Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, October 07, 2016

The most popular baby names in Israel this year

Arutz-7 reports:

The Ministry of Interior reports that the most common names of the past year (5775) were Tamar and Mohammad.

The two most common names after Mohammad were Yosef and David.

The two most common female names after Tamar were Adelle and Miriam.

Solely in the Jewish sector, the most popular male names were Uri, David and Ariel and the most popular girl’s names were Tamar, Avigail and Adelle.

Here are the lists:

Most popular girl names in Israel
Tamar
Adele
Miriam
Sarah
Avigail
Noa
Shira
Talia
Yael
Leah

Most popular girl names in Israel amongst the Jewish sector
Tamar
Avigail
Adele
Noa
Shira
Talia
Yael
Sarah
Leah
Roni

Most popular boy names in Israel
Mohammed
Yosef/Yusef
David
Daniel
Uri/Ori
Omer
Eitan
Ariel
Noam
Adam

Most popular boy names in Israel amongst the Jewish sector
Uri/Ori
David
Ariel
Noam
Eitan
Yosef/Yusef
Itai
Daniel
Yehonatan
Moshe

Whenever Mohammed is named one of the most popular names in a country, people tend to freak out. But all it means is that Muslims are far, far more likely to name their boys "Mohammed" than any other name, while non-Muslims spread their names around more.

It is interesting that Muslims are naming their children Yusef/Yosef and Daweed/David so often as to push those numbers among all Israelis to be #2 and #3. It would be interesting to compare Israeli Arabs with Palestinians; it is possible that some Israeli Arabs give their children names that could help their kids integrate better into Israeli society (they are spelled the same way in Hebrew.) Same goes for Miriam/Maryam and Sarah.

Also interesting is that "Daniel" is the fourth most popular boy's name but only the eighth most popular Jewish name. I've never heard of Muslims using that name, so it must be immensely popular among Israeli Christians.

But I am completely mystified as to how Eitan is more popular than Ariel among Israelis as a whole but less popular than Ariel amongst Jews.

Adele? I wonder if that particular name is popular not only because of the singer but also as a pun on the Yiddish "Eidel" אֵײדֶעל , meaning "gentle."

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10/07 Links Pt1: Glick: Obama’s hostile eulogy; Flotilla became ‘ship of fools’; Toameh: Abbas "The Jew"

From Ian:

PMW: PA daily: Israel controls the US which controls the world

Palestinian Media Watch has long documented that the Palestinian Authority spreads classic Antisemitic hate, claiming that the Jews and Israel control the world.
This libel was given a new rendering this week in the official PA daily, which ran a cartoon that portrays Israel as controlling the United States and telling it what to do with the world.
In the cartoon, a small soldier with a Star of David on his helmet is seen giving orders to a taller man with blank eyes, representing the US. The large man's hat is made of the American flag but with a six-pointed Star of David replacing the five-pointed star. The "US" is holding a basketball that resembles a globe, and "Israel" is directing the "US" to shoot the globe-shaped basketball into a basket which is also shaped of a Star of David.
The cartoon's message is that while America controls the world, it is Israel who orders America what to do with the world.
In a different version of this libel, the PA regularly claims that Israel indirectly controls world events and is responsible for all the civil wars, the creation of the Islamic State and even the radical Muslim terror attacks in Europe.

Caroline Glick: Obama’s hostile eulogy

US President Barack Obama’s eulogy of Shimon Peres at Mount Herzl last Friday was a thinly disguised assault on Israel. And he barely bothered to hide it.
Throughout his remarks, Obama wielded Peres’s record like a baseball bat. He used it to club the Israeli public and its elected leaders over and over again.
Peres, Obama intimated, was a prophet. But the suspicious, tribal people of Israel were too stiff necked to follow him.
In what was perhaps the low point of a low performance, Obama used Peres’s words to slander his domestic critics as racist oppressors.
“Shimon,” he began harmlessly enough, “believed that Israel’s exceptionalism was rooted not only in fidelity to the Jewish people, but to the moral and ethical vision, the precepts of his Jewish faith.”
You could say that about every Israeli leader since the dawn of modern Zionism.
But then Obama went for the jugular.
In a startling non sequitur he continued, “‘The Jewish people weren’t born to rule another people,’ he [Peres] would say. ‘From the very first day we were against slaves and masters.’” We don’t know the context in which Peres made that statement. But what is clear enough is that Obama used his words to accuse the majority of Israelis who do not share Peres’s vision for peace – including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who was sitting in the front row listening to him – of supporting slavery.
This libelous assault on Israel was probably the most unhinged remark ever directed at the Jewish state by an American president. What does the fact that Obama said this at Peres’s funeral tell us about Obama? What does it tell us about Peres? Obama was not merely wrong when he accused Peres’s detractors of support for slavery, he was maliciously wrong.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Abbas "The Jew"

The unprecedented outcry over Abbas's participation in the funeral of an Israeli leader is further proof of the degree to which Palestinians have been radicalized.
This is what happens when you unleash a tidal wave of hate against Israel and its leaders in the media, mosques and public rhetoric. In light of this brainwashing, how do you expect your people to respond when you, in any way, associate with an Israeli leader?
If attending the funeral of an Israeli leader, especially one who devoted the past two decades of his life to peace between Israel and the Palestinians, draws such condemnation, it is easy to imagine the result of a Palestinian leader making a peace overture to Israel.
Even if the current condemnation eventually dies down, it will have sent a message to future Palestinian leaders: "No peace with Israel, not in our time, and not in any time."

Laughable screaming headline in South Africa about flotidiots

From the front page of today's Star (South Africa):

How long was this activist incarcerated?

Less time than it took to prepare the front page of this newspaper.

The article is just as absurd.

It is believed the intervention of Israeli human rights legal firms Adalah and Gaby Lansky Attorneys helped secure Naidoo’s release and that of the other activists on Thursday night.

Sources close to the WBG campaign in Joburg said the Israeli lawyers had worked “tirelessly” as volunteers on the matter over the past few days.

Naidoo’s release was also attributed to the interventions of South African ambassador to Israel, Sisa Ngombane.

Nelson Kgwete of the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) said on Thursday that Ngombane had worked with the Israeli foreign ministry on the matter.

Everyone wants to take credit for working tirelessly to get Israel to release people it never had any intention to hold.

In fact, the official Women's Boat for Gaza page has a completely different reason for the quick release:, citing the "negative media attention" Israel was getting, and crediting - get this - Pink Floyd.

Israel-haters are trying so hard to squeeze every ounce of publicity from a failed publicity stunt. And the South Africa media is complicit in that quest.

(h/t Spotlighting SA)

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From The Sun (UK):

BRITAIN is suspending millions of pounds-worth of aid payments to the Palestinian Authority amid staggering claims taxpayers cash is ending up in the hands of terrorists.

International Development Secretary Priti Patel has ordered a freeze pending an investigation.

Earlier this summer furious MPs demanded action after revelations UK aid supposedly paying for civil servants in Gaza was being transferred to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.

One Hamas master bomber was alleged to have been given £100,000 by the PLO.

Other ‘salaries’ is said to have gone to families of suicide bombers and teenagers attacking Israel.

One Hamas master bomber was alleged to have been given £100,000 of the cash, by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation

Dfid has previously admitted the PLO makes “social welfare” provisions for prisoners’ families but ruled out the idea UK cash is being diverted in this way.

Government sources yesterday conceded that many of the civil servants were doing other jobs while pocketing UK taxpayers’ cash.

The decision by the Department for International Development means £25 million in cash is being withheld this year – a third of the total aid sent to Palestine. The majority goes to charities in the region.

This is phenomenal.

Now why can't the US do the same?

Congress tried in 2014, but the PA and the State Department got around it:

Thanks to public exposure of the “pay-to-slay” program, Congress passed legislation in 2014 requiring the US to deduct from its development assistance to the PA an amount equal to the PA payment of blood money for terrorism. Then Abbas circumvented this law by transferring the responsibility for subsidizing terrorism from the PA to the PLO to create the appearance that the PA wasn’t involved. The US State Department willingly bought into this fiction. Western dollars for terrorism continue to flow.

Indiana Republican Senator Dan Coates has introduced new legislation to counter this Palestinian ruse and cut US aid to the Palestinians “by an amount… equivalent to the amount expended by the Palestinian Authority, the Palestine Liberation Organization and any successor or affiliated organizations, as payments for acts of terrorism.” If this legislation is passed, it will be up to the State Department to implement it.

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From Pink Floyd's Facebook page:

Roger Waters, realizing that his anti-Israel statements hardly register in the world media any more, guessed that announcing a Pink Floyd "reunion" to bash Israel would get some serious publicity.

This happened 24 hours ago, and it was barely noticed. (The Guardian just picked up on it, though - after the non-event.) Roger Waters' attempt to gain headlines was an utter failure, and the band has now been tarnished by being associated with his own hate.

The hundreds of comments to the post are generally quite negative.

Daniel Prosko why won't you reunite and stand with people of Syria or Yazidi people, who massacred by IS?

LikeReply534Yesterday at 4:19am

76 Replies13 mins

Michael Kornau I knew Waters was an idiot, but i´m disappointed to hear that about Gilmour and Mason.

LikeReply436Yesterday at 4:20am

58 Replies5 mins

Mari Marti I love u until you begin to act like you're a political movement. Yeah, you're not that. Please, do not begin to write down like that or i'll stop following this page...

LikeReply503Yesterday at 4:17am

View previous replies

Jian Rong Ooi You must be new to PF. Pigs from 1977 and The Final Cut album in 1981 were political and anti-Thatcher, yet you choose their pro-Gaza stance in 2016 to say "I dont wanna know about their political opinions". Youre 40 years too late.

LikeReply285Yesterday at 4:25am

View more replies

Hannah Ver What do you think would happen, if they demonstrate in Gaza for the rights of muslim women? Hamas would hang them on a crane! Free Gaza from Hamas!!

LikeReply300Yesterday at 4:33am

19 Replies26 mins

Cal Bradley What????
Israel was established 3500 years ago....it's the Muslim horde that is the occupiers..
Get your flippen history straight!

LikeReply26714 hrsEdited

90 Replies26 mins

Richard Evans Pink Floyd stick to your music. You seem to have little idea of the issues relating to the Israel-Palestine problems.Self publicity I think ! I thought David Gilmour and Nick Mason were above this.It doesn't suprise me that the idiot Roger Waters wants to be controversial just for the sake of it.Perhaps you would all be better off channelling your 'efforts' to addressiing the situation in Syria !

LikeReply22623 hrs

16 Replies26 mins

Matan Emmanuel Asher this is a disgrace. basically it means that Pink Floyd supports Hamas.
Shame on you David Gilmour who joins antisemitic acts by Roger Waters

LikeReply17919 hrs

What about the band's point that Israel illegally arrested the women?

The answer is that the band knows as little about international law as one would expect an irrelevant group of aging rockers to know.

And the UN agrees, as described in the Palmer Report:

73. The Panel now turns to consider whether the other components of a lawful blockade under international law are met. Traditionally, naval blockades have most commonly been imposed in situations where there is an international armed conflict. While it is uncontested that there has been protracted violence taking the form of armed conflict between Israel and armed groups in Hamas-controlled Gaza, the characterization of this conflict as international is disputed. The conclusion of the Panel in this regard rests upon the facts as they exist on the ground. The specific circumstances of Gaza are unique and are not replicated anywhere in the world. Nor are they likely to be. Gaza and Israel are both distinct territorial and political areas. Hamas is the de facto political and administrative authority in Gaza and to a large extent has control over events on the ground there. It is Hamas that is firing the projectiles in Israel or is permitting others to do so. The Panel considers the conflict should be treated as an international one for the purposes of the law of blockade. This takes foremost into account Israel’s right to self-defence against armed attacks from outside territory. In this context, the debate on Gaza’s status, in particular its relationship to Israel, should not obscure the realities. The law does not operate in a political vacuum and it is implausible to deny that the nature of the armed violence between Israel and Hamas goes beyond purely domestic matters. In fact, it has all the trappings of an international armed conflict. ...

74. Israel was entitled to take reasonable steps to prevent the influx of weapons into Gaza. With that objective, Israel established a series of restrictions on vessels entering the waters of Gaza. These measures culminated in the declaration of the naval blockade on 3 January 2009. There were a number of reasons why the previous restrictions were inadequate, primary among them being the need for the measures to be legally watertight.
75. As required, the naval blockade was declared and notified. The Israeli authorities issued a “Notice to Mariners” through the appropriate channels, setting out the imposition of the blockade and the coordinates of the blockaded area. In addition, the notice was broadcast twice a day on an emergency radio channel for maritime communications. There is no contest about this. The suggestion that because the blockade was stated to be imposed “until further notice” means that the notification’s content is insufficient and the blockade thus invalid does not seem to us to be persuasive. The notice does specify a duration. Given the uncertainties of a continuing conflict, nothing more was required. Likewise, a limitation to certain groups of prohibited items in the blockade’s notification was not necessary. It lies in the nature of a blockade that it affects all maritime traffic, given that its aim is to prevent any access to and from a blockaded area.
76. There is nothing before the Panel that would suggest that Israel did not maintain an effective and impartial blockade. Ever since its imposition on 3 January 2009, Israeli authorities have stopped any vessel attempting to enter the blockaded area. At the same time, there is no suggestion that Israel has hindered free access to the coasts and ports of other countries neutral to the conflict.

Israel has no choice under international law but to intercept every boat en route to Gaza or else the naval blockade loses its effectiveness from a legal perspective.

This gimmick didn't add any positive publicity to the pro-Hamas groups that are trying to destroy Israel, and it hurt Pink Floyd's reputation immeasurably.

Great move, Roger!

(h/t Slava)

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Saudi paper "warns" that JASTA bill will show world that Jews were behind 9/11

Al Riyadh has an article against the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) with a novel approach.

It says that Americans are warning that the bill could "open up the gates of hell." (That phrase actually came from a different Saudi newspaper in May, and was reported by US media.)

The bill would force a re-opening of the investigation into 9/11, and then all of the suppressed evidence will reveal that the Jews are the ones who blew up the twin towers, not Arabs.

It quotes from a 9/11 "truther" organization, AE911Truth, where over 2000 engineers and architects supposedly signed a petition asking to review the evidence for 9/11.

The article also quotes Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, claiming that thousands of Jews were sent text messages warning them not to go to work in Lower Manhattan that day.

Moreover, the site claims that a 1996 movie "The Long Kiss Goodnight" predicted 9/11 since the protagonist said he would kill 4000 people and blame Muslims while referencing the 1993 WTC bombing. (In reality, the false flag attack planned in the movie was a chemical weapon attack against downtown Niagara Falls.)

Anyway, if the Saudis are so positive that Arabs had nothing to do with 9/11, then they should welcome the chance to prove their thesis in court, shouldn't they? JASTA will be great for them!

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10/06 Links Pt2: The Top Ten Schools Supporting Terrorists; Kaine’s Deceits About Iran

From Ian:

HBO to produce TV series about Israeli teens' abduction, murder

American cable network HBO and Israel's Keshet International Studios announced Wednesday that they will co-produce a series about the tragic events involving the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers in 2014.
Gil-ad Shaer, 16, from Talmon, Eyal Yifrach, 19, from Elad, and Naftali Fraenkel, 16 from Nof Ayalon, an American citizen, were abducted by Hamas on June 12, 2014. Their bodies were found some two week later. The abduction compounded an already volatile security situation, which escalated into Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip.
The series, created by Hagai Levi, Noah Stollman and Joseph Cedar will be filmed on location in Israel in the summer of 2017.
According to available details, the show's protagonist is an idealistic Shin Bet investigator. The plot depicts the escalating violence following the teens' abduction and brutal murder from him point of view.
The series will be filmed in Hebrew and star Israeli actors, but will be adapted to English prior to its broadcast in the U.S.
This is not Levi's first production with the acclaimed network, as he also co-produced the award winning series "In Treatment" and "The Affair."

The Top Ten Schools Supporting Terrorists

1. Brooklyn College (CUNY)
2. San Diego State University
3. San Francisco State University
4. Tufts University
5. University of California Berkeley
6. University of California Irvine
7. University of California Los Angeles
8. University of Chicago
9. University of Tennessee Knoxville
10. Vassar College
(Note: the schools are listed in alphabetical order)
Introduction:
Across America college campuses are being flooded with pro-terrorist propaganda by groups supported by college administrators and student funds. These groups are led by Students for Justice in Palestine but they include the broad coalitions of the left which have become the breeding grounds for a new anti-Semitism. Boycott, Divest and Sanctions resolutions targeting the state of Israel for destruction are passed to chants of “Allahu Ahkbar,” while Jewish students are the targets of verbal and physical harassments which have reached epidemic proportions. This is a report on the 10 schools most supportive of the efforts of Students for Justice in Palestine and its allies, to demonize the state of Israel and bring about its destruction.

David Collier: Institutional antisemitism at Goldsmiths, University of London

On Tuesday I spent an evening at Goldsmiths, University of London. It was my first visit. The talk itself was called ‘Palestine 101’. Like many events that are taking place on campus at the moment, it was designed to convert ‘interested folk’ into ‘dumbed down’, rabid, Israel haters.
The talk was one of the most nonsensical, baseless and insane rants I have yet to hear *from a student* on a university campus. Alessia Cancemi, the Goldsmiths PalSoc president, who led the talk, left every single person in the room more stupid than they had been at the start of the evening. De-education would be a good title for what was delivered.
What I watched was classic institutionalised antisemitism. Hidden behind the argument that anti-Zionism isn’t anything to do with antisemitism, every syllable, every picture, every message, places the vast majority of those listening, at odds exclusively with Jewish rights. The Jewish right to self-determination, the Jewish right to nationhood, the Jewish right to self-defence. All these are denied.
So the evening at Goldsmiths begins and Cancemi needed to tell everyone about boycotting Israel. But first clearly has to impress upon all these newcomers, why Israel is deserving of such hate. It is at this point that the Palestinian narrative is weakest. History is the soft underbelly. Why? Because their narrative has more holes than a warehouse full of Swiss Cheese.

How does one market a thriller about the Jewish Temple to the Arab world?

"The Last Secret of the Temple," by Paul Sussman, was a 2008 book that seems to have heavily borrowed from the Dan Brown playbook.

In the year 70 AD, as the Romans sacked and destroyed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, a young Jewish boy was hidden away and chosen as the guardian of a great secret. For seventy generations this secret remained safeguarded. But in present day Israel, a Jewish radical threatens to reveal this hidden truth and use it to rend apart the fragile Middle East—and only an unlikely duo of hardened detectives of very different origins and a young, enterprising Palestinian journalist can unite to ward off disaster.

It received mixed reviews, but for some reason the publishing house decided that this book should be translated to Arabic back in 2010.

But how could one get Arabs interested in a book about the Jewish Temple to people who now pretend it never existed?

By telling the Arabs that the book was censored by Israel because it is so offensive to Jews!

The front cover of the Arabic edition says "لكتاب الذي منع في إسرائيل", "Book banned in Israel," right above the title.

As far as I can tell, although I don't think that the book has been translated into Hebrew, there is no ban on it in Israel and there never has been.

(Spoiler alert: the "last secret" is the magical Menorah which, using shades of the Chanukah story, never runs out of oil. The entire book can be read here.)

The books published by Bantam Books, along with "Arab Scientific Publishers Inc."

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