pro-Palestinian blog was even brave enough to admit to me that it is Jewish self -interests that stood at the core of his pro Palestinian activity.
In the end, if the Palestinians truly want to continue negotiations with Israel, Western states must make certain that the intentions of the Palestinian government similarly reflect peace. When we have a Palestinian budget which spends a bulk of its donated funds on armaments, there is impeccable evidence that ending the conflict with Israel is not an intention. Until that time comes the West must stop bankrolling Ramallah’s corrupt and terror-ridden bureaucrats.Archbishop Tutu, revisit Israel!
THE LAST time Tutu visited Israel was way back in 1989. At the time, he offended many by insensitively saying about the Holocaust during a visit to the Yad Vashem memorial, “We pray for those who made it happen, help us to forgive them and help us so that we in our turn will not make others suffer.”IDF arrests 3 Hamas members in West Bank
To say these words at that place in the heart of the Jewish state was deeply hurtful. Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center called it “a gratuitous insult to Jews and victims of Nazism everywhere.”
IDF troops arrested three prominent Hamas leaders in the West Bank village of Jalqamus on Sunday morning, according to the Palestinian news agency Ma’an.Islamist Children's Festival on Temple Mount
The festival was sponsored by the Al Aqsa Foundation and the Institute for Development of Al Aqsa and the Holy Sites. The theme was the strengthening of ties to the Al Aqsa Mosque and the commitment to its "liberation" from "the Israeli occupation."Honest Reporting: Thoughts on “The World’s Largest Outdoor Prison”
When you get right down to it, Gaza’s Islamist overlords remain committed to perpetuating their control of the strip, their division with Fatah, and their agenda to destroy Israel. Dawber’s violin just sounds tinny and broken.Hamas Arrests 'Collaborators' Following Amnesty Period
Hamas forces in Gaza have begun arresting suspected "collaborators" with Israel following a month-long period of amnesty.Egypt's Coptic Christians live in fear of Islamic extremists
"I feel unsafe," said Samir, a high school philosophy teacher with a cross tattooed on her wrist. "The Islamists want war. They want strife. But this is our land too. It is a country blessed by God, and there's no way we'll leave it to them."Four Copts arrested for complicity in Cathedral clashes
The Coptic Maspero Youth Union announced that Michael Morqos was arrested on Friday alongside three other activists. The union condemned his arrest, calling it an escalation against Coptic youth and likening it to Mubarak’s violations against Copts where “the violator is free and the victim gets jailed and humiliated”.Report: Turkey nixes NATO meeting with Israel
An initiative to bring Israel and six Arab countries’ ministers together under NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue group for the first time since 2008 has been nixed by Turkey and Egypt, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported Saturday.Genocidal Muslim Country Warns of Genocide if Europe Doesn’t Accept Muslims
Ankara and Cairo reportedly said “it was not the right time” for such a meeting.
Turkey not only committed genocide against Christians, but it still lies about it and locks up its citizens who even mention the genocide. It’s also violently anti-semitic under its current Islamist government.Swedish Social Democrats Oust Chairman of Islamic Association
So that means the time is right for its government to hypocritically warn Europe that the failure to accept Muslim immigrants could lead to another Holocaust.
Islamiska Förbundet has invited to Sweden speakers with known anti-Semitic views. The Swedish anti-racism magazine Expo revealed that one speaker invited by Mustafa, Egyptian Salah Sultan, had previously slandered the Jewish community in an interview with al-Jazeera by saying they kill Christians on Easter.Judea Pearl to light memorial candle for slain son
Prof. Judea Pearl, the father of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, will light the memorial flame at the Jewish Agency’s annual Remembrance Day ceremony on Monday to commemorate Jews slain in terror attacks and in anti- Semitic incidents abroad.Doctor who Fought Libel joins IDF Despite Cancer
David showed up for reserves duty during Pillar of Defense even though he is suffering from cancer.Israeli medical start-up prepares to build a better bone
“Physically it was very difficult,” he said, “but spiritually it was extraordinary. It’s very powerful to be part of the most important thing going on – protecting soldiers in the Israel Defense Force.”
David fought for years against an Arab story, widely published in the world media, accusing Israeli soldiers of shooting and killing a terrified Arab child, Mohammed al-Dura. He revealed in 2007 that he had treated the father, Jamal al-Dura, for wounds sustained in an Arab gang attack – injuries that al-Dura later claimed had been inflicted by the Israeli army.
Make no bones about it: A one-of-a-kind factory is going up in northern Israel.
Scientists at the Haifa facility there will manufacture bones for use in bone grafts, and they’ll do so using a new technique — taking live fat cells from patients by liposuction –which, according to its inventor, Dr. Shai Meretzki, will significantly change the way doctors relate to orthopedic problems and bone repairs.
Jerusalem is concerned that the Austrian troops of the UN force in Golan Heights, which are its largest contingent, will leave the area soon and will effectively cause the dissolution of power. In a situation like this there is a reasonable possibility that opposition Islamists will take over the Golan border positions, including the Syrian Hermon post.The UN had hinted that this might happen over two weeks ago:
In the coming weeks the arms embargo imposed by the EU on all sides in Syria should expire. It is believed that Britain and France will start to arm some rebel groups fighting Assad, but Austria has threatened in that case to consider pulling its soldiers....Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Sfindlgr, currently visiting Israel, expressed during his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu his fears of possible arming the rebels, ...saying that arming the rebels would bring the government to seriously consider the evacuation of the Golan Austrian battalion.
The United Nations peacekeepers in the Golan Heights have reduced their activities in response to the presence of armed groups from the Syrian conflict, the world body’s peacekeeping chief said today, calling for respect for the safety and security of UN personnel.(h/t Yoel)
Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous told journalists in New York that the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has had to “adopt a posture which is somewhat more static” and take additional security measures, which include the use of more armoured vehicles.
“We have had to reduce somewhat the footprint of UNDOF in the Golan Heights in the area of operation,” Mr. Ladsous said after briefing the Security Council behind closed doors on actions taken since the seizure and safe release of 21 blue helmets earlier this month. In the days following, UNDOF vacated two positions which were particularly exposed to gunfire.
He thanked the countries contributing troops to the region and said he very much hopes that they will stay the course on this “very important mission.”
Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds the presidency of the Council for this month, told reporters that the armed groups are being “provocative” in the area where the peacekeepers operate, but the blue helmets do not have the mandated authority from the Council to stop them.
Buy EoZ's book, PROTOCOLS: EXPOSING MODERN ANTISEMITISM
If you want real peace, don't insist on a divided Jerusalem, @USAmbIsrael
The Apartheid charge, the Abraham Accords and the "right side of history"
With Palestinians, there is no need to exaggerate: they really support murdering random Jews
Great news for Yom HaShoah! There are no antisemites!