March 2012 Archives

UNESCO Condemns Syria But Won’t Kick it Out

UNESCO condemns Syria for its brutal crackdown on protesters but stops short of dismissing it from its human rights committee.

UNESCO, the United Nations’ cultural agency, condemned Syria on Thursday for its brutal crackdown on opposition protesters but stopped short of dismissing it from its human rights committee.

Fox News reported that the commission of the executive board of UNESCO voted 35-8 Thursday for the watered-down resolution.

Damaged houses in Baba Amr, Homs Handout photo / Reuters

The resolution, the report noted, urged Syrian authorities to end human rights violations, protect the population, restore freedom of expression and respect heritage.

But it did not heed U.S. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Syria, UNESCO

PA: Register Church of Nativity under ‘Palestine’

Palestinians to ask UN World Heritage Committee to register Bethlehem church as Palestinian heritage site.

For the first time in their history on Thursday, Palestinians have the right to act as a state before the World Heritage Committee and ask the UN body to register Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity under the name of Palestine.

The Palestinian Authority has an inventory list of 20 historical, religious, cultural and natural sites over the pre-1967 line that it wants the UN to register.

These range from the old town of Nablus to Qumran where the Dead Sea scrolls were found. No sites in Jerusalem are on the PA’s list at present.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Church of Nativity, Palestinian heritage site

The Rachel Corrie myth

Op-ed: Killed ‘peace activist’ one of the most powerful tools in anti-Israel propaganda campaign

March 16 is the anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s death. She is the American college student killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza while attempting to block a house demolition. Israeli authorities claim that the driver was unable to see Corrie, given the restricted vision from his perch, and that she acted recklessly by inserting herself into the path of the bulldozer. But as always happens in the Middle East, lies trumped truth.

The Corrie myth has been one of the most powerful tools in the anti-Israel propaganda campaign. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News |

First Druze kibbutz members say they’re ‘enveloped with love’

Haza and Nibal Tafesh, originally from a Galilee village, get warm welcome on southern kibbutz.

A couple originally from a Galilee village made history last week by becoming the first Druze accepted as members of a kibbutz.

The couple, Haza and Nibal Tafesh, have been living on Kibbutz Elifaz in the southern Arava region since 2007, after starting out in the Druze village of Beit Jann. Last week the kibbutz voted by a large majority to accept the couple as full members.

Tafesh says he and his wife fell in love with Kibbutz Elifaz on their first day there. “We were captivated by the place and we integrated very well.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Druze, Kibbutz

Senior Hamas Leader Undecided on Attacking Israel Over Iran

Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar sends different signals when asked whether Hamas will attack Israel if it attacks Iran.

A senior leader in the Hamas terrorist organization sent two different signals on Wednesday, when he was asked whether the group would attack Israel if it launches a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

First, Mahmoud al-Zahar denied the group would get involved and told the BBC, “We are not part of any political axis. If Israel attacks us we will respond. If they don’t, we will not get involved in any other regional conflict.”

Mahmoud al-Zahar - Photo by Reuters

He also questioned Hamas’ ability to offer support to Iran from Gaza, if it wanted to. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: hamas, Iran

Israel’s 18-year-old high-tech whiz kid

He’s only 18, but Ben Lang is already a serial entrepreneur. Now he’s co-founded Innovation Israel — a community for startups, entrepreneurs and investors.

“Right now I want to learn from really smart people,” says Ben Lang.

Ben Lang gets a kick out of sharing the story of how he received a cease-and-desist order from the New York Times for making a website called freenewyorktimes.com, which explained how to get around the venerable newspaper’s impending pay wall.

“They shut down my server for a week, and I couldn’t even login to take down the website,” he recalls. “If they would have asked nicely I would have stopped.”

Category: Innovations & Discoveries |

Report: Iran Tried to Clean-Up Traces of Nuclear Tests

Diplomats say satellite images from show trucks and earth-moving vehicles at the Parchin military site.

Satellite images of an Iranian military facility appear to show trucks and earth-moving vehicles at the site, indicating an attempted cleanup of radioactive traces possibly left by tests of a nuclear-weapon trigger, diplomats told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The diplomats who spoke to the news agency are all nuclear experts accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano - Photo by Reuters

Two of the diplomats told AP the crews at the Parchin military site may be trying to erase evidence of tests of a small experimental neutron device used to set off a nuclear explosion. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: IAEA, Iran Nuclear threat, Parchin

California wine country to benefit from Haifa study

Water-monitoring system developed by IBM’s Israeli labs allows close observation of pressure valves, reduces leakage.

Water conservation tools developed in Haifa research labs will soon be arriving at Northern California’s wine country, in order to reduce water loss for the more than 600,000 people who live in the Valley of the Moon Water District.

Building upon a cooperation agreement signed in June 2010 between IBM and the Sonoma County Water Agency, the technological giant has installed analytic devices and sensors that reduce water loss by making pressure adjustments based on usage, weather and environmental conditions, the company announced on Wednesday morning.

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News | Tags: IBM, Water conservation, wine

What the IDF’s Iran wish list would look like

If the IDF were to present the Pentagon with a wish list to ensure a military attack against Iran’s nuclear program succeeds, this is what it might ask for

New smart bombs with extended ranges and greater penetration as well as landing rights on aircraft carriers are just some of the requests that would appear on an Israeli military wish list, if one was presented to the Obama administration as a way to ensure that Israel succeeds in a potential attack against Iran.

While US President Barack Obama voiced clear opposition earlier this week to such a strike, Israel has been noncommittal.

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News |

Peres launches official Facebook page

Social network CEO Mark Zuckerberg hosts president during visit to Silicon Valley; helps him launch personal page

WASHINGTON – President Shimon Peres visited social network giant Facebook’s headquarters Tuesday in what he described as an effort to use social networking to mend divides governments have been unable to bridge.

Peres met with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who helped him launch the 88-year-old leader’s personal page aimed at creating a dialogue with young Arabs who live in countries that do not have diplomatic ties with Israel.

Click to see President Shimon Peres – Be My Friend For Peace (Noy Alooshe Remix Video)

“The President will call on them to talk with him, to ask questions and to offer ideas to advance peace between peoples, not just between governments,” Peres’ staff said in a statement. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Facebook, Shimon Peres

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Israel, Kurdish fighters destroyed Iran nuclear facility, email released by WikiLeaks claims

In exchange released by website, worker at Stratfor intelligence firm doubts validity of a source claiming an Israeli ground force had already wiped out Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

The mega-leaks website, WikiLeaks, has partnered with the hackers cooperative Anonymous, to publish internal emails of the American strategic intelligence company Stratfor. In one of the hacked emails, Stratfor officials discuss information obtained from one of their sources who reports that Israeli commandos, in cooperation with Kurdish fighters, have destroyed Iranian nuclear installations.

WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, will hold a press conference today in London where he plans to reveal new details from the Stratfor emails, including details on the company’s dealings with the American government and major corporations, and its network of paid sources.

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: Iran, WikiLeaks

Rare Video of Israeli Rabbi in Iran

A rare video shows last year’s visit to the tomb of Queen Esther and Mordechai in Iran. Tehran airport officials asked him, “Pray for us.”

Rabbi Yisroel Gabbai’s self-appointed mission is saving Jewish graves all over the world. A rare video shows his visit last year to Iran and the tomb of Queen Esther and Mordechai, the central Jewish figures iin the story of Purim, which Jews celebrate this week.

A member of the Breslov stream of Chassidism and now living in Israel, Rabbi Gabbai travels with a passport from France, where he was born and married. He has visited Gaza and Lebanon during wars and also has been to Damascus. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News, Mid-East News | Tags: Esther, Iran, Purim

Minor earthquake felt in northern Israel

Earthquake measuring 3.7 on Richter Scale felt north of Metula as well as in Kiryat Shmona and Safed. No injuries or damage reported.

3.7 on Richer Scale - Photo: Shutterstock

A 3.7 magnitude earthquakewas felt in northern Israel on Wednesday morning. The Geological Survey of Israel told Ynet that the quake’s epicenter was in south Lebanon and that it was primarily felt north of Metula. Israelis reported feeling the quake in Kiryat Shmona, Shlomi and Safed as well. No injuries or damage were reported.

“I suddenly felt the earth shaking below me,” Bracha Cook from Kiryat Shmona told Ynet. “It wasn’t scary, just odd. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: earthquake, Galilee