Archive for May 16, 2012

Israel Launches ‘Bible-Birthright’ Program

The Bible Lands Museum is launching on Wednesday a new tour created for Birthright that shows the Bible as Israel’s true birthright.

The Bible Lands Museum is launching on Wednesday a new Jewish Heritage Tour created for Birthright-Taglit that shows the Bible as Israel’s true birthright.

The Museum is gearing up for 1,200 Birthright visitors from North America, and the tour is part of the Museum’s Birthright Israel Education Fair.

Birthright group arrives in Israel

Birthright group arrives in Israel - Israel news photo: Birthright PR

“Understanding the legacy of the Jewish people in modern Israel is inseparable from understanding the importance of our biblical history – our birthright,” says Amanda Weiss, director of the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem. Continue Reading »

PA issues international arrest warrant for Arafat confidante

Muhammad Rashid is accused of embezzling millions from the Palestinian people

The Palestinian Authority’s Anti-Corruption Commission has issued an international arrest warrant for Muhammad Rashid, known publicly as Khaled Salam, a close adviser and confidante of deceased Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Rashid, who left the Palestinian territories in 2004 following Arafat’s death, is accused of embezzling millions of dollars from the coffers of the Palestinian Authority.
Rashid, an Iraqi Kurd, has refused the request of the Palestinian prosecutor general to appear before a local court for questioning surrounding accusations of corruption and embezzlement during his tenure as head of the Palestinian Investment Fund (PIF), Rafiq Natsheh, head of the anti-corruption commission said in a press statement Tuesday.
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Copts to shun Islamists in Egypt presidential vote

Egypt’s Coptic Christians complained of discrimination under Mubarak but fear it may get worse if an Islamist takes power.

 

CAIRO – Egypt’s Coptic Christians complained of discrimination under former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak but fear it may get worse if an Islamist takes his place in next week’s presidential election.

Long-suppressed Islamists already dominate parliament. Islamist contenders for the presidency say Christians, who form about a tenth of Egypt’s 82 million mostly Muslim people, will not be sidelined, but mistrustful Copts will not vote for them.

The single biggest Coptic grievance and the source of most sectarian violence in Egypt is legislation that makes it easy to build a mosque but hard to construct or even repair a church. Continue Reading »

Turkey suspects bird of being Israeli spy

Ankara investigating possibility that bee-eater was ‘implanted with Mossad surveillance device’; Israeli wildlife officials say accusation ridiculous

 

Turkish authorities believe that they have found a bird used for espionage purposes by Israel, the country’s media reported.

Suspicious chirping? Merops Apiaster Photo: Shutterstock

Suspicious chirping? Merops Apiaster - Photo: Shutterstock

According to a Tuesday report in Yedioth Ahronoth, an investigation to that effect was launched in Ankara several days ago, after a farmer discovered a dead Merops Apiaster, commonly known as the European Bee-Eater, in his field. The bird had a ring reading “Israel” on one of its legs.

Bird-banding is a common practice in ornithology, meant to help scientists track bird migration routes. Continue Reading »

Concrete Bunkers Protect Israeli TV from Missiles

Part of Israel’s preparation for war includes building a new TV station under concrete bunkers 23 feet underground in Haifa.

Part of Israel’s preparation for war includes building a new TV station under concrete bunkers 23 feet underground in Haifa.

Hizbullah missiles in the Second Lebanon War in 2006 knocked telecasts in northern Israel off the air.

The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) showed off its new underground studio to the media on Monday, RTT News reported. It was built seven meters – 23 feet – underground and its concrete walls are 12 inches thick. The control room includes a radio booth. Continue Reading »

Rocket and Molotov cocktails mark start to Nakba Day

Army chief: ‘We are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst’

Palestinians hurled molotov cocktails at an IDF post near the city of Hebron overnight and a rocket was shot from Gaza into southern Israel early Tuesday as the country braced for protests and violence as Palestinians mark Nakba Day.

No injuries were reported in Hebron, and there were no reports of injuries or damage after the rocket fell in the Sha’ar Hanegev region.

Nakba, or catastrophe, is the Palestinian term for Israel’s founding in 1948. It is marked on May 14 or May 15 each year.

The IDF has deploying on the borders while police forces are beefing up presence at friction points in anticipation of possible Nakba Day clashes.

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Greece condemns far-right party’s Holocaust denial

“There were no ovens, this is a lie … there were no gas chambers either,” says leader of Golden Dawn party, prompting outcry from Greek Jews.

 

ATHENS – Greece’s government and Jewish community on Monday condemned the leader of a far-right party for saying there were no gas chambers in Nazi concentration camps.

Nikolaos Mihaloliakos, whose Golden Dawn party became potential kingmakers after an inconclusive election on May 6, also challenged the view that six million Jews were killed in World War Two.

Greece's Golden Dawn leader Nikolaos Mihaloliakos

Greece's Golden Dawn leader Nikolaos Mihaloliakos - Photo: REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis

“There were no ovens, this is a lie … there were no gas chambers either,” Mihaloliakos said on Sunday in an interview on the private Mega television station.

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Iran hangs man for killing nuclear scientist

Jamali Fashi, accused of aiding Mossad in assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist, executed in Tehran

 

Iran’s state TV says authorities have hanged a man who was sentenced to death for the 2010 killing of a nuclear physicist.

The broadcast said that Majid Jamali Fashi, who had been accused of being an agent of the Israeli spy agency, Mossad, was hanged in Tehran on Tuesday morning.

Majid Jamali Fashi Photo: AFP

Majid Jamali Fashi - Photo: AF

Jamali Fashi, 24, was sentenced to death after being convicted in a trial last August.

Tehran University physics professor Masoud Ali Mohammadi was killed by a bomb-rigged motorcycle that exploded outside his house as he was leaving for work in January 2010. Continue Reading »

Many winners, few losers in deal to end Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike

Israel, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are each playing their cards to preserve the relative silence in Gaza and the West Bank.

The agreement that brought the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike to an end on Monday, alongside a decision to return 100 bodies of Palestinian terrorists buried in Israel, as a gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, were less about possible progress in peace attempts as much as they were about an Israeli effort to preserve the relative silence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Palestinians celebrate the signing of a deal to end the Palestinian prisoners hunger strike

Palestinians wave flags as they celebrate the signing of a deal to end the Palestinian prisoners hunger strike, in the West Bank city of Ramallah - Photo by Reuters

 

Despite the fact that peace negotiations aren’t likely to restart, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Israel are all interested in getting rid of anything that could threat stability in the region. Continue Reading »

Miracle in Tzfat: Boys Find Stolen Torah Scrolls

Three grade school boys accidentally found six stolen Torah scrolls in an abandoned building where they wanted to establish a clubhouse.

Three grade school boys accidentally found six stolen Torah scrolls in an abandoned building where they wanted to establish a clubhouse.

The incredible story unfolded Sunday afternoon when nine-year-old Ariel Chaim Erdstein and three friends entered the ruins of a building and were shocked to discover the Torah scrolls, worth more than $250,000. Thieves stole them after breaking into the Chabad Tzemach Tzedek synagogue during the Sabbath a week ago.

Rabbis, police, 'heroes' and Torah scrolls

Rabbis, police, 'heroes' and Torah scrolls - Israel news photo courtesy of Batya Erdstein

“They ran out afraid that the thieves may have been hiding there also,” Ariel’s mother Batya told Arutz Sheva. Continue Reading »

Gaza Banks in Currency Crisis

Gaza banks are answering withdrawal requests with multiple currencies, leading to an exchange rate crisis for local residents.

Gaza banks are experiencing another currency crisis, protesters told the Belthlehem-based Maan News Agency on Thursday.

Palestinian Authority employees reportedly organized a sit-in in front of the Bank of Palestine in Nuseirat to protest the fact that their salaries were distributed in multiple currencies.

“We were surprised today that our salaries were in dollars, (Jordanian) dinars, and shekels which will result in penalties due to the exchange rate,” one employee said.

Hamas, like its Fatah rivals in Ramallah, has experienced numerous cash-flow problems since seizing the coastal enclave from the Palestinian Authority in a bloody 2007 putsch. Continue Reading »

Iran to launch observation satellite on nuclear talks day

Iran will launch next week an experimental observation satellite, on the day of talks with world powers over its controversial nuclear programme, the official IRNA news agency reported on Monday.

 

 

“The Fajr satellite will be launched on Khordad 3 (May 23),” the director of the Aerospace Industries Mehdi Farahi was quoted as telling.

It will be the fourth satellite sent into space since 2009 by Iran, whose space programme has attracted the concern of international community which is suspecting Tehran is seeking to develop long-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying conventional warheads or nuclear ones.

phys.org - Logo

Phys.Org - Logo

This is the first time that the Islamic republic has announced in advance a date for the of a satellite. Continue Reading »

Egypt Cracking Down on Hamas’ Black Market Fuel

Egyptian security forces in northern Sinai are seizing black market fuel shipments headed for Gaza after deal to sell fuel to PA

Egyptian security forces seized four vehicles transporting unlicensed fuel in the northern Sinai over the weekend.

Security officials said the vehicles were carrying 1,640 liters of fuel in 82 tanks for sale on the black market. A driver was detained for investigation, they added.

Last week, security forces confiscated a truck in the Sinai carrying 10 thousand liters of fuel headed to tunnels under the border with Gaza Strip.

Egypt moved in February to shut down fuel deliveries to Gaza via the tunnel smuggling network developed by Hamas – sparking a fuel shortage that caused widespread blackouts. Continue Reading »

Tel Aviv students’ Nakba Day ceremony causes campus stir

Right-wing MK calls Palestinian ‘catastrophe’ a ‘day of celebration’ outside university gates

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Left- and right-wing groups gathered at Tel Aviv University Monday afternoon to mark and protest the Palestinian Nakba Day.

Far-right MK Aryeh Eldad called the Nakba “a day of celebration” as he led dozens of activists who protested a ceremony meant to mark the Palestinian “catastrophe” by students at the university.

Nakba - IsraelandStuff

Hundreds were gathered in front of the university, holding signs and yelling slogans. Police maintained a heavy presence between the two groups. Three protesters, two from the right and one from the left, were detained.

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PM Office: Israel-Palestinian prisoners deal is gesture to Abbas

Netanyahu’s spokesperson says PA president requested Israel’s cooperation to end the hunger strike; official says Israel watching how PA handles re-interment of Palestinian bodies released in the agreement.

 

Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev said on Monday that Israel negotiated the deal ending the hunger strike of some 1,600 Palestinian prisoners in Israel in response to a request from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu - Photo: Gali Tibbon/Pool

“It is our hope that this gesture by Israel will serve to build confidence between the parties and advance peace,” he said.

The prisoner strike issue was discussed Saturday night when Netanyahu’s envoy Yitzhak Molcho delivered a letter from Netanyahu to Abbas.

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