Archive for August 26, 2012

Bloomberg reports that Israeli women rule in biotechnology

Report on Israel’s bio-med sector acknowledges women’s dominance with 60-70 percent of the workforce

By Ynet

 

Women outnumber men in biology and related sciences in higher education in Israel, a report published by the Bloomberg news agency revealed on Tuesday.

This says the report, could give women an advantage as the government and private investors put increasing amounts of money into the life-sciences industry, one of the country’s fastest growing sectors, collecting the most venture capital money in the first half of this year.

'A woman can make a mark' Photo: Getty Image Bank Israel

‘A woman can make a mark’ Photo: Getty Image Bank Israel

The article quotes a number of Israeli women working in the field who share their thoughts on why women have the advantage. Continue Reading »

Hamas reports Egypt reopens Rafah crossing into Gaza

Hamas spokesman: Egypt informed Gaza gov’t that their border crossing, which has been closed for much of the past month, will be opened permanently.

By Reuters

 

Egypt has reopened the Rafah border crossing with Gaza on Saturday.

The crossing is a lifeline for Gazans, which had been closed for much of the month since an August 5 attack on Egyptian guards, Palestinian and Egyptian security sources said.

People crossing through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

People cross the E gyptian border with Hamas-ruled Gaza in Rafah, Egypt – Photo by AP

The move signals a step forward in relations between Egypt’s new government led by President Mohammed Morsi and Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas, which had deteriorated since the attack in which gunmen killed 16 Egyptian soldiers on the Israeli border.

Continue Reading »

Jews Outraged as Circumcision Becomes an Issue in Denmark

An ex-Jew in Denmark said: Circumcision is a ritual in which ‘black-clad men’ mutilate a baby. Needless to say, Jewish communities outraged.

By Elad Benari

 

After Germany, where attempts to ban circumcision have caused an uproar, the issue is now making headlines in Denmark as well.

The anti-circumcision campaign in Denmark began already several years ago, but seems to have reached new heights, after an article published in the local Politiken newspaper described circumcision as a ritual involving ten people wearing black clothes and which abuses and tortures the baby.

The article was written by Kjeld Koplev, a Danish journalist who converted from Judaism to Christianity. Continue Reading »

Make way for a hand-drying revolution

 

Move over jet dryers & paper towels. Israeli designed & manufactured UltraClean will transform the way we dry our hands in public restrooms.

 

Here’s a multiple-choice question: What is the most hygienic and ecologically responsible way to dry your hands in a public restroom?

(a) paper towel

(b) forced air dryer

(c) fabric towel on a continuous loop

(d) an Israeli invention soon to hit the market

The answer is (d), says Avi Kafzan, a Technion-trained mechanical engineer and owner of Manal-Israel Clean Towels, the largest hygiene company in Israel.

The UltraClean machine won a prestigious design innovation award.

The UltraClean machine won a prestigious design innovation award.

Continue Reading »

Dore Gold asks, “Where will Morsi’s embrace of Ahmadinejad lead?”

If Morsi wants to build a relationship with Iran, he will face problems with Riyadh, to whom he has recently turned for financial help.

By Dore Gold

After Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi embraced Iranian President Muhammad Ahmadinejad at the summit of the Organization of Islamic States Saudi Arabia, sources in the office of the Egyptian presidency announced that Morsi was planning to visit Tehran for the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) at the end of August. The NAM grouping of mostly Third World countries was first established in 1961 as a neutral alternative to the West and the Soviet bloc.

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Swiss laboratory agrees to investigate Arafat death

Swiss scientists to analyze Arafat’s remains for traces of polonium & they assure the findings won’t be used for political ends.

By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFF

 

A Swiss laboratory is to help investigate the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after receiving the go-ahead from his widow, researchers from the Institute of Radiation Physics at Lausanne’s university hospital said on Friday.

Peinture murale à Gaza - Photo: Mohammed Salem

Peinture murale à Gaza – Photo: Mohammed Salem

A team of Swiss scientists will test the exhumed body of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for traces of radioactive polonium. Poisoning by this substance is suspected as a possible cause in Arafat’s 2004 death.

Continue Reading »

Ahmadinejad invites Hamas leader to summit in Iran

Ismail Haniyeh has yet to reply whether he’ll attend the Non-Aligned Movement Summit, expected to host PA President Abbas and UN chief Ban Ki-moon

By Reuters

 

Iran has invited Hamas prime minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh to attend a summit of 120 developing nations, officials said on Friday, a move that could antagonize Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and anger Western powers who consider Hamas a terrorist group.

Haniyeh – Photo: AFP

Iran hopes to earn diplomatic kudos by hosting a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement from Aug. 29-31 at a time when the West is seeking to cripple its economy and isolate it diplomatically over its disputed nuclear program. Continue Reading »

Reported: ‘Lebanese home front virtually defenseless’ in next war

Lebanese paper express concern over possible regional conflict; say their home front in grossly exposed, told to  look to Allah for shelter

By Roi Kais

 

The residents of southern Lebanon are worried. Should the brewing winds of war between Iran and Israel escalate to an actual conflict, they are likely to be caught in the middle – literally.

Israel is investing in its home front readiness, but the residents of southern Lebanon have but a mere fraction of the civilian defenses available to Israelis.

Lebanon‘s Al-Akhbar newspaper, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, published a feature about the Lebanese home front’s readiness for a possible regional conflict. Continue Reading »

Egyptian Defense Minister: We’re Committed to Peace Treaty with Israel

Egyptian Defense Minister Abdul Fatah al-Sisi spoke to Israeli counterpart Barak on telephone saying Cairo is committed to the peace treaty.

By Gil Ronen

 

Egyptian Defense Minister Abdul Fatah al-Sisi spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Ehud Barak, on the phone Wednesday, and stressed that Cairo is committed to the peace treaty with Israel, according to an Arabic newspaper.

The paper, Al Hayat, which is published in London, cites senior Egyptian sources as saying that there are understandings between Israel and Egypt regarding the means of dealing with the security problems in Sinai.

Al-Sisi reportedly spoke to Barak as he was preparing to meet President Mohammed Morsi. Continue Reading »

Ya’alon says That History Will Judge the U.S. on Iran

Strategic Affair Minister Moshe Ya’alon places the responsibility on the US if Iran successfully realizes their nuclear ambitions.

By Elad Benari

 

As the debate continues over Iran’s nuclear program and a possible Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities, Strategic Affair Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Thursday placed the responsibility on the United States if the Islamic Republic realizes its nuclear ambitions.

“History will judge whether the United States stood in the face of the Shiite threat and prevented the Iranian military nuclear capability in time,” Ya’alon said during a forum at the Gordon College of Education in Haifa. “A Middle East with a nuclear Iran is a Middle East with nuclear chaos.”

Continue Reading »

Leading German politician calls on the EU to ban Hezbollah

Foreign policy spokesman for Merkel’s party says, “Hezbollah threatens the security of our ally Israel”.

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT

BERLIN – Hezbollah should be placed on the European Union’s terror list, Philipp Missfelder, Bundestag foreign policy spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, wrote The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

Hezbollah gunman in Beirut - Photo: Reuters

Hezbollah gunman in Beirut – Photo: Reuters

Missfelder’s call to outlaw Hezbollah is the first statement from a prominent and senior European politician since the United States and Israeli intelligence agencies asserted that the Lebanese group Hezbollah – in a joint project with Iran – murdered five Israelis and a Bulgarian bus driver in July.

Continue Reading »

Jordanian ‘paralympians’ suspected of sexual assault in Ireland

Jordan says trainer & power-lifters  pulled from London Paralympics after being arrested in Ireland for allegedly assaulting teenage girls

By Associated Press

 

Jordan pulled three squad members accused of sexual assault in Northern Ireland out of the 2012 London Paralympics on Thursday, sports officials in Amman said.

The 3 ‘suspects’: Omar Sami Qaradhi, age 31, Motaz Al Junaidi, age 45, and trainer Faisal Hammash, 35.

The Jordanian Paralympic Committee said the three men — two Paralympic power-lifters and a trainer — will be flown home later on Thursday but that they will be returned to court in Northern Ireland on Oct. Continue Reading »

View Video: “We Never Dreamt of Such Achievements”

Israel Air Force Commander tells new UAV operators: “Our expectations are in the sky.”

By Arutz Sheva

 

The IAF marked the conclusion of training for its latest class of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operators in a graduation ceremony Wednesday (August 15), the IDF Website’s Yair Barzilai reported.

Dozens of new officers were inducted into the UAV Formation, following the conclusion of the 20th UAV training course. With hundreds of family members in attendance, the festive atmosphere was further enhanced by the arrival of IAF Commander Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel.

“Today is a festive day for the IAF and the IDF and – I will allow myself to go one step further – for the entire state of Israel,” the Air Force chief began. Continue Reading »

Muslim Brotherhood: Israel is the One that Violated the Peace

Muslim Brotherhood paper launches harsh attack on Israel’s demand that Egypt withdraw armor.

By Gil Ronen

 

Mohammed Jamal Arfa, a senior Egyptian journalist linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, has launched a frontal attack on Israel following its demand that Egypt withdraw armored vehicles it recently deployed in the Sinai Peninsula.

In an article in the mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party, Arfa wrote that Israel is the one that demanded that former president Hosni Mubarak and his Head of Intelligence, Omar Suleiman, deploy large forces in Sinai to fight the terror organizations there. Yet now that President Mohammed Morsi is doing just that, he accused, Israel claims Egypt is breaching the Camp David peace accords and is concerned it will not withdraw the forces. Continue Reading »

US was sure that Israel planned to attack Iran this past spring

 

Martin Indyk, the former U.S. Ambassador to Israel said Washington believed Israel was planning to attack Iran last spring, then felt misled by Jerusalem when attack didn’t materialize • Indyk: Obama serious about keeping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

By the Israel Hayom Staff

 

Washington “was convinced” that Israel was going to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities in the spring, and when Israel did not, the administration felt it had been the victim of a “complete bluff,” former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk told Army Radio on Thursday.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk says U.S. felt misled when Israel did not strike Iran last spring.

Continue Reading »