Archive for June 22, 2012

Israel Air Force aircraft strikes Gaza terror cell attempting to fire rockets

Hamas medical officials say one Palestinian killed and another wounded in strike at al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza; IAF attack comes after two rockets fired into southern Israel from Gaza.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Israel Air Force aircraft struck a terror cell preparing to launch rockets into Israel from theGaza Strip on Friday, according to the IDF Spokesman’s Office.

The strike came after two rockets were fired into Southern Israel from Gaza earlier in the day landing in the Eshkol Regional Council area. More than 130 rockets have been fired into the South from Gaza since Monday, but Thursday and Friday were relatively quiet after an Egyptian-brokered informal ceasfire seemed to be largely holding. Continue Reading »

Chevra Kadisha to compensate woman for funeral

Court rules in favor of woman who claimed rabbi sex-segregated her father’s funeral, barred her from saying goodbye

by Ynet

A Beersheba small claims court has ordered Chevra Kadisha to compensate a woman with NIS 31,900 (roughly $8,300) for the distress the group had caused her by barring her from walking alongside her father’s coffin during his funeral.

According to the plaintiff, the rabbi who led the burial ritual in January 2011 ordered the women to walk behind the men in the funeral procession. She and her five sisters were also forced to sit behind the men during the ceremony.

Moreover, the rabbi refused to allow the plaintiff to deliver the eulogy she had written on behalf of her family. Continue Reading »

Hundreds amass on Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Blvd. in bid to revive social protests

 Demonstrators attempt to erect tents, but city inspectors prevent them from doing so; police arrest Daphni Leef and other protest leaders.

 

 

Protesters amassing in Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard, June 22, 2012. Photo by Social protest Facebook page

Daphni Leef, one of the leaders of Israel’s social justice protest movement, was arrested by police on Friday afternoon during a demonstration on Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard.

Police arrest protest leader Daphni Leef in Tel Aviv, June 22, 2012.

Police arrest protest leader Daphni Leef in Tel Aviv. - Photo by Alon Ron

The demonstration, which began around noon, was meant to revive the social justice protests that swept Israel last summer. Continue Reading »

Norway Boycotts Israeli Construction Firm

Norway’s Ministry of Finance excludes Shikun & Binui Ltd. from the Government Pension Fund’s global investments.

By Gil Ronen 

 

 

Norway’s Ministry of Finance has decided to exclude Israeli construction firm Shikun & Binui Ltd.. from the Norwegian Government Pension Fund’s global investments.

Norway

Norway - Reuters

The company, which is one of the largest in the Israeli construction industry, is being boycotted because it is “involved in the construction of settlements in violation of international law in East Jerusalem,” Aftenposten reported Thursday.

The news outlet mentions a construction project called “Ramat Rachel Dreams,” which will be completed in January 2013. Continue Reading »

The West’s embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood

The rhetoric of the Muslim Brotherhood is the best proof that it still remains an organization advocating violence. General Guide in Egypt, Muhammad al-Badi’, published a  message on the Muslim Brotherhood website opposing negotiations with Israel and adding that “Palestine will not be liberated by hopes and prayers, but rather by Jihad and sacrifice.”

By Dore Gold

 

 

The announcement that the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, Mohamed Morsi, had won the presidential elections in Egypt may not have been final, but it nonetheless caused many across the Middle East to consider the implications of an Islamist victory in the most important and influential Arab state.

Continue Reading »

ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ: Alice Walker’s bigotry

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker, has resorted to bigotry and censorship against Hebrew-speaking readers of her writings.

 

 

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker, who has a long history of supporting terrorism against Israel, has now resorted to bigotry and censorship against Hebrew-speaking readers of her writings. She has refused to allow The Color Purple to be translated into Hebrew.This is the moral and legal equivalent of neo-Nazi author David Duke disallowing his books to be sold to Black and Jewish readers.
Author Alice Walker
Author Alice Walker – Photo: REUTERS/Kimberly White

There is an appropriate moral and legal response to Walker’s bigotry. Continue Reading »

Golan Heights: Syrian infiltrates Israel

Defense sources say this isn’t first time Syrian citizen tries to breach border; man questioned by security forces

Yoav Zitun

 

 

A Syrian man infiltrated Israelvia the northern Golan Heights and was caught near the border after touching the fence. IDF forces turned him over for questioning with security forces.

Syrian border Photo: George Ginsburg

Syrian border - Photo: George Ginsburg

Sources in the defense establishment said this is not the first time this year that a Syrian citizen tries to infiltrate Israel via the Golan Heights.

Defense officials recently estimated that clashes in Syria could spill over to the border area and conjectured that Syrians may seek refuge in Israel. Continue Reading »

Co-chair of Bipartisan Policy Center to Congress: Israel needs bombs, refueling tankers for strike on Iran

Former Senator calls on Congress to provide Israel with 200 bunker busters and aerial refueling military aircrafts.

 

 

Former Senator Charles Robb co-chairman of the Bipartisan Policy Center said that in order to perform a successful attack on Iran Israel’s aerial refueling capabilities and bunker-buster bomb stores need to be enhanced. Robb, who was giving testimony at a Congress subcommittee, presented the material gaps in the IDF’s preparedness for an attack on Iran, and called on the United States to provide Israel with KC-135 aerial refueling military aircrafts and 200 bunker-busting munitions to supplement the 100 Israel already holds.

Continue Reading »

Netanyahu: Defeating Islamism will Take Decades

“I have no doubt that by the end of the century, militant Islam will be defeated,” says Prime Minister.

By Gil Ronen

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu

 

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spelled out his long term vision for the coming century in his speech to the President’s Conference Thursday. In it, he said that militant Islam will be defeated by the end of the century, and that in the intervening decades, the challenge before the free countries is to prevent rogue states from developing weapons of mass destruction.

The text of the speech follows below the video:

Welcome to Jerusalem. Continue Reading »

Israeli scientists produce plastic just as strong as steel.

Israeli scientists are developing a super-strength polypropylene, a plastic that the world will most widely use to replace steel and other materials used in pipes and machinery.

by Sarah Weiss

 


Moshe Kol, a professor of chemistry at Tel Aviv University or TAU, which is behind the project, said this could have a lasting impact on many industries including automobile manufacturing, in which plastic parts can replace the metal parts of cars.

Israeli made new plastic pipe as strong as steel.

Israeli made new plastic pipe as strong as steel.

Durable plastics consume less energy during the production process. And there are additional benefits. If parts of polypropylene replaced traditional steel parts in cars, cars in general would be lighter and consume less fuel, for example, Kol was quoted in the news media. Continue Reading »

NGO fears for missing Iraqi-Kurd pro-Israel editor

Reporters Without Borders expresses concern for Iranian journalist who it says has been missing in Iraqi Kurdistan for 11 days.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

An Iranian journalist who advocates ties between Israelis and Kurds has been missing for 11 days, NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Wednesday, expressing concern for his safety.

Mawlud Afand's Facebook page - Photo: Facebookscreenshot

Mawlud Afand's Facebook page - Photo: Facebookscreenshot

“We fear the worst and we urge the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government’s authorities to do everything possible to find Mawlud Afand,” the group said. “And we therefore call for an immediate investigation into this journalist’s disappearance.”

Afand, who is of Iranian origin, lives in Iraqi Kurdistan and is the editor of the magazine Kurd-Israel, published by the Kurd-Israel Association.

Continue Reading »

IOC insists athletes must compete with Israelis this summer

A spokesman for the International Olympic Committee warned athletes considering taking a stand, rather than racing against Israelis, to “stay at home”.

 

 

Olympic athletes who boycott Israeli competitors in London will be in breach of IOC rules.

Boycotting Israel would be a 'serious breach'

Boycotting Israel would be a 'serious breach'

 

A spokesman for the International Olympic Committee declared that refusing to compete against Israelis would represent “a serious breach of the IOC’s Code of Ethics, the principles of the Olympic Charter and the Athletes Oath”. Emanuelle Moreau warned athletes considering taking a stand, rather than racing against Israelis, to “stay at home”. Continue Reading »

U.N. silent on Arabs facing death for selling to Jews

Under the framework of the PA’s legal system, selling land to Jews is considered a capital offense. Of the 16 Palestinians incarcerated, seven are employees of the PA, including its security forces.

by Aaron Klein

 

 

TEL AVIV – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has refused to comment on an epidemic of Palestinians facing the death sentence for selling property to Jews.

ban-ki-moon

WND attempted to obtain a comment on the matter over the course of two weeks.

 

Secretary-General Ban refuses requests for comment

 

 

Martin Nesirky, Ban’s press spokesman, said there has been a decision by the secretary-general’s executive office not to offer any comment on the issue. Continue Reading »

Replica of ancient Egypt synagogue arrives at Tel Aviv museum

 With its awe-inspiring size and boulevard lined with columns, the Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue of Alexandria once served a community of 40,000 Jews. Today, a miniature version is available for Israelis and tourists to admire.

 

 

While Egypt was voting in a new president over the weekend, a replica of an ancient Egyptian synagogue arrived in Tel Aviv’s Beit Hatfutsot – The Museum of the Jewish People. The model of the magnificent Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue from Alexandria was added to the museum’s permanent collection on Monday, where it joined 20 other models of synagogues from around the world. Continue Reading »

Israeli honeymooners attacked by pirates in Zanzibar

Machete-wielding pirates attack Yoav and Esther Peled; Yoav fights back, loses some fingers – but surgeons managed to reattach them

By Shiri Hadar

 

 

A honeymoon turned sour this week for an Israeli couple who were attacked by pirates in Zanzibar.

A honeymoon to remember

A honeymoon to remember

Yoav and Esther Peled of Givatayim married on May 30 and travelled to the Tanzanian islands after the wedding. On Sunday, a group of pirates armed with machetes attacked the couple. Yoav, who confronted them, lost some of his fingers to the pirates’ blades.

Peled managed to reach medical help, and was flown from Zanzibar to Dar es-Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania, where he had emergency surgery. Continue Reading »