Archive for January 17, 2013

German court convicts & fines British Holocaust-denying Expelled-bishop

 

Ultra-conservative anti-Semitic British bishop to pay a fine of e1,800 for Holocaust denial during a television interview in 2008.

By

 

A German court has fined an ultra-conservative British bishop e1,800 for denying the Holocaust in a television interview.

Bishop Richard WilliamsonGerman news agency dpa reported that an administrative court in Regensburg convicted Richard Williamson of incitement and levied the fine on Wednesday. The case was retried after an earlier conviction of Williamson was overturned on procedural grounds.

The 72-year-old Williamson told a Swedish TV station in 2008, during an interview conducted near Regensburg, that he did not believe Jews were killed in gas chambers during World War II.

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Russia Slams US Court Ordered Fine, Over Disputed Jewish Archive

Russian official criticized the ruling by a U.S. District Judge to fine Moscow $50,000 a day for failing to return a historic Jewish library seized in Poland, to the Chabad-Lubavitch.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

 

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has criticized a ruling by a United States judge to fine Moscow $50,000 a day for its failure to return a historic but disputed Jewish library to the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish group.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

Chief Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court ruled Wednesday that Russia should pay the fine until it complies with the 2010 order to return the collection of tens of thousands of religious books and manuscripts, some hundreds of years old, to the Chabad-Lubavitch group based in Brooklyn, New York. Continue Reading »

Netanyahu rebuffs Obama; White House spooked by the nationalist parties

Past prime ministers who succumbed to American pressure left Israel with devastating results. For instance, Ehud Barak was convinced by Bill Clinton to meet nearly all of Yasser Arafat’s demands, only to be thanked with the outbreak of the “Second Intifada.”

By Ryan Jones

 

The Obama White House appears to be engaging in a very thinly veiled effort to influence next week’s Knesset election by suggesting to Israelis that voting for right-wing parties will further strain US-Israel relations and isolate the Jewish state.

NetanyahuOn Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu politely suggested that the American administration butt out.

“Only the Israeli people will determine who best represents the State of Israel’s vital interests,” Netanyahu said during a tour of the Gaza security fence. Continue Reading »

Hollande: France to commence peace initiative after Israeli elections

Israel Radio reports: France considers renewed Israel-Palestinian peace talks an urgent matter, and condemns new construction in Judea & Samaria, arguing, “It fuels tensions on the ground and constitutes an obstacle to peace.”

By Israel Hayom Staff

 

 

France will introduce a new initiative to jump start Middle East peace talks, French President François Hollande told Israel Radio on Wednesday. According to the report, French diplomats said France and the U.K. were in lockstep over the Middle East but had yet to formulate a joint plant.

French President François Hollande

French Ambassador to Israel Christophe Bigot told Israel Radio on Wednesday his government considered it urgent to have the Palestinians and Israelis renew negotiations.

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Sen. Paul: Cuts to Israel’s assistance would not be ‘immediate or dramatic’

Something I would be in favor of would not be immediate, dramatic or draconian, it would be evolving…. I’m for an independent, strong Israel that is not a client state and not a reliant state.

By JTA

 

WASHINGTON  — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he does not favor immediate cuts to defense assistance to Israel and favors intelligence and development cooperation, but he believes that Israel would ultimately benefit from economic independence from the United States.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul in JerusalemPaul, in a conference call Wednesday marking his return from a week-long visit to Israel, said his first priority in targeting foreign assistance would be those nations where people “burn the American flag and say death to America.” Continue Reading »

World Bank Study: Red-Dead pipeline is feasible project

Project connecting the Red Sea to the Dead Sea would be an environmental disaster, according to green activists.

 

While there may be environmental and social impacts on the region, a trilateral plan to construct a 180-kilometer pipeline transporting water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea is feasible, a World Bank study has determined.

The Dead Sea - Photo by Marc Israel SellemAfter nearly a decade of pondering the project in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, the World Bank recently released its final draft version of its Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Study Program: Feasibility Study.

Published as part of a series of studies, the World Bank printed the report alongside an environmental and social assessment study and a study of strategic alternatives, as well as various other studies and models of the Dead and Red seas – all done simultaneously, but conducted by different companies. Continue Reading »

Video: 8 IDF soldiers were killed in accidents during 2012

Army data for 2012 shows a rise in casualties in accidents with decline in deaths of soldiers on leave.

Unfortunately, dozens were injured in training accidents.

Yoav Zitun

 

An IDF report revealed that 2012 saw an increase in the number of soldiers killed in accidents and a decline of in deaths of soldiers on leave.Overturned jeep

According to the security branch of the Israeli Ground Forces, eight soldiers were killed in accidents last year, compared to only one in 2011 and 20 in 2010

The accidents include a jeep crash in the Golan Heights that killed an Artillery Corps soldier, a lighting fixture collapse in Mount Herzl that killed an officer,  a car accident that claimed the lives of two Navy officers, a bus crash that claimed the life of a military police officer and an incident in which a tank ran over a soldier while training in the Golan Heights, among others. Continue Reading »

Licensed U.S. Doctors can now practice in Israel without retaking medical exam

Israeli citizens who went to the U.S. for school and immigrant American doctors will no longer be required to retake medical licensing exam.

 

The Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee voted Wednesday to exempt Israelis who studied medicine abroad, as well as immigrant physicians, from the Israeli medical licensing exam if they have passed the U.S. licensing exams.

Medical students at Hadera’s Hillel Yaffe hospital

The committee also approved the retroactive licensing of any physician who has passed the U.S. exam, the USMLE, during the past 10 years. However, the committee also ruled that candidates who failed the Israeli medical exam cannot take the USMLE instead. Continue Reading »

Pressured to OK Arab School, Mayor Gives Definitive No to Segregation

“The Upper Nazareth was founded to make the Galilee Jewish & we must preserve this role,” Mayor Gapso said responding to pressure to build an Arab school.

By Annie Lubin

 

In a definitive response to an appeal to create an Arab school in Upper Nazareth, the city’s Mayor rejected the proposal and vowed that no Muslim establishment would be erected on his watch – whether it be a mosque, a Muslim cemetery or an Arab school.

Nazareth Ilit

Mayor Shimon Gapso added Wednesday that the proposal, which was submitted on January 7th by the Association of Civil Rights in Israel, represents “a provocative nationalist statement intended to disrupt the status quo” and vowed that he would continue to fight the proposal and any similar ones that may arise in the future. Continue Reading »

‘Jewish terrorist’ Yaakov Teitel convicted of 2 counts murder

Jerusalem District Court rules radical rightist was sane at time of the murders and finds Teitel guilty on 2 counts of murder & 2 counts of attempted murder.

By Aviel Magnezi

 

Yaakov “Jack” Teitel, notoriously known as the “Jewish Terrorist,” was convicted of the murder to two Palestinians and the attempted murder of two other people.

Jack TeitelThe conviction, rendered by the Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday, stated that Teitel was in full control of his faculties at the time of the murders, thus debunking the defense’s repeated claims that he was legally insane and therefore should not be held responsible of his actions. Continue Reading »

50 Arabs Attack IDF soldiers with pipe & fire bombs at Rachel’s Tomb

A mob of around 50 regional Arabs hurled pipe bombs, fire bombs and rocks at Israeli security forces. One soldier lightly hurt.

By Gil Ronen

 

About 50 Arabs mounted an assault on Rachel’s Tomb, just outside Bethlehem, Wednesday evening. They threw pipe bombs, fire bombs and rocks at the security forces guarding the compound, injuring one soldier lightly.

The soldier, who was hit by a rock, received medical treatment on the spot and did not require hospitalization.

The IDF Spokesman said that the Arabs threw nine pipe bombs and 18 fire bombs. One of the pipe bombs caused some damage to the security wall surrounding the complex. Continue Reading »

US Justice Dept. refuses Chabad’s petition to fine Russia over confiscated Judaica

Russia resists saying it does not recognize the authority of the U.S. court, and insists the collection is part of the country’s heritage.

By JTA

 

The Chabad-Lubavitch movement asked a U.S. judge to fine Russia for refusing to hand over confiscated Jewish scriptures, but the U.S. Justice Department opposed the move.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

According to the Associated Press, Chabad lawyer Seth Gerber last week asked Chief Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court in Washington to fine Russia for not transferring tens of thousands of religious books and manuscripts about the group’s core teachings from its state library and military archive. Continue Reading »

Israel to UNSC: Prevent Syrian WMD transfer to Hezbollah

UN Ambassador Ron Prosor calls on UN Security Council to act immediately to prevent Assad’s chemical weapons from being transferred into Hezbollah’s hands.

By MICHAEL WILNER, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT

 

 

UNITED NATIONS — Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor  said Tuesday that the prospect of Hezbollah acquiring chemical weapons — mishandled or handed over intentionally by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad  — is “frightening,” and called on the Security Council to act immediately to prevent their proliferation.

Ron Prosor

Ron Prosor

 

Prosor’s comments came during a daylong debate at the UN on counter-terrorism efforts. The Israeli envoy contended that an end to terrorism required addressing the fundamental teachings of prejudice and hate.

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UNHRC Reports: Israel requests ‘Rights Review’ postponed

UNHRC expresses concern that Israel may refuse to cooperate with annual Rights Review following its severing of ties over UN’s probe into West Bank construction

Associated Press

 

Members of a top UN top human rights body criticized by the US as too focused on Israel are concerned Jerusalem will not fully participate in a routine review of its record even after it appeared to be taking steps at restoring ties, a spokesman for the council said Tuesday.

UNHRCAll UN member nations are required to submit to a review by the Human Rights Council, but Israel said last year it would stop cooperating because of plans for an international fact-finding mission to look at Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Continue Reading »

Arab Lawers: ‘Tourist’ Tents in E-1 Should Remain until May

Attorney argues that the tents put up by Arab activists in E-1 are tourist meeting points.

State’s attorney seeks immediate removal.

By Maayana Miskin

 

The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in the case of several tents put up by Palestinian Authority resident activists in the E-1 neighborhood of Maaleh Adumim. The tents were put up shortly after the PA objected to Israeli plans to build in the area.

מאחז באב אל-שאמס. המדינה מבקשת לפנותו  (צילום: אוהד צויגנברג)

The outpost – Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg

However, an attorney for the Arab activists argued Wednesday that the tents were not put up in an attempt to create “facts on the ground,” but rather, are a meeting point for tourists. Continue Reading »