Archive for July 20, 2013

Saudi Airlines Openly Defends its Discrimination Against Israelis

Saudi Arabian Airlines’ director general has defended the company’s decision not to fly Israelis on their carrier from U.S. airports.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

 

The director general of Saudi Arabian Airlines on Friday defended his company’s decision to discriminate against Israeli citizens by refusing to fly them from U.S. airports even when passengers are simply looking to transfer in Saudi Arabia to another country, Al Arabiya reports.

File:Saudi Arbaian Airlines Boeing 747-300, HZ-AIT, SIN 3.jpg

Saudi Arabian Airlines – Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Earlier this week, the New York Post reported that the airline’s website asks for citizenship when booking a ticket but has no option on a drop-down menu for anyone holding an Israeli passport. Continue Reading »

500-year-old Jewish Skeleton Found in First Known Synagogue of the New World

Skeleton found during earthwork in Recife, Brazil where Portuguese Jews in 1636 built the 1st known synagogue in the New World.

By JTA

 

Brazilian archaeologists unearthed what they said are the 500-year-old remains of a Jewish man in Recife.

Recife, Brazil [file]

Recife, Brazil [file] – Photo: Wikimedia Common

A report Thursday in the online edition of the Rio de Janeiro-based O Globo described the discovery earlier this month as a perfectly-preserved skeleton of a male adult. The skeleton was found during earthwork in Recife in northern Brazil, where Portuguese Jews in 1636 built the first known synagogue in the New World.

Marcos Albuquerque of the Federal University of Pernambuco, who oversaw the dig around the skeleton, told O Globo he had no doubt the man was Jewish and that he was buried sometime in the 16th century.

Continue Reading »

Sinai heats up so IDF deployed Iron Dome battery in Eilat

 

 

Because Egyptian army is preparing to launch large-scale operation against terrorists in Sinai peninsula, IDF moves anti-missile battery to southern city fearing rocket attacks.

Yoav Zitun

The IDF has deployed an Iron Dome battery in the southern city of Eilat as the Egyptian army launches a large-scale operation to purify the Sinai Peninsula of al-Qaeda inspired terrorist cells.

(צילום: מאיר אוחיון)

Iron Dome in Eilat – Photo: MeirOhayon

The battery was deployed at the height of the tourist season for fear the city would become the target of rocket fire. The IDF has arranged that the city’s siren system be connected to the alert systems installed on the Israel-Egypt border. Continue Reading »

Kerry Goes Home After PLO says No

Mustafa Barghouti, a PA member of parliament, said “most factions” within the PLO had rejected Kerry’s proposal.

By Arutz Sheva

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry was preparing to leave the Middle East on Friday as Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders rejected his plan to resume the stalled peace talks.

The setback for the US plan came from the governing Revolutionary Council of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s own Fatah (PLO) movement, which demanded changes. This, despite reports that Israel had agreed to negotiate with the PA on the basis of tacit agreements that Israeli nationalists would find hard to swallow.

The broader Palestine Liberation Organisation, which also includes leftwing factions less sympathetic towards a compromise, said it was also drawing up a formal response to Kerry’s proposals. Continue Reading »

A message to the EU: ‘Thank You’

Boycotting Jews is not a new phenomena. It has ushered the brilliance of Europe, North Africa and the Muslim states to immigrate to Israel.
Israel today achieves more than all of its enemies combined.

By Erwin Blank

I have a message for the EU, a little bit of Israeli history that I believe is quite appropriate right now after their action to boycott all Israeli businesses, products and services that are located in Yehudah and Shomron.

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-14468, Berlin, NS-Boykott gegen jüdische Geschäfte.jpg

Stormtroopers outside a Berlin store posting signs with the words “Germans! Defend yourselves! Do not buy from Jews” (“Deutsche! Wehrt Euch! Kauft nicht bei Juden!”).

Continue Reading »

EU’s New anti-Israel Sanctions Could be a €600 Million Boomerang

Israeli officials say the EU is not the only one that can impose sanctions. Israel may now have to pull out of a major EU project that will loose them €600 million.

By David Lev

 

The European Union is not the only one that can impose sanctions and boycotts, Israeli officials said Thursday. A report in Maariv said that if the EU insists on boycotting Israelis and Jews living and doing business in the lands liberated in the 1967 Six Day War, Israel could boycott some major European Union projects that features Israel as a central partner.

A diver in the Mediterranean sea – AFP file

Among them is an 80 billion euro project to clean up the Mediterranean by 2020. Continue Reading »

Report contradicts CNN: Israeli submarine strike hit Syria’s missile storage depot

UK daily contradicts a CNN report claiming that the Israeli air force bombed Syrian weapons depot, and they say attack was coordinated with the Pentagon.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

 

Israeli Dolphin-class submarines carried out a July 5 attack on an arms depot in the Syrian port city of Latakia, according to a report in the British Sunday Times, which contradicted a previous CNN report that the attack was the work of the Israel Air Force.

A Dolphin-class submarine docks in Haifa port.

A German built Dolphin-class submarine docks in Haifa port. – Photo: Reuters

The alleged Israeli naval strike was closely coordinated with the United States and targeted a contingent of 50 Russian-made Yakhont P-800 anti-ship missiles that had arrived earlier in the year for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, the Times cited Middle East intelligence sources as stating.

Continue Reading »

Samantha Power commits US to push for Israeli seat on UNSC

Obama’s nominee for UN ambassador, tells Senate hearing she will combat ‘unacceptable bias’ against Jewish state and push for a Security Council seat to secure greater integration of Israeli public servants in the UN.

By Yitzhak Benhorin

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s decision to appoint Samantha Power as the American ambassador to the UN has raised concerns in Jerusalem due to her past statements on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but during her Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday Power said “The United States has no greater friend in the world than the State of Israel” and pledged to combat the “unacceptable bias” against Israel at the global body. Continue Reading »

Archaeologists may have found King David’s Palace

Three buildings dated back to the 10th century BCE have been unearthed by archaeologists – and one of them may have been King David’s palace.

By David Lev

 

Three unique public buildings, the first of their kind ever found in the Judea area, have been unearthed by Hebrew University and Archaeology Authority archaeologists in the past year, it was revealed Thursday. The buildings date to the tenth century before the Common Era – the period in which King David reigned in Jerusalem.

An aerial view of the Khirbet Qeiyafa dig – Skyview/Archaeological Authority

 

And in fact, say Hebrew University archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel and Archaeology Authority official Saar Ganor, one of the buildings is indeed a palace used by King David himself. Continue Reading »

French Jewish immigration to Israel much higher from previous year

Jewish Agency anticipates about 2,500 French Jews immigrating to Israel in 2013, a 40% increase from last year.

The participation of young French Jews coming to Israel for long-term programs is also rising.

By Israel Hayom Staff

Immigration to Israel by French Jews is on the rise, according to data released by the Jewish Agency. The Jewish Agency expects that around 2,500 French Jews will move to Israel in 2013, a 40 percent increase from 2012.

Continue Reading »

Get Ready for the 19th Maccabiah Games from Jerusalem

For the 1st time since 2001, the opening ceremony is returning to Jerusalem.

 
 

Four years of waiting is to come to an end in spectacular fashion when the 19th Maccabiah gets underway with Thursday’s opening ceremony in the capital’s Teddy Stadium.

Maccabiah games ready to kick off.

Maccabiah games ready to kick off. – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

Around 32,000 people are expected to pack the stands, with thousands of Jewish athletes from 77 countries to march around the stadium as part of the Parade of Nations.

President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will be among the numerous local and foreign dignitaries present at the ceremony.

Continue Reading »

Electricity theft by Palestinians the theme of this year’s Ramadan morality campaign

Palestinian theft of electricity increases debt to Israel by $70 million each year. Palestinian Authority fear Israel will pull plug, sinking them into darkness

The Media Line

RAMALLAH – During the pre-dawn hours in the holy month of Ramadan, while many are preparing a pre-dawn breakfast in preparation of the daylong-fast, others are tapping into the electricity grid. It’s an act that costs the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority (PA) millions of dollars annually.

Electricity on the way to the Palestinians

Electricity on the way to the Palestinians – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

Again this year, authorities will treat electricity theft like other personal bad habits rather than as a crime, working to prevent it through an advertising campaign that stresses morality during Ramadan, encouraging citizens to end the costly practice voluntarily. Continue Reading »

Temple Mount’s Imam Threatens Europe & the US

At the Temple Mount last Friday during the sermon the imam threatens Obama: “The Caliphate shall return… We desire to cleanse it of the impure.”

By Chana Ya’ar

 

An Islamic cleric warned the United States government last Friday in a sermon at the Temple Mount’s Al Aqsa Mosque to “take its hands off Muslims.”

The service was led by Imam Al Hammouri, a member of the Jerusalem-based pan-Islamic Hizb ut-Tahrir (party of Liberation) organization, founded in 1953. The group, which boasts a worldwide membership of approximately one million across 40 countries, is dedicated to establishing a worldwide Islamic Caliphate (Muslim Empire) that will force Islamic law upon all of its subjects. Continue Reading »

Another Palestinian Precondition: Abbas Demands Airport in Ramallah

Western sources leak new list of Palestinians’ conditions for renewing peace talks

in wake of Kerry-Abbas talks, which include permission to build

 airport in Ramallah, construction of hotels on the Dead Sea, more visas to work in Israel etc. etc. etc….

By Elior Levy

 

Western sources told Ynet Wednesday that in meetings with international sources on the issue of renewing peace talks with Israel, the Palestinians stipulated that they be granted approval to build an airport in Ramallah – the first in the West Bank.

Kerry, Abbas talk peace – Photo: AFP

It has been reported in the past that economic incentives would be granted to the Palestinians as part of the peace talks’ resumption, but so far the nature of said incentives has remained vague. Continue Reading »

IKEA Considering Opening in Ramallah

After initial studies and meetings with PA official, IKEA is considering opening a new mega-store in Ramallah.

By Rina Tzvi

 

IKEA is considering opening a branch in Ramallah.

IKEA store – Reuters

Two IKEA executives visited Ramallah last month and met with the Palestinian Authority economics minister, Jawad al-Naji, Israeli daily Yediot Achronot reported

Israel has IKEA megastores in Netanya and Rishon Lezion and is set open a third next year in Kiryat Ata.

IKEA plans to have the Ramallah employees train at the Netanya store, which has an employee training center, according to Yediot.

“If asked, we’ll be happy to help establish the store,” said Matthew Bronfman, the franchisee for IKEA in Israel. Continue Reading »